General Vocabulary Flashcards
Style of art in which shapes, designs, textures, and colors are presented in a way that may look unrealistic but that emphasizes moods or feelings; to simplify, rearrange or distort an image; a non-representational form of art
Abstract
Pertaining to the artistic and beautiful; a perception that something pleases the eye. The philosophy or study of the nature of beauty, the value of the arts and the inquiry processes and human responses associated
Aesthetic
In art criticism, the step in which you determine how the principles of art are used to organize the element of art. In art history, the step used to determine the style of the work.
Analysis
An organized approach for objectively studying a work of art consisting of four stages: description, analysis, interpretation and judgment.
Art criticism
Arrangement or design of elements of an artwork to achieve balance, contrast, rhythm, emphasis, and unity and to make it an effective expression of the artist’s idea
Composition
The message the work communicates. The content can relate to the subject matter or be an idea or emotion. Theme is another word for content.
Content
Using imagination rather than imitating something else. Generation of ideas, images and/or solutions
Creativity
Established technique or manner of representing art images or ideas
Convention
Organized and creative arrangement of the elements of an artwork, including lines, shapes, textures, spaces, and colors
Design
Type of art primarily created for the purpose of providing beauty and enjoyment rather than for functional or commercial use. It is often intended to be uplifting, thought provoking, and life enhancing.
Fine art
Traditional art made by people who have had no formal art training but who practice art styles and techniques that have been handed down through generations
Folk art
Natural or manufactured object not originally intended to be used as art but treated as art or included in an assembled work of art
Found object
Type of visual art made for commercial purposes. Packaging, posters, advertisements, computer web designs, signs, and book/magazine illustrations are examples of graphic art
Graphic art
Imaginative expression of objects, feelings, ideas, and experiences in art, depicting both physical and nonphysical things
Imagery
Material an artist uses, such as oil, pen and ink, or chalk; the technique, such as painting, sculpture, or collage, used with these materials
Medium (plural media)
Work of art formed from the combination of more than one medium, often an unusual combination of seemingly unrelated materials such as wood, clay, paint, and fabric
Mixed media
Element or combination of elements repeated often enough in a composition to become a dominant feature
Motif
Artistic technique or a way of expressing, using materials, constructing, or designing characteristic of an individual, group, period, or culture
Style
Figures or objects in a work of art that are not represented naturally but are designed to conform to a particular pattern or artistic approach.
Stylized
Something that stands for something else, especially a letter, figure, or sign that represents a real object or an idea
Symbol
Way an artist uses tools and media; specific methods or approaches when working with materials in creating works of art
Technique
Realistic or abstract subject or topic in an artistic work
Theme
A principle of art that is concerned with the sense of wholeness or completeness; the interrelation, balance, and organization of all elements of an artwork to achieve a quality of oneness, or a pleasing sense
Unity
A principle of art through which different elements are used to add visual interest
Variety
