Midterm Terms Flashcards
SFUMATO
(derived from the Italian word fumo, meaning “smoke”) refers to the technique of oil painting in which colors or tones are blended in such a subtle manner that they melt into one another without perceptible transitions, lines, or edges.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
This background information (artist biography, time period, previous works, historical background, level of completion) informs a deeper understanding of the work in question and allows us to analyze
FINE ARTS
The term “fine art” refers to an art form practiced mainly for its aesthetic value and its beauty (“art for art’s sake”) rather than its functional value. Fine art is rooted in drawing and design-based works such as painting, printmaking, and sculpture.
APPLIED ARTS
the application (and resulting product) of artistic design to utilitarian objects in everyday use.
FOLK ART
Folk art is defined as a classic decorative, musical, or practical art of different cultures or regions. Folk art is usually unique to the people of a specific location and used as an expression of society.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
the design of mass-produced consumer products. Industrial designers, often trained as architects or other visual art professionals, are usually part of a larger creative team.
MASS
a solid body or a grouping of visual elements (line, color, texture, etc.) that compose a solid form
VOLUME
the representation of mass in an artwork or a sculpture. The three-dimensional form of an object or shape is said to have volume. Artists simulate volume in their paintings to give their paintings a three-dimensional effect
GEOMETRIC SHAPES
Geometric shapes are precise and regular, like squares, rectangles, and triangles`
ORGANIC SHAPES
Irregular and imperfect. these shapes will all be slightly different from one another. They are often curved and flowing and can seem unpredictable.
ABSTRACT SHAPES
representational shapes that have been simplified to their basic underlying forms, distorted or exaggerated, the original sources of the shapes will remain recognizable.
Abstract shapes can be either organic or geometric.
NONREPRESENTATIONAL SHAPES
Nonrepresentational shapes are not meant to refer to anything we can see in the real world.
They are sometimes called nonobjective or totally abstract.
These shapes can also have either organic (soft-edged) or geometric (hard-edged) qualities.
CHIAROSCURO
literally ‘light-dark’. In paintings, the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modeling of the subjects depicted.
HUE
refers simply to the name of a color on the color wheel or in the spectrum. For example, violet and green are two different hues.
NEUTRAL COLORS
The neutral colors are white, black, and gray. They make tints and shades but do not affect the hue of any color.
INTENSITY
Refers to the vividness of the color
SATURATION
Colors at the highest level of intensity are sometimes described as saturated.
PRIMARY COLORS
colors: red, yellow, and blue. These are the sources for all other colors.
SECONDARY COLORS
Mixing two primary colors create secondary colors: orange, green, and purple.
COLOR WHEEL
On the color wheel, the primaries are placed equidistant from each other, with their secondary mixtures placed between them.
COMPLEMENTARY COLORS
directly across from each other on the color wheel.
Red and green, yellow and purple, and orange and blue are considered opposites, or complements.
ANALOGOUS COLORS
Analogous colors such as green, blue-green, and blue are adjacent on the color wheel;
when paired they form more pleasant harmonies because they are more closely related.
WARM/COOL COLORS
The warm colors are the family of colors based on yellow, orange, and red—colors associated with warmth, fire, and the sun. Cool colors have more of a blue hue
LOCAL COLOR
the color of an object when seen under flat white light with no adjustment for form shadow or colors of light or secondary light sources.
SIMULTANEOUS CONTRAST
Two colors, side by side, interact with one another and change our perception accordingly. The way two colors affect each other.
ARBITRARY COLOR
a choice of color in an artwork that has no basis in the realistic appearance of the object depicted (think purple cows, yellow sky, pink sun, etc.)
NATURALISTIC COLOR
colors that imitated those in the real world,
PICTURE PLANE
the picture plane is the transparent division between this fictive internal space and the real space outside, in which the viewer is placed.
POSITIVE FORM
Positive form in art relates to the solid pieces of material that inhabits space
NEGATIVE FORM
the negative form is concerned with empty space. Positive form articulates negative form and vice versa. Also called solid, in contrast to void
SYMMETRICAL BALANCE
In symmetrical balance (sometimes known as bilateral symmetry), there is a general equivalence of shape and position on opposite sides of a central axis; if folded in half, the forms would match.
ASYMMETRICAL BALANCE
asymmetrical balance is more dependent on an intuitive balancing of visual weights.
The parts do not revolve around a center or form a mirror image around an axis but can be positioned anywhere and be any size.
Asymmetry is active
RADIAL BALANCE
When all elements revolve around a central point
COMPOSITION
the arrangement of elements within a work of art.
RHYTHM
the movement within a piece of art that helps the eye travel through to a point of focus
SCALE
the relationship of parts of an image to the image as a whole, or to something in the world outside of the image,
PROPORTION
the relation based on size between parts or objects within a composition.
It should not be confused with scale, which defines the relationship between different artworks and their sizes
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE
a system of creating an illusion of depth on a flat surface.
All parallel lines in a painting or drawing use this system converge in a single vanishing point on the composition’s horizon line.
ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE
creates the impression of atmosphere between the viewer and the subject. It is also called aerial view, which refers to the way the atmosphere influences the way we see distant objects.
As things get further away— First, they appear smaller, objects lose detail, becoming progressively simpler and flatter forms.
Third, the atmosphere the viewer is looking through to see a distant object influences the object’s color.
HORIZON LINE
In a drawing or painting, the horizon line is the point where the earth meets the sky.
VANISHING POINT
The point where the lines end
MEDIA
the material and tools used by an artist, composer, or designer to create a work of art, for example, “pen and ink”