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”
METALPOINT
A metal point drawing is made by applying a stylus—a thin metal rod inserted into a holder—to a prepared surface.
FIXATIVE
preserving agent applied over the top of the drawing to prevent crumbling, smudging, fading, and discoloring.
PASTELS
an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those used to produce some other colored visual arts media, such as oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation.
VINE CHARCOAL
Stick or vine charcoal is made when the wood is heated until only carbon remains. It is light and fragile, making lines and tones that are easily wiped away
CRAYONS
a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax and oil.
CROSS-HATCHING
a method of line drawing that describes light and shadow. The representation of light utilizes the white or openness of the page, while shadow is created by a density of crossed lines.
WASH
The division between drawing and painting blurs even in the West when artists use washes—diluted ink applied with a brush to add tonal values to a drawing.
ENCAUSTIC
is a painting medium that is at least seven thousand years old. It is created by mixing colored pigments with hot beeswax and then painting the mixture on a surface before it cools.
TEMPERA
tempera, a media developed in the Early Renaissance, pigments are usually mixed with egg yolks (which is why it is sometimes called “egg tempera”). Yolks are a powerfully adhesive medium,
In tempera, each color must be premixed in light-, medium-, and dark-toned versions before beginning to work.
Shading is done by placing small strokes of these colors side by side.
FRESCO
Traditional fresco is one of the most permanent of the painting media. It is a wall-painting technique that has been in use since ancient times. the painter combines colored pigment with water and brushes it directly onto fresh, wet plaster (fresco means “fresh” in Italian). As the plaster dries, the pigment becomes bound into it and literally becomes part of the wall.
ACRYLIC
an extremely flexible, water-based paint originally made for industrial use.
The medium is a plastic polymer, made from resins, that dries quickly and can be applied to just about any surface, whether it has been specially prepared or not.
WATERCOLOR
a quick-drying combination of pigment and gum arabic. When diluted with water, it can be brushed smoothly onto the ground (usually paper). As with ink washes, changes are difficult in watercolor, so success depends on a direct, spontaneous application.
GOUACHE
By adding chalk to pigment and gum arabic, watercolor becomes an opaque paint called gouache.
Unlike watercolor, which cracks when applied heavily and easily gets muddy, gouache can be applied more thickly, covers well, and permits changes without losing the freshness of its colors.
GLAZES
Oil paint can be diluted with oil medium or solvents like turpentine and made into transparent glazes.
UNDERPAINT
applying opaque strokes
and then adding transparent strokes on top to build up the softly blended illusion of three-dimensional forms.
IMPASTO
areas of thick, textured paint
PRINTING PRESS (HOW HAS IT CHANGED THE WORLD?)
allows for the mass production of printed matter like newspapers and books. Allowed the quick and widespread expansion of literature- and therefore knowledge.
EDITION
a copy or replica of a work of art made by a master. It commonly refers to a series of identical impressions or prints made
RELIEF PRINTMAKING
the artist draws a design on a smooth block of material—usually wood or linoleum—and uses tools to carefully cut away the areas that are not to be printed, leaving behind a raised surface of lines and shapes.
INTAGLIO PRINTMAKING
Intaglio printing is the opposite of relief printing, in that the printing is done from ink that is below the surface of the plate.
The design is cut, scratched, or etched into the printing surface or plate
ENGRAVING
an intaglio printmaking process in which lines are cut into a metal plate in order to hold the ink.
ETCHING
an intaglio printmaking process in which lines or areas are incised using acid into a metal plate in order to hold the ink
AQUATINT
a printmaking technique that produces tonal effects by using acid to eat into the printing plate creating sunken areas which hold the ink.
LITHOGRAPHY
a method of printing from a flat surface where unnecessary ink is turned away from the surface, generally by grease.
SILKSCREEN
a printmaking process in which an ink-blocking stencil is applied to a screen, allowing ink that is wiped across the screen to pass through to a printing surface selectively.
MONOTYPE
A monotype is made by applying ink or paint directly to a metal plate and then running it with paper through a press.
CAMERA OBSCURA
By preventing all light from entering a room and then cutting a small hole in a window shade, a person could project an inverted image of the sun onto the opposite wall.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography is the art of capturing light with a camera, usually via a digital sensor or film, to create an image.
DAGUERREOTYPE
the daguerreotype was the first commercially successful photographic process (1839-1860) in the history of photography. Named after the inventor, Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre, each daguerreotype is a unique image on a silvered copper plate.
CAMERA BODY
forms the structure of the camera and prevents any unwanted light from hitting the film;
LENS
focuses the light onto light-sensitive material (traditionally film, but more recently a digital sensor);
SHUTTER
which is triggered by the photographer and controls the time of the exposure;
APERTURE
(or diaphragm), an adjustable opening that controls the amount of light entering the camera;
VIEWFINDER
permits the photographer to see what the camera sees.
STRAIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
photographs that are not manipulated, either in the taking of the image or by darkroom or digital processes, but sharply depict the scene or subject as the camera sees it
PHOTOMONTAGE
the process and the result of making a composite photograph by cutting, gluing, rearranging, and overlapping two or more photographs into a new image.
MUYBRIDGE
was an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection
RELIEF SCULPTURE
grows out of a flat, two-dimensional background, and its projection into three-dimensional space is relatively shallow. The back of a relief sculpture is not meant to be seen; the entire design can be understood from a frontal view. Often used in architecture
FREESTANDING SCULPTURE
inhabits three-dimensional space in the same way that living things do. Sculpture in the round cannot be appreciated from only a single viewpoint but must be circled and explored.
KINETIC ART
Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effect.
PERFORMANCE ART
art that has to act out live in front of an audience.
ADDITIVE PROCESS
the sculpture is built up, such as modeling a flexible material like clay or plaster or building an installation;
SUBTRACTIVE PROCESS
it is carved out of hard materials such as wood or stone.
CASTING
sculptural process that allows the sculptor to make a lasting copy of his work or to create multiple copies of one design.
MAQUETTE
a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture.
LOST WAX METHOD
method of metal casting in which molten metal is poured into a mold created by a wax model. Once the mold is made, the wax model is melted and drained away.
PATINA
Patina is the color a metal takes on as it chemically oxidizes and is believed to give a sculpture character.
FLOOR PLAN
a scale diagram of a room or suite of rooms viewed from above and used especially for planning effective use and arrangement of furnishings.
ELEVATION
views from the sides, flat representation of one façade
ARCHITECTURAL PERSPECTIVE
Perspective in architectural drawing is the representation of three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional (flat) surface. This recreates the position of the observer relative to the object and shows the depth of the object.
DORIC/IONIC/CORINTHIAN (GREEK ORDERS)
Doric columns were unornamented, almost severe in their plainness; slim Ionic columns, their capitals (tops) adorned with graceful volutes (spirals); the more decorative order, the Corinthian column
BEARING WALL
the walls support the weight of the roof and floors above.
POST-AND-LINTEL
where posts or columns support horizontal lintels or cross beams.
ROUND ARCH
The arch allowed far wider spaces between columns than did post-and-lintel construction
BARREL VAULT
opened up large and long public spaces in stone buildings, particularly cathedrals.
GROIN VAULT
produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults.
POINTED ARCH
Direct result of the desire to allow more light in; an arch with a pointed crown, characteristic of Gothic architecture.
FRAME CONSTRUCTION
a building technique that involves building a supportive framework of studs, joists, and rafters, and attaching everything else to this framework (primary home building style in America)
CERAMICS
clay products made permanent by heat.
TERRA-COTTA
baked or fired in a kiln, clay hardens to a rich red-earth tone and is called terra-cotta.
STONEWARE
dense pottery fired at high temperatures to make it resistant to liquids, or non-porous
THROWING
a method of forming pottery vessels on a potter’s wheel
KILN
a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes
GRAPHIC DESIGN
encompasses several types of design that were once referred to rather dismissively as commercial art. Advertisements, book illustrations, the layout of magazine pages, posters, packages, logos, and signs are all examples of graphic design,
