LIST of TERMS and CONCEPTS DEFINED for DRAWING – 1,2,3,4

TERM:

AESTHETICS: One’s sense of beauty or visual preference.
AMBIGUOUS SPACE: When the relationship between the positive space and the negative
space is undefined.
ASYMMETRY: One half of a piece is unbalanced with the other half.

CHIAROSCURO: Showing volume by using extreme contrasts in light and dark.
COMMISSIONED: Artwork that is strictly for profit or sale.
COMPOSITION: The basic overall arrangement of a work.
CONTENT: The message, idea, feeling of a piece of art.
CONTOUR LINES: Outer edges of and3-dimensional form defined by line.
CRITIQUE: Honest assessment of one’s work or the work of others designed to raise awareness
CROPPING: Cutting off the subject at the edges of the picture plane.
CROSSHATCHING: Small parallel and perpendicular lines used to create a variety of values.

DEEP SPACE: A composition with great depth or feeling of distance.
DIAGONAL COMPOSITION: Movement from upper left to lower right is undesirable.
DIFFUSED SHADOW: Shadows that appear fuzzy at their edges.

FIXATIVE: Clear chemical sprayed over a drawing to prevent smearing.
FOCAL POINT: Area to which the artist directs the viewer’s attention.
FOREGROUND: The area closest to the viewer in a composition.
FORESHORTENING: Shortening objects that are pointed towards or away from the viewer to
show depth on a flat plane.

GEOMETRIC SHAPE: Shapes with clean, straight edges, such as triangles and circles.
GESTURE DRAWING: Drawings that use quick lines to capture the gesture(movement) of a
subject.
GRADATION: The gradual change from light value to dark value.

HATCHING: Small parallel lines used to create a variety of values.

ICONOGRAPHY: The symbolic meaning of the subject matter.
IMPLIED LINE: Techniques used to manipulate the viewer’s eye towards a focal point.
LINE: An extension of a point.

LINE QUALITY: The unique character of any line (straight, curly, zigzag, etc…
LINE VARIATION: The thickness, thinness, lightness or darkness of a line.
LITHOGRAPH: Printmaking technique where a design is drawn on stone or metal with a crayon.

MATURE WORK: An artist’s most recognizable and popular style.
MEDIUM: Materials used to produce a piece of artwork.
MIDDLEGROUND: Area of a composition between the foreground and background.
MIXED MEDIA: Combination of media in a work, (ink, graphite. paint, etc…)

NEGATIVE SPACE: The area surrounding the positive space.
NEUTRALS: Black, white and all tones of grey.

ORGANIC SHAPE: Shapes with irregular edges, such as leaves or trees.

PATRONS: The people who purchase commissioned artwork.
PICTURE PLANE: The physical dimensions of 2-D artwork.
POINT OF VIEW: Position from which the viewer of art is meant to look.
POSITIVE SPACE: The shape of the object that is the subject of a work of art.

RENDERING: Shading or smoothing out values.

SCALE: Relative size of an object compared to objects surrounding it.
SHALLOW SPACE: A composition with little depth or feeling of distance.
STAFFAGE ELEMENTS: When supporting subjects are used to “frame” the focal point.
STILL LIFE: Arrangement of non moving objects in a work of art.
STIPPLING: Using patterns of dots to show values and gradation.
SUBJECT: The identifiable images in a piece of artwork.
SYMMETRY: One half of a piece is balanced with the other.

TOOTH: The texture of a sheet of paper.
TORTILLION: Small, tightly wrapped paper used to render drawings.
THUMBNAILS: Quick sketches that record ideas for future drawings.

VIEWFINDER: Device used as a window for framing the composition.

CONCEPTS:

1)  The three major styles of art:

REPRESENTATIONAL: Artist attempt to capture reality in the work.
NON-REPRESENTATIONAL: Artist shows no recognizable objects in the work.
ABSTRACT: Artist distorts reality, but objects are still recognizable.

2)  The seven stages of light: Specific stages of light and shadow that define volume and space on a 2-D dimensional plane.

LIGHT SOURCE: Point which emits the light itself (sun, candle, lamp, etc…)
LIGHT: The area of typical value on the subject.
HIGHLIGHTS: The area of highest value on the subject.
SHADOWS: The area of lowest value on the subject.
CAST SHADOWS: The area of dark value cast upon the surfaces.
CORE OF SHADOW: The area of darkest value within the cast shadow.
REFLECTED LIGHT: Light that is reflected from the main object to surrounding surfaces or from
surfaces onto the object.

3)  Form versus function:

FORM: Is an element of art and refers to the way a 3-D dimensional piece of art.
FUNCTION: Refers to why that piece of art was made.

4)  Six ways the artist show depth:

OVERLAPPING
SIZE
FOCUS
PLACEMENT
INTENSITY AND VALUE
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE

ART ELEMENTS:
COLOR: Or HUE of a pigment. The property of reflecting light of a particular visible wavelength
FORM: The 3-D shape of an object defined by shadows.
LINE: An extension of a point. A line has various degrees of characteristics.
SHAPE: The 2-D image, an enclosed space defined by lines.
SPACE: The distance or area between, above, below, outside of and within things.
TEXTURE: Is how something feels or looks and can be actual or implied.
VALUE: The darkness or lightness of a subject.

ART PRINCIPLES:
BALANCE: The state of equilibrium.
CONTRAST: To show difference when compared. Juxtaposition(opposites) of elements.
EMPHASIS: Center of attention or point of interest.
MOVEMENT: Showing a change in location or the act of flowing.
PATTERN: A model or plan used in making things.
REPETITION: Something repeated.
RHYTHM: Movement characterized by regular recurrence of a pattern.
UNITY: A harmony or agreement in a unified arrangement of parts.
VARIETY: Refers to the differences in something.
PROPORTION: Relationship of size.