Art 1301 Chapters 7 - 9 Vocabulary

Resolution

In video and digital photography, the sharpness of a picture as determined by the number of lines or pixels composing the picture.

Mixed media

The use of two or more media to create a single image. (Fig. 1-35)

Minimalist art

Contemporary art that adheres to the philosophy and stylistic principles of Minimalism. (Fig. 21-14)

Animation

Creation of an animated cartoon; the photographing of a series of drawings, each of which shows a stage of movement that differs slightly from the previous one, so that figures appear to move when projected in rapid succession. (Fig. 8-29)

Engraving

Cutting; in printmaking, an intaglio process in which plates of copper, zinc, or steel are cut with a burin and the ink image is pressed onto paper. (Fig. 7-7)

Color negative film

Film from which color negatives are made.

Color reversal film

Film from which color prints ("positives") are made directly, without the intervening step of creating negatives.

Planographic printing

Any method of printing from a flat surface, such as lithography. (Fig. 7-1C)

Relief printing

Any printmaking technique in which the matrix is carved with knives so that the areas not meant to be printed (that is, not meant to leave an image) are below the surface of the matrix. (Fig. 7-1)

Digital art

Art that makes use of—or is developed with the assistance of—electronic instruments, such as computers, that store and manipulate information through the use of series of zeros and ones (digits); including but not limited to web design, graphic design, and digital photography. (Fig. 8-41)

Bitumen

Asphalt.

Photography

The creation of images by exposure of a photosensitive surface to light. (Fig. 8-1)

Stroboscopic motion

The creation of the illusion of movement by the presentation of a rapid progression of stationary images, such as the frames of a motion picture.

Tensile strength

The degree to which a material can withstand being stretched.

Cinematography

The photographic art of creating motion pictures.

Lamination

The process of building up by layers.

Casting

The process of creating a form by pouring a liquid material into a mold, allowing it to harden, and then removing the mold.

Computer art

The production of images with the assistance of the computer. Artists can use the computer to create art for its own sake or as a design tool, as in architecture and graphic design. (Fig. 8-40)

Extrude

To force metal through a die or small holes to give it shape.

Forge

To form or shape metal (usually heated) with blows from a hammer, press, or other implement or machine.

Stamp

To impress or imprint with a mark or design.

Pan

To move a motion picture or video camera from side to side to capture a comprehensive or continuous view of a subject. (Fig. 8-25)

Zoom

To use a zoom lens, which can be adjusted to provide long shots or close-ups while keeping the image in focus.

Video art

Works that feature moving images with recorded video or audio data that are, projected on objects or one or more screens or monitors. (Fig. 8-38)

Burin

A pointed cutting tool used by engravers. (Fig. 7-5)

Dada

A post-World War I movement that sought to use art to destroy art, thereby underscoring the paradoxes and absurdities of modern life. (Fig. 1-36)

Intaglio

A printing process in which metal plates are incised, covered with ink, wiped, and pressed against paper. The print receives the image of the areas that are below the surface of the matrix. (Fig. 7-1B)

Close-up

In cinematography or video, a "shot" made from very close range, providing intimate detail. (Fig. 23)

Narrative editing

In cinematography or video, selecting from multiple images of the same subject to advance a story.

Sculpture

The art of carving, casting, modeling, or assembling materials into three-dimensional figures or forms; a work of art made in such a manner.

Investiture (textbook calls it investment)

The fire-resistant mold used in metal casting.

Montage

In cinematography or video, the use of flashing, whirling, or abruptly alternating images to convey connected ideas, suggest the passage of time, or provide an emotional effect.

Candid

In photography, unposed, informal.

Additive process

In sculpture, addingmaterial (as in modeling) or assembling materials (as in constructing) to create form. Contrast with subtractive process. (Fig. 9-10)

Carving

In sculpture, the process of cutting away material, such as wood.

Subtractive process

In sculpture, the removal of material, as in carving. Contrast with additive process. (Fig. 9-2)

Lavender oil

An aromatic oil derived from plants of the mint family.

Camera obscura

An early camera consisting of a large dark chamber with a lens opening through which an image is projected onto the opposite surface in its natural colors. (Fig. 8-4)

Kinetoscope

An early motion picture device patented by Thomas Alva Edison with which films could be viewed by looking through the window of a cabinet housing equipment, including light and a high-speed shutter used to create the illusion of movement.

Zoogyroscope

An early motion-picture projector.

Hatcher

An engraving instrument that produces thousands of tiny pits that will hold ink.

Soft-ground etching

An etching technique in which a ground of softened wax yields effects similar to those of pencil or crayon drawings.

Aquatint

An etching technique in which a metal plate is colored with acid-resistant resin and heated, causing the resin to melt. Before printing, areas of the plate are exposed by a needle, and the plate receives an acid bath. Aquatinting can be manipulated to resemble washes. (Fig. 7-12)

Gauffrage

An inkless intaglio process. (Fig. 7-13)

Panorama

An unlimited view in all directions.

Woodcut

Relief printing in which the grain of a wooden matrix is carved with a knife. (Fig. 7-4)

Constructed sculpture

Sculpture in which forms are built up from such materials as wood, paper, string, sheet metal, and wire.

Kinetic sculpture

Sculpture that actually moves (as opposed to providing the illusion of movement). (Fig. 2-70)

Free-standing sculpture

Sculpture that is carved or cast in the round, unconnected to a wall, and thereby capable of being viewed in its entirety by walking around it. Freestanding sculpture can also be designed for a niche, which limits the visible portion of the sculpture.

Relief sculpture

Sculpture that is carved to ornament architecture or furniture, as opposed to freestanding sculpture. Also see bas-relief and high relief. (Fig. 16-9)

High relief

Sculpture that projects from its background by at least half its natural depth. Contrast with bas relief. (Fig. 16-9)

Bas-relief

Sculpture that projects only slightly from its background (from bas, French for "low"). Contrast with high relief. (Fig. 15-20)

Nonporous

Not containing pores and thus not permitting the passage of fluids.

Burnish

To make shiny by rubbing or polishing.

Squeegee

A T-shaped tool with a rubber blade used to remove liquid from a surface.

Sound track

An area on the side of a strip of motion picture film that carries a record of the sound accompanying the visual information.

Lost-wax technique

A bronze-casting process in which an initial mold is made from a model (usually clay) and filled with molten wax. A second, fireresistant mold is made from the wax, and molten bronze is cast in it. (Fig. 9-4)

Video

A catch-all term for several arts that use a video screen or monitor, including, but not limited to, commercial and public television, video art, and computer graphics.

Slow motion

A cinematographic process in which action is made to appear fluid but slower than actual motion by shooting a greater than usual number of frames per second and then projecting the film at the usual number of frames per second.

Graver

A cutting tool used by engravers and sculptors. (Fig. 7-5)

Patina

A fine crust or film that forms on bronze or copper because of oxidation. It usually provides a desirable greenish or greenish blue tint to the metal.

Wide-angle lens

A lens that covers a wider angle of view than an ordinary lens.

Telephoto lens

A lens that is shaped and distanced from the photosensitive surface so that it produces large images of distant objects.

Mezzotint

A nonlinear engraving process in which the matrix is pitted with a hatcher.

Mold

A pattern or matrix for giving form to molten or plastic material; a frame on which something is modeled.

Daguerreotype

A photograph made from a silver-coated copper plate; named after Louis Daguerre, the innovator of the method. (Fig. 8-5)

Contact print

A photographic print that is made by placing a negative in contact with a sheet of photosensitive paper and exposing both to light so that the second sheet of paper acquires the image.

Heliography

A photographic process in which bitumen is placed on a pewter plate to create a photosensitive surface that is exposed to the sun (from helios, Greek for "sun").

Silkscreen printing

A printmaking process in which stencils are applied to a screen of silk or similar material stretched on a frame. Paint or ink is forced through the open areas of the stencil onto paper beneath. Also termed serigraphy. (Fig. 7-1D)

Serigraphy

A printmaking process in which stencils are applied to a screen of silk or similar material stretched on a frame. Paint or ink is forced through the open areas of the stencil onto paper beneath. Also termed silkscreen printing. (Fig. 7-1D)

Rasp

A rough file that has raised points instead of ridges.

Lithography

A surface printing process in which an image is drawn onto a matrix with a greasy wax crayon. When dampened, the waxed areas repel water while he material of the matrix absorbs it. An oily ink is then applied, which adheres only to the waxed areas. When the matrix is pressed against paper, the paper receives the image of the crayon. (Fig. 7-1C)

Emulsion

A suspension of a salt of silver in gelatin or collodion used to coat film and photographic plates.

Lift-ground etching

A technique in which a sugar solution is brushed onto a resincoated plate, creating the illusion of a brush-and-ink drawing.

Film

A thin sheet of cellulose material coated with a photosensitive substance.

Lens

A transparent substance with at least one curved surface that causes the convergence or divergence of light rays passing through it. In the eye and the camera, lenses are used to focus images onto photosensitive surfaces.

Minimalism

A twentieth-century style of non-objective art, primarily seen in sculpture, in which visual elements are simplified and reduced to their essential properties. (Fig. 21-14)

Wood engraving

A type of relief printing in which a hard, laminated, nondirectional wood surface is used as the matrix. (Fig. 7-6)

Drypoint

A variation of engraving in which the surface of the matrix is cut with a needle to make rough edges. In printmaking, rough edges make soft rather than crisp lines. (Fig. 7-8)

Photo silkscreen

A variation of serigraphy, or silkscreen printing, that allows the artist to create photographic images on a screen covered with a light-sensitive gel.

Brass

A yellowish alloy of copper and zinc.

Photosensitive

Descriptive of a surface that is sensitive to light and therefore capable of recording images. (Fig. 8-3)

Dissolve

In cinematography and video, a fading technique in which the current scene grows dimmer as the subsequent scene grows brighter.

Longshot

In cinematography and video, an image or sequence made from a great distance, providing an overview of a scene.

Flash-forward

In cinematography and video, an interruption of the story line with the portrayal of a future event.

Flashback

In cinematography and video, an interruption of the story line with the portrayal of an earlier event.

Editing

In cinematography and video, rearranging a film or video record to provide a more coherent or interesting narrative or presentation of the images.

Fading

In cinematography and video, the gradual dimming or brightening of a scene, used as a transition between scenes.

Parallel editing

In cinematography or video, shifting back and forth from one event or story line to another.

Shutter

In photography, a device for opening and closing the aperture of a lens so that the film is exposed to light.

Negative

In photography, an exposed and developed film or plate on which values—that is, light and dark—are the reverse of what they are in the actual scene and in the print, or positive.

Stop (textbook mentions f-stop, stop-motion, etc.)

In photography, the aperture of a lens, which is typically adjustable; the "f-number."

Print

In printmaking, a picture or design made by pressing or hitting a surface with a plate or block; in photography, a photograph, especially one made from a negative. (Fig. 7-1)

Monotype

In printmaking, a technique in which paint is brushed onto a matrix that is pressed against a sheet of paper, yielding a single print. (Fig. 7-17)

Etching

In printmaking, an intaglio process in which the matrix is first covered with an acid-resistant ground. The ground is removed from certain areas with a needle, and the matrix is dipped in acid, which eats away at the areas exposed by the needle. These areas become grooves that are inked and printed. (Fig. 7-10)

Matrix

In printmaking, the working surface of the block, slab, or screen. In sculpture, a mold or hollow shape used to give form to a material that is inserted in a plastic or molten state.

Filing

Metal or woodworking technique that removes material from the surface, often in an effort to achieve a smooth finish.

Direct-metal sculpture

Metal sculpture that is assembled by such techniques as welding and riveting rather than casting. (Fig. 9-12)

Aperture

Opening.

Digital photography

Photography that stores visual information electronically rather than on film.