art CH1.1
Style
a characteristic way in which an artist or group of artists uses visual language to give a work an identifiable form of visual expression
Actual line
a continuous, uninterrupted line
Contrast
a drastic difference between such elements as color or value (lightness/darkness) when they are presented together
Plane
a flat surface, often implied in composition
Logo
a graphic image used to identify an idea or entity
Implied line
a line not actually drawn but suggested by elements in the work
Line
a mark, or implied mark, between two endpoints
Draftsman
a person who draws
Silhouette
a portrait or figure represented in outline and solidly colored
Woodcut
a print created from an incised piece of wood
Engraving
a printmaking technique where the artist (the engraver) gouges or scratches the image into the surface of the printing plate
Positive shape
a shape defined by its surrounding empty space
Shape
a two-dimensional area, the boundaries of which are defined by lines or suggested by changes in color or value
Collage
a work of art assembled by gluing materials, often paper, onto a surface.
Highlight
an area of lightest value in a work
Pattern
an arrangement of predictably repeated elements
Negative space
an empty space given shape by its surround, for example the right-pointing arrow between the E and x in FedEx
Etching
an intaglio printmaking process that uses acid to bite (or etch) the engraved design into the printmaking surface
abstract
art imagery that departs from recognizable images from the natural world
conceptual art
artwork in which the ideas are most important to the work
Two-dimensional
having height and width
Three-dimensional
having height, width, and depth
Automatic
suppressing conscious control to access subconscious sources of creativity and truth
Principles
the "grammar" applied to the elements of art—contrast, balance, unity, variety, rhythm, emphasis, pattern, scale, proportion, and focal point
Elements
the basic vocabulary of art—line, form, shape, volume, mass, color, texture, space, time and motion, and value (lightness/darkness)
Perspective
the creation of the illusion of depth in a two-dimensional image by using mathematical principles
Space
the distance between identifiable points or planes
Value
the lightness or darkness of a plane or area
Color
the optical effect caused when reflected white light of the spectrum is divided into separate wavelengths
Outline
the outermost line or implied line of an object or figure, by which it is defined or bounded
Background
the part of a work depicted furthest from the viewer's space, often behind the main subject matter
Rhythm
the regular or ordered repetition of elements in the work
Figure-ground reversal
the reversal of the relationship between one shape (the figure) and its background (the ground), so that the figure becomes background and the ground becomes the figure
Volume
the space filled or enclosed by a three-dimensional figure or object
Texture
the surface quality of a work, for example fine/coarse, detailed/lacking in detail