GLOSSARY OF ART TERMS
ABSTRACT
Descriptive of art in which the forms of the visual world are purposefully simplified, fragmented, or otherwise distorted.
ADDITIVE COLOR
Color that results from the mixture of two or more colored lights, the visual blending of separate spots of transmitted colored light.
ALLA PRIMA
Technique in which the final surface of a painting is completed in one sitting, without under painting. Italian for "at the first".
ARCHIVAL
Refers to materials that meet certain criteria for permanence such as lignin-free, pH neutral, alkaline-buffered, stable in light, etc.
BINDER
The nonvolatile adhesive liquid portion of a paint that attaches pigment particles and the paint film as a whole to the support.
BLENDING
Smoothing the edges of two colors together so that they have a smooth gradation where they meet.
BRUSHWORK
The characteristic way each artist brushes paint onto a support..
CARTOON
Other than what we watch on TV it is a planning device in mural painting, often a full-scale line drawing of the design, without color and tone.
CASEIN
A natural protein obtained from cow's milk. Produces a flat, water-resistant film.
CHIAROSCURO
Term is used to describe the effect of light and shade in a painting or drawing, especially where strong tonal contrasts are used.
COMPOSITION
The organization of lines, shapes, colors, and other art elements in a work of art. More often applied to two-dimensional art; the broader term is design.
CONTENT
What a work of art is about, its subject matter as interpreted by a viewer.
CONTEXT
The personal and social circumstances surrounding the making, viewing, and interpreting of a work of art; the varied connections of a work of art to the larger world of its time and place.
CROSSHATCHING
More than one set of close parallel lines that crisscross each other at angles, to model and indicate tone.
CHROMA
The relative intensity or purity of a hue when compared to grayness or lack of hue.
COLLAGE
A technique of picture making in which the artist uses materials other than the traditional paint, such as cut paper, wood, sand, and so on.
COMPOSITION
The arrangement of elements by an artist in a painting or drawing.
CONTOUR
The perceived edges of a three-dimensional form such as the human body. Contour lines are lines used to indicate these perceived edges in two-dimensional art.
DECOUPAGE
The act of cutting out paper designs and applying them to a surface to make an all over collage.
ENCAUSTIC
Literally, to burn in. A painting technique in which the binder is melted wax.
FIGURE-GROUND RELATIONSHIP
In two-dimensional images, the relationship between a shape we perceive as dominant (the figure) and the background shape we perceive it against (the ground). Figure shapes are known as positive shapes, and the shapes of the ground are negative shapes. Psychologists have identified a list of principles we use to decide which shapes are figure and which ground. When none of these conditions are met, figure and ground may seem to shift back and forth as our brain organizes the information one way and then another, an effect known as figure-ground ambiguity.
FIXATIVE
A solution, usually of shellac and alcohol, sprayed onto drawings, to prevent their smudging or crumbling off the support.
FRESCO
A painting technique in which the pigments are dispersed in plain water and applied to a damp plaster wall. The wall becomes the binder, as well as the support.
FUGITIVE COLORS
Pigment or dye colors that fade when exposed to light.
GESSO
A white ground material for preparing rigid supports for painting. made of a mixture of chalk, white pigment, and glue. Same name applied to acrylic bound chalk and pigment used on flexible supports as well as rigid.
GLAZE
A very thin, transparent colored paint applied over a previously painted surface to alter the appearance and color of the surface.
GOUACHE
Opaque watercolors used for illustrations.
GRISSAILLE
A monochromatic painting, usually in gray, which can be used under colored glazes.
GROUND
coating material, usually white, applied to a support to make it ready for painting.
HATCHING
A technique of modeling, indicating tone and suggesting light and shade in drawing or tempera panting, using closely set parallel line.
HUE
The perceived color of an object, identified by a common name such as red, orange, blue.
IMPASTO
A style of painting characterized by thick, juicy color application.
INTENSITY
The purity and brightness of a color. Also called saturation.
MATTE
Flat, nonglossy; having a dull surface appearance. Variant spelling - matt.
MEDIUM
The liquid in which pigments are suspended. Also a material chosen by the artist for working. Plural is media.
MIXED MEDIA
In drawing and painting this refers to the use of different media in the same picture.
MONOCHROMATIC
Having only one color. Descriptive of work in which one hue – perhaps with variations of value and intensity – predominates.
MOSAIC
Picture making technique using small units of variously colored materials (glass, tile, stone) set in a mortar.
MURAL
Also referred to as wall painting. this word describes any painting made directly on the wall.
NONOBJECTIVE
Descriptive of art that does not represent or otherwise refer to the visible world outside itself.
PALETTE
The surface which a painter will mix his colors. Also the range of colors used by an artist.
PATINA
Originally the green brown encrustation on bronze, this now includes the natural effects of age or exposure on a surface.
PERSPECTIVE
A system for portraying the visual impression of three-dimensional space and objects in it on a two-dimensional surface. Linear perspective is based on the observation that parallel lines appear to converge as they recede from the viewer, finally meeting at a vanishing point on the horizon. Linear perspective relies on a fixed viewpoint. Atmospheric perspective is based on the observation that distant objects appear less distinct, paler, and bluer then nearby objects because of the way moisture in the intervening atmosphere scatters light. Isometric perspective uses diagonal lines to convey recession, but parallel lines do not converge. It is principally used in Asian art, which is not based on a fixed viewpoint.
PICTURE PLANE
The literal surface of a painting imagined as window, so that objects depicted in depth are spoken of as behind or receding from the picture plane, and objects in the extreme foreground are spoken of as up against the picture plane. A favorite trick of trompe-l’oeil painters is to paint an object that seems to be projecting forward from the picture plane into the viewer’s space.
PIGMENTS
particles with inherent color that can be mixed with adhesive binders to form paint.
PLEIN AIR
French for "open air". Term describing paintings done outside directly from the subject.
PRIMER
Coating material, usually white, applied to a support to prepare it for painting.
SCUMBLING
The technique of applying a thin, semi-opaque or translucent coating of paint over a previously painted surface to alter the color or appearance of the surface without totally obscuring it.
SHADE
Term for a color darkened with black.
STRETCHER
A wooden chassis for textile supports that has expandable corners.
SYMMETRICAL
Descriptive of a design in which the two halves of a composition on either side of an imaginary central vertical axis correspond to each other in size, shape, and placement.
TEMPERA
Technique of painting in which water and egg yolk or whole egg and oil mixture form the binder for the paint. Used also as a term for cheap opaque paints used in schools.
TINT
Term for a color lightened with white. Also, in a mixture of colors, the tint is the dominant color.
TROMPE L'OEIL
French for "deceive the eye". A painting with extreme naturalistic details, aiming to persuade the viewer that they are looking at an actual object, not a representation.
UNDERPAINTING
The traditional stage in oil painting of using a monochrome or dead color as a base for composition. Also known as laying in.
VALUE
The relative lightness or darkness of a hue. Black is low value. White is a high value.
VARNISH
Generally, a more or less transparent film-forming liquid that dries into a solid film.
VEHICLE
The entire liquid contents of a paint.
VOLUME
The space that a object or figure fills in a drawing or painting.
WASH
A thin, usually broadly applied, layer of transparent or heavily diluted paint or ink.
WATERCOLOR
A technique of painting using a binder made from a water-soluble gum. Watercolors can be transparent or opaque.
WET ON WET
The application of fresh paint over an area on which the paint is still wet