Visual Art Vocabulary
A
Aesthetic: Used to describe something as visually pleasing or beautiful in appearance and to the senses.
Appropriation: The act of borrowing imagery or forms to create something new.
Animation: Giving movement to something; the process of making moving cartoons or films that use cartoon imagery.
Allegory: The expression, by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions, of truths or generalization about human existence
Alter-Ego: A fictional self, different from one’s own, in an idealized or transformed version.
Aphorism: A concise statement expressing an opinion or a general truth, often in a clever way.
Assemblage: The incorporation of three-dimensional, non-art materials and found objects into a work, originally inspired by the techniques of collage
Artifact: An object shaped by human craft, especially a rudimentary art form or object, as in the products of prehistoric workmanship.
Abstract: art that looks as if it contains little or no recognizable or realistic forms from the physical world. Focus is on formal elements such as colors, lines, or shapes. Artists often "abstract" objects by changing, simplifying, or exaggerating what they see.
B
Balance:a feeling of equality in weight, attention, or attraction of the various elements within a composition as a means of accomplishing unity.
Bold: Clear and distinct to the eye
C
Calligraphy: a distinctive style of artistic handwriting created by using special pen nibs that allow a calligrapher to vary the thickness of a letter's line elements; an elegant, decorative writing, developed to an art form itself, used to enhance the artistic appeal and visual beauty of handwritten papers and manuscripts.
Collaboration: A working arrangement between an artist and another person, group or institution .
Composition: The arrangement of an artwork’s formal elements.
Content: The subject manner, concepts or ideas associated with a work of art.
Context: The location, information or time frame that informs how a work of art is viewed and what it means
Conceptual art: Works of which the idea is of equal or greater importance as the finished product. It can take many forms, while sometimes it can have no object at all. Emphasizing the way things are made rather than how they look, often raising questions about what a work of art can be.A critical review or commentary, especially one dealing with works of art or literature.
Collage, Photomontage: collage coming from the French world coller (meaning to stick) is a technique in which pieces of paper, cloth and other miscellaneous objectsare pasted onto a flat surface.
Critique: critical review or commentary, especially one dealing with works of art or literature.
Concept: A general idea derived or inferred from specific instances or occurrences.
Culture: The system of beliefs, values and practices that forms one’s life
D
Displacement: The difference between the initial position of something and any later position
Depth of field: in photography, the area in front of and behind the focused point that is sharp. A shallow depth of field is used in portraits to provide a soft backdrop, whilst a greater depth of field is useful for landscapes to ensure everything from the foreground to the background is in focus. Shorter (wide angle) lenses and smaller apertures increase depth of field.
Drawing: the act of representing an image on a surface by means of adding lines and shades, as with a pencil, crayon, pen, chalk, pastels, etc. Also refers to an illustration that has been drawn by hand.
Dynamic: Characterized by continuous change, activity, or progress
E
Elements of design: those qualities of a design that can be seen and worked with independently of its figurative content. They include line, form, value, texture, color, and shape.
Expressionism: Post-World War I artistic movement, of German origin, that emphasized the expression of inner experience rather than solely realistic portrayal, seeking to depict not objective reality but the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse in the artist.
F
Fabrication: The construction or manufacture of an object. Artist working on large or technically difficult pieces often enlist the help of fabrication studios with access to specialized equipment and a skilled labor force
Feminist art movement: the effort of artist internationally to bring increased visibility to the role of women within art history and art practice
Form: the volume and shape of a three-dimensional work, perhaps including unfilled areas that are integral to the work as a whole.
Figurative: Art that depicts recognizable images of the world around us. These images may be acutely accurate or heavily distorted
Fine art: art created for purely aesthetic expression, communication, or contemplation. Painting and sculpture are the best known of the fine arts.
Focus: A point at which rays of light or other radiation converge or from which they appear to diverge, as after refraction or reflection in an optical system:
G
Gesture: Description of figural movement; the embodiment of the essence of a figure.
Genre:one of the categories, based on form, style, or subject matter, into which artistic works of all kinds can be divided.For example, the detective novel is a genre of fiction.\
Graphic: Two dimensional images, including fonts, commonly used in advertising, posters, comic books abd cartoons
H
Hue: the name of the color, such as red, green or yellow. Hue can be measured as a location on a color wheel, and expressed in degrees; the main attribute of a color which distinguishes it from other colors.
Harmony: the unity of all the visual elements of a composition achieved by the repetition of the same characteristics or those which are similar in nature.
I
Iconography: Symbols and images that have particular meaning, either learned or universal.
Identity: How one views oneself, how others perceive you and how a society as a whole defines a group of people
Illusion: Visually misleading perceptually altered space or object
Impasto: This tem has two meanings. It is thick applied pigment such as oil or acrylic, which often carries visible brushstrokes, or marks of a palette knife
Installation art: A work of art created for a specific architectural situation. Installations often engage multiple senses such as sight, smell and hearing.
Intricate: Having many complexly arranged elements
Irony: The incongruity between what is expected to happen and what actually happen and what actually happens, especially when the disparity seems absurd or laughable.
J
Juxtaposition: the state or position of being placed closed together or side by side
K
Kiln: (pronounced "kill") refers to an oven in which pottery or ceramic ware is fired.
Kinetic: having mechanical or moving parts that can be set in motion; art that moves
L
Land art: also known as an earth art or earth works, land arts uses the raw materials of the natural world to make large scale outdoor sculpture
Layer: A single thickness of a material covering a surface or forming an overlying part or segment
M
Metaphor: A relationship between disparate visual or verbal sources where one kind of object, idea, or image is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them
Mosaic: an art medium in which small pieces of colored glass, stone, or ceramic tile called tessera are embedded in a background material such as plaster or mortar. Also, works made using this technique.
Medium: material or technique an artist works in; also, the component of paint in which the pigment is dispersed.
Minimal art: A type of abstract art, primarily three-dimensional, which often uses industrial materials in geometric or repetitive ways
Modernism: An historical period and attitude from the early to the mid-twentieth century characterized by experimentation, abstraction, a desire to provoke and a belief in progress.
Monument: A public work of art, usually large in scale, which commemorates a group of people, historical event or ideal
Mono print: A printmaking technique that yields a singular image that cannot be exactly reproduced.
Montage: literally “putting together”, montage refers to an image or, in film and music, a sequence, composed by assembling and overlapping many different pieces from various sources
Motif: a recurrent or dominant theme in a work of art
Multicultural: Influenced by a diversity of ethnic, religious, cultural or national perspectives.
Mythology: an allegorical narrative often incorporating legendary heroes, gods, and demi-gods of a particular people or culture.
N
Narrative:The representation in form and content of an event or story
O
Oil paint: a type of paint made from color particles (pigment) and linseed oil. Oil paint dries slowly, can be used thick or thin, and with glazes. Because it dries slowly, oil paint is easier to blend from dark to light creating the illusion of three-dimensions. Used by most artists since the Renaissance.
P
Parable: A brief, succinct story that illustrates a moral or religious lesson
Paradox: A statement, proposition or situation that seems to be absurd or contradictory, but in fact is or may be true
Pastel: a drawing material consisting of a stick pigment bound together with resin or gum
Perspective: a visual formula that creates the illusion of depth and volume on a two-dimensional surface. Perspective also infers a particular vantage point of view.
Performance Art: Public, private or documented (for example in film, video, audio, or writing), performance art is a nontraditional art form that features a performance activity by, or directed, by an artist
Persona: a personality that a person projects in public, often representing a character in a fictional context.
Pop Art: Art which draws its subject matter or appearance from mass media and consumer culture
Postmodernism: 20th-century cultural movement marked by reactions against the philosophy and practices of modern movements.
Propaganda: a systematically spread message aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of people.
Public art: Works of art that are designed specifically for, or placed in, areas physically accessible to the general public
Provoke: To stir to action or feeling.
Print:a shape or mark made from a printing block or other object that is covered with ink or paint and then pressed on a flat surface, such as paper or cloth.
Q
R
Realism: a style of painting which depicts subject matter (form, color, space) as it appears in actuality or ordinary visual experience without distortion or stylization.
Redaction: The editing of text to make it suitable for publication. In government documents, refers to the process of removing sensitive or classified information from a document prior to its publication or release to the public
Representational: works of art that depict recognizable people, places or things, often figures and landscapes
S
Satire: exposing human vices or follies to ridicule or scorn
Scale: The comparative size of something in relation to another like thing or its “normal” or “expected” size. Scale can refer to an entire work of art or to elements within it.
Silhouette: an outline drawing of a shape or figure. Originally a silhouette presented a profile portrait filled in with a solid color.
Space: the interval or measurable distance between pre-established points.
Spectacle: A mediated or constructed view or image that is of a remarkable or impressive nature sensationalizing its subject.
Sketch: a rough drawing used to capture the basic elements and structure of a situation often used as the basis for a more detailed work.
Still life: a painting or other two-dimensional work of art representing inanimate objects such as bottles, fruit, and flowers. Also, the arrangement of these objects from which a drawing, painting, or other art work is made.
Social Commentary: The act of expressing an opinion about the nature and society, most often with the intention of promoting charge by calling attention to a given problem
Spectacle: A mediated or constructed view or image that is of a remarkable or impressive nature, sensationalizing its subject
Spirituality: A questioning of humanity’s place in the universe or an interest in self-reflection, morality and meditation.
Spontaneity: voluntary or undetermined action or movement
Self portrait: a portrait an artist makes using himself or herself as its subject, typically drawn or painted from a reflection in a mirror. Also a portrait taken by the photographer of himself, either in a mirror, by means of a remote release, or with a self timer.
Stereotype: a generalized type, or a caricature of a person, place or culture, often negative in tone
Symbolism: The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships.
T
Textile: materials that are woven, knitted or made of cloth
Texture: the tactile surface characteristics of a work of art that is either felt or perceived visually.
U
V
Vantage Point: A point of view, or a place from which subject matter is viewed.
Value: the lightness or darkness of a color; contrasts between light and dark.
Vernacular: Everyday language specific to a social group or region; the everyday language spoken by a people as opposed to the literary language.
Video Art: Artist have used video since the 1960’s, both to make a record of performances and other impermanent works, and as a medium in its own right.
Visual literacy: the ability to effectively interpret images or create and use images as a form of communication.
Volume: the mass of three-dimensional shapes in space.
Voyeur: An observer who derives pleasure from viewing subjects at a distance
W
Wash: used in watercolor painting, brush drawing, and occasionally in oil painting to describe a broad thin layer of diluted pigment or ink. Also refers to a drawing made in this technique.
Watercolor: Pigment bound by a water soluble medium such as gum Arabic. This is usually diluted with water to the point where it is translucent, and applied to paper in broad areas known as washes
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