Art Vocabulary

What is art?
This is a big, big question. Here are some basic distinctions you may want to consider.
The fine arts
The fine arts are what most people mean when they just say art. These include artistic
disciplines such as painting and sculpture. Typically, they are objects created to be beautiful.
Arts and crafts
A craft is a similar, related concept and we do use the term arts and crafts. In arts and crafts,
objects are created by hand. A good example would be tapestry.
The visual arts
These are the ones we look at and include paintings, drawings and photographs. Does cinema
count? For some people, yes. Television?
The plastic arts
These are the ones we can touch. A sculpture and a piece of pottery are examples.
Performance art
This is when you see someone performing and what they do/produce is a piece of art. Theatre
can be called a form of performance art. There is also a relatively new phenomenon of the street
artist.

Pictures
There are many types of pictures. If it is a picture of somebody, it is generally a portrait. if it is
a picture of a place, it is generally a landscape. While a picture of an object by itself is a still
life.
Three genres of picture possibly worth knowing are a watercolour which is painted onto paper,
an oil painting which is normally painted onto canvas (a tent like material) and a sketch which
is normally a preparatory drawing.

Philosophies of art
Art has changed greatly over the ages. There are specific differences between Renaissance art,
Mannerism, the Baroque, the Pre-Raphaelites, Impressionism and Cubism. Generally speaking,
we talk about:

figurative/representational art: this is where the painting/object looks like something from life
abstract art: this is where you see squares, circles and other shapes and you cannot
(immediately) tell what the painting is about
contemporary art: this is the art of now. Its dangerous to use the word modern because
modernism in art actually happened quite a long time ago (the 1930s was probably its heyday).

Where do you see art?

You normally find art in an art gallery. You walk around and admire the exhibits in an
exhibition, while discussing whether the curator has got the lighting right and whether that
picture should really be hung next to that one.
Sometimes you might also find art in museums, but that is much less common. For example, the
British Museum has artefacts from Britains past, while the National Gallery is a collection of
art.

Would you buy it?

Art tends to be expensive. A masterpiece by Van Gogh could be said to be priceless thats so
expensive that no one has the money to afford it. A lot of art forms are part of a nations heritage
and the government protects it from sale abroad.

People and art

Not everyone likes art. People who like to spend a lot of time admiring art are often termed
culture vultures (a fairly idiomatic term), while the idiom for people who dislike art is
philistines.
There is of course art and art. People who appreciate the more elitist forms of art may be said
to have highbrow tastes, while those who prefer the less intellectual art forms may have
lowbrow tastes.

What makes art special?

Another big question. Some people think that it is important for a work of art to be original or
creative. Others would say that what matters is how it appeals to our imagination.

One or two idioms

Perspective shows the depth of a picture how many dimensions you see. If you have/keep a
sense of perspective, then you see a problem/issue for what it is often meaning that it is not as
serious as it seems.
If you describe someone as being no oil painting, be careful. This means that they are ugly.
Read more: Art - vocabulary and exercises -Dominic Cole's IELTS and Beyond
http://www.dcielts.com/ielts-vocabulary/art-vocabulary-and-exercises/#ixzz2h49Yh9bf

The Vocabulary of Art

Elements of Design

Visual Elements of Design

Visual Elements of Design are the component parts of art. The elements help define what
principles are. There cannot be a principle without an element. The elements do not occur in
isolation but one can be dominant. The elements give the artist a vocabulary to use in order to
help explain their art.
Line
A visual path of action, our eyes tend to follow lines.
Line is the connection between two points, it may be actual or implied. Line defines the edge and
shape two dimensionally. Line has different qualities: thick, thin, light, dark, long, short, and
broken. Line can create directional effects. Lines grouped together make patterns and textures.
Lines define the contour of shape by moving in and out, back and forth.
Shape
A defined area. Two-dimensional shapes are areas that stand apart or out from the space around
them because of a definite boundary or difference of value, color, or texture. Shapes may be
geometric, organic, or composite. There are positive and negative shapes which is also referred
to as a figure-ground relationship. A figure-ground reversal occurs when the eye switches from
seeing a shape as foreground and sees it instead as background.
Texture
The surface feel of an object (actual) or the representation of surface character (implied). Texture
can be experienced through both touch and vision.
Space
The area around an object. Mass and forms occupy space. It can be actual (3-dimensional) or
implied on 2-dimensional surfaces.
Value
The range of light and dark on a shape or form or in an entire space. Value is the amount of
lightness or darkness in a color. Red when lightened by white is called pink but is actually a light
red. When gray or green is added to red it is darkened and we may call it maroon. Pink and
maroon are thus light and dark values of red.
Chiaroscuro is the process of taking light into dark to model an organic form to appear three
dimensional on a two dimensional surface. This process was developed in the Renaissance.
Mass/Form
Three-dimensional shape that occupies space and has volume. Forms may be open or closed.

Symmetrical (bilateral) balance is a form of balance achieved by the use of identical

compositional units on either side of a vertical axis.

Asymmetrical balance is a form of balance attained when unequal units create a sense of
equilibrium in the pictorial field.

A focal point is a radial type of balance. It occurs when two or more identical elements
are distributed around a center point to create a repetitive equilibrium.

Color
The character of a surface that is the result of the response of vision to the wavelength of light
reflected from that surface. Color can have emotional, psychological and physiological effects.
Color/Hue
[The word color is the general term which applies to the whole subject - red, orange,

yellow, green, blue, violet, black and white and all possible combinations thereof. Hue is
the correct word to use to refer to just the pure spectrum colors.]
Primary

red, blue, yellow

Secondary

orange, green, violet

Intermediate

red-orange, blue-green, etc.

Complementa two hues directly across one another on the

ry colors
color wheel. The complement of each primary
is the secondary created by mixing the other
two primaries (red-green; blue-orange;
yellow-violet). When placed near each other,
complementary colors tend to vibrate.
Value
lightness or darkness of a color
Intensity
Shade
Tint

brightness or dullness of a color due to its

relative purity.
a color modified by addition of black
resulting in a darker hue
a color modified by addition of white,
resulting in a lighter hue

Principles of Visual Design

The Principles of Design can help explain the qualities of an artwork. They describe the
organization and relationships of the elements of design.
Balance
Balance is a feeling of equality in weight, attention, or attraction of various elements within
an artwork as a means of unifying a composition. It may be symmetrical, asymmetrical or
radial
Proportion
In any composition, the comparison of and relationship between the parts to each other and
to the whole. Proportion can be expressed in terms of a definite ratio, such as "twice as
big" or be expressed by "darker than", "more neutral than", or "more important than."
Rhythm
A continuance, a flow, or a feeling of movement achieved by repetition of regulated visual
units, the use of measure accents, directs the eye through a composition.
Emphasis (Dominance)
The principle of visual organization that suggests that certain elements should assume
more importance than others in the same composition. Dominance contributes to unity
because one main idea or feature is emphasized and other elements are subordinate to it.

Harmony
The related qualities of the visual elements of a composition. Harmony is achieved by
repetition of characteristics that are the same or similar.
Variety
The use of opposing, contrasting, changing, elaborating or diversifying elements in a
composition to add interest and individualism. The counterweight to harmony in a work of
art.
Unity
The appearance of oneness, all parts working together.

Painting Vocabulary [Study online at: quizlet.com/_a1u28]

1.Alla Prima: A painting technique used by the impressionists where a work was usually
completed in one sitting with opaque layers of paint. Many impressionist works were painted
directly from nature
2.Background: The part of a picture closest to the back of the picture plane.
3.Binder: An ingredient in paint that allows it to bind to a surface. A drying oil, such as linseed,
is a binder for oil paint. In acrylic paints, the binder is acrylic polymer emulsion.
4.Blending: The process of mixing adjacent colors to eliminate abrupt divisions and create a
smooth gradation from one color to the next.
5.Chiaroscuro: An Italian term meaning, "light-dark", it refers to substantial changes of light in a
painting that contribute to creating dramatic mood in a work.
6.Contour: A type of line which shows the important interior ridges and edges, or contours of an
object.
7.Dabbing: A painting technique used by impressionist painters where short strokes of paint are
applied to the surface. It was done in layers and contributed to the flickering effect of
impressionist works.
8.Dominance: The importance of certain design elements over others - may relate to any of the
design elements.
9.Edge: Where two things meet.
10.Foreground: The part of a picture closest to the front of the picture plane.
11.Fresco: A type of mural painting done on fresh lime plaster. Pigments are absorbed into the
moist wall and become integrated into the surface
12.Gesso: Originally used in fresco painting, it referred to various mixtures of coarse and smooth
plasters that were applied in layers in preparation for painting.

13.Glazing: Is the process of layering thin transparencies of paint. It creates luminous effects
because light can pass through them and reflect back from the surface of the painting.
14.Ground: The initial layer or surface of the painting which serves as a barrier between the
canvas and the paint.
15.Horizontal: Side to side, suggests calmness.
16.Impasto: A thick application of paint. Rembrandt used it for highlights in a painting. This
technique added both spatial and expressive qualities to his work.
17.Imprimatura: An initial stain of color painted on a ground. It provides a painter with a
transparent toned ground, which will allow light falling onto the painting to reflect through the
paint layers. The term itself stems from the Italian and literally means "first paint layer".
18.Linear: Having to do with a line.
19.Local color: The "actual" naturalistic color of an object -- as opposed to subjective color
which is exaggerated or invented.
20.Matte: A dull surface as opposed to a shiny surface
21.Negative Space: In two and three-dimensional art, the space between and around shapes and
forms
22.Opaque: An application of media that completely covers, for example, any underneath
drawing or color. The opposite of transparent, light cannot pass through it.
23.Picture Plane: The surface of a painting or drawing itself.
24.Point of view: The angle from which the object is seen.
25.Pulling: A painting technique whereby paint is removed by a rag or brush to expose areas
beneath the outermost layer of paint
26.Scumbling: A technique where paint is lightly dragged over a dry surface. It does not entirely
cover the surface and allows underneath areas to show through.
27.Varnish: A mixture of solvent and a resin, such as damar or alkyd. They are used to create an
even gloss or matte finish over a surface that restores the original appearance of wet paint.
28.Vertical: Straight up and down, suggest strength and stability.
29.Wash: A thinned paint made from a solvent (as in the case of oil paint) or water (as in the case
of acrylics).
30.Wet into Wet: A technique of painting when wet paint is applied onto a wet surface. This is
essential for blending colors. Painting is often done by applying paint directly onto wet surfaces
so blending and color mixing can be done directly on the canvas rather than on the palette.