Visual arts - glossary

APPROPRIATION:

Where an artist uses objects or images taken from another artist, culture or context.

BLENDING:

Smoothing edges of colours together so that they have a smooth gradation where they meet.

CANVAS:

Closely woven cloth used as a support for paintings.

CHIAROSCURO:

Italian for light/dark. Shading forms with strong contrasts.

COLLAGE:

Using materials other than the traditional paint, such as cut paper, wood, sand, and so on.

COLOUR:

May be natural, high key, monochrome, cold, warm, psychedelic, etc.

COMPOSITION:

The arrangement of elements in the painting or drawing. These may include balance/imbalance, repetition/singularity, movement/static, vertical/horizontal, simple/complex, symmetry/asymmetry, contrast/similarity, and/or harmony/discord.

CROSSHATCHING:

Parallel lines that crisscross each other at angles, to model and indicate tone.

ENCAUSTIC:

A medium that uses hot wax to bind the pigment.

EXPRESSIVE:

Strong colours and/or vigorous application of media.

EYE LEVEL / HORIZON:

Line running through a composition that represents the artist's viewpoint.

FOREGROUND:

The front of the picture plane (usually at the bottom of the picture).

FOCAL POINT:

The main part of the picture that draws the viewer's attention.

FORM:

An object which has, or appears to have, three dimensional volume and solidity.

FORMAL PROPERTIES:

A description of, textures, colours, composition, size and style.

FROTTAGE:

Textural rubbings.

GESSO:

A white ground material (chalk, white pigment, and glue) for preparing rigid supports for painting.

GLAZE:

Thin transparent layer of coloured paint used to tint the object/colours underneath.

GROUND:

The surface a work is made on, such as paper, canvas, board, hessian.

HATCHING:

Close series of parallel lines that indicate tone and form.

HIERARCHY:

Some parts of the picture being more dominant and/or important than others.

IMPASTO:

A style of painting characterized by thick, juicy colour application.

JUXTAPOSED:

Placed side by side or alongside each other ? often to create contrast.

LIGHT SOURCE:

The direction from which the light is coming (may be single or multiple light sources).

LINE:

Long/short, hard/soft, jagged/smooth, continuous/broken, straight/curved etc.

LOCAL COLOUR:

The actual colour of an object or surface such as green for grass (not purple).

MEDIUM:

The liquid in which pigments are suspended.

MIXED MEDIA:

In drawing and painting this refers to the use of different media in the same picture.

MOSAIC:

Small units of variously coloured materials (glass, tile, stone) set in a mortar.

MONOCHROME / MONOCHROMATIC:

One colour only, or in black and white.

NEGATIVE SPACE:

The area in a picture that is not the subject or the space around/behind objects.

PATTERN:

An arrangement of sequence of shapes.

PERSPECTIVE:

One point, or linear, perspective is based around receding parallel lines that appear to meet at a vanishing point on the horizon or eye level. Atmospheric perspective blurs lines that are further away.

PICTORIAL DEPTH:

How deep or shallow the picture looks ? window to infinity.

PLEIN AIR:

French for "open air" meaning paintings done outside directly from the subject.

PRIMARY COLOURS:

Red, yellow and blue (primary colours can't be mixed from other colours).

PRIMER:

Coating material, usually white, applied to a support to prepare it for painting.

PROPORTION:

The dimensions, or scale, of the various parts of an image or object, in relation to each other and to the object as a whole. The golden ratio 1:1.618 is considered an elegant proportion.

SCALE:

Relative size, for instance one drawing or part of a drawing in relation to another.

SCUMBLING:

Applying a thin, semi-opaque coating of paint over a previously painted surface to alter the colour or appearance of the surface without totally obscuring it.

SFUMATO:

Italian for "shaded off". Gradual, almost imperceptible transitions of colour from light to dark.

SGRAFFITO:

Technique in which the surface layer is incised or cut away to reveal a contrasting colour.

SHAPE:

A two-dimensional surface with a defined area but no volume ? geometric/organic, complex/simple.

SHELLAC:

A yellow resin formed from secretions of the LAC insect, used in making varnish.

SURFACE:

The appearance of top layer which may be rough, smooth, slippery, furry, soft etc.

SYMBOL / SYMBOLIC:

Something that stands for or represents something else.

TONAL MODELLING:

Graduated light to dark tones to make a two-dimensional shape three dimensional.

TONE:

Lightness or darkness of any part of an object or composition.

TRANSPARENT:

Can be seen through.

TROMPE L'OEIL:

French for "deceive the eye". Looks like a real object.

UNDERPAINTING:

The traditional oil painting of using a monochrome as a base for composition.

VANISHING POINT:

The fixed point on the horizon where the perspective lines meet.

VARNISH:

Transparent material that protects the paint (can make it shiny as well).

VOLUME:

The space that an 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:

Water soluble paint which can be transparent or opaque.