analytic line

closely related to classical line, a line that is mathematical, precise and rationally organized. Epitomized by the vertical and horizontal grid.

autographic line

Any use of line that is distinct to the artist who employs it and is therefore recognizable as a kind of “signature” style.

Classical line

See Analytic line

contour line

The visible border of an object in space.

expressive line

A kind of line that springs from the artist’s emotions or feelings – loose, gestural and energetic – epitomized by curvilinear forms, as opposed to analytic or classical line.

hatching

An area of closely spaced parallel lines, employed in drawing and engraving, to create the effects of shading and modeling.

implied line

A line created by movement or direction,  such as the line established by a pointing finger, the direction of a glance or a body moving through space.

foreshortening

The modification of perspective to decrease distortion resulting from the apparent visual contraction of an object or figure as it extends backward from the picture plane at an angle approaching the perpendicular.

linear perspective

A system for depicting three-dimensional space on a two dimensional surface that depends on two related principles that tings perceived as far away ware smaller than things nearer the viewer and that parallel lines receding into the distance converge at a vanishing point on the horizon line.

mass

Any solid that occupies a three-dimensional volume

positive and negative space

Positive space refers to the shapes of objects. 

Negative space is the space between objects or parts of an object, or around it

shape

A two-dimensional, area that boundaries of which are measured in terms of height and width; more broadly, the form of any object or figure.

verisimilitude

Appearing to be true or real. See likeness, realism, representation, and simulacrum

volume

1. Space enclosed or filled by a three-dimensional object or figure. 2. The implied space filled by a painted or drawn object or figure. Synonym: mass.

Atmospheric perspective

A technique often employed in landscape painting designed to suggest three-dimensional space in the two-dimensional space of the picture plane, and in which forms and objects distant from the viewer become less distinct, often bluer or cooler in color, and contrast among the various distant elements is greatly reduced.

chiaroscuro

In drawing and painting, the use of light and dark to create the effect of three-dimensional, modeled surfaces.

tenebrism

From the Italian tenebroso, meaning ‘ murky’, a heightened form of chiaroscuro.

primary colors

The hues that in theory cannot be created from a mixture of other hues and from which all other hues are created, namely, in pigment, red, yellow, blue, and in light, red-orange, green, and blue-violet.

secondary colors

Hues created by combining two primary colors, in pigment the secondary colors are traditionally considered to be orange, green, violet, in light, yellow, magenta, and cyan.

intermediate colors

The range of colors on the color wheel between each primary color and it’s neighboring secondary colors; yellow-green, for example

palette

Literally a thin board, with a thumb-hole at one end, upon which the artist lays out and mixes colors but, by extension, the range of colors used by the artist in the last sense, a closed or restricted palette is one employing only a few colors and an open palette is one utilizing the full range of hues.

analogous colors

Pairs of colors, such as yellow and orange, that are adjacent of each other on the color wheel. .

complementary color

Pairs of colors, such as red and green, that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel.

texture

The surface quality of a work.

actual texture

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impasto

Paint applied very thickly to canvas or support.

Op art (Optical Painting)

An art style particularly popular in the 1960’s in which line and color are manipulated in ways that stimulate the eye into believing it perceives movement.

frottage

The technique of putting a sheet of paper over textured surfaces and then rubbing a soft pencil across the paper.

actual weight

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scale

The comparative size of an object in relation to other objects and settings.

repetition and rhythm

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symmetrical balance

Symmetrical balance is mirror image balance. If you draw a line down the center of the page, all the objects on one side of the screen are mirrored on the other side (they may not be identical objects, but they are similar in terms of numbers of objects, colors and other elements. Sometimes they are completely identical (often seen in architecture).

asymmetrical balance

Balance achieved in a composition when neither side reflects or mirrors the other.

radial balance

A circular composition in which the elements project outward from a central core at regular intervals, like the spokes of a wheel.

absolute symmetry

Term used when each half of a composition is exactly the same.

focal point

In a work of art, the center of visual attention, often different from the physical center of the work.

bilateral symmetry

Term used when the overall effect of a composition is the one of absolute symmetry, even though there are clear discrepancies side to side.