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| Rules or generally recognized principles for how an art form is made and understood; generally accepted practice, technique or device. |
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| A general category characterized by a particular style, form or content. |
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| The arrangement of line, form, mass, texture and color; also the arrangement of the technical qualities of any art form. |
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| Used by artists to control our vision, to create unity and emotional value. It can be actual or implied, curved or straight. |
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| Closely related to line, both in definition and effect. The shape of the object(s) within the composition. The space described by line (has dimension). |
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| The appearance of surfaces in terms of hue (the color itself), value (the range of tonalities from white to black) and intensity (the degree of purity of hue). |
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| With 3-dimensional form the physical bulk. With 2-dimensional objects, it is the illusion of weight. |
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| Apparent roughness/smoothness of the surface of a work of art. |
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| Reiteration of the basic elements within a work of art. |
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| The relationship, either of time or space between recurring elements within a design or composition. |
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| The logic of the repetition or combination. |
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| A feeling of a comfortable relationship between elements. |
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| Any harsh disagreement between elements of composition. |
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| The method of altering the basic elements of composition. |
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| The placement of physically or psychologically equal items on either side of a central axis; the compositional equilibrium of opposing forces. |
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| The balancing of elements in design by placing physically equal objects on both sides of the central axis. Absolute is very rare, but we often in arranging space approach the idea. |
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| The balancing of elements in design by placing dissimilar objects or forms on both sides of the central axis, but with a sense of an equality of weight. Often called “psychological balance.” |
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| The combination of all the elements in such as way as to suggest a completeness or undivided total effect. |
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| To show or bring out noticeable differences when elements are compared or placed side by side. |
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| It can be suggested or actual. In two-dimensional art, it is suggested to give the illusion of action. In three-dimensional art, it actually occurs in three-dimensional objects and forms moving through space to create meaning. |
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| It can be suggested or actual. In two-dimensional art, it is suggested to give shapes an illusion of dimensionality. In three-dimensional art, it reveals three-dimensionality and creates meaning. |
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| (Element of Music) The pulse of music. |
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| (Element of Music) The speed of the beat. |
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| (Element of Music) The simultaneous sounding of musical pitches. When different notes sound together, they create a chord. |
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| (Element of Music) A succession of pitches in time, a logical sequence that has a beginning, middle, and end. |
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| (Element of Music) A very short melody that has both distinctive pitch and rhythm. Used as the building block for longer melodies. |
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| (Element of Music) A regular succession or pattern of beats, most often in groups of two, three, or four. |
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| (Element of Music) The specific, organized movement of music in time. While meters are generic and are used in many compositions (e.g. waltzes are in triple meter), the ______ is the specific pattern of pitches in time that is unique to each piece. |
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| (Element of Music) The use of a strong beat or accent when a weak beat is expected. This disturbs the normal pattern of a meter. |
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| (Element of Music) Levels of volume and changes of volume: loud, soft, increasing (crescendo), decreasing (decrescendo). |
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| (Element of Music) The distinctive tone quality that distinguishes one instrument or voice from another. It also is called tone color. |
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(Instrumental Genre)A composition for soloist(s) and orchestra or instrumental ensemble.
Literally means “contest.” It most often has three movements: fast / slow / fast. |
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(Instrumental Genre) 1. An instrumental composition used as an introduction to a larger
work, e.g., a ballet or an opera. 2. A concert ______ is a single-movement instrumental composition intended as a stand-alone piece. |
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| (Instrumental Genre) An instrumental piece for one or two players, usually in three or four movements. |
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| A musical structure often used as the first movement of a sonata, symphony, or concerto. There are three parts to a form: exposition, development, and recapitulation. There also can be an introduction and a coda (ending section). |
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| (Instrumental Genre) An extended composition for orchestra or large instrumental ensemble, usually consisting of three or four movements. |
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| (Instrumental Genre) 1. A composition in a series of short movements, usually dances. 2. A composition created using musical themes from a longer work, such as an opera, ballet, or stage work. |
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| (Vocal Genre) In opera or oratorio, a solo vocal piece with instrumental accompaniment. Usually a reflective text that does not move the plot forward. |
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(Vocal Genre) A vocal composition for solo voice(s), usually accompanied by piano.
The text often is a setting of a poem. Art songs usually are performed in recital situations. |
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| (Vocal Genre) The monophonic music used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic church. It is sung in unison, usually unaccompanied. |
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| A theatrical genre in which the entire text (libretto) is set to music. |
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A work, often on a religious theme, for soloists, choir, and orchestra.
While most tell stories, they are not meant to be staged. |
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| A vocal line that imitates the rhythms and pitches of speech. A sung conversation or monologue that moves the story forward. Often serves as an introduction to an aria. |
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| French horn, trumpet, trombone, and tuba. |
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| Any instrument that is sounded by striking. Pitched includes, e.g., tympani and mallet instruments. Unpitched includes, e.g., cymbals, triangle, snare drum, and bass drum. The piano also is considered this kind of instrument. |
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| Violin, viola, cello, and bass. The guitar and harp also are these kinds of instruments. |
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| Most commonly the flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and saxophone. |
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| The female voice with the highest range. |
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| The female voice with the lowest range. |
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| The male voice with the highest range. |
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| The male voice with the lowest range. |
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| One melody of primary interest with background accompaniment. |
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| A single, unaccompanied melodic line. |
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| Two or more independent melodic lines of equal interest sounding together. |
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| Traditionally this refers to drawings, paintings and prints. These art pieces are normally created on a flat surface and have height and width but little or no physical depth. |
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| Traditionally this refers to sculpture but it can also refer to newer forms of art such as fabric hangings and holographic images. This is art that has height, width, and depth. |
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| The relationship of a form to the size of the human body. |
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| Art that maintains the appearance of observable reality. |
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| Art in which there can be found no clear reference to observable reality. Non-objective art is abstract but not all abstract art is non-objective. |
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| Art that 1) emphasizes only stylized representation of visible reality or 2) is totally non-objective. This differs from non-objective art in that it can contain symbolic or stylized references to objects found in the natural world. |
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| Representation/Distortion/Abstraction |
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| A way of analyzing the picture or sculpture, a continuum from observable reality, to an altered-but-still-visible reality, to elimination of any recognizable object. |
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| What the art work is about or what the artist is trying to communicate through the art work, the subject matter. |
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| The art of ancient Greece and Rome. |
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| The spot or spots in an art work to which a viewer’s eye is naturally drawn. |
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| A sense of movement or energy in an art work. |
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| A composition that allows the eye to escape the frame. In sculpture this is also a reference to sculptures that contain negative space (openings). |
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| A composition where the eye is continually drawn back inside the frame or back to the sculpture. Also refers to sculptures with little negative space. |
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| The manner in which various components of the artwork are joined together. |
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| The shape or layout of the picture. |
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| A picture that is wider than it is high, a common format for landscapes. |
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| A picture that is higher than it is wide, the common format for portraits. |
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| A non-traditional shape that stresses a diagonal axis. |
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| A round composition, which is uncommon but not untraditional. |
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| A paint used since ancient times that mixes color pigments in an egg yoke or gum binder. This is the paint traditionally used in frescoes and works on paper. |
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| A painting medium invented at the beginning of the 1400’s in which the pigments are suspended in oil, often a linseed oil. |
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| A transparent type of paint made from pigment in a water-soluble binder. |
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| A synthetic paint invented in the 20th century that is water-soluble but that also dries very quickly and dries nearly as hard as rubber or plastic. |
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| A painting done directly on the plaster of a wall. The most stable frescoes are done directly onto wet plaster, allowing the paint to dry into the wall. |
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| The color family or all the variations of a particular primary or secondary color. |
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| Yellow, blue and red – the colors that cannot be made by mixing other colors together. |
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| Green, violet and orange – the colors that can be made by mixing equal amounts of any two primary colors. |
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| The colors in the yellow, orange, and red hues (color families). |
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| The colors in the green, blue, and purple hues. |
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| The comparative lightness or darkness of a color or of any part of a black and white art work. |
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| The purity of the hue. As white is added, the color becomes less saturated. |
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| 1) The device on which an artist places paint just before applying it to the art work, or 2) the range of colors used by an artist in one artwork, the overall use of color. |
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| The creation of a sense of depth in a two-dimensional art work through the use of line and foreshortening. Objects in the “distance” are become progressively smaller. |
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| The creation of a sense of depth in a two-dimensional art work through the use of color or the brightness of light. Objects in the “distance” are shown in progressively muted colors and blurred detail. |
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| A technique for creating depth in two-dimensional art by making parts of a single form that is “closer” to the viewer larger than the parts of a form that are further away. |
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| The use of gradations of light and dark to produce the effect of modeling (three-dimensionality) in drawn or painted forms. |
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| Sculptures that can be viewed from any side and stand independent of any wall. |
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| Sculptures that emerge from a larger background but are still attached to it, intended to be viewed from one side only. |
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| Sculptures that emerge far from the background. |
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| Sculptures that barely emerge from the background, such as on coins. |
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| The shape of the sculpture. |
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| Sculptures made by carving away material to create the form. |
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| Sculptures that are built. The elements are put together or assembled to create the sculpture, for example, pieces of steel welded together. |
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| Sculptures that are cast with molten material being poured into a mold and then hardening to create the final form. |
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| Sculptures constructed from long thin materials such as wire or neon tubes. |
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| The shaping of material, such as clay, by hand to create the form. |
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| 1) A film that forms on the surface of a material such as bronze as it ages. Bronze and copper will turn green if left in the open air. 2) A chemical treatment applied purposely to a sculpture to create a color or texture, or to protect the art from the elements. |
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