Art Appreciation: The Artist and His Medium, Elements and Principles of Art

Vocabulary flashcards covering the media, processes, elements, and principles of art from Units 3 and 4 of Art Appreciation.

Hatching

A shading technique consisting of a series of thin parallel lines that run in the same direction.

Cross-hatching

A shading technique consisting of a series of thin parallel lines criss-crossing another set of thin parallel lines.

Blending

A shading technique accomplished by using the finger or a paper stump to gradually change the tone from dark to light.

Stippling

A technique that uses the sharp point of a drawing tool to create dot patterns on the surface.

Pastel

A drawing medium composed of dry pigment held together by a gum binder and compressed into sticks.

Impasto

A technique of thickly applying pastel or paint to create an opaque effect.

Sgrafitto

A technique that applies a thick deposit of pastel on the support, then uses a blunt pen to scrape it off and reveal the underlying color.

Charcoal

An organic drawing medium that comes from burnt wood, available in compressed and manufactured forms.

Gouache

A painting medium where pigment is mixed with water and combined with a chalk-like material to give it an opaque effect.

Tempera

A painting medium in which pigment is mixed with egg yolk (sometimes with the white) as a binder.

Fresco

A painting medium where pigment is mixed with water and applied onto a portion of a wall with wet plaster.

Acrylic

A modern synthetic painting medium that uses acrylic emulsion as its binder.

Mosaic

Wall or floor decorations made of small tiles or irregularly cut pieces of colored stones or glass.

Collage

A technique of making art by gluing or pasting materials or found objects onto a firm support.

Relief Printing

A printmaking technique where parts of the surface are cut away, leaving the raised parts to produce the image.

Intaglio Printing

A printmaking process where the lines of the image are cut or incised into a metal plate rather than using the plate's flat surface.

Sculpture

The art or practice of creating three-dimensional forms or figures, originating from the Latin word "sculpere," meaning to carve.

Freestanding Sculpture

Sculptures that can be viewed from all sides.

Kinetic Sculpture

A three-dimensional work of art that is capable of movement caused by wind, water, or other forms of energy.

Subtractive Process

A sculptural method involving the removal or cutting away of pieces from a material to form a figure.

Additive Process

A sculptural method involving constructing a figure by putting together bits of material or welding metal parts together.

Process of Substitution

Also known as casting, a sculptural method that involves using a mold to produce a three-dimensional figure in another material.

Post and Lintel

An architectural principle invented by the Greeks using two vertical supports spanned by a horizontal beam.

Arch

A Roman architectural invention consisting of separate wedge-shaped blocks called voussoirs arranged in a semi-circle.

Barrel Vault

An architectural structure created from a succession of arches.

Groin Vault

An architectural structure formed by the intersection of arches, resulting in four openings.

Cantilever

A structure utilizing a beam or slab that extends horizontally into space beyond its supporting post.

Compressive Strength

The ability of architectural materials to support heavy weights without crumbling or breaking down.

Satire

A genre of drama that portrays human weakness and criticizes human behavior to pave the path to salvation for human actions.

Farce

A light, humorous play emphasizing jokes, humorous physical action, exaggerated situations, and improbable characters.

Line

A path made by a moving point, a series of dots, a prolongation of points, or as described by Paul Klee, "a dot that went for a walk."

Color Wheel

A circular chart organizing visual hues into primary, secondary, and intermediate colors, as well as warm and cool palettes.

Hue

The specific name given to a color.

Value

The lightness or darkness of a color.

Shade

A color variation created when black is combined with a hue.

Tint

A color variation created when white is combined with a hue.

Intensity

The brightness or dullness of a color.

Monochromatic Harmony

A color scheme where a single color in a composition is varied in intensity and value by adding white or black.

Complementary Harmony

A color scheme that results when two colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel are placed side by side.

Analogous Harmony

A color scheme that results when hues adjacent to or beside each other on the color wheel are used in a composition.

Negative Shapes

The unoccupied areas between shapes in an artwork that are not filled by any form.

Natural or Organic Shapes

Shapes found in nature that are irregular, flowing, and not mathematically or perfectly formed, such as leaves, clouds, and human bodies.

Abstract Shapes

Shapes that are simplified, distorted, or stylized versions of real objects.

Non-objective or Biomorphic Shapes

Shapes created purely for design purposes that do not represent anything real and lack recognizable form.

Geometric Shapes

Precise, regular, and mathematically defined shapes, including squares, circles, triangles, and rectangles.

Form

How specific elements in an artwork are organized to produce a unified whole, divided into primary features (physical attributes) and secondary features (design principles).

Content

The message an artist wants to convey through artwork, analyzed across factual, conventional, and subjective levels.

Context

The circumstances influencing how art is produced and interpreted, categorized into primary context (artist's personality and values) and secondary context (historical and societal setting).

The Rule of Thirds

A composition method where two vertical and two horizontal lines divide the picture plane into nine equal parts, placing objects at intersecting points for aesthetic balance.