The Artist and His Medium

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the mediums, techniques, visual arts, performing arts, and production roles detailed in the lecture.

Art Production

The process at the heart of making art, which can range from bringing a musical work to life or perfecting it, to creating a tangible object or staging a final performance like theater.

Medium

The material or means an artist selects to express themselves and give concrete shape to their artistic vision.

Technique

The manner of manipulating a medium that demonstrates the artist's level of familiarity and skill with that medium.

Curation

Derived from the Latin word "curare" (meaning to take care); the process of managing, overseeing, and assembling an artistic collection or presentation for an exhibit.

Drawing

A two-dimensional graphic art form considered the fundamental skill needed in the visual arts.

Pencils

Drawing tools made of graphite that range in hardness from soft to hard and in lead thickness from thick to needle-like.

Ink

One of the oldest drawing mediums still in use, producing a wide variety of tonal qualities depending on the tools and application techniques used.

Pastel

A dry drawing medium composed of pigment held together with a gum binder and compressed into stick form.

Charcoal

An organic drawing medium made from burnt wood.

Paper

The most widely utilized ground or surface for two-dimensional visual art.

Painting

The process of applying pigment or paint onto a smooth ground or support such as paper, cloth, canvas, wood, or plaster.

Pigment

The color-giving constituent of paint.

Watercolor

A painting medium where powdered pigments are mixed with water and applied to paper.

Oil Paints

A dense painting medium composed of pigments mixed with an oil binder that creates rich, lustrous colors; discovered by Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck in the 15th century.

Tempera (Tempura)

A paint medium made by mixing pigment with egg yolk (and sometimes egg white) as a binder.

Fresco

A mural painting method where pigments mixed with water are applied directly onto a section of a wall with wet plaster.

Acrylic

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

Mosaic

Wall or floor decoration created by setting small tiles or irregularly cut pieces of colored stone or glass into a surface.

Tesserae

The individual small tiles, stones, or pieces of colored glass used to compose a mosaic.

Collage

Originating from the French word "coller" (meaning to stick); an art technique where materials or found objects are pasted onto a firm support.

Printmaking

The process of reproducing graphic works through the repeated transfer of an ink design from a master printing plate (matrix) onto a surface.

Sculpture

Derived from the Latin word "sculpere" (meaning to carve); the artistic practice of creating three-dimensional forms and figures.

Freestanding Sculpture

A sculpture designed in the round that can be viewed from all sides.

Relief Sculpture

A sculpture in which figures and forms project outward from a flat background surface.

Subtractive Process

A sculptural method involving carving, cutting away, or removing pieces of a material to shape a figure.

Additive Process

A sculptural method involving assembling bits of material or welding metal components together to build a figure.

Process of Substitution (Casting)

A sculptural technique in which a mold is used to reproduce a three-dimensional figure using an alternative fluid material that hardens.

Architecture

The art and science of designing and constructing buildings and habitable structures that fulfill a definite function.

Literature

The art of combining spoken or written words and their meanings into forms that convey aesthetic and emotional appeal.

Poetry

A literary form historically subject to rigid rules regarding line counts and stanza lengths, which has evolved in recent times to become more free-flowing.

Fiction

Literary narratives derived from imagination rather than real events, characterized by elaborate figurative language.

Non-fiction

Literature whose subject matter and content are derived strictly from real-life events and facts.

Drama

Literary compositions, including plays, written specifically to be performed live before an audience.

Music

The art of combining and regulating sounds of varying pitch to produce compositions that communicate diverse ideas and feelings.

Soprano

The highest pitch range of the female singing voice (Komien, 2008).

Contra Alto

A female singing voice classification characterized by a low, rich vocal quality (Komien, 2008).

Tenor

The highest vocal range of the adult male singing voice.

Bass

An adult male singing voice that is deep, low, and rich in tone.

Baritone

A male singing voice register falling between the tenor and bass classifications.

String Instruments

Orchestral instruments that generate sound via vibrating strings, classified into bowed strings (played with a horsehair bow) and plucked strings (plucked by fingers or a plectrum).

Woodwind Instruments

Musical instruments, such as the flute, piccolo, clarinet, oboe, saxophone, and bassoon, that produce sound when the player blows air into them.

Brass Instruments

Wind instruments equipped with a cup-shaped mouthpiece that widen outward into a flared bell-shaped end.

Percussion Instruments

Musical instruments that produce sound when struck, shaken, or hit.

Keyboard Instruments

Instruments played by striking or depressing a series of black and white keys.

Classical Music

A European musical tradition from 1750 to 1830 that formalized and standardized musical structures including the symphony, concerto, and sonata.

Folk Music

A musical genre that originated within traditional popular culture or is created in that vernacular style.

Pop Music

A commercial musical genre that arose during the 1950s, heavily inspired by early rock and roll.

Jazz

A musical genre that emerged from African-American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Blues

A genre of music developed by African Americans in the deep South of the United States in the late 19th century.

Rock Music

A form of popular music that developed as an offshoot of rock and roll and pop music styles.

Alternative Music

A style of rock music that evolved from independent music in the 1980s and gained mainstream popularity during the 1990s.

Dance

Considered the oldest of the arts; the expression of human feelings and ideas through rhythmic bodily movements and gestures.

Ethnologic Dance

Traditional or folk dances specifically associated with cultural, regional, or national groups.

Social or Ballroom Dance

A category of recreational dance generally executed in partner pairings.

Ballet

A theatrical dance genre that originated within the royal courts during the Medieval era.

Musical Comedy (Musicale)

Theatrical dances executed either by a solo dancer or an ensemble within the context of a musical production.

Cinema

A medium in which a sequence of images is projected rapidly onto a screen to produce the optical illusion of movement.

Feature Films

Full-length cinematic motion pictures that are commonly released and exhibited in commercial movie theaters.

Animated Movies

Films constructed from sequential illustrations, models, or computerized artwork designed by artists or animators.

Documentary Movies

Non-fiction films focused on capturing and presenting real-world factual occurrences.

Experimental Films

Motion pictures using literal or abstract sequences of visual images that deliberately operate outside traditional narrative structures.

Educational Films

Motion pictures specifically designed to teach subjects or facilitate learning in classrooms and home settings.

Producer

The individual who manages the financial and business operations of a motion picture.

Screenwriter

The creative professional responsible for generating original screen narratives or adapting existing written literature into screenplays.

Director

The creative head who interprets the script, plans the aesthetic vision of the film, and instructs the cast and crew throughout production.