Art Vocab: Graphite and basic drawing

Medium

Anything an artist uses to create their work, for example a pen or pencil or paint

Landscape Orientation

Holding a paper/canvas/photo so that the long end is at the top and bottom.

Portrait Orientation

Holding the paper/canvas/photo so that the short edge is towards the top

Left Brain Thinking

Language, logic, math, science. Talking a lot, can be controlling and judgemental voice.

Right Brain Thinking

Visual, creative, non-linear, dreams, artistic.

Contour Lines/contour drawing - T(echniques)

The simple  lines of an object

Blind Contour - T

Drawing a contour line without looking at your paper or lifting a pencil. It is usually one continuous line.

Negative Space

Space inside and around an object.

Positive Space

The object itself. All solid space.

Setting a ground, or just Ground

Laying down a background layer of shade or color as a way to tone your paper or canvas.

Graphite (M)

Pencil, block or powder form. Comes in shades ranging from dark (B pencils) to light (H pencils)  The higher the number the darker or lighter the shade

Still life:  Rule, don’t touch

A group of non-living objects set up for an artist to draw or paint.

Shading and blending (T)

Using a finger, cloth, Tortillon, stomp or other soft object to blend colors together.

Gradation (T)

A range of color from dark to light or light to dark

Tortillon

A blending tool for charcoal, graphite or pastel that is made of paper and linen and has only one pointed end

Stomp

A blending tool for charcoal, graphite or pastel that is made of paper and linen and has two pointed ends

Gesture Drawing-T

Drawing an object in quick movements in order to catch its basic shape and motion on paper.  Usually a warm up drawing or two in a class before a final drawing is done in gesture