3D design vocabulary terms

Assemblage

A work made from objects or pieces of objects originally intended for other purposes.

Atmospheric Perspective

The optical illusion that areas closer to the viewer are sharper in detail, color intensity, and value contrast than areas farther away, sometimes used intentionally by artists to create illusions of spatial depth.

Bas-relief

Also known as low-relief; a three-dimensional form that is barely raised from a flat background.

Chasing

Engraving of the surface of a piece, often to help define contours or details.

Complementary colors

Hues that are opposite each other on a color wheel; when mixed, they gray or neutralize each other; when juxtaposed, they intensify each other.

Content

The subject matter of a work of art, plus its emotional, intellectual, symbolic, spiritual, and/or narrative implications, as opposed to its physical form.

Contrast

Juxtaposition of dissimilar areas.

Directional Line

A line that seems to guide the viewer's eye along a particular visual path.

Dominance

Emphasis placed on a particular area or characteristic of a work, with other areas or aspects given subordinate or supporting roles.

Dynamic Form

A three-dimensional work that conveys an illusion of movement and change.

Elements of Design

Qualities of a design that can be seen and worked with independently of the figurative content; they include line, form, value, space, texture, color, and time.

Emphasis

Stress placed on a single area of a work or a unifying visual theme.

Fabrication

Assembling of rigid materials into units by techniques such as welding, bolting, or lamination.

Form

The volume and shape of a three-dimensional work, perhaps including unfilled areas that are integral to the work as a whole.

Found Object

An object not originally created as art but used in or appreciated as a work of art.

Frontal

Seen or made to be seen only from the front, as opposed to pieces that encourage viewing in the full round.

Full Round

Works designed to be appreciated from all sides, in fully three-dimensional space.

Half-round

Three-dimensional works in which only 180 degrees of a full circle is presented as aesthetically interesting.

High-relief

Three-dimensional form raised considerably off a flat background.

Highlight

A brightly lit area that appears as a luminous spot on a work.

Implied Line

A line in a work that is subtly perceived by the viewer but has no physical form; the overall flow of one line into another in a work.

Junk Sculpture

Three-dimensional works of art created from the castoff products of our society.

Kinetic Art

Works designed to move and perhaps change through time.

Laminate

To create a larger unit by gluing together thin sheets of a material or materials.

Layout

The arrangement of a site or design, often conceived as a two-dimensional diagram as seen from above.

Malleable

Capable of being shaped, pliable.

Mixed Media

Combinations of different materials to create a visually and physically coherent whole.

Narrative art

Pieces that tell a visual story.

Negative Form

A shaped space that has no physical existence but is enclosed or defined by positive forms; a void.

Negative Space

A physically unfilled area in a three-dimensional work; a previously filled area that was cut away to reveal the form.

Nonobjective Art

Works that have no apparent relationship to objects from our three-dimensional world; nonrepresentational art.

Point of View

The distance and angle from which something is seen.

Realism

Visual accuracy in artistic representation of known objects.

Relief

Three-dimensional form raised from a flat surface.

Repetition

Use of similar design features again and again.

Representational Art

Artworks intended to present likenesses of known objects.

Scale

The size of an object in relationship to other objects and to its surroundings.

Site-specific

Referring to works expressly designed for and installed in a particular location.

Space

The three-dimensional field with which the artist works, including both filled and unfilled areas.

Static Form

A three-dimensional work that appears stationary.

Subtraction

Creation of a work of art by carving away the excess from a larger piece of material.

Superrealism

Extremely accurate representation of actual three-dimensional objects.

Texture

The tactile surface characteristics of a work of art that are either felt or perceived visually.

Trompe l'oeil

"Fool the eye" optical illusion.

Value

Degree of lightness or darkness.

Visual Balance

The appearance that parts of a work offset each other in such a way that it will not fall over.

Void

Also known as negative form.