Art Appreciation Fundamentals and Design Principles

These flashcards cover visual arts classifications, art history periods, formal elements, design principles, and color theory as discussed in the lecture notes.

Form

The 'physical-ness' of an artwork, including the visual elements and principles used to create it.

Content

The theme or ideas found in an artwork, such as social commentary, spiritual sustenance, or self-expression.

Representational Art

Art in which recognizable objects are found; also known as Naturalistic.

Abstract Art

Art where the image begins to break down and a second look may be needed to see recognizable objects.

Non-representational Art

Art where nothing recognizable can be found, only shapes; also referred to as nonfigurative work.

Art

Communication done with the skillful use of media; items that are human-made using creative thinking.

Fine Arts

Also known as major arts, these include practices like Drawing, Sculpture, and Painting and have an academic background.

Applied Arts

Art forms such as Cartoons, Illustration, and Graphic Design that usually aid utilitarian functions.

Modern Art

Art created from the early $1900s$ to about $1975$.

Post-modern Art

Artwork created from $1975$ to more recent times.

Contemporary Art

Artwork created today, which often explores non-traditional materials and may overlap different art types.

Media

The materials that create art, such as graphite, oil paint, acrylic paint, wood, or marble.

Mixed Media

A combination of different materials used to create a single artwork.

Medium

A single material used to create an artwork, such as graphite on paper.

Aesthetics

Values concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty.

Iconography

A system of symbols that represent complex ideas in particular artworks, which can be universal or personal.

National Endowment for the Arts

Organized in $1965$ to introduce art to the public and celebrate excellence in the arts.

Vanishing Point

The deepest point or distance found in a picture plane that pulls the eye in with converging lines, built from linear perspective.

Mass

A visual element that addresses weight, whether visual or real.

Volume

A visual element that addresses bulk and area, whether visual or real.

Contour

The line quality found on the edge or profiles of figures and objects.

Figure-ground Reversal

An image where there is equal tension between the figures and the background, allowing the potential to reverse the two.

Hue

The name of a color, which contains pigment.

Shade

The result of adding black to a hue.

Tint

The result of adding white to a hue.

Primary Colors

The base building block colors: Red, Blue, and Yellow.

Secondary Colors

Mixtures created from the primary set: Violet, Green, and Orange.

Monochromatic

The use of one hue combined with its various shades and tints.

Analogous Colors

Colors that are adjacent or neighboring each other on the color wheel.

Complementary Colors

Colors that are opposites on the color wheel, such as red and green.

Chiaroscuro

Dramatic lighting with high highlights and low shadows, often appearing in Mannerism and Baroque art.

Pointillism

A technique using points of paint placed in a particular fashion so the eye optically mixes the hues.

Balance

The distribution of visual weight; can be symmetric (formal), asymmetric (casual), or radial (circular).

Rhythm

The visual pace or speed created in an artwork via pattern and repetition.

Focal Point

A heightened area of a composition designed for the eye to stay, rest, or contemplate.

Atmospheric Perspective

A method of creating depth by providing a softer focus in the background while the foreground remains crisp.

Foreshortening

A technique that uses diagonals and scale to pull the eye into a $2$-dimensional image.

Fauvism

A modern art style associated with Henri Matisse, characterized by colorful images, flattened space, and pattern making.