Art Fundamentals: Theory and Practice- 12th Edition: Ch. 1 Intro

Abstraction

A process or visual effect characterized by the simplification and/or rearrangement of the image

Addition

A sculptural term that means building up, assembling or putting on material

Aesthetic(s)

1. Sensitive to art or beauty. "__________ pleasing" implies intellectual or visual beauty (i.e., creative, eloquent, or expressive qualities of form, as opposed to the mere recording of facts in visual, descriptive, or objective ways). 2. The study or theory of beauty—traditionally a branch of philosophy but now a compound of the philosophy, psychology, and sociology of art—dealing with the definition, inspiration, intent, forms, and psychological effects of art and beauty.

Art

"The formal expression of a conceived image or imagined conception in terms of a given medium." (Sheldon Cheney)

Assemblage

A technique that involves grouping found or created three-dimensional objects, which - are often displayed in situ—that is, in a natural position or in the middle of the room rather than on a wall.

Bauhaus

Originally a German school of architecture that flourished between WWI and WWII. The ________ attracted many leading experimental artists of both two- and three-dimensional fields.

Casting

A sculptural technique in which liquid materials are shaped by being poured into a mold. This technique is also known as substitution.

Concept

1. A comprehensive idea or generalization. 2. An idea that brings diverse elements into a basic relationship.

Conceptual Artists

Artists who focus on the idea or "concept," of the work and are much more concerned with conveying a message or analyzing an idea than with the final product.

Conceptual Perception

Creative vision derived from the imagination; the opposite of optical perception.

Content

The expression, essential meaning, significance, or aesthetic value of a work of art. __________ refers to the sensory, subjective, psychological, or emotional properties we feel in a work of art, as opposed to our perception of its descriptive aspects alone.

Craftsmanship

Aptitude, skill, or quality of workmanship in the use of tools and materials.

Decorative

The two-dimensional nature of artwork or any of its elements, which emphasizes the essential flatness of a surface; also has generically referred to the ornamentation or enrichment of a surface.

Descriptive

A type of art that is based on adherences to actual appearances.

Design

The underlying plan on which artists base their total work. In a broader sense, __________ may be considered synonymous with the term form.

Elements of Art

Line, shape, value, texture and color-the basic ingredients the artist uses separately or in combination to produce artistic imagery. Their use produces the visual language of art.

Expression

1. The manifestation through artistic form of thought, emotion, and quality of meaning. 2. In art, __________ is synonymous with the term content.

Form

1. The total appearance, organization, or inventive arrangement of all the visual elements according to the principles that will develop unity in the artwork; composition. 2. In sculpture, can also refer to the three-dimensional shapes of the work.

Glyptic

1. The quality of an art material like stone, wood, or metal that can be carved or engraved. 2. An art form that retains the color, tensile, and tactile qualities of the material from which it was created. 3. The quality of hardness, solidity, or resistance found in carved or engraved materials.

Graphic

Two-dimensional art processes such as drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, and so on that generally exists on a flat surface and can create the illusion of depth. Commercial applications include posters, newspapers, books, and magazines.

Installations

Interior or exterior settings of media created by artists to heighten the viewers' awareness of the environmental space.

Manipulation

The sculptural technique of shaping pliable materials by hand or with the use of tools, also known as modeling.

Mass

1. In graphic art, a shape that appears to stand out three-dimensionally from the space surrounding it or that appears to create the illusion of a solid body of material. 2. In the plastic arts, the physical bulk of a solid body of material.

Medium (Media)

The material(s) and tool(s) used by the artist to create a visual elements perceived by the viewer.

Modeling

A sculptural term for shaping a pliable material.

Naturalism

The approach to art that is essentially a description of things visually experienced. Pure __________ would contain no personal interpretation introduced by the artist.

Negative Area

The unoccupied or empty space left after the "main" images have been created by the artist. Consideration of the __________ is just as important to the organization of form as the opposite areas.

Nonobjective, Nonrepresentational

A type of art that is completely imaginative, in which elements, their organization and their treatment are entirely personalized and the image is not derived from anything visually perceived by the artist.

Objective

That which is based on the physical reality of the object and reflects no personal interpretation, bias, or emotional.

Optical Perception

A purely visual experience with no exaggeration or creative interpretation of that which is seen; the opposite of conceptual perception.

Organic Unity

A condition in which the components of art (subject, form, and content) are completely independent. Though not a guarantee of "greatness", the resulting wholeness is vital to a successful work.

Picture Frame

The outermost boundary of the picture plane.

Picture Plane

The actual flat surface on which the artist executes a pictorial image. In some cases, the __________ acts merely as a transparent plane of reference to establish the illusion of forms existing in a three-dimensional space.

Plane

1. An area that is essentially two-dimensional, having height and width. 2. A two dimensional pictorial surface that can support the illusion of advancing or receding elements. 3. A flat sculptural surface.

Plastic (Art)

1. The use of the elements to create the illusion of a third dimension on a two-dimensional surface. 2. Three-dimensional art forms such as architecture, sculpture, ceramics, and so on.

Positive Area

The subject—whether representational or nonrepresentational—which is produced by the art elements (shape, line, etc.) or their combination. (Opposite of "background" area)

Principles of Organization

Concepts that guide the arrangement and integration of the elements in achieving a sense of visual order and overall visual unity. They are harmony, variety, balance, proportion, dominance, movement, and economy.

Process Artists

Artists who focus on the execution, or "process" of the work and are much more concerned with the technique they employ in creating the work than with the final product.

Realism

A style of art that emphasizes universal characteristics rather than specific information (e.g., a generalization of all "motherhood" rather than an extremely detailed portrait of a specific woman). As a movement it relates to painters like Honore Daumier in 19th century France and Winslow Homer in the United States in the 1950s.

Relief Sculpture

An artwork, graphic in concept but sculptural in application, utilizing relatively shallow depth to establish images. The space development may range from very limited projection, known as low __________, to more exaggerated space development, known as high __________. __________ is meant to be viewed frontally, not in the round.

Representational Art

A type of art in which the subject is presented through the visual art elements so that the observer is reminded of the actual objects (see naturalism and realism).

Sculpture

The art of shaping three-dimensional materials to express an idea.

Shape

An area that stands out from its surroundings because of a defined or implied boundary or because of differences of value, color, or texture.

Space

The interval, or measurable distance, between points or images; can be actual or illusionary.

Style

The specific artistic character and dominant trends of form noted during periods of history and art movements. __________ may also refer to artists' expressive use of media to give their works individual character.

Subject

1. In a descriptive approach to art, refers to the persons or things represented. 2. In more abstract applications, refers to visual images that may have little to do with anything experienced in the natural environment.

Subjective

That which is derived from the mind, instead of the physical reality, and reflects a personal bias, emotion, or innovative interpretation.

Substitution

In sculpture, replacing one material or medium with another. (See also casting)

Subtraction

A sculptural term meaning the carving or cutting away of material.

Technique

The manor and skill with which artists employ their tools and materials to achieve and expressive effect.

Unity

The result of bringing the elements of art into the appropriate ratio between harmony and variety to give a sense of oneness.

Volume

The measurable amount of defined or occupied space in a three-dimensional object.

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