Art Appreciation Quiz 1

Line

A long, narrow mark, or implied mark, between two endpoints, where length is more important than width; a path traced by a moving point—lines can be actual or implied. The edges of objects or scenes can create lines (implied).

Shape

A two-dimensional, or implied two-dimensional area, the boundaries of which are defined by lines or changes in color or value—has height and width only.

Form

Total physical characteristics of an object or event—defined in three dimensions (height, width, depth). Volume is the space filled or enclosed by a three-dimensional object. Mass has (or gives the illusion that it has) weight, density, and bulk.

Value

[sometimes called tone] Defined as the lightness or darkness of a plane or area—the lightness or darkness of tones or colors. White is the lightest value and black is the darkest value—gray is a middle value.

Space

Distance between identifiable points or planes. Perspective is the creation of the illusion of depth/space (three-dimensionality) on a two-dimensional surface. NOTE: Can be empty or occupied, positive or negative, shallow or deep. 

Texture

Tactile qualities of a surface, or the visual representation of those qualities—for example smooth/rough, etc. Categorized as actual or simulated/implied.

Color

Optical effect caused when reflected white light of the visible spectrum is divided into a separate wavelength. ROYGBIV is our visual spectrum—the colors (also called hues) Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. In subtractive color (pigment) there are Primary colors (Red, Yellow, Blue) that cannot be mixed from any other colors; Secondary colors (Orange, Green, Violet (purple)) that are a mixture of 2 Primaries; and Tertiary or Intermediate colors (red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet) that lie between the Primary and Secondary from which it is composed.

Motion

The effect of changing placement in time; can be actual or implied.

Unity

Imposition of order, wholeness, and/or harmony on a design. 

3 types may be seen in artworks:

1) Compositional: organizing the visual aspects of a work, the elements and principles

2) Conceptual: having a cohesive expression of ideas and concepts within the work

3) Gestalt: where the whole seems greater than the sum of its parts—the composition and ideas that go into making a work of art, as well as our experience of it, combine to create a gestalt (German for form or shape; the complete order and indivisible unity of all aspects of an artwork’s design).

Variety

Diversity of different ideas, elements, and/or media in a work. It helps create interest and avoid monotony.

Focal Point

the center of interest or activity in a work—It draws the viewer’s attention to the most important feature(s). Subordination is the opposite; it does not draw our attention, or draws our attention away from particular areas.

Pattern

Arrangement or ordering of predictably repeated elements. Pattern creates rhythm.

Rhythm

Regular or random repetition of elements in a work—the specific placement of elements within a composition controls the rhythm. This placement can help move our eye around the piece, providing actual or implied directional forces that give certain elements a sense of movement through space and time—may provide a visual beat (like a pattern)—rhythm does not necessarily create a pattern because it can be a more random arrangement of things to create the rhythm. 

Proportion

the relationship in size between individual parts and the whole (arms to a body, a handle to its cup).

Scale

refers to the size of an object (or artwork) relative to another object or artwork, or to a system of measurement (one building compared to another building, an Iphone screen to a television screen).

Contrast

A drastic difference between elements (such as color, value, line qualities, or textures).

Balance

Using elements to create a symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial sense of visual weight in a work.