abstract - Art that does not look realistic in which the details of the real objects are simplified, distorted, or rearranged.
Abstract Expressionism - A twentieth-century art movement in which artists believed in the freedom to express feelings and emotions.
achromatic - Without color, an image made of black, white, and values of gray.
action painting - A technique of dripping, pouring, and splattering paint onto large canvases.
actual line - A continuous line without breaks that has a beginning and ending.
additive - A method in which the artist attaches, puts together, or adds material.
aesthetic - Defining beauty and what is beautiful.
analogous colors - A group of three to five colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.
architect - A person who designs buildings, bridges, or cities.
architecture - The art and science of planning and creating buildings.
art - Things that are made to be looked at or experienced, such as drawings, paintings, printing, and sculptures.
art elements - The building blocks or ingredients that make up all art. The elements of art are dots, lines, shapes, forms, space, textures, colors, values, and time (video and performance artwork).
art prints - Printed copies of original artworks.
artist - A person who makes art.
artwork - A work of art, such as a drawing, painting, printing, or sculpture.
assemblage - A sculpture made of different kinds of materials.
asymmetrical balance - A kind of balance in which different lines, shapes, and colors are used on each side of an artwork to make both sides seem equal.
atmospheric perspective - A technique used to create a sense of depth in a two-dimensional artwork by using dull (diffused) colors and fuzzy edges in the middle-ground or background.
background - The part of an artwork that seems to be the farthest away from the viewer.
balance - The way parts of an artwork work together so that the parts seem equal.
beads - Small pieces of material with holes for string.
benday dots or patterns - Patterns of dots or lines used in comic books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed materials.
bird's-eye view - A view from above, or as if from above
blending - Mixing or smudging areas in an artwork to create gradual value changes.
border or frame - a strip that goes around or along the edge of something, often as decoration.
bust - A sculpture showing a person's head, neck, and sometimes upper body.
camera - A machine that uses light to take pictures.
casting - Making a mould and then pouring a liquid material, such as molten metal, plastic, rubber or fibreglass into the mould.
center of interest - The part of an artwork that the viewer notices first.
charcoal - A black crumbly drawing material made of carbon and often used for sketching, under-drawing for paintings, and finished drawings.
cityscape - An artwork that shows a view of a city.
Classical Art - Art made in the style of ancient Greek and Roman artworks.
clay - a natural earthy material that develops plasticity when wet but becomes hard when fired, used for making bricks, pottery, sculptures, etc.
clay slab - A piece of clay that has been made flat by rolling.
close-up view - A detailed view of an object or part of an object.
closed form - A sculpture the has no openings for background space to show through.
coil - To arrange or wind something in a spiral or sequence of rings.
collage - An artwork made by gluing bits of paper, fabric, scraps, photographs, or other materials to a flat surface.
color - The way that we describe an object based on the way that it reflects light. The most common colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, black, white, brown, and gray.
coloring - the process or skill of applying a substance to something to change its original color.
color scheme - An artist's plan for choosing colors for an artwork.
color wheel - A chart that shows primary, secondary, and sometimes tertiary colors in order.
complementary colors - Pairs of color that are opposite each other on the color wheel.
composition - The way the parts of an artwork are put together or arranged.
compositional movement - The way a viewer's eyes travel from one element to another in an artwork.
compositional structure - Common arrangements of art elements that acts a strong foundation or armature and makes the artwork interesting for the viewer.
computer-generated art - Artwork that is created with a computer.
construction - A type of sculpture that is made of parts joined together. It can be made from a variety of materials or from one kind of material.
contour lines - Lines that show an object's shape or form.
contrast - A big difference between two parts of an artwork that makes one or both parts stand out.
converging lines - Two or more lines moving towards or meeting at some common point.
cool colors - The cool colors are green, blue, and violet. These colors appear on one half of the color wheel. These colors create a feeling of coldness and calm/peaceful mood.
craftsmanship - the quality of design and work shown in something made by hand; artistry.
Cubism - A style of abstract in which parts of the subject are distorted, rearranged into geometric planes, and sometimes show more than one view of a subject at the same time.
decorate - To add extra items to something to make it look more attractive.
depth - The appearance of space or distance in a two-dimensional artwork.
design - A plan for the way art elements are placed in an artwork.
design principles - The ways that artists use art elements in an artwork. The principles of design are repetition, pattern, rhythm, movement, balance, contrast, emphasis, proportion, scale, variety, and unity.
detail - A part, individual feature, or item.
diagonal line - A line that is slanted.
diffusion - the scattering of light caused by water, dust, or smoke in the air.
Digital Art - An artwork that uses digital technology as part of the creative of presentation process.
digital image - A picture composed entirely of electronic bits of information.
distortion - A technique used to change the way a subject looks, by bending, stretching, or twisting its shape.
dominant color - The color a viewer sees most in an artwork.
dot - A small point, mark, or spot
drawing - A picture made with a pencil, pen, crayon, marker, or pastel.
earthwork - A kind of art that is made of natural materials and placed in a natural setting. Also called land art.
emotion - A feeling caused from one's situation, mood, or relationships with others.
emphasis - A design principle used to make a part of the artwork stand out, show which part of an artwork is most important, or a focal point.
engraving - Carving the lines of an artwork into a block or metal plate, which is covered with ink and pressed onto paper.
environmental artwork - A kind of art that is made for a specific location and works with the surroundings.
etching - Removing a thin layer of material from a surface with acidic chemicals, which is covered with ink and pressed onto paper.
exact symmetry - The kind of balance created when lines, shapes, colors, and forms, are exactly the same on both sides of an artwork.
expression - A look on a person's face that tells the viewer what the person is feeling.
expressive qualities - Characteristics of art elements that make the elements affect the viewer's feelings. Lines, shapes, colors, and forms all have expressive qualities.
exterior - an outdoor (outside) space or the outside of an object.
eye level - A view from the level of the eyes looking straight ahead.
facial features - Parts of the face, such as eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
facial proportions - The way the features of the human face, such as eyes, nose, and mouth are related to each other in size and placement.
fashion design - The art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and accessories.
fiber - A material such as cloth, yarn, string, or thread.
fiber art - Artwork made from cloth, yarn, string, or thread.
figure - A person or animal in an artwork.
focal point - The part of an artwork at which viewers stop and focus their attention.
focus - The way we see an object, in-focus meaning clear and well-defined, or out-of-focus meaning blurry and indistinct.
folk art - A style of art made by people who have had little formal training in art.
foreground - The part of an artwork that seems to be closest to the viewer.
form - An object that takes up space has height, width, and depth (three-dimensional). Forms can be geometric, organic, or irregular.
found-object - A common or everyday object used in new ways as part of an artwork. Found objects are often used in assemblages and can be natural or manufactured.
free-form shapes - Made-up shapes that may use a combination of geometric and organic shapes that are created from the human imagination or manufactured (human-made).
geometric form - An object that has height, width, and depth whose sides are made up of geometric shapes; such as sphere, cylinder, cube, rectangular prism, pyramid, and cone.
geometric shape - Shapes used in math that have straight lines with angled corners or circular shapes with regular curves. There are two categories of geometric shapes: ovoid and polygon.
Ovoid Shapes: circle, semi-circle, sector, oval and egg.
Polygon Shapes: triangle, square, rectangle, kite (diamond), rhombus, trapezoid, pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, decagon, etc...
gesture drawing - A sketch created with loose arm movements showing the movement of a figure.
Golden Rectangle - A rectangle, divided into sections, that is used by artists to plan the composition of an artwork.
graphic art - A kind of artwork that can be used over and over in products, advertisements, and signs.
gray scale - The range of values from pure black to pure white.
gradient - The transition from one color to another.
grid - A pattern of squares of equal size.
group-portrait - An artwork shows number of people with something in common.
highlights - Areas on a surface that reflect the most light.
horizon line - A line in the distance where the sky seems to meet land or water.
horizontal axis - An invisible horizontal line that divides an artwork into top half and bottom half.
hue - A pure, unmixed color.
ideal form - Perfection of the human figure, shown in Greek and Roman art.
image - a picture of an artwork.
impasto - A technique of painting that creates a bumpy surface by using thick brushstrokes.
implied line - A line that is broken or has spaces, such as a dotted line or dashed line. An implied line can also be a repeated shape, repeated form, or the edge of a shape or form.
Impressionism - An art movement of the late nineteenth century in which artists painted the way light and color looked at a certain moment in time.
installation - An artwork that is placed in a specific indoor or outdoor location and that includes parts of the location in the artwork.
intensity - The brightness or dullness of a color.
interior - An inside (indoor) space or room
interlocking - Having parts that fit together.
irregular form - Made-up forms that may use a combination of geometric and organic forms that are created by the human imagination or manufactured.
jagged line - An angled line that is uneven or ragged.
jewelry - Art that people wear, such as rings, necklaces, and earrings.
landscape - An artwork that shows an outdoor setting typically displaying the beauty of nature with things like plants, trees, fields, hills, and mountains.
landscape design - The analysis, planning, and design of exterior spaces.
layering - A construction technique where one object is placed over another.
line - A mark that has length (one-dimension) which begins at one point and continues to another point for a certain distance in a certain direction. Lines have properties (physical characteristics) and styles (common names).
line direction - The overall way a line moves. Line can move in four directions: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and inward or outward.
Horizontal = Side to side
Vertical = Up and down
Diagonal = Slanted
Inward or outward = Spiral
line properties - The physical characteristics of a line are length, direction, weight, color, continuous or implied (broken), and have focus (clear or blurry).
line style - The common names we give to lines, such as straight, angled, zigzag, jagged, curved, curvy, curly, bumpy, wavy, scalloped, spiral, etc...
line weight - The thickness or thinness of a line.
linear perspective - A technique used to create a sense of depth in a two-dimensional artwork by making parallel lines meet at a vanishing point.
loom - An device for making fabric by weaving yarn or thread.
luminism - An art form in which light is the medium.
mask - A covering for the face.
medium or media - the different consumable materials or supplies that an artist uses to create an artwork.
middle-ground - The part of an artwork that is between the foreground and the background.
mobile - A kind of sculpture that can move.
model - A three-dimensional (3D) likeness of an object usually on a smaller size than the original object.
modeling - The art or activity of making three-dimensional models.
mola - An artwork made by sewing together layers of brightly colored cloth.
monochromatic - A color scheme that includes only different values group of one color.
monoprint - A form of printmaking where the image can only be made once.
montage - A picture made by putting together many pictures, patterns, or videos.
mood - The way an artwork makes you feel or emotion the artist is trying to make you feel.
mosaic - An artwork made by fitting together small pieces of glass, tile, stone, or paper.
motif - A shape, design, or object that is repeated in several places in an artwork.
motion lines - Lines that appear behind a moving object or person, parallel to its direction of movement, to make it appear as if it is in motion. Also known as movement lines, action lines, speed lines, or zip ribbons.
movement - A design principle often using diagonal and curved lines to create the feeling of motion.
multimedia - a variety of artistic media.
mural - A large painting that is created on a wall or ceiling. A mural can be painted on an indoor or outdoor surface.
narrative art - Art that tells a story, using events and characters from history, fiction, or everyday life.
near symmetry - The kind of balance crested when lines, shapes, colors, or forms are nearly the same on both sides of an artwork.
negative shape - In a two-dimensional artwork, the shape of the empty areas around subjects.
negative space - In a three-dimensional artwork, the empty space around the form or within the form where material has been removed.
neon art - Artwork made from glass tubes filled with neon and other gases through which electricity is passed.
neutral colors - The neutral colors are black, white, brown, and gray. These colors are used to create tints, shades, tones, and intensity.
non-objective - Relating to a kind of abstract artwork that does not show recognizable objects.
object - Something that takes up space and can be seen or touched.
one-dimensional (1D) - Having only length, such as a line.
Op Art - A kind of art that includes optical illusions.
optical illusion - In two-dimensional art, effects that trick the viewer into seeing something that is not there.
open form - A sculpture that has an opening or openings where background shows through.
organic form - An object the height, width, and depth whose borders are made of of natural shapes.
organic shape - A natural shape that is made up of curved or irregular lines. Organic shapes appear in nature.
origami - The art of folding paper into forms.
outline - The line along the outside edge of a shape.
overlapping - The placement of objects in-front or behind to partly cover other objects. Artists use overlapping to show which objects are closest to the viewer.
painter - An artist who paints.
painting - A two-dimensional artwork made with paint.
paper cutting - The art of paper designs.
pastel - a drawing/coloring tool made of chalk or oil and pigment that can be easily blended.
pattern - A design made up of repeated lines, shapes, colors, or forms.
personality - The combination of traits or qualities that form an individual's unique character.
perspective - A technique used to create a feeling of depth or distance in an artwork.
photograph - A picture made by using a camera.
photomontage - An artwork made of cut or torn photographs.
photorealism - A style of painting that looks like or almost like a photograph.
pigment - A colored powder commonly mixed with a binder (liquid) to create paint.
piñata - A decorated container that is filled with treats. At parties, children try to break the piñata open with a stick.
pinch pot - Pressing the thumb into a ball of clay, and drawing the clay out into a pot by repeatedly squeezing the clay between the thumb and fingers.
placement - The technique of placing objects higher or lower in an artwork to show depth or distance.
plein air - The practice of painting outdoors; from the French for "open air."
point of view - The position from which an artist show a subject, such as eye-level, worm's eye-level, and bird's eye level.
Pop Art - A twentieth-century art movement that uses popular media, common objects, letters, and numbers in the style of comics and advertisements.
portrait - An artwork that shows a person, a group of people, or an animal as the main subject matter.
pose - The body position of a figure in an artwork.
positive shape - In a two-dimensional artwork, the shapes of the subjects that have empty areas around them.
positive space - In a three-dimensional artwork, the space occupied by the raised area or artwork itself.
pottery - Objects such as bowls made from clay and hardened.
primary colors - The colors red, yellow, and blue. They are mixed together to make other colors on the color wheel.
print - An artwork made by pressing an object covered with wet color against a flat surface.
process - A series of actions or steps takes in order to achieve a particular ending.
profile - A side view of the subject.
proportion - The size and placement of one thing compared with the size and placement of other things.
purpose - The reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists, such as self-expression, narrative, info, time-piece, aesthetic, process, informative, social commentary, entertainment, design, etc...
quadrant pattern - A four-part pattern with four ninety-degree angles.
radial balance - A type of composition in which visual weight extends from the center of the artwork.
radial symmetry - A type of symmetry in which a pattern extends from the center of an artwork, like spokes of a wheel.
relief sculpture - A three-dimensional artwork in which part of the image stands out from the background surface.
repetition - the use of lines, shapes, colors, or forms more than once.
representational - A kind of artwork in which subjects look realistic.
resist - Something that is added to an artwork to protect parts from being changed by a step in the art making process. Often the resist is then removed.
rhythm - Repeating art elements (dots, lines, shapes, forms, space, textures, colors, values, and time) in various ways or the sense of movement created by repeated art elements.
rubbing - An impression made by rubbing on paper laid a design with crayon, pencil, chalk, or other media.
saturation - The brightest of a color. Pure, unmixed colors have high saturation.
scale - The overall size of an artwork.
scene - A place where action, an incident, or something is happening.
sculpture - a form (three-dimensional) artwork often made from stone, wood, metal, or clay.
sculpture in the round - A form (three-dimensional) artwork that can be seen from all sides.
seascape - An artwork that shows a view of water as a setting, such as an ocean, sea, lake, or large body of water.
secondary colors - The colors orange, green, and violet. Each one is created by combining two primary colors
self-portrait - A portrait of an artist made by himself or herself.
sequential composition - The arrangement of the parts of an artwork in a series of steps.
setting - A place or type of surroundings.
shade - A darker value of a color made by mixing a color with black.
shading - the use of value to create shadows on the objects in flat artworks.
shadow - A dark area or shapes produced by an object coming between rays of light and a surface.
shape - A flat (two-dimensional) object that has length and height and creates a closed space. Shapes can be geometric, organic, or free-form.
silkscreen - A printing process in which ink is forced through silk onto paper, cloth, or another surface.
sketch - A rough or unfinished drawing that often shows a plan for an artwork.
smock - An apron worn by artists to protect their clothes.
soft sculpture - A three-dimensional artwork made of soft materials such as canvas or foam rubber.
space - The area or distance around, between, and within objects.
stained glass - Pieces of colored glass that make pictures or patterns.
stamping - Pressing an object covered with wet color against a flat surface.
still-life - An artwork that shows a group of objects placed together in an interesting way.
story cloth - An artwork on cloth or other textile that tells a story.
story elements - Objects in an artwork used to tell a story or narrative.
style - A particular way in which something is done, created, performed, formed, or designed.
subject or subject matter - What an artwork is about.
subtractive - A method in which the artist removes, cuts away, or subtracts material.
Surrealism - An art style that shows impossible, confusing, or dreamlike images.
symbol - A picture, word, figure, or object that stands for something or represents an idea.
symmetrical balance - A kind of balance in which the same lines, shapes, colors, or forms are placed on both sides of an artwork.
symmetry or linear symmetry - The kind of balance created when both sides of something are similar or the same.
tactile (actual) texture - The way a surface of a real object feels when you touch it. Smooth, rough, soft, hard, and furry are words that describe tactile textures.
tapestry - A type of weaving that has colorful designs in it.
terra-cotta - A type of reddish-brown clay that can be used in sculpture.
tertiary colors - Colors that are created by mixing a primary color with a secondary color. Also called intermediate colors.
tessellation - A pattern of shapes that fit together without overlapping and without having empty spaces between them.
textile - Manufactured cloth or other fibers.
texture - The way something feels (tactile texture) or the way a picture appears (visual texture).
theme - The broad idea or a message conveyed by an artwork.
three-dimensional (3D) - Having length, width, and depth, such as a form.
tint - A lighter value of color made by mixing a color with white.
tone - A diffused value of color made by mixing a color with gray.
tool - A device that helps to complete a task.
trompe l'oeil - A style of painting that seems to show a three-dimensional scene on a two-dimensional surface; from the French for "trick the eye."
two-dimensional (2D) - Having both length and width, such as a shape.
unity - A design principle that creates the sense that an artwork is complete and that its parts work together as a whole.
value - The lightness or darkness of a color.
vanishing point - The point on the horizon line where converging lines meet and disappear.
variety - A design principle used to add interest to an artwork by using many different objects and art elements (line, shape, color, form, etc...).
vertical axis - An invisible line that divides the left and right sides of an image or object.
visual (implied) texture - The way a flat picture or artwork looks, as if you could feel it.
visual weight - The importance given to objects of an artwork by their size, color, or placement. Artists use visual weight to create a sense of balance.
warm colors - The colors red, orange, and yellow. These colors appear on one half of the color wheel. These colors create a feeling of warmth and energy.
watercolor - An artists' paint made with water-soluble binder and thinned with water giving a transparent color.
weaving - An artwork made by lacing together (placing over then under) fibers such as yarn, thread, or strips of fabric. Rugs and baskets are kinds of weaving.
worm's-eye view - A view as seen from below, or as if from a low position.
yarn - A spun thread used for knitting, weaving, or sewing.
zigzag - An angled line with regular sharp turns back and forth.