Art Vocabulary

This list is in the chronological order as given to students. You will find additional vocabulary and explanations on project pages.

1. charcoal- burned sticks used to draw artwork. Made of Carbon. Willow Charcoal is carbonized plant sticks.
2. line- a mark that follows a moving point
3. hazard- Something that could be dangerous to people.
4. medium- the thing an artwork is made with. Artwork made with more than one thing is called “Mixed Media” art.
5. media- Media is the plural form of medium. More than 1 thing that can make art.
6. mixed media- artwork made with more than one thing has mixed media. Ex- ink and graphite, graphite and watercolor
7. portrait- an artwork that looks like a face or a face and shoulders.
8. portrait Orientation- the direction a drawing or painting is made with the paper taller than it is wide (upright).
9. landscape Orientation- the direction a drawing or painting is made with the paper wider than it is tall (sideways).
10. element- colors, objects (forms), lines, space, texture, and shapes used to create an artwork.
11. balance- the arrangements of the visual weight of elements of an artwork.
12. composition- the arrangement of all the elements of an artwork.
13. colored pencil- waxy colored material inside a standard wooden pencil. It is used for 2-D artwork.
14. gradient- smooth blending from light to dark with one color, or from one color to another color.
15. depth- the illusion of distance between elements of a 2-D artwork.
16. foreground- the area nearest the viewer of an artwork, usually near the bottom of the composition.
17. background- the area farthest from viewer of an artwork, usually near the top of the composition.
18. middle ground- the area between the foreground and background.
19. complimentary colors- the two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel.
20. analogous colors- 3-4 colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. Ex.- blue/orange
21. shape- 2-D, flat, a closed line creates a shape.
22. object- a three dimensional element as part of, or the whole artwork.
23. form- a solid object. Also, the illusion of a three dimension object, it is or seems like a solid object you can hold or walk around.
24. space- the area around and between objects. Also, the area inside a hollow object.
25. value- lightness or darkness of a medium, the change from light to dark is called Value Change.