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Curriculum Materials: Amazing Animals in
Art
Glossary
ABSTRACT
Describing something that refers to reality but that is not
representational. For example, forms that are simplified,
exaggerated, or otherwise manipulated may be considered
abstract.
ABSTRACTION
An emphasis on elements of color, line, shape, and texture
in an image, rather than on naturalistic representation. The
subject matter may or may not be recognizable. (Contrast
NATURALISM.
ADDITIVE SCULPTURE
Characteristic of sculpture in which forms are built by the
addition of a material, such as clay or plaster.
(Contrast/Compare SUBTRACTIVE.)
AERIAL PERSPECTIVE
A technique for representing three-dimensional space on a
flat surface. As objects get farther away, aerial or
"atmospheric" perspective shows colors gradually fading to a
bluish gray and details blurring, duplicating the way
distant objects appear to the human eye. (See
PERSPECTIVE.)
ANTHROPOMORPHIC
Ascribing human characteristics to nonhuman things.
ARCHAEOLOGIST
Someone who studies the life and customs of past cultures by
examining their material remains (utensils, stone carvings,
architecture, etc.).
ASYMMETRY
An arrangement of forms that do not appear to be the same on
either side of an imaginary center line.
BACKGROUND
The part of a picture that appears to be farthest from the
viewer. The surface, or PICTURE
PLANE, may be divided into three parts or "zones of
recession" to create the illusion of space: BACKGROUND,
MIDDLE DISTANCE, and
FOREGROUND. The BACKGROUND is
usually shown in the upper third of the picture.
BALANCE
The way art elements are arranged to create a feeling of
stability in a composition. The simplest type of balance is
SYMMETRY - an exact, regular
arrangement of forms on either side of a central axis.
Another type of balance is
ASYMMETRY, in which stability is
achieved with different elements that have equal visual
weight or equal eye attraction.
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW
A scene depicted as if observed from a point sufficiently
far above it in space to include the entire spread of the
subject.
BOTANICAL
Relating to plants or BOTANY, a branch of biology dealing
with plant life.
BURIN
Any of a class of rod-shaped steel
ENGRAVING tools with variously
shaped points and a wooden handle; also called a
GRAVER.
CANVAS
A heavy woven fabric, usually linen, used as a base for oil
painting. Before starting to paint, the artist stretches the
canvas onto a frame and primes it with a white base coat
called "ground," usually made of oil pigment or a
plasterlike substance called "gesso."
CERAMIC
The art of making objects of clay and firing them in a kiln.
CHEVRON
A figure, pattern, or object having the shape of a V; two
diagonal stripes meeting at an angle, usually with the point
up.
COLOR
An element of art with properties of HUE,
VALUE, and intensity, or SATURATION.
Hue is the actual color, such as red, azure, or citron.
Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color,
achieved by the amount of white or black added to it.
Intensity, or saturation, refers to the relative purity of a
particular color and its brightness or dullness. A color is
brightest when it is at full intensity, or saturated--that
is, when it has not been mixed with any other color or with
black or white.
Colors are divided into three categories:
- Primary colors--red, yellow, blue--from which all
other colors are mixed.
- Secondary colors--orange, violet, and green--made by
mixing equal amounts of two primaries.
- Tertiary colors, also known as intermediate colors,
formed by combining a primary color with a secondary
color adjacent to it on the color wheel (blue-green,
red-purple, etc.).
Hues are called COMPLEMENTARY when they appear opposite
each other on the color wheel-red and green, yellow and
purple, blue and orange. Mixing complementaries together
dulls them; placing complementary colors next to each other
intensifies the brightness of each.
Some artists employ
NATURALISTIC or "local" color,
reproducing colors as seen in nature (green grass, red
apple). Other artists use ARBITRARY color, selecting colors
for decorative or expressive purposes (purple grass, red
sky).
Different colors act differently within a picture. Bright
colors are more noticeable to the eye and tend to advance in
a COMPOSITION. Dull colors tend
to recede. Similarly, WARM COLORS--reds, yellows, and
oranges--normally stand out, while COOL COLORS--blue, green,
and purple--recede.
Different colors express different moods. Warm colors,
for example, tend to convey energy, whereas cool colors
convey tranquillity.
COMPLEMENTARY
COLORS (See COLOR.)
COMPOSITION
The organization and structure of a work of art, determined
by the arrangement of shapes, forms, colors, areas of light
and dark, etc.
CONTRAST
The use of opposing elements: light and dark, large and
small, smooth and rough, etc. Contrast makes it possible to
show differences between elements such as light and dark
parts of a picture.
COOL COLORS (See
COLOR.)
DRAFTSMANSHIP
Drawing skill; the use of line to represent shapes and
forms.
ECOLOGY/ECOLOGICAL
The totality or pattern of relations between organisms and
their environment.
ENCAUSTIC
A technique of painting using pigments mixed with hot wax.
The name derives from a Greek word meaning "burned in." It
was one of the principal painting techniques of the ancient
world.
ENGRAVING
A method of cutting or incising a design into a surface,
usually metal, with a sharp tool, especially a
GRAVER. The term also refers to the
print made by inking such an incised surfaced.
ETCHING
A printmaking process in which lines in a metal plate are
eaten away by acid. The polished surface of the plate is
first covered with a thin layer or
GROUND composed of waxes, gums, and
resins; also, the print made by this process.
EXPOSURE
The amount of light that hits photographic film. Exposure
depends on two camera controls: the aperture, which is the
size of the lens opening, and the shutter speed, which
controls the length of time light pours through the opening.
FABLE
A story intended to enforce a useful truth, in which animals
usually speak and act like human beings.
FABULIST
A creator or writer of fables.
FOREGROUND
The part of a picture that appears to be closest to the
viewer. It is usually shown in the lower third of the
picture. (See BACKGROUND.)
GENRE ART
Art that represents the everyday life of "ordinary" people,
depicting them in their homes or in modest rural or urban
settings.
GEOMETRIC SHAPE
A shape with a regular contour, such as a square, triangle,
or circle (contrast ORGANIC
SHAPE).
GILDING
The art of adhering thin metal leaf to a surface to
approximate the effect of solid or inlaid metal.
GILT or GILDED
Covered with gold or a golden finish, achieved by
GILDING or by applying gold paint.
GLAZE
In ceramics, a thin coating of minerals that produces a
glasslike coloring on earthenware. The glaze is fixed by
baking the earthenware in a kiln or oven, which makes the
surface smooth, shiny, and waterproof.
GRAVER
Any of a class of rod-shaped steel
ENGRAVING tools with variously
shaped points and a wooden handle; also called a BURIN.
GROUND
In etching, the acid-resistant coating that is applied to
the surface of the metal plate and through which the drawing
is incised with a needle. In painting, the surface on which
a painting is made.
HUE
A color, like red, yellow, or blue.
INTAGLIO
A printmaking technique that includes all metal-plate
engraving and etching processes in which the printing areas
are recessed; the ink is transferred onto the paper from
lines cut or eaten into the surface.
KILN
A furnace used for firing ceramic wares and sculpture and
for fusing enamels onto metal surfaces.
LANDSCAPE
A painting, drawing, or other representation of natural
scenery. People or evidence of human civilization (houses,
telephone poles, roads) may be present, but they are of
secondary importance.
LINE
The most familiar of all the elements of art, line is
capable of infinite variety and is able to convey all sorts
of moods and feelings. A major characteristic of line is
DIRECTION: a HORIZONTAL line implies quiet and repose; a
VERTICAL line, strength and solidity. Both are stabilizers
and tend to reduce any feeling of movement. DIAGONAL and
SPIRAL lines are used to suggest movement and change.
Lines may also have other characteristics. They may be
thick or thin; wavy, jagged, straight, etc.; actual or
implied (the "line" between a pointing finger and its
object). A line may consist of an edge, contour, or outline
or may be created by the coming together of two areas of
color.
LINEAR
Describes a method of defining form with precise, sharp
outlines (contrast PAINTERLY).
LINEAR
PERSPECTIVE
A technique for representing three-dimensional space on a
flat surface. As objects become more distant, they are shown
progressively smaller and closer together, just as the human
eye sees highway or railroad-track lines appear to diminish
and converge to a "vanishing point" on the horizon. LINEAR
PERSPECTIVE was developed by Renaissance artists in the 15th
century. (See PERSPECTIVE.)
MEDIA
The physical materials with which an artist works--marble,
clay, oil paint, etc. (singular: MEDIUM).
METAMORPHOSIS
A change of physical form, structure, or substance; a marked
change in the form or structure of an animal (as a butterfly
or frog) occurring subsequent to birth or hatching.
MIDDLE DISTANCE
The part of a picture that appears to be equidistant between
the viewer and the distant
BACKGROUND. As the name suggests,
the MIDDLE DISTANCE is
usually shown in the middle or center third of the picture.
MODELING
In sculpture, the technique of manipulating a plastic
substance such as clay; especially the technique of building
up a form in clay by an ADDITIVE
process of shaping and enlarging as distinguished from
carving or cutting away.
In painting or drawing, the depiction of
three-dimensional form. The artist traditionally uses
hatching and subtle gradations of light and dark colors to
create the appearance of shadows and highlights.
NATURALISM/NATURALISTIC
Refers to art in which the subject is presented as closely
as possible to the way it truly appears.
NEOCLASSICAL
A dominant style in European art and architecture in the
late 18th and early 19th century, characterized by a desire
to re-create the spirit and forms of the art of ancient
Greece and Rome.
ORGANIC SHAPE
A shape with an irregular contour, like shapes that appear
in nature; for example, the flowing, twisting shape of a
river or the jagged shape of rocky bluffs (contrast with
GEOMETRIC SHAPES).
OVERLAPPING
A technique for representing three- dimensional space on a
flat surface by showing closer objects in front of and
partially obstructing the view of more distant objects (see
PERSPECTIVE).
PAINTERLY
Characteristic of a method of defining form by juxtaposing
areas of color or of light and shadow, rather than by using
sharp outlines.
PALETTE
The range of colors used by an artist; also the surface on
which a painter sets out and mixes pigments.
PATTERN
Any artistic or decorative design, often involving regular
repetition of shapes or colors.
PERSPECTIVE
A variety of techniques used to create the illusion of
three-dimensional space on a flat surface by mimicking the
effects of distance on human perception (see
AERIAL PERSPECTIVE,
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE,
OVERLAPPING).
PICTURE PLANE
The surface of a picture. Artists working in a
NATURALISTIC style treat the
picture plane as if it were a glass window, using
PERSPECTIVE techniques to create
the illusion of three-dimensional objects and space
extending behind the picture surface. An artist working in a
more ABSTRACT style tends to
acknowledge the two-dimensional flatness of the picture
plane, often by using actual textures, bright, flat colors,
and clear outlines.
PLANE
A flat surface that can be measured by length and width
(two- dimensions).
POLYCHROME
Characterized by several colors.
PRINT
Any one of multiple impressions made on paper from a master
plate or block.
SCALE
The relative size of an object when compared to others of
its kind, to its environment, or to humans themselves.
SHADING
Graduated variations in VALUE, often used in painting to
give a feeling of VOLUME, form, and
depth.
SHAPE
The contours of a form. SHAPES are classified as
GEOMETRIC (squares, circles,
triangles) and ORGANIC (free-form,
natural).
SLIP
In ceramics, a fluid mixture of clay and water.
SPACE
Refers to the distance or area between, around, above,
below, or within things. Some art forms are
THREE-DIMENSIONAL (having height, width, and depth) and
physically occupy space; ceramics, metalwork, weaving, and
sculpture are three-dimensional. All others begin with a
TWO-DIMENSIONAL surface and may then create the illusion of
space or depth. The degree of illusion may vary greatly from
artist to artist and period to period. Generally speaking,
until the mid-19th century, most art aimed at creating a
"window" into a simulated, three-dimensional world.
STYLE
Usually refers to a repeated and characteristic combination
of features found in the work of a particular artist, group,
culture, movement, or historic era (the Mannerist style or
Matisse's Fauve style, for example).
STYLIZATION
The simplification or generalization of forms found in
nature. General characteristics are emphasized rather than
specific ones. Natural forms are represented more in
accordance with artistic ideals or conventions than with
observation of individual examples of those forms.
SUBTRACTIVE
SUBTRACTIVE characteristic of sculpture in which form is
achieved by carving or chiseling away material, usually hard
materials such as stone or wood.
(contrast ADDITIVE).
SURREAL
Having the intense irrational reality of a dream.
SYMBOL
A thing or person that stands for another thing or idea.
SYMMETRY
Balance achieved in a work of art by distributing weight
(objects) equally on both sides of an imaginary center line.
TEXTURE
Either the tactile quality of the surface of a work of art
(ACTUAL texture) or the tactile appearance of the objects
depicted (VISUAL or ILLUSIONARY texture).
THREE-DIMENSIONAL
(See SPACE.)
TONALITY
The arrangement or interrelation of the TONES of a picture.
TONE/TONAL
VALUE
Tone is a term used broadly in reference to a quality in
COLOR (e.g., reddish tone),
VALUE (e.g., light tone, dark tone),
saturation (e.g., deep tone, pale tone), or brightness
(bright tone, dull tone). (See COLOR.)
TRANSLUCENT
Clear; permitting the passage of light.
TWO-DIMENSIONAL
(See SPACE.)
VALUE
An element of art that describes the lightness or darkness
of a color.
VOLUME
The space filled by a three-dimensional figure or object;
the space that a painted figure or object appears to fill.
WARE
Articles of fired clay.
WARM COLORS (See
COLOR.)
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