Art can
describe several kinds of things: a study of creative skill, a
process of using the creative skill, a product of the creative
skill, or the audience’s experiencing of the creative skill. The
creative arts (“art”’ as discipline) are a collection of disciplines
(“arts”) which produce artworks (“art” as objects) that is compelled
by a personal drive (“art” as activity) and echoes or reflects a
message, mood, or symbolism for the viewer to interpret (“art” as
experience). Artworks can be defined by purposeful, creative
interpretations of limitless concepts or ideas in order to
communicate something to another person. Artworks can be explicitly
made for this purpose or interpreted based on images or objects. Art
is something that visually stimulates an individual's thoughts,
emotions, beliefs or ideas. Art is a realized expression of an
idea-it can take many different forms and serve many different
purposes.
Here are some common characteristics that art often
displays, it:
encourages an intuitive understanding rather
than a rational understanding, as, for example,
with an article in a scientific journal;
was created with the intention of evoking
such an understanding or an attempt at such an
understanding in the audience;
was created with no other purpose or
function other than to be itself (a radical,
"pure art" definition);
is elusive, in that the work may communicate
on many different levels of appreciation.
may offer itself to many different
interpretations, or, though it superficially
depicts a mundane event or object, invites
reflection upon elevated themes;
demonstrates a high level of ability or
fluency within a medium
confers particularly appealing or
aesthetically satisfying structures or forms
upon an original set of unrelated, passive
constituents.
Art Dictionary for artists,
collectors, students and educators in art production, criticism,
history, aesthetics, and education
Abstract - art that looks as if
it contains no recognizable form
Asymmetrical - not being the same on
both sides
Background - those things that seem the
most distant, as if in the back of the
picture
Canvas - a tightly stretched cloth
surface on which to paint
Center of interest - the main idea or
object in a work of art
Ceramics - objects made of fired clay or
porcelain
Color theory
primary colors - red, yellow, and
blue
secondary colors
- mixtures of two
primary colors red and yellow make orange red and blue
make violet yellow and blue make green
intermediate
colors - one primary
and one secondary color mixed together
neutral colors
- black, white, gray
warm colors
- colors that make you
feel warm - red, yellow, orange
cool colors
- colors that make you
feel cool - blue, green, violet
hue
- colors found on a color wheel
intensity
- quality of brightness
value
- the degree of lightness or
darkness of a color
shades
- colors that have been
darkened with black
tints
- colors that have been
lightened with white
monochromatic
- color combinations
that are shades and tints of one color
complementary
- colors that are
opposite one another on the color wheel red/green,
orange/blue, yellow/violet
analogous
- colors found side by
side on color wheel
Composition - an arrangement of the
elements and principles of art in a work
Depth - showing distance in a picture
Design - a visual composition or plan
before the actual art work has begun
Dimensional
two - a work of
art that has height and width
three
- a work of art that has
height, width, and depth
Elements of art
color - the result of the reflection
or absorption of light by a surface
line
- a mark made by a moving point
(straight, curved, zigzag, broken, etc.)
shape
- a two dimensional element.
Both geometric shapes (circles, triangles, squares,
etc.) and free form or organic shapes (puddles, clouds,
fire, etc.) are used.
form
- a three dimensional element
texture -
the way an object feels or
looks as if it feels
value
- the degree of lightness or
darkness
space
- the open parts between,
inside, and around shapes.
positive space
refers to areas
that are filled in
negative space
refers to areas
that are not filled in
Emphasis - the part of the art work that
is noticed first
Expression - communicating an idea or
feeling through a work of art
Focal point - main idea in a work of
art, center of interest
Forms of art
still life - a work of art made up
of inanimate objects
landscape
- a picture or painting of
scenery
portrait
- a painting of a person or
group of persons
collage
- a composition in which
materials are pasted on a surface
applied design
- cut and pasted to a
surface
computer art
- art produced with the
use of a computer
Image - a likeness or reproduction of an
object
Middle ground - objects placed in the
center of the picture
Mobile - a sculpture with freely moving
parts
Mural - large drawing or painting
applied directly to a wall
Opaque - materials which you cannot see
through
Perspective - technique for indicating
depth; it involves a system of lines that converge at
vanishing points, those places in the distance at which
objects seem to disappear.
Principles of design
Balance - the way objects in
a work of art are placed to
create a sense of
equilibrium. In symmetrical balance
objects are the same on both sides of the
art work. In asymmetrical balance, the
opposite sides are different.
Contrast
- the juxtaposition of two
different things (colors, textures, etc.)
Emphasis
-The point to which the
artist wants to draw the viewers attention
Pattern
- visual repetition of any
element at regular intervals. Patterns create
no feeling of movement.
Rhythm
- The feeling of movement
created by the repetition of such elements
as lines, shapes, colors at irregular
intervals
Scale
- the relationship between the
size of an image in a work of art and the
real-life object.
Unity
- Seeing everything in your
work as a whole picture
Variety
- Diversity of the elements
used (thickness of lines, intensities of colors,
size of shapes, etc.)
Symmetrical - being exactly the same on
both sides
Technique - the process used to create a
work of art (painting, photography, casting, weaving)
Arts
Glossary
