ART HISTORIAN TERMS

MS. PEÑATE

WORDS USED BY ART HISTORIANS• FORM & COMPOSITION

• MATERIAL & TECHNIQUE

• LINE

• COLOR

• TEXTURE

• SPACE, MASS, & VOLUME

• PERSPECTIVE & FORESHORTENING

• PROPORTION & SCALE

• CARVING & CASTING

• RELIEF SCULPTURE

• ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS

FORM

• THREE-DIMENSIONAL SHAPES AND ARTWORK HAVE DEPTH AS WELL AS WIDTH AND

HEIGHT/LENGTH.

• THREE-DIMENSIONAL FORM IS THE BASIS OF SCULPTURE.

• BALLS, CYLINDERS, BOXES, AND PYRAMIDS ARE FORMS.

• TWO-DIMENSIONAL ARTWORK CAN ACHIEVE THE ILLUSION OF FORM WITH THE USE

OF PERSPECTIVE AND/OR SHADING TECHNIQUES.

COMPOSITION

• COMPOSITION IS THE PLACEMENT OR ARRANGEMENT OF VISUAL ELEMENTS OR 'INGREDIENTS'

IN A WORK OF ART, AS DISTINCT FROM THE SUBJECT. IT CAN ALSO BE THOUGHT OF AS THE

ORGANIZATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF ART ACCORDING TO THE PRINCIPLES OF ART.

• THE COMPOSITION OF A PICTURE IS DIFFERENT FROM ITS SUBJECT, WHAT IS DEPICTED,

WHETHER A MOMENT FROM A STORY, A PERSON OR A PLACE

• THE TERM COMPOSITION MEANS 'PUTTING TOGETHER' AND CAN APPLY TO ANY WORK OF

ART, FROM MUSIC TO WRITING TO PHOTOGRAPHY, THAT IS ARRANGED USING CONSCIOUS

THOUGHT. IN THE VISUAL ARTS, COMPOSITION IS OFTEN USED INTERCHANGEABLY WITH

VARIOUS TERMS SUCH AS DESIGN, FORM, VISUAL ORDERING, OR FORMAL

STRUCTURE, DEPENDING ON THE CONTEXT.

MATERIAL = ART MEDIUMS

Art Materials – Graphite, Charcoal, Colored Pencils, Crayons, Oil Pastels,

Markers, Watercolors, Paints, Clay, Linoleum & Ink, Paper, etc.

TECHNIQUE

• STYLISTIC APPROACH- THE MANNER IN WHICH A MATERIAL IS USED IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE A

DESIRED LOOK OR FEELING IN AN ARTWORK.

• THE MANNER AND ABILITY WITH WHICH AN ARTIST EMPLOYS THE TECHNICAL SKILLS OF A

PARTICULAR ART OR FIELD OF ENDEAVOR. THE BODY OF SPECIALIZED PROCEDURES AND

METHODS USED IN ANY SPECIFIC MEDIUM/MATERIAL.

IMPASTO PAINTING TECHNIQUE-

THICK/LAYERED PAINT APPLICATION

TENEBRISM/CHIAROSCURO PAINTING TECHNIQUE-

SHARP CONTRACT BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARK AREAS

LINE

• A MARK WITH GREATER LENGTH THAN WIDTH.

• AS AN ART ELEMENT, LINE PERTAINS TO THE USE OF VARIOUS MARKS, OUTLINES AND IMPLIED

LINES IN ARTWORK AND DESIGN.

• LINES CAN BE HORIZONTAL, VERTICAL, OR DIAGONAL; STRAIGHT OR CURVED; THICK OR THIN.

• A LINE HAS A WIDTH, DIRECTION, AND LENGTH.

• A LINE'S WIDTH IS SOMETIMES CALLED ITS "THICKNESS". LINES ARE SOMETIMES CALLED

"STROKES“.

COLOR

• COLOR IS THE ELEMENT OF ART THAT IS PRODUCED WHEN LIGHT, STRIKING AN

OBJECT, IS REFLECTED BACK TO THE EYE.

• COLOR HAS THREE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS: HUE (THE NAME OF THE COLOR,

SUCH AS RED, GREEN, BLUE, ETC.), VALUE (HOW LIGHT OR DARK IT IS), AND

INTENSITY (HOW BRIGHT "RICH AND VIBRANT" OR DULL “SUBTLE

AND GRAYED" IT IS).

• PRIMARY COLORS- (RED, BLUE, & YELLOW). THE ONLY TRUE COLORS. ALL OTHER

COLORS ARE MIXES OF PRIMARY COLORS.

• SECONDARY COLORS- (P + P): (ORANGE, GREEN, VIOLET/PURPLE).

• INTERMEDIATE COLORS- (P + S): EXAMPLES- RED-ORANGE, YELLOW-ORANGE,

BLUE-GREEN, RED-VIOLET

• COMPLEMENTARY COLORS- ACROSS FROM EACH OTHER ON THE COLOR

WHEEL: (RED & GREEN) (ORANGE & BLUE) (YELLOW & VIOLET).

• WHITE IS PURE LIGHT; BLACK IS THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT.

VALUE

• VALUE REFERS TO THE USE OF LIGHTNESS AND DARKNESS IN A PIECE OF ARTWORK

• THE TERMS SHADE AND TINT ARE IN REFERENCE TO VALUE CHANGES IN COLORS. IN PAINTING,

SHADES ARE CREATED BY ADDING BLACK TO A COLOR, WHILE TINTS ARE CREATED BY ADDING

WHITE TO A COLOR.

COLOR IN ART HISTORY-

COLORS CAN PORTRAY EMOTIONS IN ART

TEXTURE

• THE SURFACE QUALITY THAT CAN BE SEEN AND FELT.

• TEXTURE, ANOTHER ELEMENT OF ART, IS USED TO DESCRIBE EITHER THE WAY A THREE-

DIMENSIONAL WORK ACTUALLY FEELS WHEN TOUCHED, OR THE VISUAL "FEEL" OF A TWO-

DIMENSIONAL WORK.

• TEXTURES CAN BE ROUGH OR SMOOTH, SOFT OR HARD.

• TEXTURES DO NOT ALWAYS FEEL THE WAY THEY LOOK; FOR EXAMPLE, A DRAWING OF A

PORCUPINE MAY LOOK PRICKLY, BUT IF YOU TOUCH THE DRAWING, THE PAPER IS STILL

SMOOTH.

SPACE

• THE AREA BETWEEN AND AROUND OBJECTS.

• SPACE IS AN AREA THAT AN ARTIST PROVIDES FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

• SPACE INCLUDES THE BACKGROUND, FOREGROUND AND MIDDLE GROUND, AND REFERS TO THE DISTANCES

OR AREA(S) AROUND, BETWEEN AND WITHIN THINGS.

• THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF SPACE: NEGATIVE SPACE AND POSITIVE SPACE.

• THE SPACE AROUND OBJECTS IS OFTEN CALLED NEGATIVE SPACE.

• SPACE CAN ALSO REFER TO THE FEELING OF DEPTH.

• REAL SPACE IS THREE-DIMENSIONAL; IN VISUAL ART, WHEN WE CREATE THE FEELING OR ILLUSION OF DEPTH,

WE CALL IT SPACE.

MASS & VOLUME

PERSPECTIVE

FORESHORTENING

PROPORTION & SCALE

CARVING

CASTING

RELIEF SCULPTURE

ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS