Art Vocab

Analysis

Analysis is a stage in art criticism in which one focuses on the relationships between the elements of an artwork and principles of its design in hopes of gaining an understanding of the works design qualities, or how well the work is ordered, or put together.

Application

To apply one material to another is to place it on another surface. Application is such an act of placement, as when a mark is left behind by a brush loaded with paint, by an eyedropper loaded with dye, or a crayon, pencil, or pen.

Blending

Is the action of mixing or combining things together. To merge a colour or tone with another so that one is not clearly distinguishable from the other.

Charcoal

Is a black drawing material made of slowly charred wood and available in varying degrees of hardness, it is one of the oldest materials used for drawing. Because of susceptibility to smudging, the finished charcoal drawing needs to be sprayed with a fixative in order to be permanent.

Critic

A person who describes, analyses, interprets, evaluates, and expresses judgments of the merits, faults and value of artworks.

Critical Study

Is the process of analysing an artwork through either written response or creating composition sketches, diagrams showing the primary structure of an artwork, detailed enlargements of small sections, experiments imitating the use of media or technique, or illustrations overlaid with arrows showing leading lines based on the original artwork.

Etching

A process of scratching a design on a hard surface such as glass, plastic or metal plate that can subsequently be inked up and printed.

Form

Is the visible shape or configuration of something.

Graphite

A type of carbon used for pencils and in stick form for drawing. Synthetic graphite is made from carborundum. A soft black mineral substance, a form of carbon, available in powder, stick, and other forms. It has a metallic lustre and a greasy feel.

Hyper Realistic

Hyperrealism is a genre of painting and sculpture resembling a high-resolution photograph. Hyperrealism is considered an advancement of Photorealism

Illusion

A deceptive or misleading image or idea, a perception, as of visual stimuli (optical illusion), that represents what is perceived in a way different from the way it is in reality.

Imagination

The ability of the mind to be creative or resourceful

Influence

The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone or something, or the effect itself

Inspire

Fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

Interpret

To explain the meaning of something

Interpretation

The action of explaining the meaning of something or a stylistic representation of a creative work

Lino Printing

Lino Printing is a form of block printing that involves carving a pattern or design into a linoleum, rubber or vinyl surface that can then be printed from.

Mark making

Describes the different lines, dots, marks, patterns, and textures we create in an artwork. It can be loose and gestural or controlled and neat.

Pen

An implement for drawing or writing (lettering, calligraphy), consisting of a handle and a nib from which ink makes marks.

Pencil

An implement for drawing or writing, consisting of a thin rod of graphite, coloured wax, chalk, charcoal, or another such substance which can be sharpened to a fine point, either encased in wood or held in a mechanical holder.

Perception

Is the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted

Personal Response

Is your own artwork that responds to preparatory research on another artists work clearly showing how you have developed ideas, refined your work, recorded your process and created a personal and meaningful response.

Perspective

The technique artists use to project an illusion of the three-dimensional world onto a two-dimensional surface.

Photo realistic

A painting and drawing style of the mid-20th century in which people, objects, and scenes are depicted with such naturalism that the paintings resemble photographs, an almost exact visual duplication of the subject.

Pinch Pot

Pinching is a pottery technique, fundamental to manipulating clay. Making a pinch-pot is 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.

Rendering

Is a process using colour and shading in order to make an image appear solid and three-dimensional

Response

A reaction to something.

Shape

A two-dimensional area having identifiable boundaries created by lines. The external form, contours, or outline of someone or something.

Technique

A way of carrying out a particular task, especially the execution or performance of an artistic work.

Texture

The tactile quality of the surface of something.

Tie Dye

Produce patterns in (a garment or piece of cloth) by tying parts of it to shield it from the dye

Tint

Is a colour variation that results from mixing the dominant colour with a small quantity of another colour. For example, white paint has the tint of pink because of the addition of a small amount of red to white. Tint can also refer to the name of whatever hue is dominant in a colour.

Tone

Refers to the relative lightness or darkness of a colour. One colour can have an almost infinite number of different tones.

Volume

Is the amount of space that a substance or object occupies, or that is enclosed within a container.

Weave

To interlace long, thin materials, such as yarn or thread to make cloth (fabric) or baskets etc

1 Point Perspective

A form of linear perspective in which all lines (describing straight edges that go from points nearer to points farther) appear to meet at a single point on the horizon.

2 Point Perspective

An application of linear perspective in which all lines (representing straight edges that go from points nearer to points farther) appear to meet at either of two points on the horizon

3D

The quality of being three-dimensional. Having three dimensions – height, width and depth.