ACTUAL TEXTURE is the true features
of a surface, apparent to touch, also know as "local texture".
ACID-FREE PAPER is a higher-quality
paper with greater durability and longevity;
usually made from rag fiber.
ACTION POSE is an energetic or gestural
pose suggesting a frozen movement or action.
ACTUAL LINE is an existing line,
a line which is drawn.
AGGRESSIVE LINE is an emphatically
stated line.
ANTERIOR VIEW is a front view of
the object, figure, or composition.
ANALYTICAL LINE is a probing line
that penetrates space, locating objects in relation to one another
and to the space they occupy.
ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE is a perspective
device based on the observation that as objects
recede in space, light fades,
colors dull, and details become obscure.
ASSEMBLAGE is a three-dimensional
composition (work of art) made of found objects and/or
objects originally created for other purposes.
ASYMMETRY is symmetry in which both
halves of a composition are not identical.
BACKGROUND refers to the more recessive
portions of a pictorial composition within which
objects in the foreground are placed.
BLIND CONTOUR DRAWING is a
drawing describing in a slow, careful manner the outer contour
of the body or object without
looking at the drawing surface.
BLURRED LINE is a smudged, erased,
or destroyed line.
BILATERAL SYMMETRY is symmetrical
balance in which central axis cutting through design
would produce two identical mirror images.
CAST SHADOW is the tonal value created
when an object blocks the light; a dark area
cast upon a surface by a body intercepting
the light from its source.
CHIAROSCURO, an Italian word; the
effects of light and shadow in two-dimensional design, especially
when these are treated as
strong value contrasts.
COLOR is the visual perception of
the quality of light reflected from the surface of objects.
Color is not property of the objects but
the light.
COLLAGE is a composition formed
of materials glued onto a stiff background.
COMPOSITION is the arrangement of
elements within a drawing in relationship to each other
and to the whole.
CONCEPT is the original vision or
idea that leads to the development of a work.
CONCEPTUAL in the context of visual
arts refers imagery resulting from forces within the artist, such
as dreams, emotions, and
imagination. Also conceptual relates to CONCEPTUAL
ARTWORK based on an idea, where the idea
is more important than the 2-D or 3-D image.
CONTENT is the message an artist
or designer hopes to convey in a work, as in expressing a
personal reaction or the importance of
a social issue, for example.
CONTINUOUS LINE is a line that expresses
the subject in a long, unbroken line.
CONTINUOUS TONE refereeing to design
with solid or infinite gradations of values, as in
photograph, rather than the illusion of
values created by broken screen patterns or drawing devices.
CONTOUR LINE is a line that represents
the contour of an object, both the interior contours and
the outer edge.
In figure drawing, it is the line that represents the fullness of human form,
its
dimensional contours.
CROSS-HATCHING is a series of intersecting
sets of parallel lines used to indicate shading
or volume in a
drawing.
CROSS-CONTOUR LINE is the line that
describes an object's surface topography, emphasizing
the volumetric shape
of an object.
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN, the principal
graphic devices available to the artist for composing a work
of art: line, value,
space, form, texture, and color.
EYE LEVEL refers to the physical
eye level of the artist; which in turns determines the position of the
horizon line and the
angle of perception.
FORESHORTENED, a form that is viewed
in such a way that its normal proportions visually appear
shortened or
compressed; also said to be seen in perspective.
FROTTAGE, French word which in English
means rubbing, a method in which a positive image is
created by placing a
paper over an object or textured surface and rubbing over to reproduce its
actual surface.
DESIGN in the context of drawing
is a work intended to serve a specific purpose, either aesthetic
or otherwise.
EMPHASIS is a principle of design
which in the context of drawing stresses one feature as being the
center around which
the rest of design is coordinated.
FORESHORTENING is a method of depicting
objects on a two-dimensional surface so they appear to
lie flat and/or
recede into the distance. For example, a foreshortened circular plate
becomes an ellipse.
FORM is one of the elements of design.
Form refers to the 3-D volume and structure of figure, object, etc.
as opposed to shape,
which refers to 2-D planes. In a broader sense, the manner in which the
in which
a visual symbol of the
figure is presented as a visual idea or concept, i.e., the essence of a work
of art,
its medium or mode of
expression.
GESTURAL APPROACH is a quick graphic
representation of form in which the hand (holding a mark-making
tool) follows the
movement of the eye over the subject's configuration.
GESTURE is the pose or a stance
of a figure; the movement of the body as a means of expression.
GESTALT is the principle that maintains
that the human eye sees objects to their entirety before perceiving
their individual
parts. From the German word for "form," it is based on psychological
theory.
GRADATION, compositional term referring
to the transition from one form to another by changes in value.
GRAY SCALE is a graded range of
equal steps of gray between white and black.
ILLUSIONISTIC SPACE is space or
depth indicated or implied on a two-dimensional surface through devices
such as perspective.
INTEGRITY is the quality of being
whole, applied to design that expresses its material, form, and function
in a direct and
honest manner.
IMPLIED LINE is created by positioning
a series of points so the eye tends automatically to connect them,
a line which is not
drawn but implied as such.
IMPASTO, an Italian word which relates
to painting process where thick paint is applied with brush strokes
or knife that
show as textural effects.
INTERPRETIVE TEXTURE use of a texture
that conveys an idea about an object rather than representing
its visible surface
features.
LINEAR PERSPECTIVE is a system originating
during the Renaissance for depicting the three-dimensional
distance on a
two-dimensional surface, depending upon the illusion that parallel lines
receding into
space converge at a point,
known as a vanishing point.
LINE GESTURE DRAWING is a drawing
which describes interior forms, utilizing line rather than mass.
LOCAL VALUE, the actual colors in
an area of three-dimensional world, translated directly into grays that
represent relative
degrees of lightness or darkness.
LYRICAL LINE is a subjective line
that is gracefully ornate and decorative.
MASS is a quantity of matter extending
shape into three dimensions. Also referred to as form or volume.
MASS-GESTURE DRAWING is a drawing
in which the drawing medium is used to make broad marks to
create mass rather
than line.
MECHANICAL LINE is an objective
line that maintains its width unvaryingly along its full length.
MID-TONE is a color or gray of medium
value.
NEGATIVE SPACE is unoccupied areas
or empty space surrounding the objects or figures in a composition.
NON REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGES refereeing
to works of art that have no relationship to recognizable
objects.
NON-OBJECTIVE IMAGE a type of artwork
with absolutely no reference to reality, it may however, be strong
in terms of subject
matter, narrative and/or content.
ONE -POINT PERSPECTIVE is a system
of spatial illusion in two dimensional art based on the convergence
of parallel lines to
a common vanishing point usually on the horizon.
OPTICAL MIXTURE is illusions of
mid-tome created by juxtapositions of light and dark areas.
ORGANIZATIONAL LINE DRAWING is a
line drawing that provides the structure and basic organization
for a drawing.
PIXEL is an individual dot of light
on a computer monitor that contributes to a total image.
PERSPECTIVE is a means by which
the artist suggests three-dimensional space and depth in drawing.
PERCEPTION is the experience of
seeing in which the action of sensory organs is augmented by experience
and association.
PICTURE PLANE is the 2-Dimensional
surface on which an artist makes his/her marks.
PICTORIAL SPACE is the space involved
on a two-dimensional surface, in which any indication of depth is
illusory and is
provided by devices of the artist.
REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE is an image
suggestive of an object which actually exists.
TACTILE is a term in drawing relating
to the sense of touch.
TONE a term relating to the many
value gradations in the value scale between black and white.
TONING is a process of changing
the color or value of a surface to create a base on which to work.
TONED PAPER is a paper having a
value other than white; either hand-toned or produced commercially.
SCALE is the size or a form in relationship
to the viewer or to other dimensions.
SCHEMATIC is a systematic drawing
procedure generally concerned with structure and the delineation
of a form's essential features, executed
in an orderly and rational manner.
SFUMATO is an Italian term, referring
to the blending of light and dark by almost imperceptible stages, which
eliminates edges and use of line to enclose
form; from the Italian word for "smoke".
SHADING is using drawing tools to
create variations in tone when rendering light patterns or modeling
3-Dimensional forms.
SHAPE is the configuration of an
object. As a visual element, shape usually refers to the 2-Dimensional area
of the figure or an
object within the picture plane, as opposed to form, which implies
3-Dimensional volume,
as well as surface
area.
SIMULATED TEXTURE is the optical
impression created by artistic means that a surface could feel a certain
way if touched; also
called visual texture.
SKETCH is a quickly
executed exploratory drawing often done as a form of notation or as a means of
initiating
a visual idea for later
reference; a drawing made quickly to capture the essential elements of a pose
or
scene or concept.
SOLID is a form that has density
and weight.
SPATIAL PLANE is the position of
a shape or form in the space.
SUBJECTIVE refers to dealing with
the opinions and artistic expression derived primarily from within an
individual rather
than from objective examination of the external world.
SUBTRACTIVE METHOD is a drawing
technique whereby pigment is removed from the surface or ground.
(contrast with
additive method)
SUSTAINED GESTURE DRAWING
is a drawing
which begins with a quick notation of the subject and extends
into a longer
analysis and correction. Also mass and line gesture drawing, and
scribbled line gesture drawing.
SYMBOL is an image that represents
something beyond its intrinsic shape or form by reason or relationship,
association, or
pictorial resemblance.
STRUCTURAL LINE is a line/lines
that helps locate objects in relation to other objects and the space it/they
occupy.
Structural lines follow the direction of the plane they locate.
TEXTURE surface features that can
be felt with hand or interpreted by the eye.
UNDERDRAWING is a preliminary drawing
used to establish the primary structural and proportional;
relationships over
which progressive finishing layers of refinement are added.
VALUE is a degree of lightness or
darkness of surface, also called tone.
VANISHING POINT in perspective drawing,
the imaginary point toward which parallel lines of a form appear
to converge or
vanish.
VISUAL METAPHOR is the use of graphic
or pictorial symbols to convey ideas or concepts beyond their
mere physical
appearance.
VOLUME is the expression of form
as occupying 3-Dimensional space.
WASH is a pigmented solution, such
as ink or watercolor, that can be applied with a brush to create tonal
gradations.
WHIMSICAL LINE is a playful, subjective
line with an intuitive, childlike quality.
