Glossary
- Page ID
- 254785
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)| Words (or words that have the same definition) | The definition is case sensitive | (Optional) Image to display with the definition [Not displayed in Glossary, only in pop-up on pages] | (Optional) Caption for Image | (Optional) External or Internal Link | (Optional) Source for Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Eg. "Genetic, Hereditary, DNA ...") | (Eg. "Relating to genes or heredity") |  |
The infamous double helix | https://bio.libretexts.org/ | CC-BY-SA; Delmar Larsen |
| Word(s) | Definition | Image | Caption | Link | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract | Artwork in which the subject matter is stated in a brief, simplified manner. Little or no attempt is made to represent images realistically, and objects are often simplified or distorted. | ||||
| Additive | Refers to the process of joining a series of parts together to create a sculpture; or the process of building up a drawing or 2D work through layering of media or materials. | ||||
| Aerial perspective | Aerial or atmospheric perspective achieved by using bluer, lighter, and duller hues for distant objects in a two-dimensional work of art. | ||||
| Aesthetics | A branch of philosophy; the study of art and theories about the nature and components of aesthetic experience. | ||||
| Installation art | Art designed to exist in a site-specific location whether inside or outside, public, or private. Contemporary art installation materials can range from everyday objects and natural materials to new and alternative media. Often the viewer walks into the installation space and is surrounded by the art. | ||||
| Analogous | Refers to closely related colors; a color scheme that combines several hues next to each other on the color wheel. | ||||
| Appropriation | Intentional borrowing, copying, and alteration of preexisting images and objects. | ||||
| Arbitrary colors | Colors selected and used without reference to those found in reality. | ||||
| Art Criticism | An organized system for looking at the visual arts; a process of appraising what students should know and be able to do. | ||||
| Art Elements | See elements of art. | ||||
| Art | In everyday discussions and in the history of aesthetics, multiple (and sometimes contradictory) definitions of art have been proposed. In a classic article, “The Role of Theory in Aesthetics,” Morris Weitz (1956) recommended differentiating between classificatory (classifying) and honorific (honoring) definitions of art. | ||||
| Artist statement | Information about context, explanations of process, descriptions of learning, related stories, reflections, or other details in a written or spoken format shared by the artist to extend and deepen understanding of his or her artwork; an artist statement can be didactic, descriptive, or reflective in nature. | ||||
| Artistic investigations | In making art, forms of inquiry and exploration; through artistic investigation artists go beyond illustrating pre-existing ideas or following directions, and students generate fresh insights—new ways of seeing and knowing. | ||||
| Art-making approaches | Diverse strategies and procedures by which artists initiate and pursue making a work. | ||||
| Artwork | Artifact or action that has been put forward by an artist or other person as something to be experienced, interpreted, and appreciated. | ||||
| Assemblage | A three-dimensional composition in which a collection of objects is unified in a sculptural work. | ||||
| Asymmetry | A balance of parts on opposite sides of a perceived midline, giving the appearance of equal visual weight. | ||||
| Atmospheric perspective | See aerial perspective. | ||||
| Background | The part of the picture plane that seems to be farthest from the viewer. | ||||
| Balance | The way in which the elements in visual arts are arranged to create a feeling of equilibrium in a work of art. The three types of balance are symmetry, asymmetry, and radial. | ||||
| Brainstorm | Technique for the initial production of ideas or ways of solving a problem by an individual or group in which ideas are spontaneously contributed without critical comment or judgment. | ||||
| Characteristic(s) | Attribute, feature, property, or essential quality. | ||||
| Characteristics of form (and structure) | Terms drawn from traditional, modern, and contemporary sources that identify the range of attributes that can be used to describe works of art and design to aid students in. | ||||
| Collaboratively | Joining with others in attentive participation in an activity of imagining, exploring, and/or making. | ||||
| Collage | An artistic composition made of various materials (e.g., paper, cloth, or wood) glued on a surface. | ||||
| Color relationships | Also called color schemes or harmonies. They refer to the relationships of colors on the color wheel. Basic color schemes include monochromatic, analogous, and complementary. | ||||
| Color | The visual sensation dependent on the reflection or absorption of light from a given surface. The three characteristics of color are hue, value, and intensity. | ||||
| Color theory | An element of art. Color has three properties: hue, value, and intensity | ||||
| Complementary colors | Colors opposite one another on the color wheel. Red/green, blue/orange, and yellow/violet are examples of complementary colors. | ||||
| Composition | The organization of elements in a work of art. | ||||
| Concepts | Ideas, thoughts, schemata; art arising out of conceptual experimentation that emphasizes making meaning through ideas rather than through materiality or form. | ||||
| Constructed environment | Human-made or modified spaces and places; art and design-related disciplines such as architecture, urban planning, interior design, game design, virtual environment, and landscape design shape the places in which people live, work, and play. | ||||
| Contemporary artistic practice | Processes, techniques, media, procedures, behaviors, actions, and conceptual approaches by which an artist or designer makes work using methods that, though they may be based on traditional practices, reflect changing contextual, conceptual, aesthetic, material, and technical possibilities; examples include artwork made with appropriated images or materials, social practice artworks that involve the audience, performance art, new media works, installations, and artistic interventions in public spaces. | ||||
| Contemporary criteria | Principles by which a work of art or design is understood and evaluated in contemporary contexts which, for example, include judging not necessarily on originality, but rather on how the work is re-contextualized to create new meanings. | ||||
| Content | Message, idea, or feelings expressed in a work of art. | ||||
| Context | Interrelated conditions surrounding the creation and experiencing of an artwork, including the artist, viewer/audiences, time, culture, presentation, and location of the artwork’s creation and reception. | ||||
| Contour drawings | The drawing of an object as though the drawing tool is moving along all the edges and ridges of the form. | ||||
| Contrast | Difference between two or more elements (e.g., value, color, texture) in a composition; juxtaposition of dissimilar elements in a work of art; also, the degree of difference between the lightest and darkest parts of a picture. | ||||
| Cool colors | Colors suggesting coolness: blue, green, and violet. | ||||
| Copyright | Form of protection grounded in the US Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression, covering both published and unpublished works. | ||||
| Creative Commons | Copyright license templates that provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use creative work on conditions of the maker’s choice (http://creativecommons.org/). | ||||
| Criteria | In art and design, principles that direct attention to significant aspects of a work and provide guidelines for evaluating its success. | ||||
| Critique | Individual or collective reflective process by which artists or designers experience, analyze, and evaluate a work of art or design. | ||||
| Cultural contexts | Ideas, beliefs, values, norms, customs, traits, practices, and characteristics shared by individuals within a group that form the circumstances surrounding the creation, presentation, preservation, and response to art. | ||||
| Cultural traditions | Pattern of practices and beliefs within a societal group. | ||||
| Curate | Collect, sort, and organize objects, artworks, and artifacts; preserve and maintain historical records and catalogue exhibits. | ||||
| Curator | Person responsible for acquiring, caring for, and exhibiting objects, artworks, and artifacts. | ||||
| Curvature | The act of curving or bending. One of the characteristics of line. | ||||
| Curvilinear | Formed or enclosed by curved lines. | ||||
| Design | The plan, conception, or organization of a work of art; the arrangement of independent parts (the elements of art) to form a coordinated whole. | ||||
| Design | Application of creativity to planning the optimal solution to a given problem and communication of that plan to others. | ||||
| Digital format | Anything in electronic form including photos, images, video, audio files, or artwork created or presented through electronic means; a gallery of artwork viewed electronically through any device. | ||||
| Distortion | Condition of being twisted or bent out of shape. In art, distortion is often used as an expressive technique. | ||||
| Dominance | The importance of the emphasis of one aspect in relation to all other aspects of a design. | ||||
| Dominant element/object | The largest most exciting and exceptional in distinctive qualities. | ||||
| Economy | The elimination or paring down elements that do no not add to the overall structure of an artwork | ||||
| Elements of art | Sensory components used to create works of art: line, color, shape/form, texture, value, space. | ||||
| Emphasis | Special stress given to an element to make it stand out. | ||||
| Established criteria | Identified principles that direct attention to significant aspects of various types of artworks in order to provide guidelines for evaluating the work; these may be commonly accepted principles that have been developed by artists, curators, historians, critics, educators, and others or principles developed by an individual or group to pertain to a specific work of art or design. | ||||
| Exhibition narrative | Written description of an exhibition intended to educate viewers about its purpose. Experiencing and perceiving the qualities of artworks, enabling them to create their own work and to appreciate and interpret the work of others. | ||||
| Expressive content | Ideas that express ideas and moods. | ||||
| Expressive properties | Moods, feelings, or ideas evoked or suggested through the attributes, features, or qualities of an image or work of art. | ||||
| Fair use | Limitation in copyright law which sets out factors to be considered in determining if a particular use of one’s work is “fair,” such as the purpose and character of the use, the amount of the work used, and whether the use will affect the market for the work. | ||||
| Figurative | Pertaining to representation of form or figure in art. | ||||
| Focal point | The place in a work of art on which attention becomes centered because of an element emphasized in some way. | ||||
| Foreground | Part of a two-dimensional artwork that is nearer the viewer or in the front. Middle ground and background are the parts of the picture that seem farther away. | ||||
| Form | A three-dimensional volume or the illusion of three dimensions (related to shape, which is two-dimensional); the characteristics of the visual elements of a work of art (as distinguished from its subject matter or content). | ||||
| Formal and conceptual vocabularies | Terms, methods, concepts, or strategies used to experience, describe, analyze, plan, and make works of art and design drawn from traditional, modern, contemporary, and continually emerging sources in diverse cultures. | ||||
| Found object | The use of man-made or natural objects not normally considered traditional art materials. Found objects are transformed by changing meaning from their original context. The objects can be used singly or in combination (e.g., assemblage or installation). | ||||
| Function | The purpose and use of a work of art. | ||||
| Genre | The representation of people, subjects, and scenes from everyday life. | ||||
| Genre | Category of art or design identified by similarities in form, subject matter, content, or technique. | ||||
| Gesture drawing | The drawing of lines quickly and loosely to show movement in a subject. | ||||
| Harmony | The principle of design that combines elements in a work of art to emphasize the similarities of separate but related parts. | ||||
| Hue | Refers to the name of a color (e.g., red, blue, yellow, orange). | ||||
| Image | Visual representation of a person, animal, thing, idea, or concept. | ||||
| Installation art | The hanging of ordinary objects on museum walls or the combining of found objects to create something completely new. Later, installation art was extended to include art as a concept. | ||||
| Intensity | Also called chroma or saturation. It refers to the brightness of a color (a color is full in intensity only when pure and unmixed). Color intensity can be changed by adding black, white, gray, or an opposite color on the color wheel. | ||||
| Line | A point moving in space. Line can vary in width, length, curvature, color, or direction. | ||||
| Line direction | Line direction may be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. | ||||
| Line quality | The unique character of a drawn line as it changes lightness/darkness, direction, curvature, or width. | ||||
| Linear perspective | A graphic system used by artists to create the illusion of depth and volume on a flat surface. The lines of buildings and other objects in a picture are slanted, making them appear to extend back into space. | ||||
| Maquette | A small preliminary model (as of a sculpture or a building). | ||||
| Mass | The outside size and bulk of a form, such as a building or a sculpture; the visual weight of an object. | ||||
| Material culture | Human-constructed or human-mediated objects, forms, or expressions, that extend to other senses and study beyond the traditional art historical focus on the exemplary to the study of common objects, ordinary spaces, and everyday rituals. | ||||
| Materials | Substances out of which art is made or composed, ranging from the traditional to “non art” material and virtual, cybernetic, and simulated materials. | ||||
| Media | Plural of medium, referring to materials used to make art; categories of art (e.g., painting, sculpture, film). | ||||
| Media | Mode(s) of artistic expression or communication; material or other resources used for creating art. | ||||
| Middle ground | Area of a two-dimensional work of art between foreground and background. | ||||
| Mixed media | A work of art for which more than one type of art material is used to create the finished piece. | ||||
| Monochromatic | A color scheme involving the use of only one hue that can vary in value or intensity. | ||||
| Mood | The state of mind or feeling communicated in a work of art, frequently through color. | ||||
| Motif | A unit repeated over and over in a pattern. The repeated motif often creates a sense of rhythm. | ||||
| Movement | The principle of design dealing with the creation of action | ||||
| Multimedia | Computer programs that involve users in the design and organization of text, graphics, video, and sound in one presentation. | ||||
| Negative | Refers to shapes or spaces that are or represent areas unoccupied by objects. | ||||
| Neutral colors | The colors black, white, gray, and variations of brown. They are included in the color family called earth colors. | ||||
| Nonobjective | Having no recognizable object as an image. Also called nonrepresentational. | ||||
| Observational drawing skills | Skills learned while observing firsthand the object, figure, or place. | ||||
| One-point perspective | A way to show three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface. Lines appear to go away from the viewer and meet at a single point on the horizon known as the vanishing point. | ||||
| Open source | Computer software for which the copyright holder freely provides the right to use, study, change, and distribute the software to anyone for any purpose (https://opensource.org/). | ||||
| Organic | Refers to shapes or forms having irregular edges or to surfaces or objects resembling things existing in nature. | ||||
| Pattern | Any art element that is repeated in a predictable combination. i.e., line, shape, color, object, symbol. | ||||
| Performance art | A type of art in which events are planned and enacted before an audience for aesthetic reasons. | ||||
| Personal criteria | Principles for evaluating art and design based on individual preferences. | ||||
| Perspective | A system for representing three-dimensional objects viewed in spatial recession on a two-dimensional surface. | ||||
| Point of view | The angle from which the viewer sees the objects or scene. | ||||
| Portfolio | Actual or virtual collection of artworks and documentation demonstrating art and design knowledge and skills organized to reflect an individual’s creative growth and artistic literacy. | ||||
| Positive | Shapes or spaces that are or represent solid objects. | ||||
| Preservation | Activity of protecting, saving, and caring for objects, artifacts, and artworks through various means. | ||||
| Preserve | Protect, save, and care for (curate) objects, artifacts, and artworks. | ||||
| Primary colors | Refers to the colors red, yellow, and blue. From these, all other colors are created. | ||||
| Principles of design | The organization of works of art. They involve the ways in which the elements of art are arranged (balance, contrast, dominance, emphasis, movement, repetition, rhythm, subordination, variation, unity). | ||||
| Printmaking | The transferring of an inked image from one surface (from the plate or block) to another (usually paper). | ||||
| Properties of color | Characteristics of colors: hue, value, intensity. | ||||
| Proportion | The size relationships of one part to the whole and of one part to another. | ||||
| Rectilinear | Formed or enclosed by straight lines to create a rectangle. | ||||
| Reflection | Personal and thoughtful consideration of an artwork, an aesthetic experience, or the creative process. | ||||
| Relevant criteria | Principles that apply to making, revising, understanding, and evaluating a particular work of art or design that are generated by identifying the significant characteristics of a work. | ||||
| Repetition | The repetition of art elements such as line, shape, or color that are used to create unity in an artwork. | ||||
| Rhythm | Intentional, regular repetition of art elements to achieve a specific repetitious effect, pattern, or the feeling of movement. Variety is vital to keep the viewer’s eye moving throughout the composition. | ||||
| Rubric | A guide for judgment or scoring; a description of expectations. | ||||
| Scale | Relative size, proportion. Used to determine measurements or dimensions within a design or work of art. | ||||
| Sculpture | A three-dimensional work of art either in the round (to be viewed from all sides) or in bas relief (low relief in which figures protrude slightly from the background). | ||||
| Secondary colors | Colors that are mixtures of two primary colors. Red and yellow make orange, yellow and blue make green, and blue and red make violet. | ||||
| Shade | Colour with black added to it. | ||||
| Shape | A two-dimensional area or plane that may be open or closed, free-form or geometric. It can be found in nature or is made by humans. | ||||
| Space | The emptiness or area between, around, above, below, or contained within objects. Shapes and forms are defined by the space around and within them, just as spaces are defined by the shapes and forms around and within them. | ||||
| Structure | The way in which parts are arranged or put together to form a whole. | ||||
| Style | A set of characteristics of the art of a culture, a period, or school of art. It is the characteristic expression of an individual artist. | ||||
| Style | Recognizable characteristics of art or design that are found consistently in historical periods, cultural traditions, schools of art, or works of an individual artist. | ||||
| Stylized | Simplified; exaggerated. | ||||
| Subdominant element/object | Compliments and supports the dominant element adding to the composition. | ||||
| Subordinate element/object | Subordinate elements should add even more interest to the unity of the composition. | ||||
| Subordination | Making an element appear to hold a secondary or lesser importance within a design or work of art. | ||||
| Subtractive | Refers to sculpting method produced by removing or taking away from the original material (the opposite of additive); erasing or removing materials to make marks on 2D surfaces. | ||||
| Technologies | Tools, techniques, crafts, systems, and methods to shape, adapt, and preserve artworks, artifacts, objects, and natural and human- made environments. | ||||
| Texture | The surface quality of materials, either actual (tactile) or implied (visual). It is one of the elements of art. | ||||
| Theme | An idea based on a particular subject. | ||||
| Three-dimensional | Having height, width, and depth. Also referred to as 3-D. | ||||
| Tint | Color lightened with white added to it. | ||||
| Tone | Color shaded or darkened with gray (black plus white). | ||||
| Two-dimensional | Having height and width but not depth. Also referred to as 2-D. | ||||
| Two-point perspective | A system to show three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface. The illusion of space and volume utilizes two vanishing points on the horizon line. | ||||
| Unity | Total visual effect in a composition achieved by the careful blending of the elements of art and the principles of design. | ||||
| Value | Lightness or darkness of a hue or neutral color. A value scale shows the range of values from black to white. | ||||
| Value scale | Scale showing the range of values from black to white and light to dark. | ||||
| Vanishing point | In perspective drawing, a point at which receding lines seem to converge. | ||||
| Variety | A principle of art concerned with combining one or more elements of art in diverse ways to create interest. | ||||
| Venue | Place or setting for an art exhibition, either a physical space or a virtual environment. | ||||
| Virtual | Refers to an image produced by the imagination and not existing in reality. | ||||
| Visual components | Properties of an image that can be perceived. | ||||
| Visual imagery | Group of images; images in general. | ||||
| Visual literacy | Includes thinking and communication. Visual thinking is the ability to trans-form thoughts and information into images; visual communication takes place when people are able to construct meaning from the visual image. | ||||
| Visual metaphor | Images in which characteristics of objects are likened to one another and represented as that other. They are closely related to concepts about symbolism. | ||||
| Visual organizational strategies | Graphic design strategies such as hierarchy, consistency, grids, spacing, scale, weight, proximity, alignment, and typography choice used to create focus and clarity in a work. | ||||
| Visual plan | Drawing, picture, diagram, or model of the layout of an art exhibit where individual works of art and artifacts are presented along with interpretive materials within a given space or venue. | ||||
| Volume | The space within a form (e.g., in architecture, volume refers to the space within a building). | ||||
| Warm colors | Colors suggesting warmth: red, yellow, and orange. | ||||
| Watercolor | Transparent pigment mixed with water. Paintings done with this medium are known as watercolors. |