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Describing Art Terms used within the industry to describe art Acknowledgements to the original sources for many definitions can be established by checking the number at the end of each definition (1,2,3etc) against the list at the bottom of this section.Abbozzo A sketch or outline drawn in a single colour and used by an artist as an "underpainting". (5) Accession An object of art becoming part of a permanent collection of a museum or other collector. (2) Aerial Perspective A term used in landscape painting to portray distance within a painting. Often achievable through depiction of different weather patterns in fore and backgrounds (2) Aesthetic value The value or worth of a thing or event due to its capacity to evoke pleasure from features within it (1) Aidoion A Greek word used to refer to the private parts of men and women alike, usually on nude sculptures. Plural ta adoia. (1) Alla Prima Technique where the final surface of a painting is completed without underpainting, in one sitting. Italian for "at the first". (3) Alligatoring The crackled texturing of a painted surface akin to alligator skin. Can be intentional though usually unwanted. (2) Anti-cerne A white space in the form of a line between two areas of colour in a picture. (1) Artwork A general term referring to any artistic work (1) Assemblage A modernist art term descriptive of three-dimensional work composed of various materials that are seemingly unrelated but create an overall unity. (6) Atmospheric Perspective Used by artists to create sense of depth through use of blurring of distant objects, often more blue in colour. (2) Attributed An indicator where the authorship of a work of art is not confirmed, but that on documentary or stylistic grounds can be assigned to a particular artist. (2) Balance The achievement of equilibrium within an artwork. Can be seen through e.g. structure around a central point, combining small figures in the distance with large figures close by. Can involve colour and "depth.” abstract to non-abstract etc (5) Biomorphic form An abstract form whose shapes are more organic than geometric, more curvaceous than linear. (1) Bleed To allow a wash of watercolour or other thin medium to run into and combine with another area of colour. (2) Bloom A film on the surface of an oil painting that has been improperly varnished or stored. Appearing firstly as an opaque blue tinge, it then turns white, yellow, and eventually black as the condition (sometimes known as a 'chill') advances. (2) Blotto painting A painting made by applying tempera paint onto one side of a sheet of paper, then folding the paper and pressing the two sides together. Like an inkblot, a blotto painting is apt to be symmetrical and non-objective. Making one is largely an aleatoric act -- leaving much to chance. (1) Brindled The effects, usually spotted or streaked, of a darker colour on an artwork. (2) Calligraphy The art of beautiful writing. Broadly, a flowing use of line, often varying from thick to thin. (4) Camaieu A painting, using varying shades of the same colour. (2) Caricature A representation of a person or thing in which the characteristic features are exaggerated. (2) Cartoon A caricature or comic drawing or an animated film composed of a series of comic drawings. (2) Chiaroscuro Italian for "light-dark." The gradations of light and dark used especially to create the illusion of rounded, three-dimensional forms rather than through use of lines. Highly developed by Renaissance painters. (4) Cissing An application of colour that was intended to result in a covering of even thickness, but resulted instead in running streaks and bare spots, usually because of poor wetting of the surface. (1) Closed form A form that is self-contained, having achieved an artistic balance, a sense of calm and an internal completeness within itself. (4) Cockling Wrinkling or puckering in painted paper caused by applying washes onto a flimsy or improperly stretched surface. (3) Collage A work made by gluing materials such as paper scraps, photographs, and cloth on to a flat surface. From the French coller, to glue. (4) Colonnade A row of columns usually spanned or connected by beams or lintel. (4) Composition The organization of form in a work of art, i.e., the layout of shapes, masses, areas of light and dark, etc. (2) Context The varied circumstances in which a work of art has been produced. The range of subject matter includes information relating to the artist, the setting for the work or the interpretation of the work. A complex subject. (1) Contour The edge or apparent line that separates one area or mass from another; a line following a surface drawn to suggest volume. (4) Contrapposto The pose of the human form in which the head and shoulders face in a different direction from the hips and legs; a spiral twist. (2) Contrast A large difference between any two aspects within an artwork e.g. hot and cold, green and red, light and shadow. (1) Coulisse Features added to the sides of an artwork, such as clumps of trees, groups of figure, buildings, etc, arranged in tiers, to help direct the eye into the centre picture space. Common in baroque painting. (2) Craquelure The network of cracks which sometimes appears on paint and varnish of an oil painting as the paint ages and settles. Also known as CRACKLE. (2) Crosshatching Drawing sets of close parallel lines that crisscross each other at angles, to indicate tone and texture. (3) Curvilinear Formed or characterized by curving lines or edges. (4) Deckle Edge The ragged edge found on handmade papers. (3) Decoupage The act of cutting out paper designs and applying them to a surface to make an all over collage. (3) Diptych An artwork presented on two hinged panels. (2) Distressed Material that shows signs of age, through use, abuse or exposure to an adverse environment (1) Double loading Loading a brush with two colours side by side. In order to double load, use a paint of creamy consistency, and drag one edge of the brush through the lighter colour until the edge is filled with colour; then stroke the clean edge of the brush through the darker colour in the same manner. Once the brush is loaded this way, blend the colours at the centre of the brush by stroking on the palette. Using this technique, each brushstroke deposits a gradation of the two blended colours (1) Dragging Applying relatively dry oil paints lightly over a surface, creating an area of broken colour, the new colour having attached to the high spots but not to the low, so that irregular portions of the undercolour remain exposed. This may be done by holding the brush so that the side of its bristles lie flat against the paper, or by pulling it rapidly across the surface (1) Drolerie French for humorous picture, often showing animals behaving as humans. (2) Dry-brush A technique used with watercolours, acrylics and inks, in which a brush, which is only just moist, is charged with pigment and rubbed along its side across the paper to leave an uneven area of colour. The paper or paint below shows through to provide a broken or mottled effect. (2) En plein air Descriptive term for paintings that have been produced outdoors, rather than in the studio. French for "in the open air," The equivalent term in Italian is "alfresco," (1) Fat over Lean The recommended means of layering oil colour: the first layer of oil colours should be leanest (least oil, or more thinner with less oil) followed by layers with progressively more fat (more oil.) Following this principle results in a work less likely to crack after aging. Conversely, in order to encourage cracking, the painter should do the reverse. (1) Fete galante A scene of an elegant, festive occasion in an open-air setting, depicting dancing, musicales, comedy, etc. A specialty of French rococo art. (2) Fine art Art created for purely aesthetic expression, communication, or contemplation. Painting and sculpture are the best known of the fine arts. (4) Foreshortening The application of perspective to forms in order to create the illusion of three-dimensionality and depth. (2) Form Consists of the combination of all the characteristics that establish an artwork’s identity. It includes not only includes shape, but can include size, texture, colour, tone, and even movement and emotion associated with that object. (2) Foxing A discolouration of paper in books, prints, etc., due to dampness. Characterized by brown spots. (2) Fresco Wall painting in which pigments are mixed with water and applied to lime plaster that is still wet. The plaster serves as both the ground and the binder for the medium. (2) Genre In painting, that which portrays scenes of "everyday people doing everyday things". (9) Gilt Gold leaf Me Gradated wash A wash that is light or thin in an area where little colour has been applied, and gradually becomes darker or heavier into another area, where more colour has been applied. (1) Gradation A gradual, smooth change from one aspect to another e.g. from dark to light, large to small, rough to smooth or one colour to another. (1) Graffito A method in which a line is produced by scratching through one pigmented surface to reveal another (1) Grisaille A painting executed entirely in shades of grey. (2) Hatching A technique used in drawing in which lines are placed in parallel series to darken the value of an area. (4) High art Fine art or beaux-arts that represents the epitome of artistic achievement. Traditionally, high art consists of meticulous expression in fine materials, on subject matter that is refined or noble, with appreciation of it dependent on intelligence, social standing, educated taste, and a willingness to be challenged. (1) Historiated Adjective referring to ornamentation of something else, e.g. capital letters, with representation of e.g. plants, animals, or human figures, thus giving an added narrative function as distinct from pure decoration (1) Horror Vacui The compulsion to fill the whole space of an artwork. Horror vacui is indicated by a crowded design. In Latin, it is literally, "fear of empty space" (1) Idiom A style or technique characteristic of an individual artist, period, movement, or medium. (1) Imbrication An overlapping effect such as produced by tiles, shingles, feathers or scales (1) Impasto In painting, thick paint applied to a surface in a heavy manner, having the appearance and consistency of buttery paste. (4) Inimage A surrealist technique opposite to collage where pieces are cut away from an existing picture to make an image rather than pieces from various sources being glued together to make an image. (10) Kitsch Artwork completed in poor and/or undiscriminating taste. (2) Linear A picture where importance has been attached to contours or outlines. (1) Loom State Canvas that has not been primed, sized or otherwise prepared beforehand for painting. (3) Lustre A high-gloss finish with iridescence (1) Masstone The top tone or body colour of a paint seen only by reflected light. (3) Matt Flat, dull, nonglossy surface appearance. (3) Migration The action of a pigment or dye moving through a dried film above or below it. (3) Montage A composition made up of pictures or parts of pictures previously drawn, painted, or photographed (4) Mottling The appearance of spots or blotches of colour in paint or on paper. (1) Mural A large wall painting. (4) Negative shape A background shape seen in relation to foreground shapes. (4) Negative space Empty space in an artwork. (1) Non-objective art Artworks having no recognizable subject matter. Also known as non-representational art. (1) Objet d'art French for "art object." The phrase usually refers to small, exquisite, and decorative art (5) Oeuvre The total body of work produced by an artist. French for “work”. (2) Overpainting A finishing layer of paint applied over another layer of paint, or underlayer, once it has dried (1) Painterly A painting technique in which forms are created with patches of colour, exploiting colour and tonal relationships. The opposite approach is known as linear, in which things are represented in terms of contour, with precise edges. (1) Parergon The segment of an artwork that is secondary to the main theme or subject matter. (2) Passage Refers to a particular segment of a painting or other work of art. It is often used to direct discussion to a transition from one colour or tone to another, or to the use of a noteworthy technique in a section of a picture, or to an area that has been overpainted by someone who did not paint the original picture. (1) Pastiche A work of art made in admitted imitation of several styles of other works, used often to ridicule or satirize the style of the artist it imitates (1) Patina A sheen or colouration on any surface, either intended or unintended (1) Pencil An implement for drawing or writing, consisting of a thin rod of graphite, coloured wax, chalk, charcoal, or another such substance, either encased in wood or held in a mechanical holder. (1) Pentimento A condition of old paintings where lead-containing pigments have become more transparent over time, revealing earlier layers. (3) Penumbra A partial shadow between regions of complete shadow and complete illumination. (1) Perspective A system for creating an illusion of depth or three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface. Usually refers to linear perspective, based on the fact that parallel lines or edges appear to converge and objects appear smaller as the distance between them and the viewer increases. Atmospheric perspective (aerial perspective) creates the illusion of distance by reducing colour saturation, contrast, and detail, thus mimicking the hazy effect of atmosphere on distant objects. (4) Pochade A small colour sketch prepared by an artist with the intention of referring to it later in the studio when painting a larger more developed version. (1) Portrait A work of art that represents a specific person, a group of people, (can be an animal but this definition is not applied on this website). Portraits usually show what a person looks like as well as revealing something about the subject's personality. (1) Positive shape A figure or foreground shape, as opposed to a negative ground or background shape. (4) Positive space Space in an artwork that is filled with something, The opposite of negative space (1) Primer In painting, a first layer of paint or sizing applied to a surface that is to be painted. (4) Principles of art Refers to the different ways that the elements of art may be used in a work of art. Artists "design" their works to varying degrees by controlling and ordering the elements of art. To do this, they use such principles asbalance coherence emphasis (or dominance) eurythmy harmony horror vacui movement pattern proportion rhythm unity variety (1) Sacral-Idyllic A landscape scene whose theme is usually of country life. (2) Saponification The process in which a paint binder, under moist and alkaline conditions, becomes transparent or discoloured. (3) Scrumbling A technical term describing the laying of paint on a ground with a palette knife and then brushing it so that a previously-applied bottom layer of paint shows through. The goal is to create an impression of texture. (11) Seascape A picture of a scene at sea or a scene prominently including a portion of the sea. (1) Segantini stitch In painting, a divisionist brushstroke technique characterized by short, slanting, hatched brushstrokes. It was named after Giovanni Segantini (Italian, 1858-1899). (1) Sfumato The technique of blurring or softening sharp outlines by subtle and gradual blending (feathering) of one tone into another. This effect slightly lessens the perception that a still image is entirely still, instead lending a vague sense of movement. Best known in the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Correggio (1) Sgraffito Technique in which the surface layer is incised or cut away to reveal a contrasting colour. (3) Silverpoint A drawing method using a piece of metal, usually silver wire, drawn on a ground prepared with Chinese white, sometimes with pigment added. (3) Site-specific art Any work made for a certain place, which cannot be separated or exhibited apart from its intended environment (4) Still Life A painting or other two-dimensional work of art representing inanimate objects such as bottles, fruit, and flowers. Also, the arrangement of these objects from which a drawing, painting, or other work is made. (4) Still-life A picture of inanimate objects such as vessels, food, flowers, books, clothing. (1) Stipple Stipple is a method of application employing dots rather than lines to create an effect on an artwork. (1) Traction In oils, the movement of one paint layer over another. (3) Triptych A painting or carving that has three side-by-side parts, panels, or canvases. Typically, a triptych has three hinged panels, the two outer panels designed so that they can be folded in towards the central one. (1) Trompe l’Oeil A painting or other work of two-dimensional art rendered in such a realistic manner as to ‘trick’ the viewer into thinking it is three-dimensional reality. A French term meaning “deception of the eye.” (2) Underpainting The traditional stage in oil painting of using a monochrome colour as a base for composition of the final picture. (3) Veduta An accurate representation of an urban landscape. Italian for "view". (3) Verdaccio Old term for green underpainting. (3) Wash A thin layer of transparent or heavily diluted paint or ink. (3) Yellowing The effect of yellow discolouration on oil paintings, usually caused by either excessive use of linseed oil when originally painted, through subsequent application of varnishes that are prone to yellow with age, or, most often, an accumulation of dirt embedded into the varnish. (2) Zoomorphic Describes the forms of works of art and ornaments based on animal shapes. (3) Acknowledgements The following sources helped produce the definitions shown above (1) http://www.artlex.com (2) http://www.Askart.com (3) http://www.Rexart.com (4) http://www.Ackland.com (5) http://www.MindConnect.com (6) Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques" (7) American Artist magazine, 12/2002 (8) Britannica (9) Donald Martin Reynolds, "Masters of American Sculpture", p. 13 (10) Daniel C Boyer, Artist (11) Marika Hershkovic,(Ed), "American Abstract Expressionism" (234) (12) Lydia A Miniter, Oradell New Jersey (American Artist, 6/2002 (13) Cynthia McBride, McBride Gallery in Annapolis, MD (14) Kimberley Reynolds, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms" (15) "A Studio of Her Own" by Erica Hirshler (16) Gordon McClelland and Jay Last, "The California Style" (17) Christies (18) Neal Auction Company (19) "Eva Hesse: Post-Minimalism into Sublime." (20) Cynthia McBride
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