Essential Art Vocabulary
What is vanitas?
A type of portrait reserved for a ruler (or emperor) that represents him on horseback.
What is an equestrian portrait?
A visual element that artists use line to direct and move our eyes around a work of art
What is line?
Any decorative, repetitive motif or design
What is pattern?
A principle of design that creates a sense of oneness, of things belonging together and making up a coherent whole in a work of art
What is unity?
An adjective used to describe a work of art that illustrates forms and figures found in the natural world.
What is representational?
A thematic category that can be applied to images of rulers and depictions of battles or wars.
What is politics and/or the social order?
The chiaroscuro technique can used to____.
What is model forms using contrasts of light and shadow?
The effect of linear perspective when applied to objects and human forms within a work of art
What is foreshortening?
An expression of balance that highlights slight differences between axial areas of a work of art
What is relieved or approximate symmetry?
A manner of representation that we often associate with a particular artist or culture.
What is style?
A thematic category that can be applied to religious art of different cultures and faiths.
What is sacred realm?
Parallel lines intersect like a checkerboard are called ______.
What is cross-hatching?
A type of perspective that renders objects paler, bluer, and less distinct as they recede into space
What is atmospheric perspective?
Using this design principle, the viewer’s attention will be centered more on certain parts of the composition than on others.
What is emphasis?
The identification and study of subject matter and traditional motifs or symbols in works of art.
What is iconography?
What is invention and/or fantasy?
Colors of light mixed to produce still lighter colors
What is additive color?
Artists who draw or paint using linear perspective apply _________, lines that recede into space perpendicular to picture plane
What are orthogonals?
A term that refers to size relationships between parts of a whole or between two or more items perceived as a unit
The circumstances surrounding the making, viewing, and interpretation of a work or art
What is context?
The natural world
A color harmony (or palette) that uses hues (or colors) directly opposite on the color wheel
Complementary
A color harmony (or palette) that uses adjacent hues on the color wheel
What is analogous?
A design principle that shows differences that provide interest and contrast
What is variety?