Appendix F: Glossary
- abstract
- An image that reduces a subject to its essential visual elements, such as lines, shapes, and colours.
- aesthetics
- Sensitivity and emotional involvement in regard to objects; quality of attractiveness and cohesiveness.
- assembl
age
- A 3-D collage often constructed of found objects and involving mixed media.
- back
ground
- Those portions or areas of composition that are back of the primary or dominant subject matter or design areas.
- balance
- A principle of art and design concerned with the arrangement of one or more elements in a work of art so that they appear symmetrical or asymmetrical in design and proportion.
- brayer
- A small roller used to apply ink to printing blocks.
- cartoon
- Today, the word usually refers to a humorous line drawing. Originally, a full-size preparatory drawing for a large wall or ceiling painting, from the Italian cartone, meaning a large piece of paper.
- ceramics
- Any objects made from clay products and fired at a high temperature.
- charcoal
- A drawing material formed by charring willow under intense heat.
- clay
- A natural earthy material, plastic when wet, that is used for pottery or modelling.
- collage
- An image created by gluing materials such as paper scraps, photographs, and cloth to a flat surface.
- colour
- An element of art and design that pertains to a particular hue. One or any mixture of pigments seen when light is reflected off a surface.
- contrast
- A principle of art and design concerned with juxtaposing one or more elements in opposition, so as to show their differences.
- cubism
- An influential, 20th-century style developed by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, based on the simultaneous presentation of multiple points of view.
- depth
- Real or simulated 3-D distance. Simulated depth may be created by perspective, overlapping, size, tone values, colours, and so on.
- design
- An organized arrangement of one or more visual elements, principles or materials for a purpose.
- distort
ion
- An image-development strategy used to deform an image through exaggeration.
- dry
point
- An intaglio printing process in which the lines are directly scratched into the platen's surface with a steel needle.
- dynamic
- Giving an effect of movement, progression, and energy.
- egg
tempera
- A water-based paint using egg yolk as a binder.
- elaborat
ion
- An image-development strategy used to embellish or create detail in an image.
- emphasis
- A principle of art and design concerned with making one or more elements in a work of art stand out in such a way as to appear more important or significant.
- exagg
eration
- An image-development strategy used to emphasize a portion or aspect of an image.
- fibre
- A thin strand that may be spun to make thread.
- form
- An element of art and design that pertains to an actual or implied 3-D shape of an object or image. In a broader sense, form refers to the total physical characteristics of an object, event or situation.
- found
objects
- Everyday objects incorporated into a work of art. The term was first used in reference to Marcel Duchamp's ready-mades.
- fragment
ation
- An image-development strategy used to detach, isolate, or break up an image.
- fresco
- A historical painting technique in which pigment is applied to wet plaster.
- graphics
- Collective term for printmaking processes such as photography, silk-screening, monoprinting, and lift printing.
- harmony
- A principle of art and design concerned with the blending of one or more of the elements in a work of art to create a pleasing effect, balance, symmetry, and a composed appearance.
- illustration
- A picture designed to elucidate and decorate a story, poem, or other piece of writing.
- impress
ionism
- An art style developed in the 19th century, characterized by broken colour and soft edges.
- intaglio
- Any printmaking technique in which the inked areas are recessed below the surface of the plate.
- juxtap
osition
- An image-development strategy used to place like or contrasting images side by side.
- kiln
- An oven (electric, gas, or wood-fired) capable of reaching extremely high heats. In art, it is generally used to fire ceramic or enamelled objects.
- land
scape
- A view of the scenery on land, often used as subject matter in art.
- lay
outs
- Sketches of rough ideas or compositional plans for a work of art.
- line
- An element of art and design that pertains to the narrow mark or path of a moving point on a surface.
- linocut
- A relief printing process in which the image is carved in linoleum mounted on a block.
- logo
- A symbolic form, frequently composed of letter shapes, that identifies organizations such as businesses, companies, teams, or schools.
- loom
- A framework or machine for interweaving yarns or threads into a fabric.
- lost
-wax casting
- A sculpture technique in which an image is created in wax and packed in an inflammable material. Then molten metal (often bronze) is poured into the mould, burning off and replacing the wax.
- mag
nification
- An image-development strategy used to increase the apparent size of an image.
- maqu
ette
- A small sculpture made as a trial for a larger piece.
- meta
morphosis
- An image-development strategy used to change an image from one form to another.
- mini
fication
- An image-development strategy used to decrease the apparent size of an image.
- mono
print
- A type of surface printing in which an image is made with paint or ink on a surface and then transferred by contact to paper. Only one print can be made of each design.
- morph
ing
- A computer-animation process in which an image appears to transform smoothly from its original form into a new image.
- mosaic
- A picture composed of many small, separate pieces of materials such as clay, glass, marble, and paper, which are fastened to a background.
- movement
- A principle of art and design concerned with creating a distinctive structure that shows a feeling of action or a series of actions and guides a viewer's eye through a work of art.
- multi
plication (serialization)
- An image-development strategy using repetition to create an image or series of images.
- ochre
- A type of earth used to create a specific yellow-brown pigment. The term has also come to refer to the colour itself.
- pastels
- A pigment stick (e.g. chalk, oil pastel) used in colour drawing. Can refer as well to a tint of very light value (that is, containing no black and more white than hue).
- pattern
- A principle of art and design concerned with repetition in a work of art of one or more elements on a planned grid.
- persp
ective
- A system for creating the illusion of 3-D depth in 2-D images. Three types of perspective are linear perspective (based on parallel lines converging as their distance from the observer increases); diminishing perspective (based on the apparent reduction in the size of objects as their distance from the observer increases); and atmospheric perspective (based on the apparent reduction of the detail and colour intensity of objects as their distance from the observer increases).
- pointill
ism
- A style of painting using small dots of colour, developed by Georges Seurat in the 1880s.
- point
of view
- An image-development strategy used to position the viewer relative to the image in a work of art. Examples are a worm's-eye view or a bird's-eye view.
- poster
- Signs used to advertise simple messages. Classic posters, such as those of Toulouse-Lautrec, are considered art masterpieces.
- pottery
- Ware made of clay and fired in a ceramic kiln.
- primary
colours
- Those colours from which all other colours may be mixed. In painting, red, yellow, and blue are the primary colours.
- primitive
fire
- A method of firing clay in which a fire is built directly around the clay. The clay is thus exposed to the fire's smoke, resulting in a smoked surface.
- prop
ortion
- The size relationship between the parts of an image and the whole.
- quill
- A drawing or writing pen formed from the flight feathers of a goose or swan. The shaft of the feather is cut across its wide end either at an angle or to form a square tip. The hollow shaft forms a natural ink reservoir.
- realism
- A style or tradition in which artists strive to achieve a life-like representation in their work.
- repe
tition
- A principle of art and design concerned with one or more of the elements in a work of art being repeated again.
- revers
al
- An image-development strategy used to turn inside out, invert, transpose, or convert to the opposite an effect in all or a portion of an image.
- rhythm
- A principle of art and design concerned with the employment of repeated movement in regular or irregular succession of one or more elements to make a work seem active or to suggest repetition.
- rot
ation
- An image-development strategy used to revolve, move, or rearrange an image or parts of an image.
- scul
pture
- An art form created by altering the appearance of a mass by adding or subtracting material.
- shape
- An element of art and design that pertains to an area set off by one or more of the other elements of art and design.
- simp
lification
- An image-development strategy whereby an image is made less complex by the elimination of details.
- sketch
- An image-development strategy; a preliminary drawing.
- space
- An element of art and design that pertains to the real or illusory 3-D expanse in which an image or components of an image exist or appear to exist.
- story
board
- A visual planning device for sketching out a sequence of frames for a comic strip, film, video, and so on.
- style
- That which gives a distinctive or unique quality to art.
- surr
ealism
- A style of art, prominent in the first half of the 20th century, developed in response to the ideas of psychologists such as Carl Jung. Some surrealists such as Salvador Dali and RenŽ Magritte represent dreamlike or fantasy images in a representational way. Others like Joan Miró and Max Ernst use more abstract forms to represent the subconscious.
- symbol
- A sign or object that stands for or suggests something else because of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance.
- tech
nique
- Method or procedure used to produce a work of art.
- terra
cotta
- A red-coloured clay.
- tess
ellation
- A 2-D design in which the component shapes touch each other along all edges but do not overlap, interlocking in a pattern that completely fills a surface.
- texture
- An element of art and design that pertains to the way something feels by representation of the tactile character of surfaces.
- tjant
ing tool
- A tool used in the batik process to apply or draw with wax on fabric, so as to resist dyes. A traditional Indonesian tjanting tool consists of a small, spouted copper pot mounted on a stick.
- tone
- An element of art and design that pertains to the effect of lightness and darkness in relation to one or more parts of a work of art.
- unity
- A principle of art and design concerned with the arrangement of one or more of the elements used to create a coherence of parts and a feeling of completeness or wholeness.
- value
- An element of art and design that pertains to the degree of lightness and darkness, attributed to colour and related to one or more parts in a work of art.
Table of Contents
Province of British Columbia
Ministry of Education
Standards Department
© 1995 Copyright
Maintained by: Fine Arts Coordinator - Visual Arts
Revised: January 26, 1999
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