Art 105

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Composition

Back 1

The act of organizing all of the elements of a work of art into a whole. Each element used may have instrinsic characteristics which create interest, but it must function in such a way that "the whole is more important than its parts"

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Axis

Back 2

1. The line which describes a main direction, mortion, growth or extension or the center of balance of a shape or form

2. An implied line through a composition to which elements in the composition are referred

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Balance

Back 3

A feeling of equality in weight, attention, or attraction of the carious visual elements within the pictorial field as a means of accomplishing organic unity

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Cropping/Framing

Back 4

The elimination of material from the final image by dint of moving the edges in. The positioning of the image in relation to the edges of the two-dimensional image

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Rhythm

Back 5

A continuance or flow which is accomplished by repetition of regulated visual units. The use of measured accents. There are four types of rhythm: flowing, alternating, progressive, repetitive

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Visual weight/Focal Point

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The principle of visual organization which suggest that certain elements should assume more importance than others in the smae composition. It emphasizes the fact that there is one main feature and that other elements are subordinate to it

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Repetition

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The use of the same visual element a number of times in the same composition. It may accomplish a dominance of one visual idea, a feeling of harmonious relaitionship or an obviously planned pattern

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Gesture Drawing

Back 8

A very fast and schematic drawing usually of the figure to capture the sense of arrested motion

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Unity/Variety

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Unity is the force that holds a composition together through its relationships and similarities. Variety comes from the introduction of diverse elements. These can be viewd as two ends of a spectrum: toomuch unity is boring but too much variety is chaotic

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Symmetry/Asmmetry

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Symmetry arises when the composition is identical but reversed on each side of a central axis. Assymetry is the lack of similarity on either side of a compostion, usually with more weight on one side

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Static/Dynamic

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The composition can be still and balanced or active and usually less balanced

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Contour Line

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A line which creates aboundary separating an area of space from its surrounding background

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Cross-Hatch

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A series of intersecting sets of parallel lines used to indicate shading or volume in a drawing

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Cross-contour

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Use of cross hatch which follows the three-dimensional contour of a form

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Positive Shape

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The enclosed areas which suggest recognizable or obvious, solid nonrepresentational shapes. Also known as figure

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Negative Area

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The space surrounding the positive shapes or objects represented in the visual image. Also known as ground

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Edge

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The contour or boundary of a shape or area; it may be soft or hard

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Value

Back 18

The lightness or darkness of a surface as measued by the amount of light reflected from it

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Chiaroscuro

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The use of light and dark value areas in a painting or a drawing to imitate the effects of light and shadow found in nature

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Hatching

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A series of closely spached parallel lines used to indicate shaading or volume in a drawing

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Aerial/Atmospheric Perspective

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Uses value and color neutralization to suggest the effect of depth of space

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Relative value

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refers to the way that areas of vlaue are affected by the value of any areas adjacent to them, such that the same grey area will appear darker next to a liht area but lighter next to a dark area

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High and Low Value

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High value is towards white and low value is towards black

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Scientific Linear Perspective

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A mechanical system of representing three-dimensional objects in space with line on a two-dimensional surface

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parallel Linear Perspective

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Uses paralll lines but bot vanishing points to depict planes not parallel to the picture plane

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Optical Perspective

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A non-mechanical method of depicting the illusion of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface, it relies on carful visual observation of angles and proportion, but often displays visual inconsistencies

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Modelling

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Use of light and dark tones to mimic the appearance of light striking a three dimensional form

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Scale

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Refers to the size of an element relative to ther elements or to the work as a whole. Also refers to actual size of the whole work

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Chiaroscuro

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See above under value

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Forshortening

Back 30

The use of spatial perspective especially as applied to the human figure. It provides for the distortion of anatomy the figure must undergo in order to be represented as receding in space

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Overlapping

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A device used to suggest the illusion of space, where one element is partially obscured by another, which then appears to be "in front"

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Picture Plane

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An imaginary flat surface assumed to be at the front surface of a painting. In some cases it acts merely as a transparent plane of reference to establish the illusion of forms existing in a three-dimensional space

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Horizon Line

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This corresponds to the eye-level line of the artist/viewer. It can be low: Worm's eye view, or high: Bird's eye view

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Vanishing point

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In a perspective system, it is the imaginary point on the horizon where the spatial diagonals converge. There can be more than one vanishing point in a composition

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Texture

Back 35

The surface feel of an object or the representation of surface character (mimetic texture) If paint is built up thickly on the surface of a work it can create a physical texture which is known as impasto. If an artist uses the viusal characteristics which are commonly associated with texture but without creating a physically palpable surface or a mimetic image, it is a visual texture