GLOSSARY OF ART TERMS
Abstract art: Art that does represent people or objects; i.e non-representational art.
Academic art: Art that conforms to the principles of the academies or official art schools such as the French Academy or the Royal Academy.
Acrylic: Synthetic paint, used some times instead of oil paints. Acrylics dry quickly, but does not produce the translucent quality of oils.
Attribute: An object or symbol traditionally used to identify a person or concept.
Attribution: Assigning a work of art to a particular artist although its actual authorship may not certain.
Body color: Gouache
Camera obscura: From the Latin meaning"dark chamber." Artists sometimes us a camera-like apparatus to project an image onto a screen. The artist then traces the outline of the projected object.
Chiaroscuro: From the Italian "light and dark." The word is usually used to describe light and shadow in a painting especially when there is a dramatic contrast.
Complementary colors: Two colors are said to be complementary if they combine to complete the spectrum. Red/green, yellow/violet, and blue/orange are the basic pairs. When placed next to each other both colors appear to be more vibrant.
Cool and warm colors: The more blue a color contains, its is said to be cooler. Cool colors appear to recede while warm colors which have more red, appear to advance.
Craquelure : Fine cracks that appear on the surface of a painting due to the aging and drying of paint.
Encaustic
Fresco: A method of wall painting using powdered pigments mixed with lime water and applied to fresh, wet plaster. The pigments then bond with the plaster. This method is also known as buon fresco or true fresco.
In another method known as fresco secco, or dry fresco, pigments are applied to dry plaster. This method tends to make the mural more susceptible is to flaking.
Genre: The Category of painting history painting, for example still life, portraiture, landscape etc..
Gouache: An opaque watercolor paint sometimes known also as body color.
History painting: Paintings that depict historical events such as great battles, coronations, etc. Also paintings depicting biblical, literary, or mythological event that are meant to be present a lesson.
Impasto: Paint that is thickly applied.
Medium: The material used in a painting such as water colors, oil paint or pastel. The term is also used to described the substances that are used in conjunction with pigments such as substance oil, egg yolk, or water to make paint.
Oil painting: Painting in which pigments are mixed with oils such as linseed, walnut, or poppy to make the paints.
Perspective: The method of creating the illusion of three dimensions on a flat surface. Linear perspectives create the illusion that objects at a distance appear smaller and where parallel lines converge with increasing distance. Aerial perspectives create the effect where objects at a distance appear paler.
Picture plane: The imaginary space is occupied by the actual surface of the picture.
Predella: A row of smaller paintings arranged below the main panels of an altarpiece.
Putti: (pl. for putto) cupids or cherubs commonly used as a decorative motif.
Renaissance: The period of artistic and intellectual "rebirth" that developed in Europe between the 14th to 16th century.
Tempera: Paintings using paints whose pigments are bound with egg yolk.
Tondo: Circular paintings or pictures.
Tone: The range of light and dark from from black to white.
Trompe l'oeil: From the French: "deceiving the eye." Paintings that trick the viewer.
Vanishing point: The point on the horizon at which converging lines meet.
Watercolor: Pigment bound with water-soluble gum arabic that are meant to be applied in water-thinned translucent washes.
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