A la prima: The tradition of painting a picture in one sitting
Artistic anatomy (torso):
- Pectoralis:Chest or “hugging” muscle
- Rectus abdomininis: Stomach or “sit-up” muscle
- Obliquus externus: Groin or “twist” muscle
- Deltoideus: Shoulder or “flying” muscle
- Trapezius: Neck-to-arms-to-back or “shrugging” muscle
- Latissimus dorsi: Back-to-underarm or “chin-up” muscle
- Gluteus medius and maximus: Bottom or “sitting, running, back-kick” muscle
Background/ foreground/ midrange: The part or view of a painting that is, or is represented as, farthest, nearest, or in between these two relative to the viewer
Blocking in: A mold or form on which something is shaped or displayed; a group acting or regarded as a unit; a solid piece of wood; [drawing averages of geometric shapes]
Cast shadow (1) and the illusion of volume (2):
Chiaroscuro: The technique of using light and shade in pictorial representation; the sharply contrasting arrangement of light and dark elements in a work of art
Cliché: A trite or overused expression or idea
Collage: An artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface, often with unifying lines and color
Color and value contrast: That aspect of things that is caused by differing qualities of the light reflected or emitted from them and the relative lightness and darkness of a color
Complimentary colors: Red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple, etc.
Composition: A putting together of parts or elements to form a whole
Contour: The outline of a figure, body, mass, or a line that represents such an outline
Contraposto: The posture taken by the human figure usually standing on one leg, which causes the alignment of the shoulders to tip toward the higher hip above the leg carrying the body’s weight
Contrasting elements, approaches, and contexts: To set in opposition in order to show or emphasize different basic assumptions or principles of a subject, methods, and circumstances in which a particular image, passage, or event occurs
Cool (A), warm (B), and neutral (C) colors: (A)Blues and greens, (B)Reds and yellows, (C)Grays and browns
Cross hatch (1), switchbacks (2), stippling (3), smooth shade (4):
1) 2) 3) 4)
Dark accents (3), highlights (1), halftones (2):
Deltoideus: Shoulder or “flying” muscle
Diagonal (1), horizontal (2), and vertical (3) lines:
1) 2) 3)
Flipbooks: Bound pages with images or text which seem to move or come to life when turned rapidly in succession
Foreground/ background/ midrange: The part or view of a painting that is, or is represented, as nearest, farthest, or in between these two relative to the viewer
Foreshortening: The representation of some lines of (an object) as shorter than they actually are in order to give the illusion of proper relative size, in accordance with principles of perspective
Freehand vs. grid format: A framework of parallel or crisscrossed bars; a pattern of horizontal and vertical lines forming squares of uniform size vs. drawn by hand without the aid of tracing or drafting devices
Geometric (natural or irregular shapes) vs. organic (easy to measure shapes):
Gesture (drawing): The art of moving the limbs or body as an expression of thought or emphasis
Glazing: A thin, smooth, shiny coating; a transparent coating applied to the surface of a painting to modify the color tones
Glossy: Having a smooth, shiny, lustrous surface
Gluteus medius and maximus: Bottom or “sitting, running, back-kick” muscle
The Golden Mean/Section: The course between two extremes, A:B = B:(A+B)
Grid vs. freehand format: A framework of parallel or crisscrossed bars; a pattern of horizontal and vertical lines forming squares of uniform size vs. drawn by hand without the aid of tracing or drafting devices
Highlights (1), halftones (2), dark accents (3):
Horizontal (1), vertical (2), and diagonal (3) lines:
1) 2) 3)
Impasto: The application of thick layers of pigment to a canvas or other surface
Juxtaposition: The act of placing side by side, especially for comparison or contrast
Latissimus dorsi: Back-to-underarm or “chin-up” muscle
Local color (A), reflected color (B): [INSERT IMAGE]
Mahl stick: A long wooden stick used by painters to support the hand that holds the brush
Matte: Having a dull, flat, non-reflective surface.
Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a term is transferred from the object it ordinarily designated to an object it may designate only by implicit comparison or analogy
Midrange/ background/ foreground: The part or view of a painting that is, or is represented, as farthest, nearest, or in between these two relative to the viewer
Negative and positive space/rhyming shapes:
Neutral (A), Warm (B), and cool (C) colors: (A)Grays and browns, (B)Reds and yellows, (C)Blues and greens
Obliquus externus: Groin or “twist” muscle
Onomatopoeia: The formation or use of words, such as buzz or cuckoo, that imitate what they denote
Opaque: Impervious to the passage of light
Organic (natural or irregular shapes) vs. geometric (easy to measure shapes):
Overlap: To lay or extend over and cover part of something, opaquely interrupting its view
Paradigm: A pattern, example, or model; an overall concept accepted by most people in an intellectual community because of its effectiveness in explaining a complex process, idea, etc.
Pectoralis:Chest or “hugging” muscle
Pentimento: An effect over time, especially in oil paint, where the underpainting or drawing becomes visible because top opaque films of paint become transparent
Perspective: The technique of representing three-dimensional objects and depth relationships on a two-dimensional surface
Phenakistoscope: An animation device consisting of images on a slotted spinning disk, which appear to move when their reflection is viewed in a mirror
Positive and negative space/rhyming shapes:
Primary (A) and secondary (B) colors: (A)Red, yellow, and blue, (B)Orange, green and purple
Push/pull: Areas of a painting or drawing that recede or come toward the viewer
Rectus abdomininis: Stomach or “sit-up” muscle
Local color (A), reflected color (B): [INSERT IMAGE]
Reflected light (A), glare (B), and back lighting (C): [INSERT IMAGE]
Rhyming shapes/ negative and positive space:
Scale: The proportion used in determining the relationship of a representation to that which it represents; a progressive classification as to size, amount, etc.
Scumbling: The softening of colors or outlines of a painting by covering with a film of dry opaque- or semi-opaque color by rubbing
Secondary (A) and primary (B) colors: (A)Orange, green and purple, (B)Red, yellow, and blue
Sfumato: The gradual bending of light into shadow
Silhouette: A drawing consisting of the outline of something, especially a human profile filled in with solid color and appearing dark against A light background, or vice versa
Smooth shade (1), switchbacks (2), stippling (3), cross hatch (4):
1) 2) 3) 4)
Storyboard: A series of sketches often with captions or words describing dialogue or narration
Subtlety: The quality or state of being so slight as to be difficult to detect or analyze; elusive; not immediately obvious; abstruse; able to make fine distinctions
Superimposition: To lay or place upon or over something, often transparently; a visual integration
Symmetry: Correspondence of form and arrangement of parts on opposite sides of a boundary, such as a plane or line, or around a point or axis
Tessellation: Covering a surface or plane (infinitely) without gaps or overlaps by a pattern of one or more congruent shapes
Thaumatropes: An animation device consisting of cards with different designs on either side, which, when turned, appear to blend into one image
Transparent and translucent: Capable of transmitting light so that objects or images can be seen as if there were no intervening material, or causing sufficient diffusion to eliminate perception of distinct images
Trapezius: Nect-to-arms-to-back or “shrugging” muscle
Two and three dimensional: Measures of spatial extent, especially width, height, or length
Underpainting: The first draft or compositional structure of a painting, usually with value contrast or color arrangements set down as a base for added work
Vertical (1), horizontal (2), and diagonal (3) lines:
1) 2) 3)
Warm (A), cool (B), and neutral (C) colors: (A)Reds and yellows, (B)Blues and greens, (C)Grays and browns
Washes: Layers of colors thinned with water
Zoetrope: An animation device consisting of strips of paper with drawings of an object in various states of transformation installed inside a spinning drum
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