FA 110 – Beginning Drawing Terms
The Elements of Art: the principal graphic and plastic devices by which an artist composes a physical work of art; Color, Line, Shape, Texture, Value, and Volume
Color: visual assessment of the quality of light that is determined by its spectral composition
Line: a mark made by and implement as it is drawn across a surface, representing an edge
Edge: where two shapes meet, usually defined in drawing by color, line, value, or texture change
Contour Line: line that delineates both the outside edge of an object and the edges of planes
Cross-contour Line: line that describes an object’s horizontal or cross-contours rather than its vertical contours. Cross-contour line emphasizes the volumetric aspects of an object.
Blind-Contour: a linear work done by concentrating on the contour of the object and by not looking at the surface being drawn on
Mechanical Line: an objective line that maintains its width unvaryingly along its full length.
Structural Line: line that helps locate objects in relation to other objects and to the space they occupy.
Lyrical Line: a subjective line that is gracefully ornate and decorative
Biomorphic: life like, or having life like qualities
Gestural: open and reactive, emotional yet descriptive line quality
Implied Line: a line that stops and starts again; the viewer’s eye completes the movement that the line suggests.
Shape: a two-dimensional, closed, or implicitly closed configuration
Figure (Positive Shape): the shape of an object that serves as the subject for a drawing
Ground (Negative Space): the space surrounding the “Figure”, also referred to as empty space, interspace, field, or void.
Organic Shape: free-form, irregular shape, also called biomorphic or amoeboid shape.
Geometric Shape: shape created by mathematical laws and measurements, such as a circle or a square
Texture: the tactile quality of a surface or representation
Value: the gradation of tone from light to dark, from white through grey to black
Composition: the organization or arrangement of the elements of art in a given work
Subjective Drawing: drawing that emphasizes the artist’s emotions
Objective Drawing: free from personal feelings, the emphasis is on the descriptive and factual rather that the expressive or subjective.
Informational Drawing: includes diagrammatic, architectural, and mechanical drawings and usually clarifies concepts and ideas that are not actually visible.
Schematic or Conceptual Drawing: drawings which are mental constructs, not exact records of visual reality.
Chiaroscuro: modeling, the gradual blending of light to dark to create a three-dimensional illusion.
Foreshortening: a technique for producing the illusion of an object’s extension into space
Pictoral Space: in the graphic arts, illusion of space. It may be relatively flat or two-dimensional, illusionistically three-dimensional, or ambiguous space.
Illusionistic Space: in the graphic arts (2-D), a representation of three-dimensional space.
Mass: in the graphic arts, the illusion of weight or density.
Modeling: the change from light to dark across a surface, a technique for creating special illusion.
Non-objective: in the visual arts, work that intends no reference to concrete objects or persons.
Abstraction: an alteration of forms, derived from observation or experience, in such a way as to present essential rather than particular qualities.
Picture Plane: the two-dimensional surface on which the artist works
Perspective: a technique for giving an illusion of space to a flat surface
Scale: size and weight relationships between forms.
Proportion: comparative relationship between parts of a whole and between the parts and the whole.
Content: what is perceived or felt when viewing an art object, can be emotional and/or conceptual.
Medium or Media: the materials and tools used to create a work of art.
Line Quality: is the characteristic of a line; length, width, descriptive abilities, emotional or stylistic attributes.
Subject Matter: what is actually seen when viewing an art work.
Unity: all the parts of the composition coming together as a whole to convey a sense of completion.