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.