VA Vocab

• Elements of art and design

  • Line
  • Shape
  • Colour
  • Value
  • Form
  • Texture
  • Direction
  • Space
• Principles of art and design

  • Balance
  • Contrast
  • Emphasis
  • Movement
  • Pattern
  • Rhythm
  • Unity
  • Variety
• Colour wheel


  A circular diagram used in the visual arts to represent the colours of the visible spectrum and their relationships to one another
• Primary, secondary and tertiary colours

  Colours represented on the colour wheel
• Monochromatic


  A range of tones or values from one colour or hue
• Tonal scale


  A gradient scale in which every part is separated from the other by a whole tone
• Materials/media/medium


  The substance the artist uses to create an artwork (e.g. paint, charcoal, clay, paper)
• Techniques


  The ways artists use art materials to make art (e.g. brushwork, carving, stippling)
• Subject matter


  The subject or theme that is represented in a work of art
• Composition


  The arrangement and placement of the subject matter within a work of art
• Focal point


  The area of most visual interest within an artwork composition
• Genre


  A style or category of art, music, or literature (e.g. landscape, still life, portraiture)
• Portrait


  An artwork genre that represents an individual which shows their likeness or character
• Still life


  An artwork genre that represents an arrangement of lifeless (inanimate) objects (e.g. fruit or flowers)
• Landscape


  An artwork genre that represents the land, natural or man-made
• Style


  The visual appearance of an artwork that relates to other works with a similar approach, or from the same period, "school", or art movement (e.g. Expressive, Abstract, Surrealist, Realist)
• Realism


  Artworks created in a realistic, true-to-life or photographic style
• Abstraction


  An art style that shows subject matter as not true to life, it may be simplified or distorted and not recognisable
• Semi-abstract


  An art style that is not quite abstract or realistic, some reference to the real world can be seen
• Symbolism


  The use of visual images and subjects to represent a personal or universal meaning in artworks
• Mood


  The feeling or emotion represented in an artwork
• Renaissance


  A European art period originating in Florence, Italy in the 1400's marked by a revival of classical cultural, artistic, political and economic knowledge
• Traditional


  Not contemporary, classical skills and knowledge passed down through generations that often continue within current artistic conventions and practices
• Modernism


  A European-centric period of art history from 1880's to 1970's where artists sought experimental and innovative ways of representing subjects and making art
• Contemporary


  Art of today, artworks made in the most recent 30 years, the art of now, new ways of making art in a postmodern time period
• Postmodern

  A global art historical period 1970'S - current that reacted against modernism's dominance in cultural theory and practice
• Appropriation

  The technique of using and altering pre-existing objects or images to make a new work that changes the original artwork's meaning