Introduction Terms
Terms to know and use
balance (for more information see balance)
color (for more information see color)
composition (for more information see composition)
Creative Commons (for more information see Creative Commons)
form (for more information see form and shape)
iconography (for more information see iconography)
line (for more information see line)
proportion (for more information see proportion and scale)
scale (for more information see proportion and scale)
shape (for more information see form and shape)
Before the Common Era; this is a system used to designate time periods.
Common Era; this is a term used to designate periods. We currently live in the 21st century CE.
Balance is an even use of elements throughout a work of art.
Light reflected off objects.
The arrangement of elements in a work of art.
Creative Commons is an international nonprofit organization that empowers people to grow and sustain the thriving commons of shared knowledge and culture we need to address the world's most pressing challenges and create a brighter future for all.
A three-dimensional composition or object.
The study of the significance and interpretation of the subject matter of art.
Line is the most basic visual element. Lines can be used to define shapes and figures, but also to indicate motion, emotion, and other elements.
-Smarthistory
: an account or record (such as a first-hand account, a contemporaneous news report, a photograph, or an audio or video recording) reflecting direct experience of a thing (such as an historical event) that is being researched or studied
Proportion refers to the relationship of parts of a body or form to one another and of the parts to the whole, for example, the size of the head of a figure in relation to the entire body.
-Smarthistory
The proportional relationship between an object represented in an artwork and the real object. A figure drawn at one-quarter scale means all parts of the body are drawn one quarter the size of the original.
A flat, enclosed area of an artwork created through lines, textures, or colors.
Space is used to refer both to depth—real or represented—and also to the general surface area within a work of art.
-Smarthistory
Texture is the feeling of a surface, real or represented. This might refer to the roughness or smoothness of actual objects and art media, or to the illusion of these properties.
-Smarthistory
The skill of describing what you see and analyzing an artwork’s form.
