Vocabulary

Design: A planned arrangement of visual elements to construct an organized visual pattern.

Line: a mark left by a dot or point moving over a surface. It is often an outline or contour, showing the edge of an object, or figure. They can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal, long, short, straight, curved, thick, thin, solid, dashed, blurred, uneven, sharp-edged and can create patterns.

Contour: A line used to follow the edges of forms and thus describe their outlines.

Shape: An enclosed space defined by line, color, value, or texture. Circles, squares, and triangles are three basic shapes.

Form: When referring to objects, it is the shape and structure of that object. When referring to two-dimensional artworks, it is the visual aspect of composition, structure, and the work as a whole.

Horizon line: The farthest point we can see where the delineation between the sky and ground becomes distinct. The line on the picture plane that indicates the extent of illusionistic space and on which are located the vanishing points. 

Plane The two-dimensional surface of a shape.

Focal point: A compositional device emphasizing a certain area or object to draw attention to the piece and to encourage closer scrutiny of the work. 

Value: refers to the degrees of light to dark white being the lightest value and black the darkest. The term, lighting refers to the degrees of value being created by one or more particular light source such as the sun or a lamp.

Color: the phenomenon of light which creates the visible spectrum helping us to distinguish one form from another. Color has hue, value, saturation (intensity).

Hue: the characteristic quality of a color that separates it from others, i.e. red, blue, etc.

Saturation: the quality or degree of the color content or chroma from low intensity (neutral) to high intensity.

Primary colors: these 3 colors are the base colors for every other color on the color wheel. Cannot mix any other colors to achieve these colors. (blue, red and yellow).

Contrast: Refers to the differences in values, colors, textures, shapes and other elements. Contrast can add interest to the work. Black and white creates the highest value of contrast. is the use of several elements of design to hold the viewer’s attention and to guide the viewer’s eye through the artwork.

Space: refers to implied or actual depth.

Negative Space: The space surrounding a positive shape or form; sometimes referred to as ground, empty space, field, or void. 

Positive Space: The shape of a form that serves as a subject in a composition. The relationship between positive and negative space is sometimes referred to as figure/ground, figure/field, foreground/background, or solid/void.

Ambiguous Space: Space that is neither clearly positive nor negative but that seems to carry aspects of both and often depending on the viewer’s point of view.

Perspective: a graphic system that creates the illusion of depth and volume on a two-dimensional surface.

One-point perspective A system of spatial illusion in two dimensional surface based on the convergence of parallel lines to a common vanishing point usually on the horizon.

Two-point perspective A scene that is viewed through an angle, with no objects parallel to the picture plane and with edges receding on two vanishing points on the horizon line.

Three-point perspective A scene that is viewed through an angle, with no objects parallel to the picture plane and with edges receding on three vanishing points, two on the horizon line and one above or below the horizon.

Aerial perspective The perception of less distinct contours and value contrasts as forms recede into the background. Colors appear to be washed out in the distance or take on the color of the atmosphere. Also called atmospheric perspective.

Vanishing point In linear perspective, the point at which parallel lines appear to converge on the horizon line. Depending on the view there may be more than one vanishing point.

Texture: The surface quality of objects that appeals to the tactile (physical) sense. 

Pattern: The repetition of a visual element or module in a regular and anticipated sequence.

Format: refers to the shape of the outer dimensions of a composition.

Unity: one of the most important aspects of a design. A work of art has unity when its parts are balanced and organized in a harmonious way – all the elements and principles work together. (another term for unity is harmony).

Balance: refers to the visual ‘weight’ of a composition that is the result of either a symmetrical, asymmetrical, or radial arrangement of the visual elements. 

Rhythm: refers to the relative repetition and/or variation of visual elements that often leads to rhythm, visual interest, and control of the viewers eye direction throughout a composition.

Proportion: refers to the relative scale of one form in relationship to another form.

Composition: The overall arrangement and organization of visual elements on the two-dimensional surface.

Picture Plane: the surface of a drawing or painting.