Design and Illustration: The Young Artist's Glossary

Whether you want to learn how to draw or paint, you love photography, or you are interested in creating unique and functional designs like company logos, you'll need to understand art terms. Knowing what different artistic words mean will help you communicate with other artists. You'll also be able to explore different artistic techniques and media so you can better express yourself.

Abstract:

Abstract art is not based on realistic or natural objects

Angular:

An angular object has sharp corners and angles

Appropriation:

This approach borrows or copies pre-existing ideas or images and builds on the

Assemblage:

Assemblage art combines non-traditional art materials

Avant-garde:

Avant-garde describes innovative or experimental art techniques

Background:

The area that is farthest away from the viewer is the background

Baroque:

Baroque art is complex and extravagant

Batik:

Batik is a dying technique that involves using wax to create patterns on fabric

Brushwork:

Painters use brushwork to apply paint to a canvas

Calligraphy:

Calligraphy is decorative handwriting

Canvas:

A canvas is sturdy cloth made of woven cotton or linen that's often stretched over a frame

Caricature:

A caricature is a drawing of a person that is exaggerated to highlight certain features

Ceramics:

Ceramics are objects made out of hardened clay

Cityscape:

A cityscape is an urban scene, often showing a skyline with buildings

Collage:

A collage is artwork created by gluing fragments of materials to a surface

Color:

An object's hue is its color, which can be produced by paint, pigment, or dye

Composition:

How an artist arranges the different elements of a piece of art is the composition

Contour:

The contour is the outline of an object

Designer:

A designer is a person who creates a design

Diptych:

A diptych is art that has two hinged panels

Drawing:

An artist makes a drawing with crayon, pen, or pencil, producing a picture

Emulsion:

Combining two or more liquids and blending them together is the act of emulsion

Enamel:

Enamel paint has pigments and resins that create a glossy surface

Etching:

This technique creates thin lines with an etching needle

Figurative:

Figurative art has a form that somewhat replicates that of real objects

Foreground:

The foreground is the area of a drawing or painting that is closest to the viewer

Frottage:

This technique involves rubbing a medium such as crayon or pencil on paper that is placed over a textured surface

Gouache:

Gouache is a water-based matte paint that is less opaque than standard matte paint but has more pigment than standard watercolors

Horizon line:

A horizon line indicates where the land or water touches the sky

Illusion:

An illusion is a deceptive image

Image:

An image is a representation of an object or person.

Impressionism:

Impressionism is a school of art that focuses on creating an impression of a scene rather than a faithful, realistic portrayal.

Juxtaposition:

Juxtaposition involves arranging objects close together to compare or contrast them.

Lacquer:

Lacquer coating may be clear or colored and dries over a surface to form a film.

Landscape:

A landscape shows the terrain of an area.

Malleable:

A malleable material can be hammered or rolled to shape it.

Mandala:

A mandala is a Hindu or Buddhist design that is often circular and symbolizes the universe.

Medium:

A medium is the type of material used to create art.

Minimalism:

The minimalistic art movement features simple geometric forms and often involves industrial technology.

Mixed media:

When an artist uses more than one medium to create art, mixed media is the technique used.

Monochrome:

Monochrome art involves the use of just one color.

Montage:

A montage involves multiple images combined to make one piece of art.

Mural:

A mural is a large painting that's often applied to a ceiling or wall.

Oil paint:

Oil paint has pigments suspended in oil.

Opaque:

When light can't penetrate a material, it is opaque.

Paint:

Paint is a medium that combines pigments, binders, and solvents.

Painting:

A painting is artwork that a painter applies to a surface such as paper, canvas, or wood.

Palette:

A palette can be the range of colors used in a painting, or it can describe the board on which a painter mixes paint.

Panorama:

A panorama is a wide, unbroken view of an area.

Pastel:

Pastel colors are soft and delicate.

Pattern:

An artist might use a series of elements or objects in a repeated and predictable manner to create a pattern.

Perspective:

Perspective involves portraying spatial relationships on a flat surface.

Pictograph:

A pictograph is a symbolic representation of a word or phrase.

Pigment:

Pigments are fine powders that create color in a medium such as paint.

Primary colors:

The primary colors are red, blue, and yellow.

Proportion:

Proportion involves how parts relate to each other to create a whole.

Replica:

A replica is a copy of something.

Scale:

Scale is the ratio between the actual size of an object and its model.

Sculpture:

A sculpture is a three-dimensional object that an artist might make out of stone, wood, metal, wax, or clay.

Sketch:

Sketching involves creating a quick and loose drawing of something.

Stain:

Stain is paint that is thinned with a solvent so it is absorbed into the canvas.

Translucent:

When a medium is translucent, it allows some light to pass through it.

Vignette:

A vignette is a short description or scene.

Watercolor:

Paints with fine pigments and no white fillers are watercolors.