Vocabulary

 Painting Vocabulary                                                                                                                

 

Materials                                                                                                                                                    

 

canvas              cotton material that gets stretched over a beveled wooden support (see stretcher below) and/or the resulting substrate.

 

panel               a painting substrate that consists of a flat, smooth wooden surface

 

stretcher          the beveled wooden supports over which fabric (usually cotton canvas duck or linen) is stretched to make a painting surface

 

ground the foundational layer of a painting; can also be a layer of color/tone that the rest of the painting is built upon (this is called a ‘toned ground”)

 

medium           an additive used to change the consistency of the paint; different mediums are used to affect a variety of properties (drying time, transparency, opacity, etc.)

 

palette surface used to mix paints on; usually a non-absorbent material (glass, sealed wood, metal, etc.) that can be cleaned and re-used

 

varnish final protective coat on a finished painting that is fully dry; also serves to unify the surface of the painting when some colors dry glossy and some matte; true varnishes are removable without affecting the paint surface

 

 

Process                                                                                                                                               

 

“blocking-in”     establishing the main forms of a painting; “blocking-in” provides the architecture on which the rest of the painting is built

 

composition     the layout and arrangement of the elements in a painting; successful compositions often contain a dynamic relationship between the positive shapes, negative shapes, and the edges of the canvas

 

bird’s eye view     a composition that utilizes a view looking down on an object(s)

 

worm’s (or ant’s) eye view     a composition that utilizes a view looking up at an object(s)

 

balance     the distribution of elements in a drawing; there are 3 main types:

 

symmetrical-:  exact balance of elements along a central axis so that each side of the drawing is identical.

 

asymmetrical:  an uneven distribution of elements that usually achieves balance through the use of contrast.

 

approximate symmetry:  an arrangement of elements that achieves balance with an even distribution of non-identical forms

 

positive shape     the shape of the object(s) that functions as the subject of the painting

 

negative space     the space around the subject(s) (or positive shape)

 

sighting/measuring     using a brush or pencil to determine angles of edges and the relative proportion of objects to each other

 

 

Light                                                                                                                                                        

 

value                 the range of lights and darks in a painting

 

value scale     a 10-step gradation of tones from white to black

 

mid-tones         values located in the middle of the value scale

 

highlights         values located at the light end of the value scale

 

darks                values located at the dark end of the value scale

 

relative value     the inherent value of an object that will impact the overall value range; for example, a white object will most likely not have the full range of values, instead, because of its relative value, its value range will fall more towards the light end of the scale

 

rendering/modeling     the creation of realistic/accurate spatial illusion

 

high contrast     a limited value range with bold changes between light and dark (think of a black and white comic book)

 

low contrast     a limited value range that operates within a small range of the value scale

 

 

Space                                                                                                                                                          

 

perspective     giving the illusion of depth to a two-dimensional surface; there are 2 main types:

atmospheric perspective:     the loss of detail and value range as objects recede towards into the distance

 

linear perspective:  the appearance that parallel lines converge as they recede into the distance (think of a drawing of a railroad track)

 

foreshortening     the compressing of forms as they recede into the distance