scale = the size or visual weight of an object as compared to another object. usage: The scale of the Lincoln Monument is 55 times larger than the average height of a man.
texture = the visual surface of an object that shows the skin or outer dimension as appealing to the sense of touch. usage: The texture of the drawing of the tree showed the detail of the bark in a very real manner.
vanishing point = a single point on the horizon of an image that all lines lead to. usage: the railroad tracks all lead to one distant point.
analogous = similar or comparable to something else ex: An airplane’s joystick is somewhat analogous to the reins on a horse. The emotional impact of a painting by Jackson Pollock is analogous to watching fireworks on the fourth of July.
symmetry = balanced proportions ex: The human face holds symmetry on each side.
asymmetry = the lack or absence of symmetry ex: As Mercury orbits the Sun, it experiences a small torque due to its slight asymmetry in the plane of its orbit
obtuse = annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand. example: “he wondered why the artist was being deliberately obtuse in showing his art"
nebulous = in the form of a cloud or haze, unclear, vague, uncertain, example: “I felt very nebulous about abstract painting”
obscure= not clearly expressed or understood example: “Mr. Bonnell was very obscure when he explained the art lesson.”
aesthetics = ones own personal definition of beauty that holds a value system or reasoning.
ambiguity = revealing the beauty of opposites within a subject matter or work of art.
symmetry = a term to reveal a mirror image of a subject or perfect balance.
alchemy = Chemistry of the middle ages, characterized by the pursuit of changing base metals to gold.
allegory = The setting forth of a subject under the guise of another subject of aptly suggestive likeness.
allude = To refer incidentally, or by suggestion.
alteration = Change or modification.
achromatic = Colorless
acquiescence = Passive consent.
acquisition = Anything gained, or made one's own, usually by effort or labor.
acute = Having fine discernment.
addendum = Something added, or to be added.
adjacent = That which is near or bordering upon.
adjunct = Something joined to or connected with another thing, but holding a subordinate place.
Subtle = difficult to analyze
convoluted = complex and hard to follow ideas, thoughts and writings
mosaic = an arrangement of pieces of material to form a work of art
ethereal = a form of beauty beyond reality
illusive = to evade or dodge a subject
attenuate = to lesson the amount
naturalism = The approach to art in which the forms used by the artist are essentially descriptive of things that the artist sees.
nonobjective = A term given to a work of art that has no recognizable subject matter.
rhythm = A continuance, a flow, or a feeling of movement achieved by the repetition of regulated visual information.
motif = A visual element or a combination of visual elements that is repeated often enough in a composition to make it the dominating feature of the artist’s expression. It is similar to theme or melody in a musical composition.
volume = A shape that is three-dimensional in nature and exists in space. On a flat surface the artist can only create the illusion of a volume.