Vocabulary for Chapter 1 The Visual Experience This presentation was created following the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia. Certain materials are included under the Fair Use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law. Further use of these materials and this presentation is restricted.

Art: Produced or intended primarily for aesthetic purposes, rather than utility. Any of the art forms, such as sculpture, painting, or music.  Medium: The materials used to create an artwork such as oil, watercolor etc,.. or a category of art such as drawing, painting, or sculpture.  Subject: Things that are represented in an artwork such as people, buildings, trees, etc.

Traditional Works that have a form, style, and subject matter that are familiar to the public. Abstract Describing an artwork based on an identifiable subject, but with few or no detail, and in which visual elements are simplified or rearranged.  

Vocabulary for Chapter 2 The Visual Experience

Philosophy of Art: The study of art that involves asking and answering all kinds of questions about art, how people respond to it, and how it relates to our lives.  Design: The plan the artist uses to organize the art elements (line, shape, for, space, etc.) in a work of art to achieve a unified composition.

Aesthetic Experience The theory of perceiving and enjoying something for its beauty and pleasurable qualities. This theory tries to explain and categorize our responses to art forms.

Art Criticism A systematic discussion of the characteristics of an artwork, usually involving four stages: description, analysis, interpretation and judgment.

Description: The facts of an artwork such as objects, people, shapes, and colors. Elements of Art: The building blocks of art; space, line, shape, form, color, value, and texture. The tools the artist works with to create an artwork.

Analysis:The examination of the relationships among the facts (objects, people, shapes, colors) in an artwork. Principles of Design: Balance, emphasis, rhythm, movement, repetition, contrast, and unity. The methods or techniques the artists use to organize or design artworks by controlling and ordering the elements of art. Composition: The act of organizing the elements of an artwork into harmoniously unified whole.

Interpretation:Explanation of the meaning of the work.  Evaluation: Process to determine the quality or lasting importance of a work. Formalism: Way of using the elements of art and principles of design to evaluate work.  Expressiveness: Refers to how effectively the work reflects a theme or world view.