Leonardo da Vinci: Light & Shadow Vocabulary

1. Center : The middle point of anything. It is the same distance from the opposite. 2. Center of Interest (Focal Point): The most important part in a work of art. All the other parts should center around, provide background for, or draw attention to it. 3. Circle : A round, two-dimensional shape in which every point on the outside line is the same distance from the center. 4. Design : An organized and creative arrangement made of patterns, lines, textures, shapes, colors, and so on.

5. Detail : A distinctive feature of an object or scene which can be seen most clearly close up. Also, a small part of a work of art, enlarged to show a close-up of its features. 6. Gradation : A gradual, smooth change from light to dark, rough to smooth, or one color to another. 7. Highlight : To center attention on or emphasize through use of color. 8. Medium : In art, the material an artist uses – oil, watercolor, pen and ink, chalk, and so on.

9. Shade : A color to which black or another dark hue has been added to make it darker. 10. Shading : Showing gradual change from light to dark or dark to light in a picture by darkening areas that would be shadowed and leaving other areas light. 11. Shape : A 2-D figure outlined by lines or a change in color or shading. It is an element of art. 12. Value : The lightness or darkness of tones or colors.

13. Core Shadow : The area on a form particularly on a sphere that is between the highlight and the reflected light and is usually the darkest value. 14. Halftone : The area that is neither light nor shadow, but somewhere in between. 15. Cast Shadow : a type of shadow that is created on a form next to a surface that is turned away from the source of light. 16. Organic Shapes : Figures that have a natural look and a flowing, curving appearance