Visual Arts Glossary
This glossary is about useful terms and words in contemporary arts. The best way to get better at arts is studying other artists works. To understand everything, it is crucial to learn the right vocabulary, so here're 20 terms typically used in contemporary art. There's also images, translation, and pronunciation models. I used terms that I learned in my art history class and used google to define them.
- acrylic
- noun
- Acrylic is a general term for a family of man-made synthetic plastics, resins, and fibers derived from acrylic acid.
- Example: This painting was made using ACRYLIC.
- en: acrylique
- art movement
- phrase
- Art movement is a tendency or shared philosophy in art followed by a group of artists during a specific period. These groups share a common goal, visual style, or ideological belief.
- Example: German Expressionism was my favourite ART MOVEMENT.
- en: mouvement artistique / courant
- artwork
- noun
- An artwork is an artistic production, physical object, or visual creation made to express an idea, feeling, or aesthetic value.
- Example: The ARTWORK to be found on such monuments could never be seen as just propaganda; it has a far deeper function compared to the modern examples of propaganda.
- en: œuvre d'art
- Canvas
- noun
- Canvas is a strong, heavy, rough fabric made from cotton, linen, or hemp, as well as an artist's painting surface or a finished painting made on that fabric.
- Example: The picture he paints is very like an Impressionist CANVAS.
- en: toile / canevas
- composition
- noun
- Arrangement into specific proportion or relation and especially into artistic form.
- Example: The artist used a captivating COMPOSITION.
- en: composition
- contrast
- noun
- The state of being strikingly different from something else in juxtaposition or close association.
- Example: The high CONTRAST of light define his artwork.
- en: contraste
- easel
- noun
- An easel is an upright support frame, typically with three legs, used to hold an artist's canvas, a blackboard, or a display sign at an angle.
- Example: I used an EASEL to paint comfortably.
- en: chevalet
- frame
- noun
- In art, a frame is a protective and decorative border or structure that encloses a painting, drawing, photograph, or print.
- Example: I hung the FRAME too high.
- en: cadre
- gestural
- adjective
- A style of painting or drawing that emphasizes the physical, energetic movement of the artist. It uses sweeping, free, and expressive strokes rather than small, controlled details.
- Example: Heilmann first applied a foundational layer, frequently deploying gestural marks, then masked off portions of this base and overpainted it with a geometric second layer.
- en: gestuel / gestuelle
- impasto
- noun
- The process or technique of laying on paint or pigment thickly so that it stands out from a surface.
- Example: The thick IMPASTO of the hydrangeas above the figures matches the lushness of the blossom itself.
- en: empâtement
- landscape
- noun
- Landscape painting is a work of art that shows natural scenery like mountains, rivers, trees, and forests.
- Example: He painted a beautiful LANDSCAPE.
- en: paysage
- medium
- noun
- The specific substance, tool, or method an artist uses to create a work, such as oil paint, charcoal, or marble.
- Example: I'm an artists who work only with one MEDIUM
- en: médium
- oil paint
- phrase
- Oil paint is a slow-drying type of paint made by mixing colored powder particles, called pigment, with a vegetable oil binder, most commonly linseed oil.
- Example: This painting was made with OIL PAINT.
- en: peinture à l'huile
- Paintbrush
- noun
- A paintbrush is a tool used to apply paint, ink, or similar liquid mediums to a surface.
- Example: Use a small PAINTBRUSH to touch up any spots where the paint dripped or bled through the stencil.
- en: pinceau
- palette
- noun
- A palette is a flat board used by painters to hold and mix paint, or a range of colors used in art, design, or digital media.
- Example: He showed his student how to prepare a PALETTE.
- en: palette
- palette knife
- phrase
- A thin steel blade with a handle for mixing colours or applying or removing paint.
- Example: The area to be sampled was first cleaned with a PALETTE KNIFE to define the boundaries and then me archeology.
- en: couteau à peindre / spatule
- portrait
- noun
- A portrait is a painting, photograph, drawing, or sculpture of a person that highlights their face, likeness, and personality
- Example: The queen posed for her PORTRAIT.
- en: portrait
- saturation
- noun
- The intensity, purity, or vividness of a color, describing how bright or deep a tone is without being diluted by white.
- Example: The SATURATION was too high, I couldn't recognise the objects.
- en: saturation
- still life
- phrase
- A still life is a work of art that shows non-living objects, such as fruit, flowers, or household items.
- Example: She prefers portraiture to STILL LIFE.
- en: nature morte
- support
- noun
- In visual arts, the support is the solid surface on which the work is painted, typically a canvas or a panel.
- Example: A canvas is the most used SUPPORT for paintings.
- en: support
A handy list - thanks for sharing, Christopher!
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