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Arts Appreciation

COLOR WHEEL

A circular grid that represents the colors based on color theory. This grid clearly shows the relationships colors have with each other (complimentary, opposite, etc.).

COMPLIMENTARY COLORS

Hues directly opposite one another on the color wheel and therefore assumed to be as different from one another as possible. When placed side by side, complementary colors are intensified; when mixed together, they produce a neutral (or gray) color.

COMPOSITION

The organization, design or placement of the individual elements in a work of art. The aim is to achieve balance and proportionality. Usually applied to two-dimensional art.

CONCEPTUAL ART

An art form in which the underlying idea or concept and the process by which it is achieved are more important than any tangible product.

CONSTRUCTION

An art work that is actually assembled or built on the premises where it is to be shown. Many constructions are meant to be temporary and are disassembled after the exhibition is over.

CONTE

Initially it was a trade name for a brand of French crayons made from a unique compound of pigments with a chalk binder. Conte crayons are free from grease, making them acceptable for lithographic drawing.

CONTEMPORARY ART

Generally defined as art that has been produced since the second half of the twentieth century.

CONTENT

The message conveyed by a work of art - its subject matter and whatever the artist hopes to convey by that subject matter.

CONTOUR

A line that creates a boundary separating an area of space or object from the space around it.

CONTRAPPOSTO

Literally, “counterpoise.” A method of portraying the human figure, especially in sculpture, often achieved by placing the weight on one foot and turning the shoulder so the figure appears relaxed and mobile. The result is often a graceful S-curve.

CONVERGING

Lines that go towards the same point.

COOL COLORS

Those that suggest a sense of coolness. Blue , Green , Violet

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Aptitude, skill, and manual dexterity in the use of tools and materials.

CROSS-HATCHING

An area of closely spaced lines intersecting one another, used to create a sense of three-dimensionality on a flat surface, especially in drawing and printmaking. See also hatching, stippling.

CUBISM

A style of art pioneered in the early 20th century by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. In the most developed form of Cubism, forms are fragmented into planes or geometric facets, like the facets in a diamond; these planes are rearranged to foster a pictorial, but not naturalistic, reality; forms may be viewed simultaneously from several vantage points; figure and background have equal importance; and the colors are deliberately restricted to a range of neutrals.

CURVILINEAR

Stressing the use of curved lines as opposed to rectilinear which stresses straight lines.