BGCSE Art & Design (0596) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Primary source

The actual object, person, or scene observed directly by the artist rather than a reproduction. It supplies first-hand information about form, proportion, colour, and surface.

Negative space

The area surrounding and between the subject's forms. Drawing it as solid shape reveals silhouette errors that the eye overlooks when focused on the object itself.

Sighting technique

Measuring apparent proportions by holding a pencil at arm's length and comparing one observed length against another. It corrects errors caused by judging size without a fixed reference.

Foreshortening

The apparent compression of a form that recedes toward the viewer. A limb pointing at the eye appears much shorter than its true length.

Cross-contour line

A line drawn across the surface of a form, following its curvature. A series of cross-contours describes three-dimensional volume without shading.

Pencil grade scale

The range from 9H, hardest and palest, through HB to 9B, softest and darkest. Hard grades suit precise linear work; soft grades deposit broad dark tone.

Watercolour transparency

Watercolour pigment is transparent, so light passes through layers to the white paper. Tones are built light to dark and white is preserved as bare paper.

Gouache

An opaque water-based paint with a chalk-like body. Unlike transparent watercolour it can be layered light over dark and used for flat, solid colour areas.

Acrylic versus oil

Acrylic dries rapidly and becomes water-resistant when dry. Oil dries slowly, allowing wet-in-wet blending and reworking over several days.

Ink wash dilution

Ink tone is controlled by adding water. Successive glazes darken the value only when each preceding layer has dried completely.

Print reversal

Relief and intaglio printing mirror the plate onto the paper. Any lettering or directional image must therefore be cut or etched in reverse.

Collage

An image assembled from adhered cut or torn materials. Cut edges read as hard transitions, torn edges as soft ones, and found paper adds its own texture.

Subtractive process

A making method that removes material from a solid block, as in carving stone or wood. The form is revealed by taking away rather than adding.

Armature

An internal framework of wire, timber, or metal that supports soft modelling material. It carries weight and prevents a tall or projecting form from collapsing.

Waste mould

A casting mould broken away to release the finished cast. It yields only one copy, unlike a flexible reusable mould that produces multiple casts.

Clay shrinkage

Clay contracts as it dries and again during firing. Uneven thickness or rushed drying causes stress, warping, and cracking at joints.

Glaze function

A glassy layer fused onto ceramic during firing. It seals the body and adds colour, but pools thickly or crazes if applied unevenly.

Design brief

A statement of the client's need together with constraints such as cost, size, material, and audience. It sets the problem the design must solve.

Design specification

A set of measurable criteria derived from the brief, covering size, function, cost, and safety. It provides the standard against which the final outcome is evaluated.

Iteration in design

Successive dated versions in which one variable is deliberately changed and tested. The sequence of changes and their reasons forms the evidence of development.

Ergonomics

Matching a product to human body dimensions and capabilities, using data such as grip span, reach, and eye height to size handles and controls.

Complementary colours

Hues lying opposite each other on the colour wheel, such as red and green. Placed side by side they increase each other's apparent intensity.

Tertiary colour

A hue made by mixing a primary with an adjacent secondary, for example blue with green. It sits between them on the standard twelve-part colour wheel.

Value scale

A graded strip of tones from white to black, usually in nine steps. It is used to judge and match the lightness of a colour or a drawn shadow.

Rule of thirds

A compositional grid dividing the frame into three equal parts each way. Placing key elements on the intersections produces dynamic rather than central balance.

Implied texture

Surface quality suggested by drawn or painted marks rather than physically present. It contributes contrast and can distinguish materials such as metal from cloth.

Formal analysis

Critical writing that examines only what is visible: subject, composition, tone, colour, scale, and handling of media, before any interpretation is offered.

Cubism

An early twentieth-century movement associated with Picasso and Braque that broke form into multiple simultaneous viewpoints and introduced collage into fine art.

Bauhaus

A German school active 1919 to 1933 that united craft with industrial production. Its preliminary course tested materials, colour, and geometric form experimentally.

Pop Art

A movement of the 1950s and 1960s that drew subject matter from advertising, comics, and mass production, eroding the boundary between fine art and commercial design.

Personal response

Artwork driven by the student's own chosen theme, subject, and experience, with decisions traceable to their observation and investigation rather than to a set exercise.

Reflective annotation

Written commentary beside studies that states what was attempted, what actually resulted, and what will change in the next version. It evidences developing judgement.