Basque PAU Artistic Drawing II key terms

Initial light drawing that fixes the overall size, position and main axes of a subject before detail is added, used to check that the whole composition fits the support correctly.

Single flowing line that summarises the dominant movement or gesture of a figure or form, helping to keep pose and rhythm coherent during the early stages of a drawing.

Foreshortening: the deliberate distortion of a form drawn along a receding axis so that it appears to project towards or away from the viewer in depth.

Imaginary plane or series of planes that slices through a form, revealing its cross-section and helping the draughtsman describe volume as a set of stacked sections.

Underlying arrangement of simple solids, axes and planes that supports a complex form, used to build figures and objects convincingly before surface detail is described.

Quantitative relationship between the parts of a form and between each part and the whole, established by comparing lengths, widths and angles against a constant unit.

Codified set of ideal body proportions adopted by a culture or period, such as the eight-head figure, used as a reference against which observed proportions are compared.

Repeatable unit of measurement taken from the subject itself, such as the head or a hand span, which is counted across the figure to keep proportions consistent.

Irrational ratio of roughly 1:1.618 obtained by dividing a segment so that the whole relates to the larger part as that part relates to the smaller, often used to analyse balanced compositions.

Deliberate arrangement of shapes, values and intervals within the picture frame so that the elements read as an ordered whole with a clear hierarchy and focal point.

Apparent attraction exerted by an element according to its size, contrast, colour saturation or placement, which the eye uses to judge whether a composition feels balanced.

Line that traces the outer edge of a form; varied in pressure and speed, it can suggest weight, texture and turning surfaces rather than acting as a uniform outline.

Line drawn through a form to describe its internal axis, direction or construction, often lighter than contour lines and used to test symmetry and alignment.

Individual mark left by a drawing tool, characterised by its direction, pressure, taper and speed, whose repetition builds texture, rhythm and expressive character.

System of parallel or crossed linear marks used to build tone, direction and texture, with spacing and density controlling the apparent value of each area.

Relative lightness or darkness of a surface, independent of hue, forming the scale from white to black that communicates light, form and depth in a drawing.

Organisation of light and dark in a drawing to model three-dimensional form, using a consistent light source and a sequence of lit, mid-tone, shadow and reflected-light zones.

Area of a form facing the light source most directly, receiving the highest illumination and therefore showing the lightest value before any highlight is added.

Shadow cast by an object onto another surface, whose shape and length depend on the direction and height of the light source and which helps anchor forms in space.

Degree of difference between adjacent values, colours or shapes; strong contrast advances an element and separates planes, while weak contrast tends to unify and push areas back.

Circular diagram arranging hues by their relationships, used to locate primaries, secondaries and complementary pairs and to plan harmonious or deliberately discordant colour schemes.

Hue positioned opposite another on the colour wheel; placed side by side the pair intensifies both colours, while mixed together they neutralise towards grey or brown.

Purity or intensity of a colour, describing how far it is from a neutral grey of the same value; lowering saturation produces muted, earthy or atmospheric effects.

Warm or cool bias of a hue, with reds and yellows reading warm and blues and greens cool, used to separate planes and suggest light quality in a drawing.

Carbon-based drawing medium graded from hard to soft, capable of fine linear work and broad tonal masses and easily erased, making it the standard tool for studies and sketches.

Charcoal made from charred wood, producing dense matte blacks and soft gradations; it smudges readily and is usually fixed with a spray to prevent loss.

Reddish iron-oxide drawing stick used for figure studies, valued for warm mid-tones that combine with white chalk and black chalk in three-colour techniques.

Rolled paper or leather stump used to spread and soften drawn marks, creating smooth tonal transitions at the cost of losing the freshness of direct hatching.

Geometric system that projects receding parallel lines to one or more vanishing points on a horizon line, producing a construction consistent with how the eye perceives depth.

Point on the horizon line where parallel lines receding from the viewer appear to converge, one point per direction in one- and two-point perspective constructions.

Horizontal line marking the viewer's eye level in a perspective construction; it fixes where vanishing points sit and determines whether objects are seen from above or below.

Depth cue in which distant forms lose contrast and saturation and shift towards the background hue, imitating the effect of atmosphere over long viewing distances.

Drawing made directly from an observed subject rather than from memory or imagination, requiring sustained comparison between the model and the marks on the support.

Rapid observational sketch that captures the essential gesture, proportion or light effect of a subject in a few marks, often made in a sketchbook and later developed.

Sketchbook carried during observation, holding notes, thumbnails and studies that record visual information and serve as raw material for later studio work.

Preliminary drawing that tests an idea, composition or pose before the final work, usually small and loose and often produced in several alternative versions.

Composition of inanimate objects such as vessels, fruit and drapery arranged for study of form, texture and light, a standard subject in academic drawing training.

Institutional teaching tradition, from the seventeenth century onwards, based on drawing from casts and the live model, codified proportion and staged progression through copies.