Odisha CHSE +2 Vocational Applied Art key terms

Any basic visual building block used to construct an artwork, such as line, shape, form, colour, value, texture and space. Artists combine these components before applying organising principles.

A rule guiding how design elements are arranged for a pleasing or effective result, including balance, contrast, emphasis, rhythm, proportion, unity and movement. These govern composition rather than supply raw material.

The distribution of visual weight on either side of an axis. It may be symmetrical, with mirrored halves, asymmetrical, with unequal but counterpoised masses, or radial, radiating from a centre.

Deliberate dominance given to one area or object so the viewer's eye goes there first. It is created through contrast, isolation, size, placement or strong colour, and is also called the focal point.

The degree of visible difference between adjacent elements, such as light against dark or rough against smooth. Strong contrast sharpens legibility and creates energy; weak contrast produces calm or vagueness.

The sense that all parts of a composition belong together and read as one whole. It is achieved by repeating colours, shapes or textures, by alignment, and by subordinating detail to an overall idea.

Regular or varied repetition of elements that leads the eye through a composition, much like a beat in music. Alternating, progressive and flowing rhythms are common in pattern and ornament.

The relative lightness or darkness of a colour or tone, independent of its hue. Value contrast defines form and depth, and a value scale of nine or ten steps is used for study.

The surface quality of an object as felt or as simulated visually. Actual texture can be touched; implied texture is drawn or painted to suggest roughness, softness or grain.

A system for representing three-dimensional space on a flat surface so objects recede convincingly. Linear perspective uses horizon line and vanishing points; aerial perspective pales and blurs distant forms.

The point on the horizon line where parallel receding lines appear to converge in linear perspective. One-point and two-point setups place one or two such points on the eye-level line.

The horizontal line in a drawing or painting marking the viewer's eye level, where earth and sky appear to meet. All vanishing points for level receding edges lie on it.

Depicting a form that projects towards or away from the viewer as shortened, so a limb pointing at the eye looks compressed. It conveys depth and dramatic viewpoint.

A rapid sketch capturing the action, weight and flow of a pose rather than outline detail. Usually done in seconds to a few minutes to train observation of movement and proportion.

A drawing that describes the edges and boundaries of a form, often slowly and without lifting the eye from the subject. Blind contour means drawing without looking at the paper.

The size relationship between parts of a figure or composition, and between each part and the whole. Correct proportion makes a drawing believable; deliberate distortion can express emotion.

Strong, dramatic modelling of form through contrasts of light and dark. Developed in the Renaissance and Baroque, it gives volume and mood to figures and drapery.

The name of a colour family, such as red, yellow or blue, determined by its dominant wavelength. Hue is one of the three dimensions of colour, alongside value and saturation.

The purity or intensity of a colour, describing how greyish or vivid it appears. Adding grey, white or a complement lowers saturation, also called chroma.

Two hues lying opposite each other on the colour wheel, such as red and green. Placed side by side they intensify each other; mixed as pigment they neutralise towards grey.

A circular arrangement of hues showing their relationships. The traditional painter's wheel has twelve steps: three primaries, three secondaries and six tertiaries.

A tint is a colour lightened by adding white; a shade is darkened by adding black. Both alter value while keeping the original hue family recognisable.

The optical effect in which a colour appears changed by its surroundings: a grey looks warmer on blue and cooler on orange. Designers exploit this to control perceived colour without changing ink.

A complete family of letters, numerals and symbols sharing a consistent design, such as a serif or sans-serif family. A font is one specific weight and size of that family.

Adjusting the horizontal space between individual pairs of letters so spacing looks even, as in the pair AV. Poor kerning creates awkward gaps or collisions in display lettering.

The vertical distance between successive lines of set text, measured baseline to baseline. Too little crowds lines; too much breaks the reading flow.

Uniform adjustment of spacing across a whole word or block of text, unlike kerning which targets single pairs. Loosening tracking is common in small capitals and headlines.

The art of beautiful writing with a pen, brush or reed, where stroke width varies with pressure and angle. In India it underlies manuscript, Persian-influenced and regional script traditions.

A compact identifying mark combining a symbol, wordmark or both, used to distinguish a brand. A good logo stays legible when reduced to a single colour and small size.

The coordinated set of visual elements, including logo, colours, typefaces and layout rules, that makes an organisation recognisable across all media. Consistency is its core requirement.

A large printed sheet designed for public display, carrying a short message readable from a distance. Hierarchy, bold contrast and a single clear idea are essential to its effectiveness.

The ordered ranking of information in a layout so the eye meets the most important element first. Size, weight, colour and position establish the levels.

A traditional cloth-based painting of Odisha, especially Puri and Raghurajpur, done on treated cotton with natural colours and fine black outlines around mythological figures. Dried tamarind seed paste prepares the surface.

An Odishan manuscript craft in which letters and images are incised into dried palm leaves with a stylus, then rubbed with black pigment so the lines darken. Leaves are strung into bundles.

Art produced within a community by unnamed artisans, passed down through generations and tied to ritual, festival or daily use. It favours flat pattern, bold colour and symbolic motifs over academic realism.

Work made by indigenous communities, often for ritual or communal purpose, using locally available materials. In Odisha it includes wall painting and metal casting traditions distinct from courtly art.

A symbolic hand gesture used in Indian sculpture and dance to convey meaning, such as the raised palm of abhaya granting protection. Mudras identify deities and narrative moments.

The study of subject matter and symbols in art, including attributes, gestures and settings that identify a figure. It explains why a deity carries a particular weapon or sits on a particular mount.

In Indian aesthetics, the aesthetic flavour or emotional relish evoked in a sensitive viewer by a work of art. Classical theory names nine rasas, including love, heroism, pathos and wonder.

The emotional state or feeling depicted by a performer or artist, which, when well conveyed, allows the corresponding rasa to be enjoyed by the audience.

A digital picture built from a grid of pixels, each holding colour values. Enlarging it beyond its native resolution reveals visible squares, so it suits photographs rather than scalable artwork.

Digital artwork defined by mathematical paths and anchor points rather than pixels, so it scales to any size without loss of sharpness. It is preferred for logos and lettering.

The amount of detail a digital or printed image can hold, expressed as pixels per inch on screen or dots per inch in print. Higher resolution supports larger reproduction without blur.

The four process printing inks: cyan, magenta, yellow and key black. Subtractive mixing of these inks on paper reproduces full-colour print, though the gamut is smaller than screen colour.

The additive colour model of red, green and blue light used by screens. Combining all three at full strength gives white, and its gamut differs from printable ink colours.

A chalk or gypsum ground mixed with binder and applied in thin layers to cloth, wood or board. It seals the surface and gives a slightly absorbent base for painting.

Paint applied thickly so that brush or palette-knife marks stand out from the surface and catch light. It adds physical texture and expressive force to a painting.