Maharashtra HSC Drawing flashcards

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

Symmetrical balance

Composition in which elements mirror each other about a central vertical, horizontal or diagonal axis; it reads as formal, stable and ceremonial, and suits architecture, portraits and religious subjects.

Radial balance

Balance produced when elements repeat around a central point, as in mandalas, rangoli and rose windows; the eye is pulled inward to the hub rather than side to side across the frame.

Emphasis and focal point

The point of greatest contrast in value, saturation, sharpness or size, which the eye reaches first; other areas are deliberately subordinated so the picture keeps one dominant reading.

Rhythm in art

Repetition of a motif with variation, whether regular, alternating, progressive or random in spacing, that sets up a visual beat and moves the eye through the composition.

Value scale

A graded strip running from white to black in even steps, usually nine or ten of them; squinting at it lets you assign every area of the drawing a definite step instead of guessing.

Terminator or core shadow

The darkest band on a rounded form where the surface turns away from the light; it lies between the half-tone and the reflected light, and curving it correctly describes volume.

Reflected light in shading

Light bounced from the table or neighbouring objects into the shadow side; it is always weaker than the highlight and keeps shadows transparent rather than flat and black.

Ellipse in object drawing

A circle seen at an angle: its minor axis points to the vanishing point, and it opens wider as its plane approaches eye level, collapsing to a straight line at eye level.

Sight-size measurement

Judging the drawing directly against the object from one fixed viewing point while holding a pencil at arm's length to transfer width, height and angles onto the paper.

Line of action

A single sweeping line running through a figure's gesture from head to foot; it is fixed first in memory drawing so the pose reads before any anatomy is added.

Golden ratio composition

Division of a rectangle near 1 to 1.618, giving roughly 1 to 1.5 on a standard paper; placing the dominant mass on that division balances better than exact centring.

Thumbnail sketch

A small rough plan of shapes and values, usually three to five of them, drawn before the final memory or imaginative composition to test arrangements quickly.

Eye level or horizon line

The horizontal line at the height of the viewer's eyes; it coincides with the horizon, carries every vanishing point, and objects below it reveal their top surfaces.

One-point perspective

A system with a single vanishing point on the eye level, used when the object's front face is parallel to the picture plane and therefore keeps its true shape.

Two-point perspective

Two vanishing points on the eye level, used when a box is turned so that both vertical faces recede; vertical edges stay vertical and the nearest corner is drawn longest.

Foreshortening

Apparent shortening of a form pointing toward the viewer; cross-sections diminish along the receding axis, forms overlap, and the joint nearest the eye is drawn largest.

Complementary colours

Pairs opposite on the colour wheel, such as red with green, yellow with violet, blue with orange; mixed they neutralise to grey, and placed side by side they give maximum contrast.

Tint, shade and tone

A tint is a hue lightened with white, a shade is a hue darkened with black, and a tone is a hue dulled with grey; each changes value or chroma while the hue stays the same.

Simultaneous contrast

A colour appears shifted toward the complement of its neighbour, so grey looks warm on a blue ground and cool on an orange one; it is used to control local colour.

Transparent watercolour glazing

Successive thin transparent washes allowed to dry between coats; light passes through to the paper, so values build from light to dark and the white paper is reserved for highlights.

Head-count proportion

The adult standing figure averages seven and a half heads tall and the heroic figure eight; the crotch falls at the midpoint, the nipple line at two heads and the navel at three.

Contrapposto

A standing pose with weight on one leg, where the pelvis tilts up on the weight-bearing side and the shoulders tilt the opposite way, giving the spine a natural S-curve.

Gesture drawing

Very fast studies of thirty seconds to two minutes that record the line of action, centre of gravity and main masses of a pose rather than outline or anatomical detail.

Motif and repeat

The single designed unit and its systematic repetition by translation, rotation, reflection or alternation to build borders, jaali screens, textile prints and wallpaper layouts.

Tessellation

An arrangement of interlocking shapes covering a plane with no gaps and no overlaps; the repeating unit must tile the surface, as in Islamic star patterns.

Figure-ground relationship

The reading of positive shapes against negative space in two-dimensional design; giving equal attention to the gaps keeps a design legible and prevents crowding.

Aerial perspective

A distance cue in which far forms become lighter in value, cooler and bluer in hue, lower in contrast and softer in edge than forms closer to the viewer.

Horizon placement

A horizon above centre emphasises land and foreground, one below centre emphasises sky; a horizon exactly at mid-frame splits the picture and reads as unresolved.

Foliage massing

Drawing a tree as three or four value clusters shaped by the light, with trunk and main forks visible, instead of individual leaves; the silhouette carries the species.

Six limbs of Indian painting

Shadanga from the Chitrasutra: rupabheda, distinction of forms; pramana, proportion; bhava, expression; lavanya yojana, grace; sadrishya, likeness; varnikabhanga, colour handling.

Bengal School wash technique

Abanindranath Tagore's method of building soft, misty tones with repeated thin washes and blotting, learned partly from Japanese artists, which replaced academic oil realism in India.

Mughal miniature painting

Small-scale opaque watercolour on paper with fine brushwork, court patronage and Persian-derived flat space; Akbar's Hamzanama and Jahangir's natural history studies are landmarks.