MATSEC IM Art flashcards

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

Complementary colours

Pairs opposite each other on the colour wheel, such as red and green or blue and orange. Placed side by side they intensify contrast; mixed together they neutralise towards grey or brown.

Secondary colour

A colour made by mixing two primary pigments in roughly equal amounts: orange from red and yellow, green from yellow and blue, violet from blue and red.

Tertiary colour

A colour produced by mixing a primary with an adjacent secondary, for example blue-green or red-orange. It sits between the two parent colours on the wheel.

Hue, tone, saturation

Three properties of colour. Hue is the colour family, tone is its lightness or darkness, and saturation is its purity or intensity relative to grey.

Local colour

The colour an object appears to have under neutral white light, independent of coloured light, shadow or reflected colour from nearby surfaces.

Chiaroscuro

Strong, deliberate contrast between light and dark used to model form and create drama. It is associated with Baroque painting and with tenebrism in particular.

Vanishing point

The point on the eye level where receding parallel lines appear to converge. Its position fixes the viewer's viewpoint and the depth of the depicted space.

Eye level

The horizontal line at the height of the viewer's eyes, also called the horizon line. It determines where vanishing points sit in a perspective construction.

Foreshortening

The apparent shortening of forms that recede sharply towards the viewer, so that a limb or figure is drawn compressed along its axis of depth.

Negative space

The area around and between the subject, treated as a shape in its own right. Drawing it accurately often corrects proportion errors in the positive form.

Rule of thirds

A composition guide dividing the picture into a three-by-three grid, with key elements placed along the lines or at their intersections rather than dead centre.

Asymmetrical balance

A composition balanced by unequal elements, where a large plain mass is offset by a smaller, denser or more contrasty one rather than by mirroring.

Gesture drawing

A rapid drawing capturing movement, pose and overall mass rather than outline or detail. Lines are typically long, loose and made within seconds to a few minutes.

Contour line

A line describing the edge or surface change of a form. A blind contour is drawn without looking at the paper, training observation over accuracy of result.

Cross-hatching

Parallel sets of lines crossed at an angle to build tone. Denser or more overlapped sets read darker; spacing and line weight control the value.

Frottage

A technique of placing paper over a textured surface and rubbing with graphite, crayon or pastel to transfer the texture directly onto the sheet.

Fixative

A resin spray or liquid applied to dry friable media such as charcoal, soft pastel or graphite to reduce smudging. It is used in a ventilated space.

Relief printing

A print process in which the non-printing areas are cut away and ink sits on the raised surface. Linocut and woodcut are the standard school examples.

Intaglio

A print process in which ink is held in incised lines below the plate surface and forced onto damp paper under pressure. Etching and drypoint are examples.

Monotype

A planographic process where paint or ink is drawn on a flat plate and printed once, often with a second ghost pull. No two prints are identical.

Linocut

A relief print made by cutting a design into linoleum with gouges, inking the raised surface and pressing paper onto it, by hand or through a press.

Gouache

An opaque water-based paint with a chalk or white extender. It dries matte, allows light-over-dark layering, and shifts colour noticeably as it dries.

Wash

Diluted ink or watercolour applied in a broad, even layer. Graded washes move from dark to light; wet-in-wet washes bleed, wet-on-dry washes keep sharp edges.

Impasto

Paint applied thickly so that it stands in visible ridges from brush or palette knife. It catches light physically and is typical of oil and heavy acrylic work.

Underpainting

A first layer of thinned colour establishing tone and composition beneath later layers. It may be monochrome or a complementary ground that shows through.

Ground

The prepared surface a work is made on, such as gesso on board, toned paper or primed canvas. Its colour and absorbency affect every layer above it.

Primary source

Direct observation of the actual subject, object or site, recorded on the spot. It is distinguished from photographs or existing artworks, which are secondary sources.

Annotation

Written notes beside preparatory work recording decisions, media, colour choices and next steps. In coursework it supplies evidence of thinking that images alone cannot show.

Visual analysis structure

A written response ordered as subject matter, formal elements, media and technique, then context and personal judgement, with each claim tied to visible evidence.

Mattia Preti

A seventeenth-century Calabrian painter who worked extensively in Malta, producing Baroque altarpieces and ceiling paintings, including work in St John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta.

Neolithic temple art

Carved spiral reliefs and limestone figurines from Malta's megalithic temples, such as the Sleeping Lady of Ħal Saflieni, dating to roughly 3600–2500 BCE.

Atelier group

A Maltese modern art movement of the mid-twentieth century whose members pushed towards expressionist and abstract approaches, moving away from academic realism.

Sketchbook as evidence

A dated working record of thumbnails, trials, colour tests and notes. Assessment looks for progression and reflection, not for finished or tidy pages.