MTEL Visual Art (17) flashcards

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

Elements of art

Line, shape, form, color, value, texture, and space are the basic visual components artists manipulate to build images and analyze compositions.

Principles of design

Balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, pattern, rhythm, unity, variety, proportion, and scale describe how elements are organized within an artwork.

Additive color mixing

Mixing red, green, and blue light produces additive color; overlapping primaries yield white, and this system governs screens and stage lighting.

Subtractive color mixing

Pigment and dye mixing subtracts wavelengths from white light; cyan, magenta, and yellow are modern subtractive primaries used in printing and paints.

Contrapposto

A figure stance in which weight rests on one leg, shifting hips and shoulders in opposite directions; it creates naturalistic balance and movement.

Raster versus vector

Raster images use a pixel grid and lose clarity when enlarged; vector images use mathematical paths and scale without resolution loss.

Relief printmaking

In relief printing, ink sits on the raised surface of a carved block; uncarved areas print while cut-away areas remain blank.

Bisque firing

The first ceramic firing removes water and organic matter and hardens clay into porous bisque, which can then be glazed and fired again.

Linear perspective

A Renaissance drawing system using a horizon line and vanishing points to create illusion of depth on a flat surface, codified by Brunelleschi and Alberti.

Baroque tenebrism

Tenebrism is dramatic chiaroscuro with deep shadow and a spotlighted subject, associated with Caravaggio and Baroque religious painting.

Byzantine iconography

Byzantine art uses gold ground, frontal holy figures, halos, and symbolic attributes to convey sacred presence rather than optical realism.

Ukiyo-e

Japanese woodblock prints depicting urban pleasure districts, actors, and landscapes; famous artists include Hokusai and Hiroshige.

Islamic arabesque

Interlacing geometric and vegetal ornament in Islamic art; it avoids figural imagery in many religious contexts and emphasizes infinite pattern.

Cubism

Early twentieth-century movement pioneered by Picasso and Braque that fractures forms into multiple viewpoints and shallow, faceted space.

Dada

Anti-art movement after World War I using readymades, collage, and absurdity to challenge museum conventions and rational culture.

Chinese literati painting

Scholar-amateur painting tradition emphasizing brushwork, poetry, and personal expression over exact likeness, often featuring landscape and calligraphy.

Aesthetics

The branch of philosophy concerned with art, beauty, taste, and the nature of aesthetic experience and judgment.

Formalism

An aesthetic theory valuing formal elements and composition over subject matter, narrative, or artist biography; associated with critics such as Clement Greenberg.

Mimetic theory

The view that art imitates or represents nature and human action; Plato and Aristotle debated its value and truth status.

Institutional theory

Arthur Danto and George Dickie argue that art is defined by the artworld-institutions, critics, and audiences-rather than by intrinsic visual qualities.

Art criticism sequence

Description names observable facts, analysis explains elements and principles, interpretation proposes meaning, and judgment evaluates with stated criteria.

Iconography

The study of subject matter and symbolic attributes in art, such as halos, lilies, or skulls, used to identify themes and figures.

Iconology

Panofsky's deeper interpretation of an artwork's cultural, historical, and symbolic meanings beyond identifying its iconographic motifs.

Intentional fallacy

The critical error of judging an artwork solely by the artist's stated intention rather than by the work's achieved meaning and effects.

National Core Arts Standards

Voluntary preK-12 arts standards organized around Creating, Performing/Presenting/Producing, Responding, and Connecting, emphasizing artistic literacy.

Formative assessment

Ongoing checks during instruction-critiques, drafts, exit tickets-that guide teaching and feedback rather than assign a final grade.

Summative assessment

End-of-unit evaluation of learning through projects, portfolios, or exams, used to assign grades and document achievement against criteria.

Fair use factors

Four U.S. copyright factors: purpose of use, nature of work, amount used, and effect on market; educational use alone is not automatically fair.

Public domain

Works no longer protected by copyright or never protected, free to use without permission; U.S. terms depend on publication date and authorship.

Museum conservator

A professional who examines, stabilizes, and treats artworks and artifacts, using scientific analysis and ethical minimal intervention to preserve them.

Universal Design for Learning

An instructional framework offering multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression so diverse learners can access art content.

Visual arts advocacy

Communicating the educational, civic, and economic value of art programs to decision-makers, families, and communities using evidence and student work.