NYSTCE Visual Arts (167) cheat sheet

The seven elements of art are line, shape, form, space, color, value, and texture; principles of design organize these elements into compositions.

Line types: contour defines edges, gesture captures movement, hatching and cross-hatching build value through parallel strokes, and implied lines direct the viewer's eye.

Shape is two-dimensional and enclosed; form is three-dimensional and encloses volume. Geometric forms include cube, sphere, cylinder, and cone; organic forms are irregular and free-flowing.

Color properties: hue is the color name, value is lightness or darkness, and intensity (saturation) is purity. Tint adds white, shade adds black, and tone adds gray.

The color wheel: primary colors (red, yellow, blue in traditional pigment theory) mix to form secondary colors; intermediate or tertiary colors result from mixing a primary with an adjacent secondary.

Complementary colors sit opposite each other on the color wheel and neutralize or dull each other when mixed; analogous colors sit adjacent and produce harmonious schemes.

Positive space is occupied by the subject; negative space is the surrounding empty area. Figure-ground relationship describes how the eye separates subject from background.

Principles of design include balance (symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial), emphasis, contrast, rhythm, pattern, movement, unity, and proportion.

Value scales run from white to black; chiaroscuro is the strong use of light and dark to model form, and tenebrism pushes this contrast to dramatic extremes.

Prehistoric art: Paleolithic cave paintings such as Lascaux and Altamira feature animals rendered with mineral pigments; Venus figurines emphasize fertility symbolism.

Ancient Egyptian art follows the canon of proportion and frontalism: heads in profile, shoulders frontal, legs in profile, with hierarchical scale and registers.

Greek art progresses from Archaic (stiff kouros figures), to Classical (idealized proportion, contrapposto), to Hellenistic (dramatic movement and emotion).

Medieval art: Byzantine mosaics use gold grounds and flattened, frontal figures; Romanesque features heavy masonry and rounded arches; Gothic introduces pointed arches, ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, and stained glass.

Renaissance art revives classical antiquity, linear perspective, and anatomical study; Early Renaissance (Masaccio, Botticelli) precedes High Renaissance (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael).

Baroque art emphasizes dramatic light, diagonal composition, and emotional intensity (Caravaggio, Bernini, Rembrandt, Velázquez); Rococo favors light pastel ornament and playful themes.

Modern movements in sequence: Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art.

Impressionism (Monet, Renoir, Degas) uses broken brushwork and captures transient light; Post-Impressionism (Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat) builds structure or expressive color on that base.

Cubism (Picasso, Braque) fractures form into multiple viewpoints; Duchamp's readymades and Dada challenged the definition of art itself.

Drawing media: graphite and charcoal build value through pressure and layering; charcoal offers deep darks and erases easily; conte crayon and pastel combine drawing with color.

Graphite hardness scale runs from 9H (hardest, lightest) to 9B (softest, darkest); H pencils suit detail, B pencils suit shading.

Watercolor is transparent, applied light to dark, with white preserved as unpainted paper; wet-on-wet produces soft blends and wet-on-dry produces crisp edges.

Oil paint is slow-drying, allows blending and impasto, and follows fat-over-lean layering; acrylic is fast-drying, water-soluble when wet, and dries to a plastic film.

Tempera uses pigment bound in egg yolk, dries quickly, and is applied in thin, cross-hatched layers; fresco applies pigment to wet lime plaster so the image bonds with the wall.

Printmaking: relief (woodcut, linocut) prints from raised surfaces; intaglio (etching, engraving, drypoint) prints from incised lines; lithography relies on oil-water repulsion; screen printing pushes ink through a stencil mesh.

In intaglio, ink sits in incised grooves and is forced onto damp paper under high press pressure; in relief, ink sits on the raised surface and the recessed areas stay white.

Sculpture methods: subtractive (carving stone or wood), additive (modeling clay or assembling), casting (pouring liquid into a mold), and construction (welding or joining).

Ceramics: earthenware is porous and low-fired; stoneware is dense and high-fired; porcelain is white, translucent, and fired at very high temperature. Glaze is glass fused to clay in firing.

Art criticism frameworks commonly follow four stages: describe (what is visible), analyze (how elements and principles are used), interpret (what it means), and judge (evaluate success).

Aesthetic theories: imitationalism judges art by fidelity to reality; formalism judges by composition and formal qualities; emotionalism judges by expressive impact; instrumentalism judges by function or purpose.

National Core Arts Standards organize visual arts into four processes: Creating, Presenting, Responding, and Connecting.

Studio safety: ensure ventilation for solvents and aerosols, never store solvents near flame, use dust masks and goggles when carving or sanding, and never point blades toward the body.

Clay dust containing silica is a respiratory hazard when dry; keep clay wet, clean surfaces, and avoid sweeping dry dust. Glaze materials may contain lead or other toxins, so avoid ingestion and label containers.

Assessment tools include rubrics, portfolios, sketchbooks, and process journals; authentic assessment evaluates student work against stated criteria rather than peer ranking.

DBAE (Discipline-Based Art Education) integrates four strands: art production, art history, art criticism, and aesthetics.

Developmental stages in children's art: scribble, preschematic, schematic, drawing realism, and pseudo-naturalistic, roughly tracking from early childhood to adolescence.

Adaptation strategies include large-handled tools, raised work surfaces, verbal description for visually impaired students, and choice-based options that preserve the same learning objective.

Balance types: symmetrical (mirror image), asymmetrical (unequal visual weight that still balances), and radial (elements radiate from a center point).

Rhythm is created by repetition with variation; pattern is repetition without variation; movement is the path the eye follows through a composition.

Proportion concerns relative size within a work; scale concerns size relative to the real world. Hierarchical scale enlarges important figures.

Texture may be actual (tactile surface) or implied (simulated through drawing technique).

Atmospheric perspective creates depth through fading contrast, cooling color, and blurring detail in the distance; linear perspective uses vanishing points on a horizon line.

One-point perspective uses a single vanishing point; two-point uses two; three-point adds a vertical vanishing point for height or depth.

Unity is achieved through repetition, proximity, alignment, and consistent color; variety prevents unity from becoming monotony.

Warm colors (red, orange, yellow) advance visually; cool colors (blue, green, violet) recede, which supports depth cues.

Opacity and transparency: opaque media hide underlying layers, transparent media reveal them; glazing is a transparent layer over a dried layer in oil or acrylic.

Key Renaissance innovations: Brunelleschi's linear perspective, Gutenberg's printing press spreading images, and the shift from tempera to oil painting in Northern Europe (Van Eyck).

Northern Renaissance artists (Van Eyck, Dürer, Bruegel) emphasize detailed realism and everyday subjects, distinct from Italian idealization.

Neoclassical art (David, Ingres) favors order, clarity, and classical subjects; Romanticism (Delacroix, Goya, Turner) favors emotion, drama, and nature's power.

Realism (Courbet, Millet) depicts ordinary labor and contemporary life without idealization.

Abstract Expressionism splits into action painting (Pollock, gestural) and color field painting (Rothko, Newman, flat expanses of color).

Pop Art (Warhol, Lichtenstein) appropriates mass media, advertising, and comic imagery.

Non-Western traditions: Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints influenced Impressionism; Chinese ink landscape painting emphasizes atmospheric space and brushwork; African masks influenced Cubism and Expressionism.

Photography's invention (Niépce, Daguerre, Talbot) shifted painting away from literal recording toward abstraction and expression.

Architecture vocabulary: post-and-lintel, arch, vault, dome, cantilever, and curtain wall mark structural eras from Greek to modern.

Brush types: flat for broad strokes and edges, round for line and detail, filbert for blending, fan for texture.

Canvas preparation: gesso primes the surface to prevent absorption and provides tooth for paint adhesion.

Color mixing: subtractive mixing applies to pigment and yields darker results; additive mixing applies to light and yields lighter results.

Screen printing uses a squeegee to force ink through a mesh stencil; photo emulsion allows precise photographic stencils.

Reduction linocut prints multiple colors from a single block by carving away progressively between printings.

Monotype produces a single unique print from a painted plate; editions require consistent registration and numbering (e.g., 3/25).

Weaving terms: warp is the lengthwise tensioned thread; weft is the crossing thread; plain, twill, and satin are basic weaves.

Digital art tools include raster (pixel-based, resolution-dependent) and vector (path-based, scalable) graphics.

Air-dry clay and polymer clay differ from kiln-fired ceramic: polymer clay cures in a low oven and air-dry clay hardens by evaporation.

Lesson planning format: objective, standards alignment, materials, motivation, demonstration, guided practice, independent work, closure, and assessment.

Differentiation in art includes tiered tasks, flexible grouping, choice boards, and modified tools while keeping the same artistic objective.

Formative assessment examples: exit tickets, critique notes, sketchbook checks, and mid-project conferences; summative examples: portfolio review and rubric-scored final works.

Classroom critique protocols (such as describe-analyze-interpret-judge or a peer feedback frame) keep commentary specific and respectful.

Material Safety Data Sheet (SDS) documents list hazards, handling, and first aid for art supplies; teachers must review them before classroom use.

Proper ventilation, gloves, and eye protection are required when using aerosols, solvents, or powdered pigments; eating and drinking in the studio should be prohibited.

Displaying student work requires consideration of copyright, consent, and privacy; students retain rights to their own artwork.

Museum and gallery teaching strategies include Visual Thinking Strategies (open-ended questioning) and inquiry-based looking.

Community and cultural resources for art learning include local museums, public art, visiting artists, and digital collections.