Introduction: The Subjects and Vocabulary of Art History pt. II: THe Words Art Historians Use

Like many specialized fields, art history has its own set of vocabulary in order to exactly and accurately describe nearly all concepts of art. The list of this vocabulary is extensive, so here is an abridged version of some of the most common and important words art historians use.

• Form and Composition

Form refers to the object's shape and structure, whether it has two dimensions, such as a painting, or three dimensions such as a statue. The composition refers to how an artists organizes his forms, either by placing it on a flat surface, or by arranging forms in space.

• Material and Technique

Materials are the tools an artists uses in his work. The technique is simply the processes artists employ, whether it is the correct way to use a brush or the artist's personal way of handling a chisel.

• Line

Probably one of the most important elements for defining shape and form, is the line. The line refers to the path of a part moving in space, the invisible line of sight, or the visual axis. When you look at a painting, for example, your eyes may be drawn to a specific figure first, then gradually wander to the rest. Your eyes are following the 'line' of said painting.

• Color

Color, is here defined as a spectrum of visible wavelengths. Light, in other words, will reveal color. So observing light is just as important as observing the color in a work of art. There are different types of light as described by art historians. There is additive light, or 'natural' sunlight. There is subtractive light, referring to the light that makes paint pigments visible. The hue is the property that gives color it's name. Spectrums may change, "greenish-blue" but the hue stands apart "the color is still blue, with hints of green". The value or tonality of color refers to its lightness or darkness. Intensity or saturation of a color is the brightness or dullness of said color. The color triangle is a diagram showing the relationship between primary and secondary colors. The primary colors, yellow, blue and red form the vertices of the triangle. The 'sides' of the triangle contain the color that appears when you mix the two vertices. Starting with the topmost vertex, going clockwise, the colors read as thus: red, purple, blue (the vertex to the right), green, yellow (the vertex to the left), orange then back to red. Complementary colors are defined as the colors opposite each other on this diagram. In example, red and green are complementary, purple and yellow are complementary, and blue and orange are complementary.

• Texture

Texture refers to the quality of a surface that a light reveals. Is the sculpture smooth or rough? The actual texture is the surface's tactile quality. On an opposite level, the represented texture is the texture that is depicted. A collage, according to art historians, is the combination of different medias together, such as paint, wood and paper together in a work of art.

• Space, Mass and Volume

Space refers to the 'container' for objects in a work of art. The actual space is the space occupied by a three dimensional work of art. The illusionistic space is when a work of art has the illusion of having a different space, such as when a painting appears three dimensional. Mass and Volume both are associated with actual space, both the exterior and interior forms of art. For something to have mass, it need not be solid. A pyramid, a statue, a shell, a hollow tube and a clay pot all have mass. Volume refers to the space the mass occupies.

• Perspective and Foreshadowing

Perspective may be one of the most important pictorial devices for organizing forms in space. Perspective creates illusions of depth and space on a two dimensional surface. Foreshadowing is the illusion that something is 'farther away' even though they are rested on the same plane.

• Proportion and Scale

A proportion is the relationship of the size of parts of persons, buildings or objects. There are many ways to estimate proportion in a work of art. One of the most precise and accurate ways to estimate proportion is by finding the mathematical relationship between the sizes of something in the work, to something else in the same work. The module refers to the basic unit of measure, or the part of a work that is being compared to the whole to determine proportionality. A module can be any part of the work. Proportion may also be judged intuitively. Scale refers to how these proportions are in relating to each other. Many works of art are completely to scale, such as the Renaissance statues. Proportionality, symmetry and scale were also important to the ancient Greeks, so important, that canons were written; systems of 'correct' and 'ideal' proportions. Some works of art, however, use disproportion, or the deliberate distortion for expressive effect. The hierarchy of scale, similar to disproportion, is the intentional discrepancies in proportion, such as enlarging significant elements, or diminishing unimportant elements.

• Carving and Casting

Sculpting techniques fall into two different categories: subtractive and additive. Carving is a subtractive form of sculpting. The final form of a carved item is a reduction of its original mass; sculptors of, say stone or wood 'cut away' excess material. Additive sculpting is when an artist builds up forms, in clay around a framework, or armature; or, fashions a mold, a hollow form, for shaping, or casting a fluid substance such as bronze, then welds, or joins them together.

• Relief Sculpture

A freestanding work of art, is just as it sounds; it stands on its own without the aid of other objects. In relief sculptures, the subjects project from the background, but remain a part of it. There are also different ways for describing relief. High relief refers to works of art in which the images project boldly from the background. Low relief or bas relief is when there is a slight projection of images from a background. Repoussé refers to the technique in which artists hammer a design from the back of a material to make the relief.

• Architectural Drawings

Architectural drawings, just as they sound refer to buildings. There is a plan, or the map of the floor of the building, and the section, or the vertical plan of the building. The lateral sections are drawings showing a theoretical slice across a structure's width, and the longitudinal sections, which are cuts of a building's length. The elevation is the head on view of either an external or internal wall. The cutaway combines the external view with the interior view.