DEFINITIONS

Primary definitions of Art terms that are used in Advance Placement Studio Art.

Definitions quoted by John N. Barron are  (c) by John N. Barron , The Language of Painting,1967


DRAWING

John N. Barron " The delineation or the portryal by use of line and/or tone of an idea or object.  And the result of such delineation.  There are two basically different types of drawing: artistic and mechanical.  Artistic drawing includes free-hand drawing, preliminary sketches and studies - and any linear or tonal pictorial representation that is the result of a highly creative act.  It involves an understanding obtained by experiencing, through all of the artist's senses, both appearance and reality."

Jack Bowman, "Usually using dry media but when using liquid media the line becomes dominate."


PAINTING

John N. Barron " Painting is the creation of a possible work of art by the application of paint to a two-dimensional support of paper, canvas, or panel, Primarily, painting is the expression, by use of visual principles and with visual elements, of the artist's intellectual and emotional reaction to life.  It is one of the few remaining activities in which the individual, using a few simple materials, is given the opportunity to produce art; and this can be done, from conception to completion, without the dependence upon or the interference of, any other person."

Jack Bowman, "Usually using liquid media".


DESIGN

John N. Barron,  "The framework or constructive scaffold of a composition or a finished work of art.  The disposition of the pictorial elements of shape, form, line, space, light, etc., and the organization of the co-ordinating principles of harmony, balance, rhythm, proportion, unity, variety, etc."

Jack Bowman, "The abstract, non-recognizable, attributes of a work of art."


ABSTRACT

John N. Barron, "The significance of Abstract Painting lies in the presentation of the primary materials, principles, and methods of painting, rather than in the anecdotal or pictorial content.  There is no intent to reproduce natural appearances, but to draw meaning from the subjective experience, or emotions, while denying the objective appearance of Nature that produced these emotions."

Jack Bowman, "Non-representational.  Where subject matter cannot be defined or readily seen.  For some reason simple 3-D geometric shapes are still considered non-representational (cubes, spheres, pyramids, etc.)


FIGURATIVE

John N. Barron, "Figurative painting is characterized by subject matter of recognizable figures, or objects.  It also means representational, as opposed to abstract."

Jack Bowman, "Realism.  Something that, with an initial glance, is easily distinguished as something we know or have already defined."


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