earth colors-- Those colors obtained naturally from the earth including many shades of tans, browns and reds. These colors are often used in the works of indigenous artists.

egg tempera -- A  medium created by mixing pure, ground pigments with egg yolk. This was a very common medium before the invention of oil paints.

Elements of Art -- The language of art of the basic elements used when producing works of art. Those elements are color, value, line, shape, form, texture, and space. They can be used to descrbe a work of art.

elongate -- Stylizing an image by stretching it to distort the overall image.

emboss -- A decorative technique usually used with paper that creates raised patterns or lines by pressing the underside of the paper. This creates an interesting visual and tactile texture.

Emphasis -- The principle of design that appears to be the dominant, or the most noticeable quality of a work of art. Artist deliberately manipulate the elements of art to create such emphasis.

emotionalism --  The belief that the greatest importance of a work of art is its emotional impact on the viewer.

engraving --A printing process in which a metal plate is coated. Images are scratched into the coating revealing the metal surface. An acid is used to cut into the metal surface revealed by the scratches. The coating is  removed. These grooves are then filled with ink, the excess removed, and paper is pressed into the grooves. Each print pulls up a drawing of the lines and scratches.

environment art -- Refers to art which involves the creation or manipulation of a large or enclosed space, many effectively surrounding its audience. Architectural (including landscape architectural) design might be said to qualify as environment art, although the term usually refers to artworks which do not function as either of these kinds of environmental design typically do.

etching --An etching is a print produced by the printing method known by the same name. It is done by coating a copper or zinc plate with a wax or similar protective shield and then the drawing is produced on the surface with a needle. Only the coating is cut, not the plate. When the drawing is complete, the plate is submerged in an acid bath and the areas that were exposed by the needle are cut by the acid. Then the plate is cleaned and inked and then wiped so ink is only in the recesses. The plate is then put in a press where it is pressed hard against a damp print paper. The resulting print is a reverse of the original drawing on the plate.

exhibit and exhibition -- Displaying pieces of art to an audience.

Expressionism --An art style that focuses on the emotions of the personal feelings of an artist, not on formal composition.

façade -- The front of a building. This area is often more detailed.

fantasy --Fanciful or grotesque images and scenes of pure imagination such as those of dreams, hallucinations, daydreams, etc.

Fauvism -- A twentieth century painting style emphasizing brilliant, often unnatural, colors and the forms created by this.

fiber -- Various threads or strands of synthetic and natural materials used to assemble or decorate textiles works such as tapestries, quilts, baskets, etc..

figurative -- Artwork representing the human form or an animal.

firing -- An extremely high temperature baking process used to harden ceramic works. This is usually done in a kiln or by building extremely hot, smoldering fires in the ground around clay works.

focal point -- A specific area, element or principle that dominates a work of srt. The viewer's eye is usually drawn there first.

folk art -- Often textile or decorative arts made by people who have had little or no formal art training.  Many of these folk arts are native to particular regions and have been produced over many generations.

foreground -- The area of a painting or drawing, usually located near the bottom third of a work, that represents the space "closest" to the viewer.

foreshortening -- A drafting illusion in which, depending on the viewer's point of view, an object, or part of an object is distorted to imply the compacting of space.

form --An element of art that is represented by three-dimensions (height, width, and depth) and encloses space. For example, a triangle, which is two-dimensional, is a shape, but a pyramid, which is three-dimensional, is a form. Cubes, spheres, pyramids, cone, and cylinders are examples of various forms.

formal balance -- A work of art that when optically divided in half , each side is arranged almost exactly as the other.

formalism --One of the three theories of art, this one emphasizes the design qualities of a work.

freehand -- Drawing without the use of any mechanical devices.

fresco --A painting in which the artist applies pigments directly into wet or dry plaster usually applied to a wall. As the plaster dries, the pigments are absorbed and become permanently bonded with the plaster.

frontal -- The visual perspective of looking directly at the front of a person or object and representing it as such.

genre-- A style or category of art characterized by representing scenes of everyday images of life.

gesture drawing --Usually a quick and loosely drafted image used as a preliminary effort before producing a much more details and accurate drawing.

geometric shapes--Recognizably named areas based on straight lines, angles and curves such as square, circle, triangle, etc..

Golden Mean-- Rooted in Greek mathematics, the Golden Mean is a study of perfect ratio of one area in proportion to another. This would meam 1 to 1.6.

Gothic -- A style attributed to the 12th - 16th centuries of architecture. The style is recognizable by such architectural elements as flying buttresses, pointed arched windows, stained glass, and the humanization of people in sculpture.

gouache --An opaque watercolor paint.

graphic design--Commercial reproduction of artworks such as printing, including text, decorative techniques and  illustration.

grotesque -- Description of art images and sculptures that often use human and animal images. These forms are distorted proportionately to produce ugly or fanciful representations.

Harlem Renaissance -- In the 1920s, the Harlem, NY community became the economic, political, and cultural center of black America. Various literary and artistic works were created celebrating the African-American experience.

harmony -- The principle of design that creates unity and harmony by stressing separate but
related parts. Repetition is one example of a way that harmony is achieved.

hatching and cross-hatching -- Lines drawn with consistent, parallel strokes used to emphasize shading. Often these lines would be drawn crossing as well as parallel.

hierarchal proportion-- The distortion of the sizes of things according to their importance, rather than how they actually exist.

horizontal -- A straight line parallel to the horizon line.

horizon line -- The ever changing line that separates the sky from the land or sea. This line changes depending on the line of vision of the viewer.

hue-- Another word for color.

humanities -- The study of the manmade arts such as art, literacy, music that convey the cultural aspects of humanity.

icon --A pictorial representation of a person. Originally referring to the  images of adoration of saints and religious leaders, the term has now become a pop culture term referring to anyone or thing recognizable by the public masses.

illusion -- A misleading image visually represented .

illustrate -- The creation of images and designs for commercial reproduction such as in magazines, newspapers and books.

imagination -- The mental creation of an idea or thought representative of a quality of uniqueness.

imitationalism -- A theory of art which the realistic representation of objects is considered the most important means of measuring the success of a work of art.

implied -- To express an intended meaning through suggestions or inferences.

Impressionism -- A style of painting that started in France during the 1860s. Artists focused on everyday scenes and the effect of sunlight on objects.

indigenous--Having originated  in a land or region : being native to a geographical or cultural group.

installation--An artistically designed environment constructed in a gallery. Often these are photographed and archived, as the original structures are usually only temporary.

intensity -- A term referencing the brightness or dullness of a color. The purity of a color is affected by adding other colors to the original, changing its intensity.

intermediate colors -- Intermediate (tertiary) colors are located between the primary and secondary colors on a color wheel. When  neighboring primary and secondary color are mixed, an intermediate color is produces. If you mix red with orange, the color red-orange is created.

irony--A misleading use of a visual image to present one thing to the viewer, but actually representing the opposite.