ARTISTIC VOCABULARY
This glossary was created to help you understand the technical terms used throughout your video courses.
You’ll find a selection of key words related to tools, techniques, color, composition, and image construction.
It’s not an exhaustive list, but rather a helpful reference to better understand the specific language used in the demonstrations and explanations.
Feel free to refer to it at any time during your learning journey.
🎨 Techniques & Effects 🎨
• Flat tone: An area of solid color, with no gradient or visible texture. Used for a graphic or stylized effect.
• Initial mark (Attack): The first stroke or line placed on the surface — often spontaneous or intentional — that initiates the artwork.
• Monochrome / Tints and shades (Camaïeu): A composition using a single color in various light and dark shades, creating a harmonious effect.
• Charcoal-like: A highly contrasted, dark visual appearance, often deep black, similar to charcoal drawing.
• Negative shape (Counterform): The space left around or within a positive shape, often used in cut-out work or to create visual balance.
• Blown-out (Cramé): A term borrowed from photography referring to an overexposed area lacking detail — often completely white. Used in drawing/painting to describe overexposed highlights.
• Gradient: A smooth transition from one color or value to another, creating a soft and blended effect.
• Radial gradient: A circular gradient radiating from a central point outward (or inward), often used to draw attention or create depth.
• Tempera (Détrempe): A water-based painting technique historically used with pigments mixed with water (such as tempera or gouache). Interesting to compare with the effects of soft pastels.
• Diffuse: Describes a soft, blurred, or hazy effect, without sharp edges. Can refer to light, shadows, or surface treatments.
• Impasto: Thick application of paint or material that creates a textured, raised surface.
• Lifting (Enlevée): A technique involving the removal of material (such as pigment or pastel) to create highlights, contrasts, or special effects. Often done with an eraser or damp brush.
• Blending / To blend (Estompe / Estomper): The action of softening or smoothing out lines or colors. Can be done with a finger, blending stump, cloth, or soft brush.
• Fixative: A spray product applied to pastel, charcoal, or pencil artwork to fix the pigment in place and prevent smudging.
• Glaze: A thin, transparent layer of color applied over another to alter the tone or add visual depth (especially in painting).
• Scratching (Grattage): A technique involving scraping off material with a tool (knife, fingernail, stick) to reveal the underlying surface or create texture.
• To homogenize: To make a surface, color, or material uniform by blending or smoothing visual elements.
• Juxtaposition: Placing colors or materials side by side without blending, to create vibrant or optical effects.
• Optical mixing: The visual blending of two adjacent colors, perceived by the eye as a third color. Used in pointillism and pastel techniques.
• Physical mixing: The actual blending of pigments or materials on the palette or directly on the surface to create a new color.
• Reserve: An area intentionally left blank or uncolored in a composition, often to preserve a highlight or specific effect.
• Highlight / To highlight (Rehaut / Rehausser): Adding a lighter color or light spot to certain areas to create volume or draw attention.
• Scumbling: A technique where a light, dry pigment is gently brushed over a darker or textured surface to create a misty or veiled effect.
• Sfumato: A soft blending effect with no harsh lines, creating gentle transitions between areas. Famously used by Leonardo da Vinci in his portraits.
🧰 Materials & Surfaces 🧰
• Flat tone: An area of solid color, with no gradient or visible texture. Used for a graphic or stylized effect.
• Initial mark (Attack): The first stroke or line placed on the surface — often spontaneous or intentional — that initiates the artwork.
• Monochrome / Tints and shades (Camaïeu): A composition using a single color in various light and dark shades, creating a harmonious effect.
• Charcoal-like: A highly contrasted, dark visual appearance, often deep black, similar to charcoal drawing.
• Negative shape (Counterform): The space left around or within a positive shape, often used in cut-out work or to create visual balance.
• Blown-out (Cramé): A term borrowed from photography referring to an overexposed area lacking detail — often completely white. Used in drawing/painting to describe overexposed highlights.
• Gradient: A smooth transition from one color or value to another, creating a soft and blended effect.
• Radial gradient: A circular gradient radiating from a central point outward (or inward), often used to draw attention or create depth.
• Tempera (Détrempe): A water-based painting technique historically used with pigments mixed with water (such as tempera or gouache). Interesting to compare with the effects of soft pastels.
• Diffuse: Describes a soft, blurred, or hazy effect, without sharp edges. Can refer to light, shadows, or surface treatments.
• Impasto: Thick application of paint or material that creates a textured, raised surface.
• Lifting (Enlevée): A technique involving the removal of material (such as pigment or pastel) to create highlights, contrasts, or special effects. Often done with an eraser or damp brush.
• Blending / To blend (Estompe / Estomper): The action of softening or smoothing out lines or colors. Can be done with a finger, blending stump, cloth, or soft brush.
• Fixative: A spray product applied to pastel, charcoal, or pencil artwork to fix the pigment in place and prevent smudging.
• Glaze: A thin, transparent layer of color applied over another to alter the tone or add visual depth (especially in painting).
• Scratching (Grattage): A technique involving scraping off material with a tool (knife, fingernail, stick) to reveal the underlying surface or create texture.
• To homogenize: To make a surface, color, or material uniform by blending or smoothing visual elements.
• Juxtaposition: Placing colors or materials side by side without blending, to create vibrant or optical effects.
• Optical mixing: The visual blending of two adjacent colors, perceived by the eye as a third color. Used in pointillism and pastel techniques.
• Physical mixing: The actual blending of pigments or materials on the palette or directly on the surface to create a new color.
• Reserve: An area intentionally left blank or uncolored in a composition, often to preserve a highlight or specific effect.
• Highlight / To highlight (Rehaut / Rehausser): Adding a lighter color or light spot to certain areas to create volume or draw attention.
• Scumbling: A technique where a light, dry pigment is gently brushed over a darker or textured surface to create a misty or veiled effect.
• Sfumato: A soft blending effect with no harsh lines, creating gentle transitions between areas. Famously used by Leonardo da Vinci in his portraits.
🌈 Color Perception & Theory 🌈
• Amplitude (between two colors): The perceptible gap between two hues in terms of brightness, saturation, or tone. The greater the amplitude, the stronger the contrast.
• Complexion tone (Carnation): A color used to represent natural human skin tones, especially in portraiture.
• CMYK: Stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (Black) — a subtractive color model used in printing, based on the removal of light.
• Complementary color: A color located opposite another on the color wheel. When placed side by side, they create strong contrast; when mixed, they tend to produce gray or a neutral tone.
• Contrast: A marked difference between two visual elements (color, value, texture, etc.) that creates interest and draws attention.
• Chromatic contrast: A contrast between colors with different hues, often opposites or distant on the color wheel.
• Color: A visual sensation produced by light reflected from a surface. Defined by three properties: hue, value (lightness), and saturation.
• Broken color: A color that has been dulled, usually by adding its complementary color or black, white, or gray. It becomes less pure and more subtle.
• Wet colors: A term describing colors applied in a fluid or blended way, as if still fresh or wet.
• Primary colors: Basic colors that cannot be created by mixing. In subtractive synthesis (painting): cyan, magenta, yellow.
• Secondary colors: Created by mixing two primary colors in equal parts — e.g., orange (red + yellow), green (yellow + blue), purple (blue + red).
• Tertiary colors: Result from mixing a primary color with a neighboring secondary color. They are more nuanced.
• Vibrant colors: Highly saturated and bright colors that catch the eye and create strong visual energy.
• Dominant hue: The color that dominates an artwork and sets the overall atmosphere.
• Color palette (Gamut): The range of colors used or available in a piece. Can be limited or broad.
• Color harmony: A pleasing combination of colors. Can be based on analogy, complements, monochrome, etc.
• Optical mixing: A phenomenon where two side-by-side colors are perceived by the eye as a third color (e.g., blue + yellow → green).
• Physical mixing: The actual blending of pigments on a palette or directly on the surface.
• Monochrome: An artwork created using only one color, in various values or shades.
• Hue variation (Shade/Tint): A subtle variation of a color. It may be slightly warmer, cooler, lighter, etc.
• Opacity / Opaque: A quality of a material or color that blocks light from passing through. Opposite of transparency.
• Pearlescent: A visual effect resembling the iridescence or shimmer of a pearl. Produces changing reflections depending on the light.
• Phosphorescent: A material that stores light and glows in the dark (often green or blue).
• Polychrome: Composed of multiple colors. Opposite of monochrome.
• RGB: Stands for Red, Green, Blue — an additive color model used for screens and digital displays.
• Saturation: The intensity or purity of a color. Highly saturated colors appear vivid; low saturation results in dull or grayish tones.
• Color spectrum: The full range of visible wavelengths of light, perceived as different colors.
• Hue: Another word for color, often used to describe one component of color (along with saturation and brightness).
• Tone: A general term encompassing hue, value, and saturation. Can also refer to a color mood or a specific shade.
• Warm / Cool tones: Warm tones (reds, yellows, oranges) evoke warmth; cool tones (blues, greens, purples) evoke coolness.
• Translucent: Allows light to pass through but doesn’t let you see clearly through it (e.g., tracing paper).
• Transparent: Allows light to pass through and lets you see shapes clearly through it.
• Value: The lightness or darkness of a color. A light color has a high value; a dark one has a low value.
• Vibrance: A selective boost of saturation, enhancing muted colors while preserving already vivid tones. Used in photography and image editing.
🖌 Composition & Image Construction 🖌
• Field (Champ): The visible area within the frame or composition. “In-frame” refers to what is shown, while “off-frame” refers to what is implied but outside the image.
• Graphic composition / Graphic design: The arrangement of shapes, colors, lines, and masses within the image space to guide the viewer’s eye and convey intent.
• Low angle (Contreplongée): A viewpoint from below the subject. This tends to enlarge or elevate the subject’s presence.
• Sketch (Croquis): A quick, often simplified drawing used to capture an idea, a pose, a composition, or a lighting effect.
• Balance of masses: The harmonious distribution of forms and volumes in a composition, avoiding visual weight being too concentrated in one area.
• Preliminary sketch (Esquisse): A more developed draft than a sketch, but still incomplete — the early stage of a drawing or artwork.
• Visual hierarchy: The order of importance among elements in a composition, directing the viewer’s eye toward focal points.
• Charcoal-like image: An intentionally very dark image or area, with heavy black density, often used for dramatic effect or structural contrast.
• Blown-out image: An area that is overly bright (light-saturated) where no detail remains, like a burned-out white. A photography term also used in visual arts.
• Juxtaposition: Placing visual elements (colors, shapes, patterns) side by side without blending. Often creates rhythm or contrast.
• Image reading: The natural path the viewer’s eye follows when observing an artwork. Influenced by composition, contrast, and visual hierarchy.
• Leading line (Ligne de force): A visible or implied line that structures a composition, guiding the eye or reinforcing movement.
• High angle / Bird’s-eye view (Plongée): A viewpoint from above, looking down. Can suggest distance, fragility, or flatness.
• Vanishing point: In perspective, the point where receding lines converge, creating a sense of depth.
• Reserve: An area intentionally left blank or white in a composition to suggest light, material, or transparency.
• Visual rhythm: The regular or alternating repetition of elements (shapes, colors, lines…) in a work, creating motion or a visual beat.
• Underexposed / Overexposed: Photographic terms used to describe a lack or excess of light. In drawing or painting, also used to describe too-low or too-high contrast.
• Symmetry / Asymmetry: The balanced (or deliberately unbalanced) arrangement of elements in an image. Symmetry conveys stability; asymmetry adds energy.
• Visual tension: A dynamic imbalance or intentional disruption in a composition that generates visual interest or expressive discomfort.
💡 Concepts généraux & notions utiles 💡
• Happy accident: An unexpected result during the artistic process (a stain, smudge, or unplanned mark) that turns out to be visually interesting and is sometimes intentionally integrated into the artwork.
• Color atmosphere: The visual mood created by the overall color scheme used in a piece. It influences the viewer’s emotional response.
• Load (Charge): The amount of material applied to the surface, especially in pastel or painting. A heavy load creates visible texture.
• Electrostatic effect: A phenomenon where light particles (like pastel dust) are attracted to static charges, often occurring on smooth or plastic-coated papers.
• Glaze: (already seen in techniques, but sometimes categorized here) A transparent colored layer applied over another to subtly alter hue or depth.
• Paper grain: The texture of the paper surface. Fine grain allows for detail; rougher textures hold pastel or charcoal better.
• Homothetic (Proportional scaling): A geometric term describing proportional enlargement or reduction. In art, it refers to accurate scaling.
• Image analysis (Image reading): The process of analyzing a visual work, taking into account composition, light, color, message, and artistic intent.
• Opalescent: Having a soft, milky, shifting glow like an opal. Can describe a subtle, colored transparency effect.
• Paper (various types):
• Abrasive paper: Very rough-grained, ideal for gripping pastel.
• Glassine paper: Thin and translucent, used to protect artworks.
• pH-neutral paper: Chemically stable paper, resistant to aging.
• Veined paper: With fiber or vein-like patterns, often decorative.
• Mat board (Passe-partout): A cardboard frame used inside a picture frame to create space between the artwork and the glass.
• Highlight / To highlight: The addition of a lighter or brighter stroke or area to emphasize a detail or light source in a piece.
• Underpainting (Sous-couche): The first layer applied to a surface, setting the tone, texture, or atmosphere.
• Dryer / To accelerate drying (Siccative): A product or action that speeds up the drying time of oil paint.
• Support: The surface you work on — paper, canvas, wood, etc.
• Texture: The surface quality of a work, perceived visually or by touch. It can be actual (raised) or implied (simulated).
• Brushstroke (Touche): The way the artist applies the material to the surface — can be fluid, dry, energetic, light, etc.
I hope you found this glossary helpful.
If there’s a word you’re looking for that isn’t listed, feel free to let me know in the comments — I’ll be happy to add it!