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Vocabulary- Unit 1: Line

Terms in this set (22)

Point
An element in space having a definite position and technically no dimension. In art and design, we have the dot, dab, or blob. Like the breadth of a line, the size of a point is not usually its most important attribute.
Line
The path a point makes as it moves across a surface. In mathematics, a line joins two or more points. It has length and direction, but no width. In art, lines have breadth, but this is not their most important parameter. In graphic design, line art means black or another single color, with no other values or colors.
Line quality
A characteristic of line determined by its weight, direction, uniformity, or other features.
Dot
The smallest two-dimensional element.
Stippling
A method for producing areas of value by clustering small dots or points.
Hatching
Drawing several thin (usually parallel) lines close together to create an area of value.
Cross-Hatching
Superimposing hatched lines at right angles to the initial hatched lines, to build up value and to suggest form and volume.
Contour Line
A periphery line used to follow the edges of forms; a line that bounds or delimits a form or an area.
Cross-Contour
A line that crosses and defines the surface undulations between, or up to, the outermost edges of shapes or objects.
Outline
A real or imaginary line that describes a shape and its edges or boundaries. A line that defines the outer most limits of an object, form, or shape. The outline makes the shape or form inherently graphic.
Explicit Line
A line or edge within which forms are clearly delineated: it may not always be a black line, but it has clear and distinct edges that stand out from the background.
Psychic Line/Implied Force
The mental connection between two points or elements. An invisible line joining, for example a person's eyes to the object they are looking at, or the line that extends into space from the tip of a pointing arrow directing the viewer's eye to follow it.
Implied Line
An imaginary line created by arranging points or short lines in such a manner that our brains join them, for example, a dotted or dashed line. With lines that appear to stop, start, and disappear, the missing portions are implied to continue and are completed in the mind of the viewer.
Gesture (as line)
A free line within and around a form showing the dynamics of a scene or pose, the action of drawing, and the movement of the eye rather than a tight arrangement of shapes.
Lost and Found Edges
Where edges are sometimes hard and sharp against a background, and sometimes are soft and blurred, receding into the background. Now you see them, now you don't.
Weighted Line or Thick and Thin Line
Thick and think line is the use of varying widths and values of line by the way of the pressure applied when creating a line with a drawing implement. A softer lead used with a drawing implement will yield a darker and wider line, while a harder lead will result in a narrower, lighter line. Hard lead pencils (H) give a crisp line, while soft lead pencil (B) produces a softer line.
Bridge Passage
Where two adjacent parallel planes are graduated in opposite directions, from dark to light and light to dark, there will be an area where differences of value dissolve.
Wireframe
A mesh of points and planes in space, as found in computer graphics, which can accurately describe solid forms. Produced using a 3D modeling program or by laser-scanning a 3D object or body.
Focal Point/Center of Interest
The area of a visual image that first attracts and usually sustains the viewer's attention.
Radial Balance
A composition in which all visual elements are balanced around a certain point.
Figure/Ground Relationship
The relationship of an object to its surroundings in terms of perspective, form and atmosphere. A strong figure ground relationship occurs when the proportions of black to white may not be the same, but both spaces or patterns of shapes are strongly activated.
Repetition
The repeating of a form or motif within a composition to create harmony, connect differing visual languages and the establishment of a visual syntax.
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