LOOKING AT ART
EXAM #1 / February 18, 2019
REVIEWSHEET
Please be in time for the exam.
The exam will be multiple choice, multiple answer, short answer questions, and a long answer
question/essay. This long answer question is designed to assess if you can read, describe and
analyze all the design elements (line, shape, mass, volume, texture, color, space) we have
learned so far.
You should be familiar with the terms and concepts of design elements: line, shape, color,
volume, mass, texture, and space. You should be ale to define concepts as well as apply these
terms and concepts to a visual image. You should also be familiar with some of the art
movements, such as the Fauves, Expressionists, Cubists, as discussed in your readings and in
class.
Study Strategies:
 Go through your PowerPoints study the terms related to the images, and make sure
you can analyze the work using these terms. The slides in the PP support the
explanation of the terms in the book chapter, and show how they are applied in the
artwork.
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Read your book chapters, and maybe go through some of the Inquisitive quizzes
questions again.
Terms you should know, understand and be able to apply:
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subject matter, medium, representational, abstract,
Contexts: artist’s context, cultural context, social-political context, viewer context
Lines and shapes: actual, implied, gestural, regular, irregular, contour, directional
lines/compositional lines, hatching, cross hatching, amorphous, biomorphic,
geometrical, positive, negative shape
Mass, Volume, Texture: implied, actual, (invented) texture, relief: low, high, bas relief,
free standing sculpture,
Space: actual, illusionistic space, foreground, middle ground, back ground, trompe
l’oeil,
Creation of illusionistic space through: overlapping, size, transparency, perspective,
placement, detail, texture, foreshortening
Perspectives: 1 point, 2 point, multiple point perspective, isometric perspective, bird’s
eye view, worm’s eye view, atmospheric perspective
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Color: primary colors (in additive and subtractive system) saturation, value, neutral,
warm, cold color schemes, local, arbitrary colors, complementary colors, analogous
colors, translucent, transparent, opaque, optical mixing
Art Movements and styles: Naturalism, trompe’ l’euil, Impressionism, Pointillism,
Cubism, Fauvism, Expressionism
Our formula for interpretation:
Subject matter + medium + form + context = Interpretation
Example questions:
1. In an additive color system (mixing light) the primary colors are:
2.
Which terms can be applied to this composition by Wassily Kandisnksy? Choose all
that apply.
a) representational
b) two-dimensional
c) monochromatic
d) polychromatic
e) abstract
f) illusionistic
g) naturalistic