Visual+arts+glossary

in handwriting, and students’ participation in structured play sessions in Early Stage 1 programs. Fine motor skills are developed with the actions of gripping, holding, cutting, squeezing, kneading, pounding, rolling, pulling, patting, slapping, shaping, pinching, bending, twisting, crumbling, tearing, folding, curling, weaving and pasting. These actions are inherent in many making activities in visual arts. Fine motor skills are also developed when students work with tools, media, materials, scissors, brushes, pencils, crayons, charcoal, clay, papier-mâché, fine and thick textas, glue sticks, sponges, rollers, combs, toothbrushes, spray bottles, eye droppers, straws, foil, tissues, cellophane, crepe, and found materials. The use of these tools, media and materials are also emphasised in making activities in visual arts. Fine motor skills can also be developed when students work on a variety of surfaces including paper, wet paper, textured and coloured papers, cardboard, newsprint, fabric, whiteboards, foam and perspex.
 * assemblage ** An artwork that is made by constructing found objects generally in relief or three- dimensional works.
 * collage ** From the French meaning gluing, pasting or sticking where photographs, newspaper cuttings and other objects such as fabrics are arranged and pasted onto a surface.
 * composition** The synthesis, organisation, structure and pictorial arrangement in an artwork such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph. Composition includes reference to how an image is composed or how the **subject matter** is considered in the arrangement of a work. Students need to be given opportunities to explore different compositional arrangements in their artworks and to consider how it affects the meaning of their work.
 * digital artworks** Types of artworks made with digital technologies such as a digital video recorder and/or scanner and computer. These works can exist as still or moving images. Sometimes the works produced may be printed as flat works, like a photograph, at other times they are available only as virtual artworks, existing in virtual space eg on the internet. Digital works and video works often make use of time in the construction of sequences and narratives. They are sometimes referred to as four-dimensional or time- based works as compared to two-dimensional works (eg drawings, paintings) or three- dimensional works (eg sculptures).
 * fine motor skills** Refers to the strengthening of the small muscles in the hand which are used in fine movements. These skills are demonstrated in hand–finger movement and control, and hand–eye coordination. While the Visual Arts provides an excellent opportunity for young students to develop fine motor control, these skills are not exclusive to any one KLA or subject area. For example, the development of students’ fine motor skills are also important in designing and making activities in Science and Technology. Other activities that promote the development of these skills include correct grip, pressure and control

**foreshortening** A technique used in painting, drawing, photography etc to make the image (eg a figure, an object) look three-dimensional, suggesting something about its perspective and depth. In some instances foreshortening can lead to distortion of areas that are in close view (eg a hand, a foot). impasto Refers to the thickness of paint and its application using brushes, knives or other implements to enhance the textural richness and surface of a painting. Impasto mediums can be added to classroom paints to give them extra thickness. installations Kinds of artworks that may be located or installed in a particular space or environment and at a later time may be removed.
 * incising** A technique often used in clay and sculpture of cutting into or carving into a surface to make marks and change the nature of the surface.
 * limited edition prints** An edition of prints or photographs where the block, plate, stencils, or negatives are used to make a certain number (eg an edition of five prints from a lino block or silk screen). Such an approach encourages consideration of ‘originals’ in the visual arts.
 * monoprint** A single print made from a drawing or painting using a sticky ink or paint on glass, perspex or metal, which is then pressed onto paper.

** montage ** An artwork in which photographic and printed images are layered and juxtaposed, similar to a collage. Often has contemporary applications in digital works. monumental A quality sometimes seen particularly in sculpture and architecture where a work is produced to celebrate a religious or other event, person or idea. The work may be characterised by a sense of, for example, grandeur, permanence, triumph or strength. The materials used may contribute to the monumental quality of the work (eg stone, concrete, bronze). //Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus// p 103-10
 * perspective** Concerned with conveying an illusion of space or a three-dimensional appearance on a two-dimensional surface or a spacial extension into depth, whether on a flat surface, such as a drawing or painting, or in a relief sculpture. To achieve this effect, objects may be reduced in size at a distance, and parallel lines may converge as in single or two-point perspective (linear perspective). Associated terms include vanishing point, picture plane, horizon line, ground line. There are a variety of ways that perspective can be achieved. Students may attempt to create naturalistic and ‘realistic’ effects by learning how to use perspective as part of their own representational activity. This generally occurs at around late Stage 2 to Stage 3.
 * readymades** Types of found and everyday objects used to make art, particularly sculptures.
 * representation** Refers to depicting an idea or an aspect of the world in a particular way. It involves a mental operation on the part of the artist/student where certain qualities of an idea/aspect of the world are referred to and used to produce another idea (eg in a painting of an object or a person). An artwork is a representation of an idea/aspect of the world. Students become increasingly interested in representational issues, particularly in Stages 2 and 3, and seek to make their works look ‘real’. To achieve such effects they need to develop skills in using different techniques. The making of an artwork as a representation is uncertain before it is made, involves evaluative action and needs to be made sense of both by the artist/student and audience within the conventions of the form (eg a painting, a drawing).
 * scrumbling** A technique used in painting where paint is applied in a thin broken layer of opaque paint over an existing colour. The undercolour shows through to create interesting tonal and colour effects.   **virtual artworks** See digital artworks.