Art terminology Definitions

Hue: Hue is another word for color. The attribute which describes colors by name.

Chroma: This is the intensity, or strength, or purity of a color. Squeezing paint directly from the tube to the palette is full chroma.

Tint: Tint is the opposite of shade. Tinting is combining white with a color to make it lighter.

Shade: Using a mixture of black mixed with a color to make it darker. The opposite of shade is tint.

Complementary  Colors: Complementary colors are those which appear opposite to one another on a color wheel. The complimentary colors are red and green, blue and orange, and yellow and purple.

Texture: Texture creates the feeling of an object.

Balance: An art and design principle concerned with the arrangement of one or more elements in a work of art so that they appear symmetrical  or asymmetrical in design and proportion.

Symmetry: Symmetry is when one side of something balances out the other side.

Source for all the above:http://www.artincanada.com/arttalk/arttermsanddefinitions.html#top

Tone: is a quality of color. It has to do with whether or not a color is warm or cold, bright or dull, light or dim, and pure or otherwise. The phrase Tone it down in Art means to make a color, or an overall color scheme, less vibrant. Toning it up can cause colors to pop out of a piece.

Source: http://arthistory.about.com/cs/glossaries/g/t_tone.htm

Analogous colors: Analogous colors are colors that are adjacent or next to one another on a color wheel. An analogous color scheme is one in which only three adjacent colors are used. The theory is that colors work well or harmonize together. Usually one of these colors is dominant, or used more than the other two, in the painting.


Source:http://painting.about.com/od/artglossarya/g/defanalogous.htm

 Contrasting Colors: Two colors that effect  each other, one color can change the tone and hue of another


Graphic Design Principles: These suggest effective and pleasing ways to arrange text and graphics. Alignment, balance, consistency, contrast, proximity, and white space are the most widely recoginzed principles of design.

Source: http://desktoppub.about.com/od/designprinciples/Principles_of_Design.htm