Guyla - A Glossary of Art Terminology

Hallmark: A mark put on an article to indicate origin, purity, or genuineness. Or a distinguishing characteristic, trait, or feature.

Handbuilding: A process used in ceramics that incorporates slabwork, coils, and sculptural elements.

Hand-embellished: A term used to describe prints to which an artist has added color or washes after the piece has been printed.

Handmade Paper: Paper made by hand using a mould (a frame covered with a flat, rigid screen or flexible screen). In both cases the mould is covered by a flat frame called a deckle, to contain the run-off of wet pulp, dipped into a vat of wet pulp, shaken to distribute the fibers evenly and drained of its excess water. The wet mat of fibers remaining in the newly formed sheet is then dried against blankets & may be hot pressed, cold pressed, or air dried.

Haniwa: In Japanese tradition, sculptured pottery cylinders, modeled in human or animal figures, or in other forms, and placed in early Japanese burial mounds.

Hardboard: Panels of shredded wood that is glued together with its own natural adhesive called lignin. It is excellent as a painting surface. It resists warping and swelling. It is made in two types, tempered and untempered. The tempered is impregnated with oil to aid in resisting moisture. It is harder and has a smoother surface. The surface of the tempered should be sanded to roughen it before priming. Both surfaces are good for painting.

Hardwood: Certain deciduous trees produce wood which is very tough and durable when seasoned. Cherry, mahogany and oak are examples of hardwoods.

Harmonious Colors: Colors that look good together because they are complementary colors, analogous colors, or otherwise related.

Harmony: The unity of all visual elements of a composition achieved by the repetition of the same characteristics or those which are similar in nature.

Hatching: One of the most common ways for an artist to suggest volume and depth or to depict shadow, by which closely drawn parallel lines are grouped together. In the case of cross-hatching, the parallel lines are crossed by other sets of lines, creating a dense gridlike pattern. Artists use this technique, varying the size, closeness and other qualities of the lines, most commonly in drawing, linear painting, and engraving. Hatching is also referred to with the French word hachure.

Heightening or Highlights: A common technique for emphasizing mass and volume, highlights are produced by applying a light-toned pigment, usually white gouache or white chalk, to the desired area of the drawing.

Hessian: An absorbent cloth on which a slab is rolled.

Hide Glue: Most commonly known as rabbitskin glue. A glue made from skins and bones of animals. Can be bought in sheets, powdered granules, or in powder. When mixed with hot water in various proportions it makes a very strong binder and good sealer. It is used in preparing grounds.

Hierogylph: A picture of a figure, animal, or object, standing for a word, syllable, or sound.

High Alpha Cellulose: A very pure form of wood pulp which is considered to have the same longevity as cotton or other plant fibers.

High Art (Culture): A distinction between high art (also called "high culture," fine art, or beaux-arts) and low art (also called "mass culture"). The assumption always has been that appreciation of the former depended on such things as intelligence, social standing, educated taste, and a willingness to be challenged. In contrast, the latter simply catered to popular taste, unreflective acceptance of realism, and a certain "lowbrow" mentality. Few would seriously argue that the droves who follow televised wrestling matches and afternoon soap operas have any genuine interest in contemporary art. It is even less likely that the millions who read supermarket tabloids or romance novels would ever choose to read advanced art criticism.

High Relief: Relief sculpture in which the image greatly protrudes from the surrounding surface.

Highlight: On a represented form, a point of most intense light. The point at which an object reflects the greatest light, or the representation of same in drawing, painting, photography, watercolour, etc. Works which follow the logic of perception tend to orient highlights in such a way that the direction of the light source can be deduced from them.

Historical Criticism: Any criticism which attempts to describe, explain or recreate the meaning a work had in its original context, rather than what it might mean to later generations.

Hog Hair: These brushes, sometimes called bristle brushes, are the most common for oil use. They are made of stiff white bristles. The best, and most expensive are Chinese hog hair. That does not mean they come from China, but they are from a breed of pig called a Chinese White. There are even preferences within the Chinese hog family. Chunking, Junkies and Hankow are the most favored. The reason hog bristles are favored for oils is that:
1. they are strong and stiff, for the usually stiffer oil paint, and;
2. the ends do not taper to a thin point, instead the hairs split and fork into several tips, called flags. These help in holding paint.

Hollow Building: A ceramic technique for sculpture in which the form is built up from slabs and tubes of damp clay in such a way that it is hollow throughout. Ceramic sculptures are made hollow, chiefly to ensure that no part is much thicker than any other; such differences in thickness would create tensions in the clay during firing, as the clay shrinks in cooling.

Hollow Carving: Wooden sculptures are often hollowed or partly hollowed in order to avoid strain resulting from the different rates of shrinkage in heartwood and sapwood. stone is also hollowed out, but to enable it to be supported (especially in the case of a bust, for example) or to be lifted and transported more easily.

Hollow Casting: Casting in a mold by lining the walls of the mold with layers of sculpture material rather than filling up the mold. The technique varies with the medium being used. Cast metal sculptures are made hollow chiefly to ensure that no part is much thicker than any other; such differences in thickness would create tensions in the metal as it shrinks in cooling.

Homage: Reverence or tribute, as artists throughout history have paid homage in various ways to those who have influenced them.

Horizon Line: The line, either real or implied, in a work of art that marks where the sky and the ground appear to meet.

Horror Vacui: A compulsion, sometimes characterized as medieval or primitive, to fill all the available pictorial space with decorative or other motifs, as if "afraid of a vacuum." Horror vacui is indicated by a crowded design.

Hors de Commerce: Also known as HC prints. Traditionally these were the graphics pulled with the regular edition, but were marked by the artist for business use only. These graphics were used for entering exhibitions and competitions. Also; prints not equal in quality to the edition that may have minor flaws. These prints usually aren't signed and are canceled in some way, such as a hole in a corner or a stamp indicating they are not for sale. The prints are often used by sales people to show to potential clients.

Hot Pressed: A paper surface that is smooth, produced by pressing a finished sheet through hot cylinders.

Hot Wire Cutter: A tool for cutting Styrofoam. A wire is held taut in a frame and heated, enabling it to pass cleanly through the Styrofoam without undue pressure being applied. A hand-held or bench model may be used.

Hue: The name of any color as found in its pure state in the spectrum, or that aspect of any colour. The name by which a color is distinguished from other colors in the visible spectrum. The spectrum is usually divided into the six basic colors of the spectrum: the three primary colors of red, yellow, and blue, and the three secondary colors of green, orange, and violet.

Humanities: The liberal arts - the non-scientific branches of study, such as philosophy, literature, and art, that are concerned with human thought and culture.

Hygroscopic: Absorbing or attracting moisture from the air.

Hyperbole: Exaggeration whether used simply for effect or because of linguistic inflation.

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