Abstract | Absurd |
Affective | Aggressive |
Ambiguous | Angular |
Artificial | Asymmetric |
Authentic | Avant-garde |
Balanced | Barren |
Bleak | Bold |
Bombastic | Broken |
Busy | Calm |
Candid | Chaotic |
Characteristic | Chilling |
Chromatic | Coarse |
Cohesive | Cold |
Colorful | Colorless |
Common | Complex |
Concrete | Confined |
Contentious | Contradictory |
Conventional | Cool |
Crude | Cultured |
Curving | Daring |
Dark | Decorative |
Deep | Delicate |
Detached | Detailed |
Difficult | Dim |
Disarming | Disjointed |
Disordered | Dramatic |
Dreamlike | Dull |
Earthy | Edgy |
Elegant | Emergent |
Emotional | Ethereal |
Evocative | Exaggerated |
Expressive | Exquisite |
Extravagant | Fine |
Flat | Flowing |
Fluid | Formal |
Fresh | Futuristic |
Garish | Geometric |
Gloomy | Graceful |
Granular | Grim |
Hard | Harmonious |
Harsh | Hot |
Human | Idealistic |
Imaginative | Inelegant |
Insipid | Intense |
Intimate | Intuitive |
Ironic | Irregular |
Jarring | Jumbled |
Layered | Lifeless |
Lifelike | Light |
Lofty | Loud |
Lucid | Luminous |
Lyrical | Magnificent |
Mechanical | Melancholy |
Monotonous | Moving |
Multidimensional | Multifaceted |
Muted | Natural |
Organic | Original |
Ostentatious | Overdone |
Pale | Paradoxical |
Peculiar | Photographic |
Plain | Plastic |
Playful | Polished |
Polluted | Precise |
Pretentious | Primitive |
Pure | Puzzling |
Radiant | Refined |
Remarkable | Restrained |
Rhythmic | Rich |
Rigid | Rough |
Routine | Sarcastic |
Satirical | Saturated |
Sentimental | Shallow |
Sharp | Showy |
Sketchy | Smooth |
Soft | Sophisticated |
Spacious | Sparse |
Splashy | Stable |
Stale | Stirring |
Strange | Strong |
Stylized | Sublime |
Substantive | Subtle |
Superficial | Surreal |
Swirling | Symmetrical |
Sympathetic | Systematic |
Tacky | Tasteless |
Timeless | Traditional |
Uncommon | Unconventional |
Understated | Uneven |
Unexpected | Unpolished |
Unrefined | Vibrant |
Visionary | Vivid |
Warm | Weak |
Elements
The following are common elements of art including technical, compositional and expressive characteristics of a work.Allegory | Arrangement |
Artifice | Atmosphere |
Background | Balance |
Cohesion | Color |
Composition | Contrast |
Detail | Dominance |
Effect | Emphasis |
Expression | Focal Point |
Foreground | Form |
Harmony | Influences |
Layout | Lighting |
Line | Mark Making |
Materials | Middle Ground |
Mood | Movement |
Narrative | Negative Space |
Perspective | Presence |
Proportion | Rhythm |
Shape | Size |
Space | Structure |
Style | Subject Matter |
Symbolism | Texture |
Time | Tone |
Tradition |
Summary
Words to describe art include adjectives, verbs and nouns for describing style, technique, subject matter, themes, composition, visual elements and overall expression and impact.
