Art Glossary
A comprehensive glossary of art terms, techniques, movements, and materials. From chiaroscuro to creative coding, find clear definitions for every art concept.
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Concept Art: Visual Development for Games, Film, and Animation
Concept art is visual development art for games, film, and animation. Learn its history from Disney's Snow White to AI-assisted workflows in 2026.
Creative Coding: Programming as Artistic Expression and Medium
Creative coding is programming for artistic expression, not utility. Learn its history from Processing to p5.js, key artists, and how code became a creative medium.
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3D Modeling: Creating Three-Dimensional Objects Digitally, From the Utah Teapot to AI
3D modeling is the process of creating three-dimensional objects in digital space. Learn its history from the 1975 Utah teapot to Meta's SAM 3D and Roblox's AI Build in 2026.
Data Art: Art Made From Datasets and Information Visualization
Data art transforms datasets into visual art, from Ryoji Ikeda to Refik Anadol. Learn its history, key artists, and how data became an artistic medium.
Digital Art: Art Made With Computers, From 1960s Plotters to AI
Digital art is art made with computers and digital tools. Learn how artists from Vera Molnar to Refik Anadol turned code, pixels, and AI into a fine art medium.
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Generative Art: Algorithmic Systems and Code-Based Art
Generative art is art made by algorithmic systems rather than by hand. Learn how artists from Vera Molnar to Tyler Hobbs use code to create art that no human could draw.
Glitch Art: The Aesthetic Use of Digital Errors and System Failures
Glitch art turns digital errors into artistic material. Learn how artists from Rosa Menkman to contemporary practitioners use corrupted data, codec failures, and AI hallucinations.
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Net Art: Art Made For and About the Internet
Net art is art made for and about the internet. Learn how artists from Olia Lialina to contemporary practitioners turned the web itself into an artistic medium.
NFT Art: Blockchain-Based Digital Ownership and Its Rise and Fall
NFT art uses blockchain tokens to certify ownership of digital works. Learn how Beeple, CryptoPunks, and Art Blocks created a market that peaked at $6 billion and crashed 95%.
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Post-Internet Art: Art Aware of Its Existence After the Internet
Post-internet art is art aware of its existence after the internet. Learn its history from Marisa Olson to Jon Rafman, key artists, and how it changed digital art.
Procedural Generation: Algorithmic Creation of Content in Games and Art
Procedural generation creates content algorithmically rather than by hand. Learn its history from Elite (1984) to AI-driven PCG in Unreal Engine 5 and Roblox Build in 2026.
Projection Mapping: Projecting Video Onto 3D Surfaces and Architecture
Projection mapping projects video onto three-dimensional surfaces, turning buildings into screens. Learn its history, key artists like Refik Anadol, and how it works.
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Raster Art: Pixel-Based Graphics From the First Digital Image to AI Upscaling
Raster art stores images as grids of pixels. Learn its history from Russell Kirsch's 1957 scan to AI upscaling and Texel Splatting for 3D pixel art in 2026.
Rendering (3D): Generating Images From 3D Models, From Rasterization to Real-Time Path Tracing
3D rendering converts 3D models into 2D images. Learn its history from rasterization to path tracing, and how Capcom and NVIDIA brought real-time path tracing to games in 2026.
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Vector Art: Graphics Defined by Mathematical Paths, From Sketchpad to AI
Vector art uses mathematical paths instead of pixels to create infinitely scalable graphics. Learn its history from Ivan Sutherland's 1963 Sketchpad to AI-generated SVG in 2026.
Video Game Art: Games as Artistic Expression, From Pong to Museum Galleries
Video game art treats games as artistic expression. Learn how museums from the Barbican to Tokyo now exhibit games as art, with Capcom and MoMA leading the way.
Why an Art Glossary?
Art has always had a language problem. Walk into any gallery and you will hear terms like chiaroscuro, impasto, sfumato, and pentimento thrown around as if everyone knows what they mean. Most people do not. They nod along, afraid to ask, and miss half of what the painting is actually doing.
This glossary exists to fix that. Every entry is written in plain English with real examples: specific paintings, specific artists, specific dates. When we explain plein air, we point you to Monet working beside the Seine in 1873, not a generic definition copied from a dictionary. When we cover creative coding, we start with Casey Reas and Ben Fry at MIT in 2001, not a vague paragraph about "art and technology."
The terms here span centuries and disciplines. You will find Renaissance techniques sitting next to digital art movements, printmaking terminology next to motion graphics concepts. That mix is intentional. Art does not stay in neat historical boxes, and neither does the vocabulary we use to talk about it. A painter working today might need to understand glazing just as much as a 3D animator needs to know what kinetic typography means.
Each definition is a starting point, not a finish line. We write them to be specific enough that you can recognize the technique the next time you see it, but short enough that you can read one in under five minutes. If a term leads you to a painting you had not considered before, or sends you down a rabbit hole about a movement you had never heard of, the glossary is doing its job.
New terms are added regularly. If there is a concept you keep running into but cannot find here, that is a gap we want to fill. The best art terminology does not stay still. It grows as artists invent new ways of working, and the language has to keep up.