Landscape - An artwork depicting an outdoor scene or scenery.
Lean - When used to describe a painting, it signifies one with little oil or pigment. Also, see fat and fat over lean.
Left Brain - Refers to a theory in which the left side of the brain is responsible for reading and verbal tasks, while the right brain is the creative side, responsible for art and spatial comprehension.
Length - Characteristic of line; Usually refers to the longest dimension. Synonyms for lengthwise are longitudinal and axial.
Lightfastness - refers to the ability of a pigment or a dye to resist fading due to exposure to sunlight. Also referred to as permanence.
Line - Line is the path of a point moving through space. Lines vary in width, length, direction, color, and degree of curve and can be two-dimensional or implied. Line is an element of art.
Linear Perspective - Technique that uses lines to create the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface. If the lines in an artwork created with this technique are extended, they converge on an imaginary point on an imaginary line that represents the eye level of the viewer. This point is called the vanishing point.
Lithography - Printing technique using a planographic process in which prints are pulled on a special press from a flat stone or metal surface chemically sensitized so that- ink sticks only to the design areas and is repelled by the non-image areas. Lithography was invented in 1798 in Solnhofen, Germany, by Alois Senefelder. The early history of lithography is dominated by great French artists such as Daumier and Delacroix and later by Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, Braque, and Mir6.
Limited Palette - A restricted selection of pigments, often resulting in a painting with a reduced gamut. Also called a restricted palette.
Limiting Focus - Visually separates the subject from its background. In photography and 3D graphics, one approach to achieving simplification is to use a wide aperture to limit the depth of field. In painting, the artist may use less detailed and defined brushwork towards the picture's edges. Zoom in to fill the picture with the subject or have the subject in focus and the background out of focus. In photography, this is called "depth of field". When appropriately used in the right setting, this technique can place everything that is not the photograph's subject out of focus.
Linseed Oil - Linseed oil is an oil painting medium. It gives colors a high gloss. It can also be used for a glazing effect. This medium also slows the drying time of the paint.
Local Color - The color of the surface of an object, as opposed to the actual paint mixture you use to represent it.
Loom - tool or device used to create fabric by weaving fibers together.
Luminescence - The ability of an object to emit light at low temperatures, as opposed to incandescence. See also Value.
