Art Crossword Puzzle for the Art Room

Press Print for an art vocabulary crossword on the elements and principles, color, or tools and kinds of art.

More options

Settings you change are kept in this browser for your next visit.

Name Date

Art Crossword

Read each clue and write the answer in the squares that start at its number, one letter in each square.

This grid is wider than a phone screen, so it scrolls sideways. It prints whole.

Tap a square, and its clue shows here.

Across

Down

Word bank

  • Balance
  • Contrast
  • Emphasis
  • Harmony
  • Line
  • Pattern
  • Proportion
  • Rhythm
  • Space
  • Texture
  • Unity
  • Vanishing point

Type in a square and the next one takes over. Tap the same square again, or press Space, to switch between Across and Down. Arrow keys move around the grid, Enter goes to the next clue, and a clue takes you to its squares.

Print gives 3 pages on Letter or A4: the grid, the clues on a sheet of their own, then the answer key. The squares print 10 mm wide. For a PDF, choose Save as PDF in the print window.

A share link holds the puzzle number and these settings, nothing you typed.

Answer key: Art Crossword

1V2PATTERNN3LINE4E5SS6TMPH7HEP8BAIAXHA9CONTRASTALEGMUSA10PROPORTIONONESC11UNITYEN12RHYTHM

Across 2 PATTERN · 3 LINE · 9 CONTRAST · 10 PROPORTION · 11 UNITY · 12 RHYTHM

Down 1 VANISHINGPOINT · 4 EMPHASIS · 5 SPACE · 6 TEXTURE · 7 HARMONY · 8 BALANCE

Next step Find art words in a word searchPlay art bingo

All 60 clues

Show all clues and answers

Elements and Principles 20

  • Balance Even spread of visual weight in a picture
  • Contrast Strong difference, as between black and white
  • Emphasis Making one part stand out as the center of interest
  • Focal point The spot in a picture that catches the eye first
  • Form Object with height, width and depth, such as a sphere
  • Harmony Pleasing combination of related colors or parts
  • Horizon Where the land seems to meet the sky in a picture
  • Line Mark that joins two points, the most basic element of art
  • Movement The path the viewer's eye takes through a work
  • Pattern Design made by repeating an element again and again
  • Perspective Drawing method that makes flat pictures look deep
  • Proportion Size of parts compared with each other and the whole
  • Rhythm Sense of beat made by repeated marks, as in music
  • Shape Flat, closed area with height and width only
  • Space The area around, between and within objects
  • Texture How a surface feels, or looks as if it would feel
  • Unity Feeling that all parts of an artwork belong together
  • Value How light or dark a color is
  • Vanishing point Spot where receding lines seem to meet in the distance
  • Variety Using different colors, sizes and marks to add interest

Color 20

  • Analogous Colors side by side on the wheel
  • Color wheel Circle that shows how colors relate
  • Complementary Colors opposite each other on the wheel, such as red and green
  • Cool Color family of blue, green and violet
  • Hue Another word for a color's name, such as red
  • Indigo Deep blue dye first made from plants
  • Intensity How bright or dull a color is
  • Magenta Purplish red, one of the inks in a color printer
  • Monochromatic Using tints and shades of just one color
  • Neutral Black, white, gray or brown, which go with anything
  • Opaque So thick you cannot see through it
  • Pigment Colored powder mixed into paint
  • Primary Red, yellow or blue, which cannot be mixed from other paints
  • Secondary Kind of color made by mixing two primaries
  • Shade A color with black added
  • Tertiary Kind of color such as red-orange or blue-green
  • Tint A color with white added
  • Tone A color with gray added
  • Transparent Clear enough to see through
  • Warm Color family of red, orange and yellow

Tools, Materials and Kinds of Art 20

  • Canvas Stretched cloth that painters work on
  • Charcoal Burnt-wood stick for smudgy black drawing
  • Chisel Sharp tool for carving wood or stone
  • Clay Soft earth that hardens when fired
  • Collage Picture made by gluing paper and scraps onto a surface
  • Easel Stand that holds a painting while you work
  • Fresco Painting made on wet plaster
  • Gallery Room or building where art is shown
  • Glaze Glassy coating fired onto pottery
  • Kiln Very hot oven for firing pottery
  • Landscape Picture of outdoor scenery
  • Mosaic Picture made of small tiles or pieces
  • Mural Large painting on a wall
  • Palette Board for mixing paints
  • Pastel Soft, chalky drawing stick
  • Portrait Picture of a person
  • Sculpture Three-dimensional artwork, carved or modeled
  • Sketch Quick, rough drawing
  • Still life Picture of objects such as fruit and vases
  • Watercolor Paint thinned with water, often see-through

How this list was compiled: 60 clues written for this site for the art room, grades 4 to 8, in three sets: elements and principles of design, color, and tools, materials and kinds of art. No artist, museum or art-supply brand is named. Definitions were checked against English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) in September 2026. No clue was copied from a published puzzle. Licence: own work

How it works

This art crossword drills art room vocabulary for grades 4 to 8 in three sets: elements and principles, color, and tools and kinds of art. It is a vocabulary crossword with the word bank on, which suits a substitute day.

Read the full guide

Three sets

Elements and Principles has Texture, Emphasis, Focal point and Vanishing point. Color has Tint, Shade, Tone, Analogous and Monochromatic. Tools, Materials and Kinds of Art has Kiln, Glaze, Still life and Fresco.

Print or solve

Print gives Letter or A4 with the answer key last. For a harder sheet, untick Word bank under the clues in More options.

  • Hand out a color wheel with the Color set; Complementary, Analogous and Tertiary are easy to find on it.

Questions and answers

Does the art crossword name famous artists?

No. It sticks to terms an art class uses, with no artist, museum or art-supply brand. The clues define each word, such as a color with white added (Tint).

What grades is it for?

Tools, Materials and Kinds of Art is the easiest, for grades 4 and 5. Elements and Principles and Color suit grades 5 to 8. These bands are our judgement, not a published standard.

Is there an answer key?

Yes. Every print ends with the answer key on a sheet of its own, and Show all clues and answers, under the puzzle, lists all 60 clues with their answers.

More tools

Show 8 more

Browse Puzzles