Easel

“A freestanding support structure designed to hold a drawing board, canvas, or painting surface in a stable, typically upright position, allowing the artist to work comfortably and accurately. In both drawing and painting contexts within the Waichulis Curriculum, an upright easel helps maintain visual perspective, reduces surface damage from hand contact, and facilitates better pressure control compared to flat work surfaces​.

Main Components of a Typical Studio Easel: Mast: The central vertical support that holds the canvas in position. Canvas Tray (Shelf): A horizontal support ledge that holds the bottom of the work surface. Top Clamp (or Canvas Holder): Adjustable mechanism to secure the top of the canvas. Rear Leg(s): Used to balance and adjust the tilt of the easel. Height and Tilt Adjustments: Found in more advanced models to allow ergonomic positioning and perspective correction.

Common Easel Types: H-Frame Easel: Named for its stability and rectangular design. Suitable for larger studio work and detailed rendering. A-Frame (Lyre) Easel: Lightweight, tripod-style easel that folds easily. Often used in smaller spaces. Tabletop Easel: Compact support designed for use on flat surfaces. Field (Plein Air) Easel: Portable and collapsible for outdoor use. Wall-mounted Easel: A space-saving option fixed directly to a studio wall.

The use of easels can be traced back to ancient times. The term ‘easel’ derives from the Dutch word ezel, meaning ‘donkey,’ a humorous comparison between the support tool and the burden-bearing animal. One of the earliest recorded uses of formal easel structures appears in ancient Egypt and classical Greece, where artists worked on upright surfaces supported by wooden frames. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, easels became standard studio equipment for panel painting, evolving in design to accommodate larger canvases and more complex techniques. By the 17th century, H-frame designs emerged, favored by academicians for their sturdiness and adjustability.

Today, easels are not only studio mainstays but serve critical functions in display, ergonomic efficiency, and spatial perspective correction—making them indispensable in skill-based curricula like Waichulis’.”

Eccentricity

“The degree to which an ellipse deviates from being a perfect circle. In mathematical terms, the eccentricity (e) of an ellipse is defined as the ratio between the distance from the center to a focal point (c) and the semi-major axis (a), expressed as e = c/a. A perfect circle has an eccentricity of 0, while an ellipse with greater elongation has a value approaching, but never reaching, 1.

In the Waichulis Curriculum, while the explicit mathematical definition of eccentricity may not be directly employed in studio exercises, the perceptual effects of varying eccentricities are studied extensively through repeated analysis of elliptical forms in perspective. Ellipses with different degrees of eccentricity are used to depict circular objects rotated in space (e.g., the tops and bottoms of cylinders or cones), where the perceived shape flattens or rounds depending on the viewer’s angle of observation​.

Students engage in targeted exercises like the Ellipse Chart to build fluency in interpreting how orientation, foreshortening, and eccentricity combine to affect the appearance of circular forms in pictorial space. Accurately conveying such shifts is essential for realistic spatial communication and structural coherence in drawing and painting.”

École des Beaux-Arts

“The École des Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts) in Paris was one of the most influential art institutions in the history of Western academic training. Officially founded in 1648 as the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture and reorganized under Napoleon in 1816, the École became the pinnacle of Academic Art, promoting a formal, hierarchical system of instruction that shaped European and American art pedagogy well into the 20th century.

Training at the École emphasized precise draftsmanship, anatomical idealism, linear perspective, and classical themes, often delivered through highly codified methods. Students progressed through a rigid sequence beginning with copying engravings and plaster casts, then advancing to figure drawing (from antique sculpture and live models), composition, and finally painting from life. The academy also enforced a strict hierarchy of subject matter, with history painting occupying the highest status.

Although the system produced technically skilled artists, it was often critiqued for stifling creativity and reinforcing stylistic orthodoxy. In contrast, the Waichulis Curriculum eschews fixed aesthetic ideals and hierarchical subject genres in favor of perceptual realism, grounded in empirical observation, cognitive science, and structured perceptual development. Where the École relied on fixed models and visual conventions, the Waichulis approach emphasizes the mediation of non-veridical percepts, training artists to construct images that evoke consistent perceptual responses across viewers rather than replicate canonical forms.

Understanding the École des Beaux-Arts provides essential historical context for the evolution of Western studio education and highlights the Waichulis Curriculum’s departure from rote mimicry toward strategic, theory-informed representation—blending cognitive science with the physical practice of drawing and painting to develop durable, transferrable visual skills.”

Ecological Valence

“The cumulative positive or negative associations an individual has with elements of their environment, particularly as they relate to sensory input such as color. It is a core component of Ecological Valence Theory, suggesting that perceptual preferences are not purely innate but are shaped through interaction with the environment and associative learning mechanisms.”

Écorché

“A representation of the musculature of the human figure. These anatomical studies are utilized by artists to gain a comprehensive understanding of muscle structures and their influence on surface form. Mastery of écorché studies enhances an artist’s ability to depict the human body with anatomical accuracy and dynamic realism.”

Edge

“A perceptual boundary where a significant change in a visual property occurs, such as luminance, color, texture, or depth. In visual perception, edges play a crucial role in object recognition, spatial organization, and form interpretation. They are often categorized in two major ways: by function and by appearance (or descriptive quality).

Functional Edge Types (based on physical and perceptual causes):

Orientation Edges – Arising from changes in surface orientation, often where two surfaces meet at an angle without spatial separation (e.g., corners of a cube)​.

Depth Edges – Resulting from occlusion, where one surface is spatially in front of another, creating a discontinuity in depth​.

Illumination Edges – Caused by variations in lighting on a uniform surface, such as shadows, spotlights, or highlights​.

Reflectance Edges – Occurring where the intrinsic reflectance of the surface changes, such as painted patterns or material shifts​.

Extremal Edges (Limbs) – A specific depth edge found where a curved surface occludes itself, often critical in object recognition from line drawings​.

Descriptive Edge Types (based on observed visual clarity and use in art):

Hard Edge – A crisp, well-defined transition between adjacent areas of visual difference. Typically suggests a sudden change in form or surface.

Soft Edge – A gradual transition where the boundary is less distinct, often implying curvature, shallow depth transitions, or atmospheric effects.

Lost Edge – An edge that disappears due to minimal contrast in tone, color, or texture between adjacent areas—often used to suggest seamless blending or to subordinate details.

Found Edge – A selectively emphasized edge that reappears within an otherwise ambiguous or soft boundary—often used to reestablish form or focus.

These descriptive edge types are used in both observational and constructed image-making to manipulate perceptual hierarchy, spatial depth, and visual cohesion. They relate closely to the concept of Progressive Edge Transitioning, which describes the intentional modulation of edge sharpness to aid focal emphasis and pictorial structure​.”

Edge Detection

“The visual system’s ability to recognize boundaries between contrasting areas, essential for form perception.”

Electric Sharpener

“A motorized device designed to quickly and uniformly sharpen pencils through automated rotation and abrasion. Within the Waichulis Curriculum, students may choose between several sharpening tools—including electric sharpeners, manual handheld sharpeners, or traditional blade-and-sandpaper methods—depending on the needs of the task and the fragility of the drawing material being used​.

Electric sharpeners offer several advantages, including: speed and consistency: ideal for quickly achieving sharp, symmetrical points, especially useful during repetitive or high-volume sessions and ease of use: reduces hand fatigue and minimizes uneven sharpening caused by manual variability.

However, electric sharpeners can present notable risks when used with fragile or soft-core materials, such as compressed charcoal, pastel pencils, or high-binder tools like General’s White. These materials are prone to: Core breakage due to vibration or aggressive rotation, Material loss through over-sharpening, and excessive mechanical stress on weak barrel casings.

For these reasons, when working with soft or brittle materials, manual sharpening with a razor blade and sandpaper block is often preferred. This method allows for greater control over exposure length, point shape, and material conservation—crucial when working with delicate media on tooth-sensitive paper surfaces.

Ultimately, while electric sharpeners can be effective and convenient, their use should be weighed against the fragility of the medium and the precision requirements of the task at hand. Artists are encouraged to test various sharpening strategies early in their training to determine which method best supports their material handling, pressure control, and surface preservation.”

Elements of Art

“A set of categorical descriptors commonly used to articulate the visual components of a pictorial composition. Traditionally, these elements include: line, shape, form, value, color, texture, and space. In general art education, they are often presented as the fundamental ‘building blocks’ from which all visual artworks are composed.

While the term is widely used, its meaning and utility can vary depending on instructional context. Within the Waichulis Curriculum, several of these elements—such as dot, line, shape, value, form, color, and texture—are not rejected but instead reframed or clarified as categorical marks or mark characteristics that form the basis of a coherent visual language. These elements are introduced as part of structured perceptual training that emphasizes the development of mark control, shape replication, surface modulation, and perceptual chunking.

However, while the elements serve practical roles as instructional heuristics, they are not treated as ontological ‘building blocks’ of vision. The curriculum distinguishes between the graphic abstractions often taught under the Elements of Art model and the perceptual variables that actually govern how visual information is processed by the human observer. For example, ‘line’ in its most technical sense, is not something that exists in the world per se, but rather emerges from edge contrast, occlusion, or directional structure; ‘space’ is not a compositional slot to be filled but the result of depth cues, surface gradients, and light logic.

Thus, in the Waichulis system, the Elements of Art are recontextualized: they are employed as functional categories in service of a more dynamic, perception-driven pedagogy. Their use is not downplayed, but clarified—demonstrating where they provide clarity and where they may inadvertently obscure deeper mechanisms of visual understanding.”

Ellipse

“A closed, symmetric curve formed by the intersection of a conical surface with a plane that cuts across the cone at an oblique (non-perpendicular) angle to its base. It is mathematically defined as the set of all points for which the sum of the distances to two fixed points (the foci) is constant. A circle is a special case of an ellipse in which both foci coincide at the center and the major and minor axes are equal.

In geometry, this classification arises from conic sections—not from perspective. However, in the Waichulis Curriculum (LoD and LoP programs), an ellipse is often introduced heuristically as the appearance of a circle in perspective. This functional definition aids in early perceptual training but is not technically accurate: a circle viewed in linear perspective does not produce a true geometric ellipse. Rather, the perspectival distortion of a circle closely approximates an ellipse under most viewing conditions—making it a useful visual surrogate in representational work.

This distinction is particularly relevant in the construction of cylindrical and conical forms, where understanding elliptical orientation, eccentricity, and axis alignment supports both structural accuracy and perceptual believability. Exercises like the Ellipse Chart help students develop sensitivity to these subtle shape shifts, emphasizing confident construction over rote tracing or template use.

Therefore, while the ellipse serves as a pragmatic visual proxy for circles in spatial rotation, its underlying identity as a conic section should be recognized, especially as learners move from heuristic simplifications toward a more nuanced understanding of geometry in pictorial construction.”

Ellipse Chart

“A structured perceptual and constructional exercise within the Waichulis Curriculum designed to cultivate a deeper understanding of how circular forms appear in perspective. The chart features a sequence of ellipses arranged to simulate cylindrical rotation—illustrating progressive changes in eccentricity, foreshortening, and axis alignment. This exercise plays a critical role in the student’s development of both structural accuracy and perceptual fluency in rendering ellipses.

Importantly, the Ellipse Chart represents one of the first structured opportunities for students to apply observed value structures from a live model—specifically illuminated cylindrical forms—into an idealized schematic (the provided model sheet). Students observe a physical cylindrical reference model under directional lighting in the ‘home’ position and work to replicate the logic of value/color structures across a consistent sequence of ellipse-based forms. This practical transfer from real-world observation to schematic representation fosters perceptual generalization, reinforcing the connection between the physical behavior of light and simplified visual surrogates.

Students begin by doubling the size of the provided reference sheet and inverting it so that ellipses evolve in opposite directions in the left and right columns. Major axes and overall dimensions are laid out first, followed by the addition of concentric inner ellipses, slightly shifted along the minor axis to simulate the appearance of thickness. These shifts follow a perceptual rule: ellipses rotating toward the viewer show the inner ellipse shifted above the major axis, while those rotating away shift below. Students are also encouraged to predict the structure of cast shadows and the behavior of reflected light, promoting the development of analytical and improvisational skills that become critical in more complex visual scenarios.

The exercise also introduces a second heuristic specific to depth communication: the distance between the outer ellipse and the inner ellipse is intentionally varied in the schematic to promote a stronger sense of depth. Larger spacing at the top or bottom of the form is used to indicate proximity to the viewer. However, this spacing does not always correspond to the actual geometric behavior of perspective—where the lateral distances can be greater than the front-to-back distances. This divergence from physical reality serves a critical instructional purpose: it provides an early example of how heuristics can be both useful and fallible. The Ellipse Chart thus becomes a platform for instructors to illustrate the utility of perceptual shortcuts in communication, as well as the pitfalls of relying on them uncritically—encouraging students to reconcile observational evidence with schematic conventions.

Ultimately, the Ellipse Chart is not merely a technical drawing exercise but a perceptual training device—helping students integrate structural construction, spatial reasoning, light logic, and meta-cognitive awareness into a unified representational strategy. Alongside the Gradation Blocks and Sphere Grid, it forms one of the core perceptual scaffolds in both the Language of Drawing and Language of Painting programs.”

Embossing

“A technique that creates raised designs on a surface, typically paper, leather, or metal, by pressing the material with a die or engraved plate. This method adds tactile and visual interest to artworks and decorative objects. Familiarity with embossing allows artists to incorporate textural elements into their work, enhancing depth and dimensionality.”

Emergence

“The phenomenon by which complex or meaningful states arise from the interaction of simpler components, where the resulting whole exhibits properties or conditions not present in the individual parts alone. Emergence is a foundational concept in both perceptual theory and systems thinking, used to describe how higher-level experiences—such as form, color, coherence, or symbolic resonance—are constructed through the dynamic interplay of lower-level elements.

In the context of visual art and perception, emergence explains how: form arises from edge, value, and spatial cues, atmosphere emerges from temperature modulation, contrast, and chromatic relationships, or aesthetic impact emerges from the combined effect of structure, material, and context.

Emergence is typically non-linear and often context-sensitive: small changes in component relationships can lead to dramatically different perceptual outcomes, while isolated elements may have no meaningful effect unless embedded within a larger, interacting system.

Two related but distinct outcomes are commonly discussed:

Emergent Properties – Features that, once they arise, can be treated as stable, analyzable attributes of the system (e.g., color, wetness, transparency). These are typically consistently perceivable under similar conditions.

Emergent Conditions – Observer- or context-dependent experiences that arise through interaction but do not stabilize as persistent traits. These include experiences like art, humor, or symbolic resonance, which require interpretive framing and may not manifest uniformly across individuals or settings.

Emergence is central to understanding how complex perceptual experiences are not located in any one material or mark, but are instead constructed through the orchestration of relationships. In training environments, this principle reinforces the importance of structure, intention, and calibrated variation, rather than isolated detail.”

Empirical

“Information, methods, or claims that are derived from direct observation, measurement, or systematic sensory experience, rather than speculation, tradition, or untested intuition. In the context of visual art, empirical approaches prioritize perceptual evidence, experimental verification, and observable outcomes in both artistic practice and instructional methodology.

An empirical standard demands that any evaluative or descriptive claim about visual phenomena—such as contrast, illusion, depth, or perception—is grounded in verifiable sensory data and supported by structured reasoning. For example, empirical observation may be used to determine how varying edge contrast affects the perception of spatial depth or how a material behaves under specific lighting conditions.

Within the Waichulis Curriculum, empirical reasoning serves as a corrective to unsupported claims, tradition-based dogma, or aesthetic bias, ensuring that both technique and critique are governed by measurable, perceptual outcomes grounded in observable evidence.”

Empirical Ranking Theory (Vision)

“A model of vision proposed by Dale Purves and colleagues, which suggests that perception is not a reconstruction of physical reality but a result of the relative frequency of stimulus occurrences in past visual experience. Instead of recovering objective properties of the world, the visual system assigns perceptual values based on how frequently certain patterns have been associated with successful behavior over evolutionary time​. This theory explains why perception often deviates from physical measurements, such as in brightness illusions, color perception, and depth estimation. Since the brain cannot directly access the physical world’s metrics, it ranks possible interpretations based on past encounters with similar visual stimuli, favoring responses that have historically been useful for survival​.”

Empiricism

“A philosophical theory of knowledge asserting that all reliable knowledge is grounded in sensory experience, and that understanding emerges primarily through observation, perception, and interaction with the external world. As an epistemological position, empiricism rejects the sufficiency of innate ideas, untested authority, or purely rational deduction as sources of truth.

Rooted in the work of philosophers such as John Locke, David Hume, and later William James, empiricism laid the foundation for the scientific method, which emphasizes hypothesis testing, repeatability, and observable evidence. In the context of visual art, empiricism supports the prioritization of what is seen, measured, and verified, rather than what is presumed or ideologically imposed.

Empiricism is the theoretical framework that underpins the empirical method used throughout the Waichulis Curriculum and related perceptual training systems. It serves as a philosophical guardrail against the intrusion of unsupported claims, asserting that valid artistic and pedagogical knowledge must be anchored in the observable and testable—especially in domains where perceptual accuracy, material behavior, or visual communication are at stake.”

Encaustic Painting

“A painting practice that involves using pigments mixed with heated beeswax, which is then applied to a surface—usually prepared wood or canvas. Once the wax cools, it is polished to a lustrous finish. This ancient technique offers durability and a unique depth of color. Understanding encaustic painting enables artists to explore alternative mediums and appreciate the historical significance of this method.”

Energy Transfer in Brushwork

“While this may sound like pseudoscientific jargon, energy transfer in brushwork is a colorful way that some describe how pressure, speed, and motion affect how paint is applied with a brush. It does not refer to any actual ‘energy transfer’ in a scientific sense but rather to the physical interaction between the brush, paint, and surface.”

Engraving

“An intaglio printmaking process where an image is incised into a metal plate with a burin. Ink is applied to the plate, filling the grooves, and then transferred to paper under pressure, producing a print. Proficiency in engraving allows artists to create precise, detailed images with rich tonal variations.”

Enhancer

“Deliberate additions to the baseline curriculum exercises that serve to elevate task complexity for learners demonstrating target-level outcomes with less-than-expected effort or without observable cognitive challenge. These augmentations are employed to ensure that even high-performing students remain within their optimal Zone of Proximal Learning (ZPL), where skill acquisition is maximized through appropriately scaled difficulty. Enhancers do not replace or circumvent standard exercises but instead enrich them by introducing additional layers of perceptual, procedural, or cognitive demand. For instance, if a student consistently performs Shape Replication exercises with high fidelity and minimal effort, an enhancer may involve the use of layered transparency overlays (Shape Replication stacking). The goal of such modifications is to prevent plateauing, stimulate deeper procedural fluency, and cultivate adaptive problem-solving within the same structural framework of the core program. Enhancers thus maintain the integrity of the curriculum while providing an empirically responsive mechanism to optimize learner engagement and development.”

Envelope

“In the context of drawing and painting, an envelope refers to a simplified, often angular boundary that surrounds a form or group of forms, used to establish approximate proportions, spatial orientation, and relational structure before more detailed observations are introduced. It functions as a perceptual scaffolding tool—allowing the artist to initiate visual problem-solving with global shapes rather than isolated parts.

Within the Waichulis Curriculum, the envelope is often employed as a strategic pre-drawing construct, helping students combat early-stage perceptual fragmentation and excessive local focus. By prioritizing large-scale visual relationships—such as overall width, height, tilt, and general spatial footprint—the envelope allows learners to chunk multiple visual elements into a single, manageable unit. This facilitates more accurate proportioning, alignment, and gesture interpretation before finer contour or value information is introduced.

The process of envelope construction typically involves blocking in the outermost points of a form or group of forms (e.g., highest, lowest, furthest left/right), connecting these points with straight lines to create an angular perimeter, and using this perimeter as a comparative reference for internal form positioning.

Envelope construction is especially useful in free-form shape replication, form box layouts, and complex spatial development tasks, where multiple objects or volumes must be accurately arranged in relation to one another. It also serves as a valuable tool for visual error diagnosis—allowing discrepancies in alignment or proportion to be caught early in the construction process, when adjustments are most efficient.

While envelopes may be abandoned after they serve their initial purpose, their conceptual presence remains essential throughout the composition process. The curriculum treats them not as stylistic tools but as functional perceptual aids that improve spatial clarity, reduce early errors, and support visual fluency at both novice and advanced stages.”

Epistemology

“The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature, sources, limits, and justification of knowledge. It seeks to answer foundational questions such as: What constitutes knowledge? How do we know what we know? What is the difference between belief and justified belief? In both philosophical and practical contexts, epistemology shapes how knowledge claims are evaluated, accepted, or rejected.

Within the context of the visual arts and perceptual training, epistemology informs the frameworks through which artistic and instructional claims are made. For example, an empirically grounded epistemology values direct observation, measurement, and perceptual outcomes as the basis for validating techniques, critiques, or conceptual models. In contrast, other epistemological positions—such as rationalism (knowledge through pure reason), intuitionism (knowledge through direct insight), or traditionalism (knowledge through inherited belief systems)—may prioritize internal coherence, cultural continuity, or aesthetic ideology over observable evidence.

The Waichulis Curriculum and its associated methodologies are explicitly aligned with an empiricist epistemology, emphasizing that artistic knowledge must be derived from and tested against perceptual experience and empirical reasoning. This orientation serves as a philosophical safeguard against unsupported assertions, aesthetic dogma, or appeals to authority that lack demonstrable evidence.

Understanding epistemology is essential for critically evaluating the validity of claims, whether in studio practice, art theory, critique, or curriculum design. It provides the conceptual foundation for distinguishing what is believed from what is justifiably known, and supports the commitment to instructional integrity and evidence-based practice.”

Equiluminance

“A condition in which two or more areas in a visual field possess equal luminance values—that is, they emit or reflect the same quantity of light energy—regardless of whether they differ in hue or saturation. While equiluminant stimuli often involve chromatic variation (e.g., differing hues at matched brightness), such a difference is not a requirement.

Perceptually, equiluminant configurations are notable for their instability or visual ambiguity. In the absence of luminance contrast, the visual system relies more heavily on chromatic pathways, which have lower spatial and temporal resolution compared to luminance-sensitive mechanisms. This can lead to reduced edge clarity, uncertain depth relationships, and degraded motion tracking. Visual phenomena like ‘color bleeding,’ ‘floating,’ or ‘vibrating edges’ are often reported in such contexts​.

Empirical research, including work by Purves et al., has shown that visual judgments involving equiluminant stimuli can vary significantly, revealing the non-veridical and context-dependent nature of visual processing. For example, when luminance cues are removed and chromatic contrast is preserved, forms may appear less stable or coherent, highlighting the critical role of luminance in form resolution and spatial anchoring​.

In pictorial composition, awareness of equiluminance is essential. For instance, a red form placed against a green background of identical luminance may appear to ‘shimmer’ or lack dimensionality. Artists can leverage or avoid equiluminant conditions depending on desired visual effects—employing them for perceptual ambiguity or flattening, or avoiding them to preserve form clarity and edge definition.

Within the Waichulis Curriculum, concepts involving equiluminance are often addressed through the structured development of value hierarchy, chroma management, and edge control. Students are taught to identify and resolve areas of unintentional equiluminance to ensure accurate light logic, volume communication, and spatial coherence.”

Eraser

“A tool used to remove, reduce, or modify marks made by drawing or writing media such as graphite, charcoal, pastel, or ink. In the context of fine art and perceptual training, erasers are not only corrective tools but also serve critical functions in mark modulation, value shaping, and edge refinement.

Common Types of Erasers:

Kneaded Eraser: A soft, pliable eraser that can be shaped by hand. It lifts media through dabbing or pressing rather than rubbing, minimizing damage to the surface. This is the preferred eraser in the Waichulis Curriculum, especially for delicate media like soft charcoal and pastel. It should be kneaded regularly to remain clean and effective. Rubbing is explicitly discouraged, as it may disrupt or flatten the paper’s tooth​.

Vinyl (Plastic) Eraser: A firm, high-abrasion eraser ideal for removing dense marks or working with harder media like graphite. It can erase cleanly but poses a higher risk of tearing fibers or burnishing the surface, especially on soft or heavily worked papers.

Gum (Art Gum) Eraser: A soft, crumbly eraser that disintegrates during use, minimizing surface damage. While gentle on paper, it can be less precise, and the residue may need careful clearing to avoid reapplication of pigment.

Precision Erasers (Mechanical Erasers): Often used in pen-style holders, these are narrow erasers designed for detailed subtraction work. They are useful for highlights, edge cleanup, and small-area corrections but may be too abrasive for soft or friable materials.

Eraser choice should always be informed by the fragility of the medium, surface texture of the paper, and the intent of the erasure (complete removal vs. subtle value adjustment). Overuse or improper technique—especially with abrasive erasers—can flatten the paper’s texture, introduce oil from the hand, or leave ghost impressions that resist further application.

In the Waichulis Curriculum, erasers are integrated into foundational exercises as tools of precision and restraint. For example, early pressure control drills and value modulation tasks often require the student to refine marks through lifting rather than overwriting, reinforcing the relationship between touch, surface, and perception.”

Etching

“An intaglio printmaking process in which a metal plate (typically copper or zinc) is coated with an acid-resistant ground. The artist then draws into the ground with a needle or stylus to expose the metal beneath. The plate is submerged in acid, which chemically ‘bites’ into the exposed lines. After the ground is removed, the incised plate is inked, wiped, and printed under pressure, transferring the image onto paper.

Etching allows for a wide range of line qualities—from delicate and controlled to expressive and textured—depending on the depth of the bite and the handling of the tool. Unlike engraving, where lines are physically cut into the plate, etching relies on chemical action, making it more fluid and responsive to gestural mark-making.

While not part of the core Waichulis Curriculum, etching offers a valuable perspective on line-based construction, material response, and the indirect translation of gesture into image. It highlights the importance of process-based thinking and reinforces the perceptual sensitivity required to anticipate how a mark will appear after mediation through material and transfer.”

EVT (Ecological Valence Theory)

“A psychological theory proposing that human color preferences are largely determined by the average affective valence of objects associated with those colors. Developed by Palmer and Schloss (2010), EVT asserts that individuals prefer colors linked to positively evaluated experiences or objects, and dislike colors associated with negative experiences. It offers an empirically supported alternative to theories based solely on innate or physiological color biases.

Exhibition

“The deliberate public display of artworks or visual artifacts, arranged within a curated physical or virtual space for the purposes of engagement, interpretation, critique, or celebration. Exhibitions can range from informal student showcases to highly curated museum retrospectives, each influencing how the viewer perceives and interacts with the presented works.

Historically, exhibitions have served as platforms for aesthetic validation, cultural commentary, and institutional visibility. From the salons of the French Académie to contemporary biennials, the act of placing a work ‘on view’ transforms it from private labor into a public proposition—positioning it within shared discourses of meaning, technique, and value. Notably, Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain (1917) famously subverted the exhibition convention by asserting that context—not craftsmanship—could confer ‘art’ status. This act illuminated how the gallery setting itself functions as a perceptual and cultural frame​.

In educational contexts, exhibitions provide students with a means of articulating intent, receiving structured feedback, and learning to navigate viewer reception. Within the Waichulis Curriculum, exhibitions mark key milestones in an artist’s perceptual development. These displays are not simply end-points, but structured opportunities to assess how effectively a student’s representational strategies communicate with an outside observer. The process highlights not only technical mastery but also clarity of visual language and perceptual persuasion.

Functionally, exhibitions foster the ‘making special’ of the art object—a concept noted in both anthropological and aesthetic literature. Lighting, framing, spatial separation, and environmental context all act to direct attention and induce focused viewing behaviors distinct from those used in everyday visual experience. These framing mechanisms are as much a part of the artwork’s communicative environment as the marks themselves​.

Thus, exhibitions are not passive venues but active perceptual environments, offering both a stage for the viewer and a diagnostic tool for the artist. When integrated into training programs, they serve as essential checkpoints for evaluating communicative efficacy, structural clarity, and material control under real-world perceptual demands.”

Experience

“Experience, in its broadest sense, refers to the direct involvement in or exposure to events, processes, or stimuli, which may contribute to changes in perception, knowledge, memory, or behavior. In representational training, experience can be understood on two interrelated levels: (1) as a moment-to-moment, conscious perceptual event—what it ‘feels like’ to see, sense, or perform in a given moment, and (2) as an accumulated history of encounters that shapes how percepts are formed and interpreted.

From a perceptual standpoint, an experience is not a direct registration of the external world, but a constructed internal event (a percept) arising from both bottom-up stimuli and top-down factors such as memory, expectation, and prior exposure. This concept is essential in the Waichulis Curriculum, where training does not aim to recreate ‘what’s out there’ objectively, but instead to craft visual stimuli (percept surrogates) that evoke recognizable internal experiences in others​.

In parallel, experience also denotes the accumulation of perceptual events and procedural engagements over time, which plays a central role in expertise development. However, extensive research—such as that synthesized by K. Anders Ericsson—shows that experience alone is insufficient to ensure improvement in performance. Without deliberate practice, feedback, and strategic calibration, accumulated experience may lead to stagnation or error-prone habits rather than refinement​.

Additionally, studies in perceptual psychology emphasize that individual experiences involve qualia—subjective sensory qualities such as ‘redness’ or ‘sharpness’—and are structured relationally, allowing us to perceive coherence and similarity across different percepts. This relational structure makes it possible to perceive not only isolated sensory features, but categories and hierarchies among them (e.g., recognizing gray as between black and white)​.

Thus, in the Waichulis Curriculum, experience is not simply an inert backdrop of accumulated exposure, but a core functional unit of perceptual construction. Artists are trained to become increasingly aware of the distinction between a real-time perceptual event and the stored memory or concept of that event. This distinction fosters greater precision in crafting images that effectively simulate visual experiences for others.”

Experiential Learning

“The process by which knowledge and skill are acquired through direct engagement with tasks or environments, often involving trial, error, feedback, and reflection. The approach contrasts with purely didactic or abstract instruction by prioritizing learning-by-doing in realistic or analogical settings.

This method is rooted in constructivist and pragmatic theories of learning (e.g., Dewey, Kolb), where learners are seen as active participants in generating knowledge rather than passive recipients. In high-skill domains such as art, science, or performance, experiential learning allows learners to encounter real-time feedback, emergent problems, and context-dependent variables, thereby supporting the development of adaptive expertise rather than rote competency.

In the Waichulis Curriculum, experiential learning is fundamental. Students engage with physical materials, real lighting conditions, and perceptual variables in structured formats (e.g., Gradation Blocks, Sphere Grids, Ellipse Charts). These exercises are carefully sequenced to ensure that each new experience builds upon previous perceptual encounters, increasing the learner’s ability to generalize, refine, and evaluate their responses.

However, it is also emphasized that not all experience is equal. Passive repetition or unguided exploration can lead to automation without refinement. Therefore, true experiential learning, as implemented in high-level training systems, must be deliberate, feedback-rich, and scaffolded—combining real-world interaction with guided reflection and strategic challenge to produce meaningful performance gains​.”

Expert / Expertise

“An individual who exhibits consistently superior performance within a given domain, often demonstrating exceptional skill, judgment, and economy of effort. Expertise, in this context, refers to the stable, domain-specific cognitive and motor adaptations that underpin such performance and enable individuals to solve problems or perform tasks at a level that significantly exceeds that of the average practitioner​.

Expertise is not merely the result of experience or innate talent, but typically emerges from a prolonged process of deliberate practice—sustained, structured, and goal-oriented activity designed to improve performance incrementally over time. Research has consistently shown that more time spent in a profession does not necessarily equate to higher levels of expertise, especially if that time involves only routine experience rather than effortful refinement​.

In Ericsson’s framework, expert-level performance is marked by: superior reproducibility (performing at a high level consistently), domain-specific knowledge and perceptual encoding, avoidance of premature automation through continued engagement in the cognitive and associative stages of skill development, self-regulatory monitoring and error correction, and the ability to manage complex mental representations and operate effectively under novel or high-pressure conditions​​.

Importantly, expertise is highly domain-specific. A person may be an expert in chess or surgery but not in unrelated domains, even if some general cognitive mechanisms (like memory chunking or pattern recognition/generation) appear across fields. Furthermore, the social construction of expertise—how others recognize, validate, or defer to expert status—is also a meaningful part of how expertise functions in real-world contexts, from scientific communities to studio environments​.

Within the Waichulis Curriculum, expertise is not treated as an endpoint but as a trajectory of progressive refinement. Instruction emphasizes both structural performance benchmarks and perceptual sophistication, such as the ability to consistently modulate pressure, resolve edges, calibrate value, or interpret complex form-light interactions. Students are guided to develop increasingly precise control over representational tools while simultaneously refining their decision-making, prediction, and adaptability—hallmarks of expert performance in visually mediated domains.”

Expert Level Performance

“Consistently superior, reproducible performance in a domain-specific task, demonstrably distinct from that of novices or intermediate practitioners. It is the result of extended, effortful, and structured engagement, rather than merely accumulated experience or innate talent. A central tenet of expertise research (notably by K. Anders Ericsson) is that expert performance arises from years—often a decade or more—of deliberate practice, not passive repetition or experience alone​.

Expert performers are characterized by: Exceptional reliability and precision under variable conditions, superior problem-solving strategies, often supported by deep domain-specific knowledge, efficient and economical action, minimizing cognitive and motor redundancy, and access to refined mental representations, enabling high-level planning and adaptability.

Contrary to common belief, expert performance is not a natural consequence of long-term exposure. In fact, empirical studies have shown that performance plateaus can occur after only modest training if performers rely on automaticity rather than continued effortful improvement​. Experts actively counteract this plateau by continuously engaging in challenging, feedback-driven tasks that stretch their current capacities—a strategy often absent in habitual or routine performance environments.

Expert-level performance is domain-specific, meaning that expertise in one area (e.g., chess or painting) does not necessarily transfer to another without extensive retraining. Moreover, not all experts reach identical levels of achievement; variations exist depending on access to resources, quality of instruction, and intensity of practice over time​.

In art education, distinguishing expert-level performance from general skill development helps prevent the conflation of experience with excellence. Within the Waichulis Curriculum, while the language of ‘expertise’ is used sparingly, the structured progression through perceptual variables, controlled mark-making, and strategic improvisation reflects many of the core principles associated with expert performance development.”

Extender

“An inert material added to a paint or pigment system to increase volume, adjust optical or tactile properties, or modify behavior in application—without significantly altering the binder-to-pigment ratio or the core performance characteristics of the medium. Extenders do not serve as active colorants, film-formers, or reactive modifiers, and are generally considered non-functional in terms of adhesion, drying, or gloss regulation.

Common extenders include calcium carbonate (chalk), barium sulfate, alumina hydrate, silica, and inert acrylic gels or pastes. Their use spans oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache, and printmaking media. For example, acrylic pastes may extend paint body without increasing pigment load, while inert powders in oils can modulate transparency or surface sheen without changing vehicle strength.

Extenders are often used to adjust: opacity or translucency, tinting strength (without whitening), tactile qualities (e.g., tooth or drag), volume for underpainting or large-scale applications, cost-efficiency, especially in commercial or decorative contexts.

Contrast with Related Additives: Not a Medium: While extenders alter paint mass or feel, a medium modifies core dynamics such as drying time, flexibility, gloss, or adhesion (e.g., linseed oil, stand oil, or alkyd resin in oils; acrylic polymer emulsions in water-based paints). A medium typically contains an active binder or resin, whereas an extender does not.

Not a Diluent: Although extenders are sometimes said to ‘dilute’ pigment strength, they are not diluents. A diluent is a liquid additive (e.g., turpentine, water, alcohol) that thins the vehicle and reduces viscosity. Overuse of a diluent may disrupt binder integrity, leading to underbinding or uneven film formation. Extenders, in contrast, act by solid-phase modification—impacting bulk and behavior without directly weakening the film-forming matrix when properly used.

Excessive extender use, however, can lead to underbinding, where the volume of non-binding material exceeds the adhesive capacity of the medium—resulting in powdering, cracking, or poor adhesion over time.”

Extrinsic Property

“A contextual, cultural, or psychological factor that is not inherent to the physical form of an artwork but is instead assigned or brought to the experience by the observer. In contrast to intrinsic properties—which are directly perceived attributes like size, color, value, or texture—extrinsic properties arise from external frameworks that shape how an artwork is interpreted, evaluated, or valued.

Extrinsic properties may include: Provenance & Authorship: Who created the work, its historical journey, and cultural significance. Symbolic Meaning & Cultural Context: How the work connects to traditions, ideologies, or historical movements. Perceived Intentionality: The degree to which the observer believes the work was purposefully crafted to communicate meaning. Emotional & Cognitive Engagement: The personal and collective associations, including nostalgia, awe, curiosity, or intellectual stimulation. Critical & Institutional Framing: The validation of the work by art institutions, critics, or experts, shaping its legitimacy and influence.

These properties play a crucial role in the primary experience of art as outlined in the writing of Anthony Waichulis, emphasizing that art is not a fixed quality of an object but a relational experience mediated by both intrinsic and extrinsic inputs​.

Understanding extrinsic properties is essential for artists and viewers alike, as they mediate meaning and anchor perceptual responses within broader cultural, emotional, and conceptual frameworks. Recognizing their influence helps demystify why the same visual object might be perceived vastly differently across viewers or contexts.”

Eye Movement Economy in Composition

“A concept in visual design referring to how compositional choices can influence, but not dictate, how a viewer’s gaze moves through an artwork. It considers how elements like contrast, leading lines, and spatial relationships may encourage a fluid or structured visual experience. While eye movement varies between individuals, artists can use established Gestalt principles, focal points, and implied motion to create compositions that feel cohesive and intentional without unnecessary visual fatigue.”

Eye-Line

“In representational art, eye-line refers to the implied or literal line indicating the direction of a figure’s gaze. This conceptual trajectory can establish or emphasize relational dynamics within a composition—guiding the viewer’s attention, reinforcing narrative tension, or influencing spatial organization.

While sometimes conflated with the viewer’s eye level or horizon line (particularly in discussions of linear perspective), the eye-line in compositional analysis is primarily concerned with interpersonal visual engagement within the pictorial space. The strategic alignment or intersection of eye-lines across figures can foster psychological connections, suggest narrative causality, or generate visual pathways that influence attention.

In visual perception, the human brain is highly sensitive to the direction of gaze—both as a social cue and as an attentional signal. As such, the rendering or implication of eye-lines in visual art capitalizes on evolved perceptual tendencies to follow gaze direction as a means of identifying focal points or interpreting intent.

Within the Waichulis Curriculum, the eye-line is often discussed in the context of composition and viewer engagement, particularly in advanced stages where narrative and symbolic content emerge from the foundational perceptual training. Understanding and manipulating the eye-line is part of developing fluency in visual communication, allowing artists to deliberately influence how a viewer moves through or connects with an image.”