Ways to use this list
- Art class rotation: each student spins a movement, makes a small piece in that style and writes two sentences on what gives it away, such as Seurat's dots or Mondrian's grid.
- Style swap for artists: spin twice and redraw the same subject, say your cat, first as Cubism and then as pixel art. It shows how much a style changes one idea.
- Sketchbook stretch: try one new style a week and keep the techniques you enjoy. Many artists build their own look this way, one borrowed habit at a time.
- Art history quiz: spin, then teams race to name the century and one artist. The notes under the list give the answers for checking.
- Character design: draw the same hero in manga, rubber hose and storybook styles, then let the class vote on which suits the story best.
Press Spin the wheel, tap the game or press the Space bar. Change the list in the box as you
like: add your own, delete what doesn't suit you, or write *2 after an entry to give it double the
chance. The game buttons switch the same list to a duck race, hat, claw machine and more.
The full list (47 entries)
- Renaissance – c. 1400–1600, Italy: lifelike people, perspective and balance (Leonardo, Michelangelo)
- Baroque – 1600s: drama, deep shadows and movement (Caravaggio, Rembrandt)
- Rococo – 1700s, France: pastel colours, curls and playful garden scenes
- Romanticism – c. 1800–1850: wild nature, storms and strong feeling (Turner, Delacroix)
- Realism – 1850s, France: everyday people painted as they really are (Courbet)
- Impressionism – 1870s, France: quick brushstrokes and changing light (Monet, Renoir)
- Pointillism – 1880s: pictures built from tiny dots of pure colour (Seurat)
- Post-Impressionism – 1880s–1900s: bold colour and expressive brushwork (Van Gogh, Cézanne)
- Art Nouveau – c. 1890–1910: flowing lines, plants and decorative borders (Mucha)
- Fauvism – c. 1905, France: wild, unnatural colour (Matisse)
- Expressionism – early 1900s, Germany: distorted shapes and colours that show emotion (Kirchner)
- Cubism – from 1907: objects broken into shapes seen from several sides at once (Picasso, Braque)
- Futurism – from 1909, Italy: speed, machines and motion lines
- Dada – from 1916: playful, absurd art that broke all the rules (Duchamp)
- De Stijl – from 1917, Netherlands: black grid lines and blocks of primary colour (Mondrian)
- Bauhaus – 1919–1933, Germany: simple shapes and clean, useful design
- Art Deco – 1920s–1930s: bold geometry, sunbursts and gold
- Surrealism – from 1924: dreamlike, impossible scenes painted realistically (Dalí, Magritte)
- Abstract Expressionism – 1940s–1950s, USA: big gestures, drips and fields of colour (Pollock, Rothko)
- Pop art – 1950s–1960s: comics, adverts and bright flat colour (Warhol, Lichtenstein)
- Op art – 1960s: black-and-white or bright patterns that seem to move
- Minimalism – 1960s: as little as possible, simple shapes and lots of space
- Photorealism – late 1960s on: paintings that look exactly like photographs
- Street art – grew from 1970s graffiti: big murals, stencils and bold lettering
- Ukiyo-e – Japan, 1600s–1800s: woodblock prints with flat colour and clean outlines (Hokusai, Hiroshige)
- Chinese ink wash – black ink and a soft brush: misty mountains, bamboo and empty space
- Madhubani – Bihar, India: bright folk painting with double outlines and every gap filled with pattern
- Warli – Maharashtra, India: white stick figures, circles and triangles on an earthy background
- Mughal miniature – India, 1500s–1800s: tiny, detailed scenes with decorated borders
- Celtic knotwork – early medieval Ireland and Britain: endless interlaced knots and spirals
- Naïve art – simple, childlike pictures with flat colour and no strict perspective
- Cartoon – simple shapes, bold outlines and exaggerated expressions
- Rubber hose – 1920s–1930s cartoons: bendy arms and legs, pie-cut eyes and white gloves
- Comic book – inked lines, strong shadows, speech bubbles and action panels
- Manga – Japanese comic style: large expressive eyes, speed lines and screentone shading
- Chibi – tiny bodies and big heads for extra-cute characters
- Caricature – one or two features exaggerated for fun
- Storybook – soft colour, gentle textures and cosy detail, like a picture book
- Pixel art – pictures built from a visible grid of square pixels
- Low poly – shapes made from flat triangles, like a cut gem
- Flat design – simple shapes, no shadows and a few colours
- Isometric – 3D-looking scenes with no vanishing point, so parallel lines stay parallel
- Line art – outlines only, no shading or colour
- Vaporwave – 80s and 90s nostalgia: pink and teal, sunsets, grids and old computers
- Cel shading – hard-edged shadows with no blending, like animation cels
- Glitch art – broken, shifted pixels and colour bands, made on purpose
- Silhouette – solid dark shapes against a bright background
Questions people ask
What is the difference between an art movement and an art style?
An art movement is a group of artists working at a certain time and place with shared ideas, like the Impressionists in 1870s France. An art style is simply a recognisable look, which anyone can use today.
How do I find my own art style?
Copy and practise lots of styles, then notice what you keep doing without thinking: the lines you like, the colours you return to, what you exaggerate. Your style is usually a mix of favourites plus your own habits.
Which art style is easiest for beginners?
Pop art, flat design, line art and Warli are friendly starts, because they use clear shapes and flat colour instead of tricky shading. Pointillism is easy to understand but slow, so try it on a small piece first.
What does chibi mean?
Chibi is a Japanese word for small or short. In art it means a character with a tiny body and an oversized head, often only two or three heads tall, drawn to look extra cute.