Artifice

Nature in light and shade, is the appearance of intentional artifice with which contrasts of this alternate kind are produced by her; the artistry with which she will darken a tree trunk as long as it comes against light sky, and throw sunlight on it precisely at the spot where it comes against a dark hill, and similarly treat all her masses of shade and colour, is so great, that if you only follow her closely, every one who looks at your drawing with attention will think that you have been inventing the most artificially and unnaturally delightful interchanges of shadow that could possibly be devised by human wit. [From the Law of Interchange/On Composition, pgs. 196-198, The Elements of Drawing, John Ruskin, Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1971 [Originally Published in London, 1857]

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Artificer n [14c] 1: a skilled or artistic worker or craftsman 2: one that makes or contrives: Deviser [had been the __ of his own fortunes -Times Lit. Supp]

Artificial adj [14c] 1: humanly contrived often on a natural model: Man-made [an __ limb] [__ diamonds] 2a: having existence in legal, economic, or political theory b: caused or produced by a human and esp. social or political agency [an _- price advantage] [__ barriers of discrimination -R.C. Weaver] 3 obs: Artful, Cunning 4a: lacking in natural or sponatneous quality [an __ smile] [an __ excitement] c: Imitation, Sham [__ flavor] 5: based on differential morphological characters not necessarily indicative of natural relationships [an __ key for plant identification]