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Glossary of Art Terms

ABSORBENT GROUND A chalk ground which absorbs oil and is used in oil painting to achieve a matt effect and to speed up drying.

You Can Paint Acrylics: A Step-by-step Guide for Absolute Beginners (Collins You Can Paint S.)
Written by professional artist-teachers, the books in this series start with real basics and assume no knowledge or experience of painting whatsoever. Full of easy-to-follow exercises and demonstrations, the "Collins You Can Paint" series is designed to give even the most hesitant of beginners the enthusiasm and confidence necessary to start painting in acrylics. All the instruction is broken down into really easy step-by-step exercises to help you to practise and build up your knowledge and expertise of painting gradually. Melanie Cambridge takes the reader by the hand and shows, with simple staged exercises, exactly how to paint all the separate features of a picture one-by-one. This text focuses specifically on acrylic paints

ACRYLIC EMULSION A water dispersion of polymers or co-polymers of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, or acrylonitrile. Acrylic emulsions dry by evaporation of the water and film coalescence.

ACRYLIC SOLUTION A solution of acrylic resin in a volatile solvent. Paints made with an acrylic solution binder resemble oil paints more than those made with acrylic emulsion binders.

Acrylic Painting Techniques: How to Master the Medium of Our Age
Acrylic paint is the preferred choice of many artists. This sourcebook demonstrates how artists can exploit this medium to open up a range of creative possibilities. Step-by-step lessons show artists how to use acrylic paint transparently, translucently, or opaquely; apply watercolour and oil painting techniques with acrylics; extend the versatility of acrylic paints and gels, gouaches, metallics and gessos; and more. It features colour reproductions of finished paintings

ADDITIVE COLOUR A color that results from the mixture of two or more colored lights, the visual blending of separate spots of transmitted colored light.

ADVANING COLOURS Colours that appear to come towards the front of the picture plane. The colours that have this property are in general the warm, stong ones, such as reds oranges and yellows.

ALKYD Synthetic resin used in paints and mediums. As a medium Liquin from Winsor and Newton works as a binder that encapsulates the pigment and speeds the drying time. In Paints W&N Griffith paints are good example of alkyd paints.

ALLA PRIMA Technique in which the final surface of a painting is completed in one sitting, without under painting. Italian for "at the first".

ANHYDROUS Free from water.

AQUATINT A form of intaglio printmaking, related to etching. Aquatint involves the application of acid to a metal plate to create marks capable of holding ink. The metal plate is then pressed against a sheet of paper to form a print.

ARCHIVAL Refers to materials that meet certain criteria for permanence such as lignin-free, pH neutral, alkaline-buffered, stable in light, etc.

A.S.T.M. The American Society for Testing and Materials. An independent standard for certain paint qualities, adopted by most manufacturers.

ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE Also called 'aerial perspective', Distance and space are represented in a drawing or painting by the way the artist depicts the air, or atmosphere. As objects recede into the distance the appear paler and less distinct to the viewer because they are seen through a haze of atmospheric particles.

BACKRUNS In watercolour painting, jagged-edge blotches will sometimes occur when new paint is added into the wash that has not fully dried. Backruns can be an attractive feature of a painting, and are often deliberately introduced by watercolourists who paint wet on wet.

BINDER The nonvolatile adhesive liquid portion of a paint that attaches pigment particles and the paint film as a whole to the support.

BISTRE A brown, transparent pigment.

BLEEDING In artwork, the effect of a dark color seeping through a lighter color to the surface.

BLENDING Smoothing the edges of two colors together so that they have a smooth gradation where they meet.

BLOCKING IN The first stage of a painting in which the main areas of tone and colour are laid broadly, to be refined at the later stages.

BLOOM A dull, progressively opaque, white effect caused on varnished surfaces by damp conditions.

BODY COLOUR Opaque paint, such as gouache, which has the covering power to

BRUSHWORK The characteristic way each artist brushes paint onto a support..

CALLIGRAPHIC A term used to describe the artistis technique. 'Calligraphic' brushwork or linework means free, loose strokes that produce a visual rhythm, similar ro that of handwriting.

CANVAS Closely woven cloth used as a support for paintings.

CARTOON Other than what we watch on TV it is a planning device in mural painting, often a full-scale line drawing of the design, without color and tone.

CASEIN A natural protein obtained from cow's milk. Produces a flat, water-resistant film.

CHIAROSCURO Term is used to describe the effect of light and shade in a painting or drawing, especially where strong tonal contrasts are used.

CHIAROSURO WOODCUT A form of printing using two or more wooden blocks. Each block is painted with a different color. One block may contain the lines of a drawing, while another holds flat swathes of color. They are then used together to print a color illustration.

CHROMA The relative intensity or purity of a hue when compared to grayness or lack of hue.

CHROMALITHOGRAPH A process that creates multicolored prints, and can be very time consuming. Chromolithography involves creating individual plates for each section of color in an illustration and then passing a sheet of paper through a press repeatedly, once for each different color.

COCKLING Wrinkling or puckering in paper supports, caused by applying washes onto a flimsy or improperly stretched surface.

COLLAGE A technique of picture making in which the artist uses materials other than the traditional paint, such as cut paper, wood, sand, and so on.

Collage Discovery Workshop Make Your Own Collage Creations Using Vintage Photos, Found Objects and Ephemera. This title includes innovative techniques and step-by-step demonstrations of 12 different collage projects. Readers are shown how to 'rust' or 'antique' any object for collage, and there are also recipes for creating collage backgrounds as well as image transfer techniques.

COMPOSITION The arrangement of elements by an artist in a painting or drawing.

CO-POLYMERS A polymer in which the molecule is of more than one type of structural unit..

COPAL A hard resin used in making varnishes and painting mediums.

CROSSHATCHING More than one set of close parallel lines that crisscross each other at angles, to model and indicate tone.

DAMAR A resin from conifer trees, used in making oil mediums and varnishes.

DEAD COLOUR A term for colors used in underpainting.

DECKLE EDGE The ragged edge found on handmade papers.

DECOUPAGE The act of cutting out paper designs and applying them to a surface to make an all over collage.

Paper into Pots and Other Fun Objects Using Papermaking, Papier Mache and Collage Techniques. Recycling makes good sense, and the ultimate in recycling must surely be transforming waste paper into beautiful, useful objects. Gerry Copp makes hand-made paper from coloured waste paper, such as printers offcuts and junk mail as her raw material to decorate her papier-mache ware. This book demonstrates the many and varied techniques readers can choose from to make a range of colourful items, from bowls and plates to clocks, boxes and jewellery.

DESIGNER COLOURS Best quality Gouache paints, often used in commercial art.

The Designer's Complete Index
Every designer needs a little inspiration now and then and this series of "index" books: "Color Index", "Idea Index" and "Layout Index" (in a transparent carrying case) provides fuel for creativity

DILUENTS Liquids, such as turpentine, used to dilute oil paint, the diluent for waterbased media is water.

DISPERSION Applied to paint, a smooth, homogeneous mixture of ingredients; the process of dispersal, in which pigment particles are evenly distributed throughout the vehicle.

DISTEMPER A blend of glue, chalk and water-based paint, used mostly for murals and posters.

DRIER A material that accelerates or initiates the drying of an oil paint or oil by promoting oxidation.

DRYING OIL An oil that, when spread into a thin layer and exposed to air, absorbs oxygen and converts into a tough film.

DRYPOINT Related to etching, drypoint involves incising an image into a metal or plastic plate with a metal or diamond tipped needle. The method creates a burr on the edges of the incisions, which collects a lot of ink, producing a print with soft and dense lines.

EMULSION A liquid in which small droplets of one liquid are immiscible in, but thoroughly and evenly dispersed throughout, a second liquid. eg. Acrylic Emulsion.

ENCAUSTIC Literally, to burn in. A painting technique in which the binder is melted wax.

Encaustic Art: How to Paint with Wax
Knowledge of how to draw is not necessary for the craft of encaustic art - painting with wax. All that is required is a few wax colours, some card and a small electric iron. A whole range of cards, gifts and paintings can be easily made. Step-by-step photographs illustrate how to create abstract designs and landscapes. Pictures take on a glow with the warm wax colours, and texture and detail can be added to enhance images. The wax can also be applied to fabric which can then be decorated with surface embroidery and beadwork

ENGRAVING The process of forming an image through incisions on a flat plate. In printmaking, copper or another metal is commonly preferred to form the printing plate. Ink collects in the grooves created on the plate, and is transferred to a sheet of paper by a printing press.

ETCHING The method of using an acid or other chemical to form an illustration on a plate. The plate is first prepared with an acid resistant coating, which the artist scratches away to create his image, exposing the unprotected metal. The plate is then dipped into an acid bath to “bite” the image into the metal.

FAT A term used to describe paints which have a high oil content.

FILLER Inert pigment added to paint to increase its bulk, also called extender.

FILM A thin coating or layer of paint, ink, etc.

FIXATIVE A solution, usually of shellac and alcohol, sprayed onto drawings, to prevent their smudging or crumbling off the support.

FOCAL POINT The main centre of interest in a composition.

FRESCO A painting technique in which the pigments are dispersed in plain water and applied to a damp plaster wall. The wall becomes the binder, as well as the support.

FUGITIVE COLOURS Pigment or dye colors that fade when exposed to light.

GESSO White ground material for preparing rigid supports for painting. made of a mixture of chalk, white pigment, and glue. Same name applied to acrylic bound chalk and pigment used on flexible supports as well as rigid.

GICLEE The process of using ink-jet printing to create a high quality fine art print onto a variety of substrates. Giclee often involves the use of archival quality inks, allowing for better color accuracy.

GILLOTAGE A process for turning a lithographic illustrated plate into a relief block. After an image is inscribed on a zinc plate, it is dusted in a resin or rolled in wax which adheres to the image, creating the relief effect.

GLAZE A very thin, transparent colored paint applied over a previously painted surface to alter the appearance and color of the surface.

GOUACHE Opaque watercolors used for illustrations.

GRISSAILLE A monochromatic painting, usually in gray, which can be used under coloured glazes.

GROUND A coating material, usually white, applied to a support to make it ready for painting.

GUM A plant substance that is soluble in water.

GUM ARABIC A gum, extracted fro Acacia trees, used in solution as a medium for watercolor paints.

HATCHING A technique of modeling, indicating tone and suggesting light and shade in drawing or tempera panting, using closely set parallel line.

HELIOGRAVURE One of the oldest processes for making photographic prints. The photographic image is chemically etched into a copper plate, and then printed using specialist inks onto damp paper. It is thus related to aquatint, engraving, and etching.

HUE The perceived color of an object, identified by a common name such as red, orange, blue.

HYGROSCOPIC Absorbing or attracting moisture from the air.

IMPASTO A style of painting characterized by thick, juicy colour application.

IMPRIMATURA A thin, veil of paint, or paint-tinted size, applied to a ground to lessen the ground's absorbency or to tint the ground to a middle value.

INKJET PRINT A process that recreates a digital image by the propulsion of droplets of ink, varying in size, onto a piece of paper. The actual process was first invented in the 19th century, but it was not until the 1950s that practical applications became possible. Inkjet printers are the most popular type of computer printer, though the quantity of ink involved can make the procedure expensive.

INTAGLIO The overall term for printmaking processes that involve the incising of an image onto the surface of a plate or some other flat object. Ink is then applied to the resultant plate, collecting in the incisions. Then the pressure of a printing press transfers an image onto paper. Aquatint, drypoint, engraving, etching, and mezzotint are all forms of intaglio printmaking.

INTENSITY The purity and brightness of a color. Also called saturation.

IRIS PRINT A computer-based printing technique. A digital image is transferred to a sheet of paper using vegetable-based dyes rather than standard inks. The process uses expensive equipment and can take over an hour per print, but the final image is of very high quality.

KEY Used to describe the prevailing tone of a painting. A predominantly light painting is said to have a high key. In contemporary mural painting, the key is the result of scratching a walls surface to prepare for final layer of plaster - similar to "tooth"

LAKE A dye that has been chemically or electrically attached to a particle and does not bleed or migrate.

LATEX A dispersion in water of a solid polymeric material.

LEACHING The process of drawing out excess liquid through a porous substance.

LEAN Used as an adjective to describe paint thinned with a spirit, which therefore has a low oil content.

LETTERPRESS The technique of relief printing of type and illustrations, invented by Gutenberg in the 15th century. A raised surface holding the desired image or text in reverse is covered in ink, and then pressed against a sheet of paper. The resultant print is then the correct way around. The term is occasionally used for any form of printing involving the pressing of paper against an inked surface.

LEVIGATING A method of water-washing pulverized pigments to clear the particles of dissolved salts or organic matter.

LIFT-GROUND AQUAINT A form of intaglio printmaking. The artist uses a sugar solution to draw his image onto a varnish-covered plate. The solution swells when the plate is dipped in warm water, removing the varnish. Aquatint techniques are then used to incise the image into the metal of the plate.

LIGHTFAST Resistant to fading or other changes due to light.

LINOLEUM CUT Related to woodcut techniques, this printmaking process involves cutting and scratching a mirror image into a piece of linoleum. The sheet of linoleum is then rollered with ink, and pressed to a sheet of paper. The uncut areas are those which will show through on the printed illustration.

LITHOGRAPH The process of printing using a smooth surface. The plate's surface is subtly roughened, creating some areas that will accept ink and some that repel it. An image is then drawn onto the surface with a greasy substance and the ink adheres to it. This is then transferred to paper using a press.

LOCAL COLOUR The actual colour of an object or surface, unaffected by shadow colouring, light quality or other factors.

LOOM STATE Canvas that has not been primed, sized or otherwise prepared beforehand for painting.

LATEX A dispersion in water of a solid polymeric material.

MATIERE Paint.

MAROUFLAGE A technique for attaching, with glue, mural size painting on paper or fabric to a wall.

MASSTONE The top tone or body colour of a paint seen only by reflected light.

MAT A stiff cardboard with a window cut out of the center, attached to a backboard.

MATTE Flat, nonglossy; having a dull surface appearance. Variant spelling - matt.

MEDIUM The liquid in which pigments are suspended. Also a material chosen by the artist for working. Plural is media.

METAL CUT A process related to woodcut, but involving a metal block. Areas that are not to receive ink are cut or punched out, and the finished print is often indistinguishable from a woodcut. A second metal cut technique, related to engraving, produces white areas on black rather than the other way around.

MEZZOTINT A form of drypoint technique, mezzotint allows the creation of half-tones without hatching or stippling. Instead, a metal tool called a “rocker”, decorated with tiny teeth, is used to roughen the areas of tonality on the plate. The ink then adheres to these roughened sections, allowing very subtle tonal effects to be printed.

MIGRATION The action of a pigment or dye moving through a dried film above or below it.

MIXED MEDIA In drawing and painting this refers to the use of different media in the same picture.

MONOTYPE The method of printmaking where an image is is drawn or painted onto a non-absorbent plate in ink and then pressed onto paper. A monotype can also be made by covering an entire surface with ink, and then wiping the ink away with either a brush or rag in areas the artist wishes to appear brighter. It thus generally produces one or at most two prints.

MONOMER A material with low molecular weight that can react with similar or dissimilar materials to form a polymer.

MOSAIC Picture making technique using small units of variously coloured materials (glass, tile, stone) set in a mortar.

MUSEUM BOARD Multi ply board made of cotton rags or buffered cellulose to ensure chemical stability.

PAINTING direct application of pigment to a surface to produce by tones of color or of light and dark some representation or decorative arrangement of natural or imagined forms.

PALETTE The surface which a painter will mix his colours. Also the range of colours used by an artist.

PATINA Originally the green brown encrustation on bronze, this now includes the natural effects of age or exposure on a surface.

PENTIMENTO A condition of old paintings where lead-containing pigments have become more transparent over time, revealing earlier layers.

PHOTOGRAVURE Another member of the intaglio printmaking family, photogravure involves the coating of a copper plate with a gelatin sensitive to light. This is then exposed to a film positive and etched, allowing intaglio prints with all the qualities of a detailed photograph.

PHOTOMECHANICAL RELIEF PRINT Using similar light-sensitive gelatin to photogravure, a black line image is transferred to a relief block. The resultant prints have similar qualities to woodcuts and metal cuts.

PHOTOMECHANICAL REPRODUCTION An overall term for the methods of transferring photographic images onto printing plates. The actual method involved can be etching, lithography, or relief.

PIGMENTS Particles with inherent colour that can be mixed with adhesive binders to form paint.

PLASTICIZER Ingredients added to paint to either make it flow or be easily redissolved.

PLEIN AIR French for "open air". Term describing paintings done outside directly from the subject.

POCHOIR The French term for stencil, especially where no screen has been involved. A number of stencils are laid on paper in turn, one for each section of color. The artist then paints through the gaps in the stencil. Often in classic Pochoir the brush strokes are visible.

POLYMER A series of monomers strung together in a repeating chainlike form. That really makes it clear.

PRECIPITATE An inert particle to which dyes can be laked.

PRESERVATIVE A material that prevents or inhibits the growth of micro organisms in organic mixtures.

PRIMER Coating material, usually white, applied to a support to prepare it for painting.

PROOFS Generally this term applies to print impressions made during the creation of an illustration to check the progress of the image on the plate. These may show the early stages of a work, and thus be very different than the final piece. A proof is sometimes a print done before a complete work is sent for a full print run.

PVA Polyvinyl acetate, a manmade resin used as a paint medium and in varnish.

REFRACTION The bending of light from one course in one medium to a different course through another medium of different refractive index.

REFRACTIVE INDEX The numerical ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to its speed in a substance.

RELIEF PRINT An image printed on paper using a process whereby areas of a plate or block are removed where the paper should show through. Relief printmaking techniques include woodcut and metal cut. Relief is the opposite of intaglio printmaking.

RESINS A general term for a wide variety of more or less transparent, fusible materials. The term is used to designate any polymer that is a basic material for paints and plastics.

SANQUINE A red-brown chalk.

SAPONIFICATION The process in which a paint binder, under moist and alkaline conditions, becomes transparent or discoloured.

SCUMBLING The technique of applying a thin, semi-opaque or translucent coating of paint over a previously painted surface to alter the color or appearance of the surface without totally obscuring it.

SECCO A technique of wall-painting onto dry plaster, or lime plaster that is dampened shortly before paint is applied.

SCREEN PRINT A printmaking method where stencils are placed on a woven mesh. An ink roller is then run across the mesh as it presses against paper, with the stencils blocking the ink from permeating in those areas.

SERIGRAPH A form of screen printing. In a serigraph, stencils are placed on a very fine mesh or silk, and ink is squeegeed onto the paper underneath through the gaps in the stencils.

SFUMATO Italian for "shaded off". Gradual, almost imperceptible transitions of colour from light to dark.

SGRAFFITO Technique in which the surface layer is incised or cut away to reveal a contrasting colour.

SHADE Term for a colour darkened with black.

SHELLAC A yellow resin formed from secretions of the LAC insect, used in making varnish.

SILICATE Material, such as sand, that is composed of a metal, oxygen, and silicon.

SILVERPOINT A drawing method using a piece of metal, usually silver wire, drawn on a ground prepared with Chinese white, sometimes with pigment added.

SILVER PRINT The most common means of making black and white photographic prints from a negative. The paper is covered with a film of gelatin containing light-sensitive silver salts. It is then exposed to light and an image created. The image is later developed and fixed through chemical processes.

SINOPIA A red-brown chalk used for marking-out frescoes; also the preliminary drawing itself.

SIZE Material applied to a surface as a penetrating sealer, to alter or lessen its absorbency and isolate it from subsequent coatings.

SKETCH A preliminary drawing of a composition.

School of Drawing:
Start to Learn How to Draw
- The First 21 Steps to Get Started in Artistic Drawing
This is a brilliant text to get started in the world of drawing
in an easy and amusing manner.

SOFT GROUND An etching method involving placing a sheet of paper over a plate prepared with a soft ground containing tallow. The artist draws an image on the paper, and where the pencil makes contact with the paper, the soft coating of the plate sticks to it, exposing the metal underneath. Chemicals such as acid can then be used to cut the image into the plate. Soft ground etchings have the visual characteristics of pencil or crayon drawings.

SQUARING UP A method for transferring an image to a larger or smaller format.

STRAINER A wooden chassis for textile supports that has rigid, immovable corners.

STRETCHER A wooden chassis for textile supports that has expandable corners.

SUBTRACTIVE COLOR Colour resulting from the absorption of light.

SULPHUR GROUND A printmaking method involving applying sulphur or sulphur dust to an inked plate. The sulphur holds the ink in place, and can be used to create specific artistic effects.

STUDY A detailed drawing or painting made of one or more parts of a final composition, but not the whole work.

SUPPORT The basic substrata of the painting; paper, cotton, linen, wall, etc..

TEMPERA Technique of painting in which water and egg yolk or whole egg and oil mixture form the binder for the paint. Used also as a term for cheap opaque paints used in schools.

THIXOTROPIC Referring to materials that are thick and viscous while at rest but will flow if brushed, stirred, or shaken. Resumes its viscous state when the agitation stops.

TINT Term for a colour lightened with white. Also, in a mixture of colors, the tint is the dominant colour.

TONER An unlaked dye that can bleed or migrate through dried paint films.

TOOTH Small grained but even texture. Tooth provides for the attachment of succeeding layers of paint.

TRACTION In oils, the movement of one paint layer over another.

TRAGACANTH A gum , extracted from certain Astragalus plants, used as a binding agent in watercolor paints and pastels.

TROMPLE L'OEIL French for "deceive the eye". A painting with extreme naturalistic details, aiming to persuade the viewer that they are looking at an actual object, not a representation.

UNDERPAINTING The traditional stage in oil painting of using a monochrome or dead colour as a base for composition. Also known as laying in.

VALUE The relative lightness or darkness of a hue. Black is low value. White is a high value.

VARNISH Generally, a more or less transparent film-forming liquid that dries into a solid film.

VEDUTA Italian for "view". An accurate representation of an urban landscape.

VENICE TURPENTINE An oleo resin - the semisolid mixture of a resin and an essential oil - derived from the larch and used primarily in making mediums and diluents for oil painting.

VERDACCIO Old term for green underpainting.

VIRTU A love of or taste for works of art or curios; a knowledge of or interest in the fine arts as a subject or interest

VOLATILE Evaporating rapidly or easily.

VOLUME The space that a object or figure fills in a drawing or painting.

WASH A thin, usually broadly applied, layer of transparent or heavily diluted paint or ink.

Colour and Light for the Watercolour Painter: How to Get the Effect You Want Every Time
Review: My watercolor instructor brought a copy of this book to class and I fell in love with it. If you want to achieve glowing, luminous color, and aren't getting the effect you're looking for in your watercolor paintings--you need this book. Mr Schink illustrates why leaving white in your painting won't give you a luminous effect, and also shows you how to use color and value to achieve that "glow" which is so characteristic of his work and Skip Lawrence's. If you're a colorist, you will find a lot to like about this book.

WATERCOLOR A technique of painting using a binder made from a water-soluble gum. Watercolors can be transparent or opaque.

Big Book of Watercolour Basics:
A Complete Guide to Knowing How Watercolour Works
How to create watercolours through fun and easy exercises, for beginner to intermediate level, with step by step instructions.

WATER TENSION BREAKER Substance added to water or to water-based paints in order to reduce surface tension. eg. Ox Gall.

WAX PAINTING See Encaustic.

WAX RESIST The use of a waxy medium to make a design over which a coloured wash is spread.

WET ON WET The application of fresh paint over an area on which the paint is still wet.

WETTING AGENT See Water Tension Breaker.

WHITE SPIRITS A thinner used with oil paints replacing Turpentine.

WHITING Chalk which is purified, ground with water and dried to form an inert pigment.

WOOD GRAVING A relief printmaking technique. Whereas in woodcut, the softer side grain is etched into, in wood engraving the end grain is the medium. This method can produce highly detailed prints.

WOODCUT A method for creating a relief illustration on a block of wood. Areas where the artist wishes the paper's surface to show through are etched or cut away. Ink adheres to the block's original surface areas, and is printed by pressing it against the sheet of paper.

XYLOGRAPHY Rarely used term for woodblock printing. Also the mechanical reproduction of wood grain for decorative purposes.

YELLOWING This effect on oil paintings is usually caused by one of three reasons: excessive use of linseed oil medium; applying any of the varnishes that are prone to yellow with age; or most often - an accumulation of dirt embedded into the varnish.

ZINCOGRAPH A zinc plate that has an etching on its surface. This term can also refer to the resultant print made by this method.

ZOOMORPHIC Describes the forms of works of art and ornaments based on animal shapes.

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