A
ABSORBENT GROUND
A chalk ground, which absorbs oil and is used in oil painting to achieve a matt effect and to speed up drying.
ABSTRACTION
Art that takes shapes and simplifies the shapes in order to emphasize form instead of subject matter. The subject matter is still recognizable.
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
An outlook characterized by a spirit of revolt and a belief in freedom of expression.
ACID FREE PAPER
Paper that if infused in water yields a neutral or basic pH (7 or slightly higher). It can be made from any cellulose fibers long as the active acid pulp is eliminated during processing. It is also lignin- and sulfur-free.
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.
ADDITIVE COLOUR
Colour that result from the mixture of two or more coloured lights, the visual blending of separate spots of transmitted coloured light.
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".
ALLEGORICAL ART
Stories and parables.
ANHYDROUS
Free from water.
AQUATINT
A print produced by the same technique as an etching, except that the areas between the etched lines are covered with a powdered resin that protects the surface from the biting process of the acid bath. The granular appearance that results in the print aims at approximating the effects and gray tonalities of a watercolour drawing.
ARCHIVAL
Archival watercolour paper is any pure 100% rag, cotton, or linen watercolour paper of neutral or slightly low ph, alkaline (base) vs. acidic, and pure ingredients. Some synthetic papers are archival in nature but have unique working properties.
ART DECO
Art Deco refers generally to the decorative arts of the 1920s and 1930s in Europe and America.
ARTIST'S PROOF
An Artist's Proof is one outside the regular edition, but printed at the same time or after the regular edition from the same plates without changes. By custom, the artist retains the A/Ps for his personal use or sale. Typically, 10% of the edition total is designated as A/P, or in the case of a small edition, five graphics are usually so designated.
ATELIER
French term for "Printer's Workshop."
AVANT GARDE
A group active in the invention and application of new ideas and techniques in an original or experimental way. A group of practitioners and / or advocates of a new art form may also be called avant-garde. Some avant-garde works are intended to shock those who are accustomed to traditional, established styles.
B
BAROQUE
Style from the 1500s characterized by featuring granteorga
BAUHAUS
A style that is characterized by its severely economic, geometric design and by its respect for materials. The term Bauhaus as an inversion of ‘Hausbau’ – house construction.
BIENNALE
Used to describe art exhibitions that takes place every two years like the Venice Biennale
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 colour seeping through a lighter colour to the surface.
BLENDING
Smoothing the edges of two colours together so that they have a smooth gradation where they meet.
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 obliterate underlying colour.
BON A TIRER (B.A.T.)
When the artist is satisfied with the graphic from the finished plate, he works with his printer to pull one perfect graphic and it is marked "Bon a Tirer," meaning "good to pull." The printer then compares each graphic in the edition with the BAT before submitting the graphic to the artist for approval and signature. There is typically one BAT which becomes the property of the printer or workshop printing the edition.
BRONZE
An alloy of copper and tin, sometimes containing small proportions of other elements such as zinc or phosphorus. It is stronger, harder, and more durable than brass, and has been used most extensively since antiquity for cast sculpture. Bronze alloys vary in colour from a silvery hue to a rich, coppery red. U.S. standard bronze is composed of 90% copper, 7% tin, and 3% zinc.
BRUSHWORK
The characteristic way each artist brushes paint onto a support.
C
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 colour and tone.
CASEIN
A natural protein obtained from cow's milk. Produces a flat, water-resistant film.
CERAMICS
The art making of objects of clay and firing them in a kiln. Ceramists make wares of earthenware and porcelain, as well as sculpture. Enamel is also a ceramic technique. Ceramic materials may be decorated with slip, engobe, or glaze, applied by a number of techniques, including resist, mishima, and sangam. Pots made be made by the coil, slab, or some other manual technique, or on a potter's wheel.
CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY
Certifies the authenticity of an individual piece in an edition and states the current market value.
CHARCOAL
A porous black solid, consisting of an amorphous form of carbon, obtained as a residue when wood, bone or other organic matter is heated in the absence of air, a piece or pencil of fine charcoal used in drawing.
CHIAROSCURO
Term is used to describe the effect of light and shade in a painting or drawing, especially where strong tonal contrasts are used.
CHROMA
The relative intensity or purity of a hue when compared to grayness or lack of hue.
CLASSICAL
Themes in Japanese art-influenced western shift from illusionism to abstraction-Refers to the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Greeks created art based on perfect form, proportion, and harmony.
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.
COMPOSITION
The arrangement of elements by an artist in a painting or drawing.
CONCEPTUAL ART
Art in which the idea or concept presented by the artist is considered more important than the finished product, if any such exists.
CONTE
Crayons that have a chalk binder and are free of grease.
CO-POLYMERS
A polymer in which the molecule is of more than one type of structural unit.
CROSSHATCHING
More than one set of close parallel lines that crisscross each other at angles, to model and indicate tone.
CUBISM
Three-dimensional objects are pictured from many different points of view at the same time.
CUT OUT
An artwork literally cut out of wood, metal or any other material.
D
DADA (French: "Hobby-horse")
An early twentieth century art movement, which ridiculed contemporary culture and traditional art forms. It was born as a consequence of the collapse during World War I of social and moral values, which developed to that time.
DAMAR
A resin from conifer trees, used in making oil mediums and varnishes.
DEAD COLOUR
A term for colours used in under painting.
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.
DESIGNER COLOURS
Best quality Gouache paints, often used in commercial art.
DILUENTS
Liquids, such as turpentine, used to dilute oil paint, the diluent for water based media is water.
DIPTYCH
An art work created across two separate surfaces which are meant to displayed as one work.
DISPERSION
A blend of glue, chalk and water-based paint, used mostly for murals and posters.
DISTEMPER
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.
DRIER
A material that accelerates or initiates the drying of an oil paint or oil by promoting oxidation.
DRYING OIL
Oil that, when spread into a thin layer and exposed to air, absorbs oxygen and converts into a tough film.
DRY POINT
It is a print making technique of the intaglio family, in which an image is incised into plate (or ‘matrix’) with a hard pointed ‘needle’ of sharp metal or diamond point. Traditionally the plate was copper, but now acetate, zinc, or Plexiglas are also common used.
E
EDITION
An artist signed and numbered limited reproduction of an identical work; photograph, sculpture and paintings.
EMULSION
A liquid in which small droplets of one liquid are immiscible in, but thoroughly and evenly dispersed throughout, a second liquid. e.g. Acrylic Emulsion.
ENCAUSTIC
Literally, to burn in. A painting technique in which the binder is melted wax.
ENGRAVING
A process in which a printmaker uses a tool to scrape lines into a plate, which is used to make prints.
ETCHING
The technique of reproducing a design by coating a metal plate with wax and drawing with a sharp instrument called a stylus through the wax down down to the metal. The plate is put in an acid bath, which eats away the incised lines; it is then heated to dissolve the wax and finally inked and printed on paper. The resulting print is called the etching.
EXPRESSIONISM
An artistic style that departs from the conventions of realism and naturalism and seeks to convey inner experience by distorting rather than directly representing natural images. The highly personal visions communicated in the paintings of Vincent van Gogh are early examples of expressionism.
F
FAT
A term used to describe paints, which have high oil content.
FAUVISM
It is the style of les Fauves (French for ‘the wild beasts’), a loose group of early twentieth-century Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour overthe representational or realistic values retained by the Impressionism.
FIGURATIVE ART
The human form is the most common subject of art.
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.
FOLK ART
Art created by untrained artists, often reflecting the way of life in their community.
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 COLORS
Pigment or dye colors that fade when exposed to light.
FUTURISM
Futurism developed in Italy during the first decade of the Twentieth Century. The movement emphasized the energy and speed of the machine and was strongly opposed to existing notions of Italy as as vast museum of times past. As early as 1909 Futurists launched a program advocating the destruction of academies and monumental cities as impediments to progress. The rhetoric was intended to inspire public anger and to arose controversy. The members of the Futurist group included Carlo Carrà and Umberto Boccioni. One of the last Futurist artists was Joseph Stella, whose Brooklyn Bridge series pays homage to a structure that had become a symbol of industrial achievement.
G
GESSO
A 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.
GLAZE
A very thin, transparent coloured paint applied over a previously painted surface to alter the appearance and colour of the surface.
GOUACHE
Opaque watercolours used for illustrations.
GOUACHE
The technique of applying opaque watercolour to paper; also a work of art so produced. The usual gouache painting displays a light-reflecting brilliance quite different from the luminosity of transparent watercolours.
GRISSAILLE
A monochromatic painting, usually in gray, which can be used under coloured glazes.
GROUND
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 watercolour paints.
H
HATCHING
A technique of modeling, indicating tone and suggesting light and shade in drawing or tempera panting, using closely set parallel line.
HORS COMMERCE (H.C.)
Hors Commerce (Not for Trade) traditionally were the graphics pulled with the regular edition, but were marked by the artist for business use only. These graphics were used for entering exhibitions and competitions, but today, these graphics generally are allowed into distribution through regular channels.
HUE
The perceived colour of an object, identified by a common name such as red, orange, blue.
HYGROSCOPIC
Absorbing or attracting moisture from the air.
I
IMPASTO
Paint applied in outstanding heavy layers or strokes; also, any thickness or roughness of paint or deep brush marks, as distinguished from a flat, smooth surface
IMPRESSIONISM
Captured everyday subjects and emphasized fleeting moments of light.
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.
INSTALLATION
Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space.
INTAGLIO
In print making when the plate is inked, the ink remains in the created and is transferred to paper during printing.
INTENSITY
The purity and brightness of a colour. Also called saturation.
K
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".
L
LACQUER
It is a clear or coloured wood finish that dries by solvent evaporation or a curing process that produces a hard, durable finish. This finish cn be any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss, and it can be further polished as required.
LAKE
A dye that has been chemically or electrically attached to a particle and does not bleed or migrate.
LANDSCAPE
It is natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view – with its elements arranged into a coherent composition.
LATEX
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.
LEVIGATINGA
Method of water-washing pulverized pigments to clear the particles of dissolved salts or organic matter.
LIGHTFAST
Resistant to fading or other changes due to light.
LIMITED EDITIONS
It is an edition or reproduction of a print, limited to a specific number of copies.
LINSEED OIL
Pale yellow oil extracted from linseed, used especially in paint and varnish.
LITHOGRAPHY
In the graphic arts, a method of printing from a prepared flat stone, metal or plastic plate, invented in the late eighteenth century. A drawing is made on the stone or plate with a greasy crayon or tusche, and then washed with water. When ink is applied it sticks to the greasy drawing but runs off (or is resisted by) the wet surface allowing a print - a lithograph - to be made of the drawing. The artist, or other print maker under the artist's supervision, then covers the plate with a sheet of paper and runs both through a press under light pressure. For colour lithography separate drawings are made for each colour.
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.
M
MANIFESTO
In art, a public declaration or exposition in print of the theories and directions of a movement. The manifestos issued by various individual artists or groups of artists, in the first half of the twentieth century served to reveal their motivations and raisons d'etre and stimulated support for or reactions against them.
MAQUETTE
In sculpture, a small model in wax or clay, made as a preliminary sketch, presented to a client for his approval of the proposed work, or entered in a competition for a prize or scholarship. The Italian equivalent of the term is bozzetto, meaning small sketch.
MAROUFLAGE
A technique for attaching, with glue, mural size painting on paper or fabric to a wall.
MASONITE
Fireboard made from wood fibre pulped under steam at high pressure.
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.
MATIERE
Paint.
MATTE
Flat, non glossy; 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.
MIGRATION
The action of a pigment or dye moving through a dried film above or below it.
MINIATURE
It is a genre that focuses on art (especially painting, engraving and sculpture) in much-smaller-than-usual sizes. Miniature art societies, such as the World Federation of Miniaturists (WFM), provide applicable definitions of the term.
MINIMALISM
Style of the 20th century, where minimal colours and lines are used.
MIXED MEDIA
In drawing and painting this refers to the use of different media in the same picture.
MONOCHROMATIC
it is an artwork having only one predominant colour.
MONOMER
A material with low molecular weight that can react with similar or dissimilar materials to form a polymer.
MONOPRINT
It is an impression made on paper from glass or some equally smooth material (as celluloid or oilcloth) to which oil paint has been applied.
MONOTYPE
A one-of-a-kind print made by painting on a sheet or slab of glass and transferring the still-wet painting to a sheet of paper held firmly on the glass by rubbing the back of the paper with a smooth implement, such as a large hardwood spoon. The painting may also be done on a polished plate, in which case it may be either printed by hand or transferred to paper by running the plate and paper through an etching press.
MONTAGE
A picture made up of various proportions of existing pictures, such as photographs or prints, arranged so they join, overlap, or blend with one another.
MOSAIC
Picture making technique using small units of variously coloured materials (glass, tile and stone) set in a mortar.
MURAL
Also referred to as wall painting. This word describes any painting made directly on the wall.
MUSEUM BOARD
Multi ply board made of cotton rags or buffered cellulose to ensure chemical stability and neutrality.
N
NEW MEDIA ART
It is a genre that encompasses artworks created with new media technologies, including digital art, computer graphics, computer animation, virtual art, Internet art, interactive art, video games, computer robotics, 3D printing, and art as biotechnology.
NON-OBJECTIVE
Art having no recognizable subject matter.
O
OFFSET LITHOGRAPHY
It is the process of printing from a flat surface treated so as to repel the ink except where it is required for printing.
OIL
It is a thick paint made with ground pigment and a drying oil such as linseed oil, used chiefly by artists.
P
PALETTE
The surface which a painter will mix his colours. Also the range of colours used by an artist.
PASTEL
A coloured crayon that consists of pigment mixed with just enough of a aqueous binder to hold it together; a work of art produced by pastel crayons; the technique itself. Pastels vary according to the volume of chalk contained...the deepest in tone are pure pigment. Pastel is the simplest and purest method of painting, since pure colour is used without a fluid medium and the crayons are applied directly to the pastel paper. Pastels are called paintings rather than drawings, for although no paint is used, the colours are applied in masses rather than in lines.
PATINA
A film or an incrustation, usually green, that forms on copper and bronze after a certain amount of weathering and as a result of the oxidation of the copper. Special chemical treatments will also induce different coloured patinas on new bronzes. Bronzes may be painted with acrylic and lacquer.
PENTIMENTO
A condition of old paintings where lead-containing pigments have become more transparent over time, revealing earlier layers.
PERSPEX
It is a solid transparent plastic made of polymethyl methacrylate (the same material as Plexiglas or Lucite).
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
A stencil and stencil-brush process for making multicoloured prints, and for tinting black-and-white prints, and for colouring reproductions and book illustrations, especially fine and limited editions. Pochoir, which is the French word for stencil, is sometimes called hand-colouring or hand-illustration. Pochoir, as distinguished from ordinary stencil work, is a highly refined technique, skillfully executed in a specialized workshop.
POINTILLISM
A branch of French Impressionism in which the principle of optical mixture or broken colour was carried to the extreme of applying colour in tiny dots or small, isolated strokes. Forms are visible in a pointillist painting only from a distance, when the viewer's eye blends the colours to create visual masses and outlines.
POLYMER
A series of monomers strung together in a repeating chain like form. That really makes it clear.
POP ART
Art of early 1960s that spotlights subject matter from popular culture such as commercial art, comic strips, advertising etc.
POST IMPRESSIONISM
Uses basic structures of art to express feelings and ideas. It mainly consists of still life and landscapes.Post impressionists like to use lots of colors and shadows.
POST MODERNISM
A body of art movements that sought to contradict some aspects of modernism or some aspects that emerged or developed in its aftermath. In general, movements such as Intermedia, Installation art, Conceptual art and Multimedia, particularly involving video are described as postmodern.
PRECIPITATE
An inert particle to which dyes can be laked.
PRESERVATIVE
A material that prevents or inhibits the growth of microorganisms in organic mixtures.
PRIMER
Coating material, usually white, applied to a support to prepare it for painting.
PRIMITIVISM
Primitive Art looks like art that is done by a child. Usually the picture is painted very simply, and the subjects are 'flat', or two-dimensional.
PRINT
Produce (books, newspapers, etc.), especially in large quantities, by a mechanical process involving the transfer of text or designs to paper.
PRINTMAKING
The process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints that have an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting.
PROVENANCE
The source or origin of a particular artwork, and the history of its various owners tracing back to the artist.
PVA (Polyvinyl Acetate)
A manmade resin used as a paint medium and in varnish.
R
REALISM
In arts, it is the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, implausible, exotic and supernatural elements.
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
It is a sculpture technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb relevo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculptured material has been raised above the background plane.
RENAISSANCE
Derived from the French word, renaissance, and the Italian word rinascita, both meaning ‘rebirth’, the Renaissance was a period when scholars and artists began to investigate what they believed to be a revival of classical learning, literature and art.
REMARQUE
A current practice of some artists is the addition of a small personalized drawing or symbol near his pencil signature in the lower margin. The practice is borrowed from Whister's famous "butterfly" which was added to personalize many of his graphics.
REPOUSSOIR
From the French verb meaning to push back. A means of achieving perspective or special contrasts by the use of illusionistic devices such as the placement of a large figure or object the immediate foreground of a painting to increase the illusion of depth in the rest of the picture.
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.
RETROSPECTIVE
It means looking back. An art exhibit that cover an artist’s entire career is called a retrospective because it looks back at the work the artist has produced over many years.
S
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 colour or appearance of the surface without totally obscuring it.
SECCO
Italian for "dry". A technique of wall-painting onto dry plaster, or lime plaster that is dampened shortly before paint is applied.
SERIGRAPH
Serigraphy (also referred to as 'silkscreen' or 'screen-print') is a colour stencil printing process in which a special paint is forced through a fine screen onto the paper beneath. Areas which do not print are blocked with photo sensitive emulsion that has been exposed with high intensity arc lights. A squeegee is pulled from back to front, producing a direct transfer of the image from screen to paper. A separate stencil is required for each colour and one hundred colours or more may be necessary to achieve the desired effect. A serigraph differs from other graphics in that its colour is made up of paint films rather than printing ink stains. This technique is extremely versatile, and can create effects similar to oil colour, transparent washes as well as gouache and pastel.
SCREENPRINT
The process toforce ink or metal on to (a surface) through a prepared screen of fine material so as to create a picture or pattern.
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.
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.
SQUARING UP
A method for transferring an image to a larger or smaller format.
STIPPLE
In painting, to apply small dots of colour with the point of the brush; also to apply paint in a uniform layer by tapping a vertically held brush on the surface in repeated staccato touches.
STRAINER
A wooden chassis for textile supports that has rigid, immovable corners.
STRETCHER
A wooden chassis for textile supports that has expandable corners
STUDY
A detailed drawing or painting made of one or more parts of a final composition, but not the whole work.
SUBTRACTIVE COLOUR
Colour resulting from the absorption of light.
SUPPORT
The basic substrata of the painting; paper, cotton, linen, wall, etc.
SURREALISM
A 20th century avant-garde movement in art and literature, which sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the irrational juxtaposition of images. Generally based on dreams, artists of this style of art hope their odd paintings make people look at things in a different way and change the way they feel about things.
T
TAPESTRY
It is a piece of thick textile fabric with pictures or designs formed by weaving coloured weft threads or by embroidering on canvas, used as a wall hanging or soft furnishing.
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 colours, the tint is the dominant colour.
TIRAGE
Document that provides background information on the graphic edition such as edition size, printer, technique, year of execution.
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.
TRIENNALE
Used to describe art exhibitions that takes place every three years.
TRIPTYCH
It is a picture or relief carving on three panels typically hinged together vertically and used as an altarpiece.
TROMPE L´OEIL (TROMP´- LOY)
A French term meaning "deception of the eye." It is applied to painting so photographically realistic that it may fool the viewer into thinking that the objects or scene represented are real rather than painted.
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 watercolour paints and pastels.
U
UNDER PAINTING
The traditional stage in oil painting of using a monochrome or dead colour as a base for composition. Also known as laying in.
V
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.
VEHICLE
The entire liquid contents of paint.
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 under painting.
VOLATILE
Evaporating rapidly or easily.
VOLUME
The space that an object or figure fills in a drawing or painting.
W
WASH
Used in watercolour painting, brush drawing, and occasionally in oil painting to describe a broad thin layer of diluted pigment or ink. Also refers to a drawing made in this technique.
WATERCOLOUR
A technique of painting using a binder made from a water-soluble gum. Watercolours can be transparent or opaque.
WATER TENSION BREAKER
Substance added to water or to water-based paints in order to reduce surface tension. e.g. Ox Gall.
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.
WHITE SPIRITS
A thinner used with oil paints replacing Turpentine.
WHITING
Chalk that is purified, ground with water and dried to form an inert pigment.
WOODCUT
A print of a type made from a design cut in a block of wood, formerly widely used for illustrations in books.
X
XYLOGRAPHY
Rarely used term for woodblock printing. Also the mechanical reproduction of wood grain for decorative purposes.
Y
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.
Z
ZOOMORPHIC
Describes the forms of works of art and ornaments based on animal shapes.