Glossary of Art Terms Wondering what it all means?

The following is a list of definitions for art-related terms. If you are looking for an answer to something and can’t find it here, post a question in the forum to get your answer!

Acrylic Paint: pigment or paint that contains acrylic resin. It is man-made and petrolium based

Alla Prima: Italian for “At First”. This is the process of starting and finishing a painting in one sitting without underpainting and layering your paint.

Blending: the mixing of separate paint pigments on the surface of a painting.

Chiaroscuro: Italian for “Clear-Obscure”. A style of oil painting begun during the Baroque era, in which strong light and dark contrasts play over the subjects. Most noted for his advancement of this concept was the Italian Master, Caravaggio (1573- 1609).

Cockling: The wrinkling and wobbling of paper when washes are applied to improperly stretched surfaces or onto a paper that is too thin. (mainly in watercolour or acrylic painting)

Composition: The arrangement of elements within a painting, drawing or sculpture.

Fat over lean: When building a surface in oil paint it is important to work with thinner coats of paint (lean), under thicker paint layers, (fat). As the layers of paint dry, the thinner ones underneath will dry faster, thus avoiding cracking of the paint.

 

Figure/ Ground relationship: The arrangement of a subject within a painting or drawing in relation to the background or negative space around the subject.

Format: The shape and size of the canvas or paper you are working on.

Genre: The classification of painting and sculpture by its subject matter. Wildlife, portraits, landscape, etc.

Hue: The variation of a colour, example: blue to blue-green to green-yellow

Intensity: The brightness and clarity of colour, known also as chroma and saturation.

Lost Edges: The blending of paint between the edge of subject and background in a painting.

 

Negative space: A term used to describe the space surrounding the subject of a painting or drawing, see figure/ground relationship above.

 

Oil Paint: pigment or paint that historically was made from natural materials. Pigment is finely ground and suspended in oil.

 

Saturation: Often used to describe the amount of colour in paint. The more white that is in a colour, the more de-saturated it is said to be. Example: Cobalt blue has more white in it (it is lighter in value) to Ultramarine blue.

Value: The darkness or lightness of a colour, corresponding to a grey scale from black to white.

 

Varnish: a protective coating to seal the surface of a painting once it is dry.

Easy Drawing Exercises

Colour Blending

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