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Abstract Expressionism It was popular from that time until the end of the 1950's. Many painters are still painting in this style. It is the first art movement to have both a European and American background. It was influenced by the artists fleeing Hitler, such as Max Ernst, Fernand Leger, and Piet Mondrian. The paintings are abstractions or no noticeable relation to anything in nature at all.

Acrylic a type of paint that is water-based and dries quickly.

Alkyd The word is from "alcid," meaning a mixture of alcohol and acid. Alkyd paints are produced from polyhydric alcohol and polybasic acid. The oils are combined with a drying oil, such as linseed, to produce the paint. These paints are not water-based, but are thinned with turpentine. They are not as fast drying as acrylics, but are faster drying than oils. They are meant to be a compromise between the two. They are sold in tubes by various manufacturers.

Amber The fossil remains of resins derived from conifers. These are sometimes heated and called copal varnish.

Aquapasto This is a combination of gum arabic and silica formed into a jelly-like substance to give an impasto look to watercolors. Not to be confused with Oleopasto.

Aquatint An etching technique that produces an unlimited number of gradations of tone from black to a very pale gray. It usually will have a granular appearance. The name is not from the actual technique, but in its visual similarity to that of a watercolor. The technique is usually used in conjunction with other processes such as engraving or drypoint. The majority of Goya's prints are done in a combination of aquatint and etched lines.

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Balsams These are the oleoresins that are a viscous liquid secreted by coniferous (evergreen) trees. Although they mix with oils and varnishes, they do not mix with water. The most popular use of a balsam in painting is probably in Venice (or Venetian) turpentine.

Bay Area Figurative A style of art or painting that started in the 1940's in the San Francisco bay area and lasted until the mid 1960's. It was really a reaction to the Abstract Expressionism that was starting in New York. San Francisco was the second most influential art center behind New York after the war. A few of the painters who were familiar with the work going on in New York were teaching in the bay area and introduced the Abstract Expressionist style. The artists of the bay area altered this approach by going back to nature and included a more figurative imagery. The images were still very abstract and painted with a lot of expressionist style, but with a rejection of total abstraction. Some of the painters known for this style are Richard Dieberkorn and David Park.

Bloom The clouding of a varnish surface. This is caused by the water vapor penetrating the film or being in the film.

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Calligraphy Handwriting as art. It probably reached its zenith as an art form in the 12th to 15th century, but has undergone a revival in recent years.

Cama•eu A painting or decoration done in varying shades of the same color. A monochrome painting.

Casein Tthis is the dried lumpy curd of skimmed milk. When mixed with water and dry pigments it makes an excellent paint. It was very popular for commercial illustration until acrylics became highly developed.

Collage The term Collage is from the French verb Coller meaning "to glue." In English it means to attach objects to a surface. It can be used as either a noun or a verb. The first collage in art was by Picasso, Still Life with Chair Caning, produced in 1912. After World War I, the Dada artists used found objects to make political statements. Since this time, collage has been used by many artists to make statements about our society. Since it uses real objects it has a particularly strong impact in the form of social statement. Other artists involved in collage have been Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Richard Hamilton, and David Hockney. Copal Fossilized resins from living plant material.

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Dada The root of this word in art is unknown, however, many stories exist. Dada is not an art style, but an attitude. It came out of the period just after World War I, starting in Zurich and New York, and later in Berlin and Paris. It was a reaction to the destruction of which man was now capable through technology. It took on the form of sculpture and painting by such artists as Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, and Jean Arp. It was also expressed in actions such as the programs at the famous Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich. The art works were to show that maybe all this new technology was not necessarily for the good. Some of the paintings showed man as a machine. These works were not met with enthusiasm at the time, but now are considered some of the most important works of twentieth century art.

DŽcollage The opposite of collage and beginning soon after. The removing of images superimposed on each other, such as the deterioration that takes place when outdoor posters are layered one on top of another and allowed to create a new image through decay of various parts at various rates. Used most effectively by the surrealist Leo Malet, beginning in 1934.

Dry Point The printing process of drawing on a metal plate, usually copper or zinc, with a steel needle. This process is very spontaneous and can almost be called the same as drawing with a pencil. The print from this is characterized by the softness of line. This is caused by the small burr that is left on the sides of the furrow made with the needle. This burr breaks down very fast and changes the look of the print. The number of prints possible with drypoint is very small, about 30 or so. The proof number is therefore, more significant in drypoint than any other form of printing. Some of the best works ever done in drypoint were executed by Rembrandt. Dryers See Siccative.

Drying Oils Oils derived from plants and dried by oxidation, the absorption of oxygen. When dry, they make a tough film and go through a molecular change. They are said to polymerize. That means its molecular structure changes so that it is a different substance and will not change back or be dissolved by the original dilutent. This is important because it allows us to use them in making paint that can be worked over when it is dry with more of the same wet paint and not worry about the under layers softening. Used in the making of oil paints.

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Egg Tempera The use of egg (either the whole egg, just the white, or just the yolk, but using just the yolk is most common), mixed with water and pigment to make a paint. This process dates back to the Egyptians where there are examples of sarcophagi being decorated with them that are still in tact today. It is painted on solid supports and is capable of great detail as well as many other effects. It is very fast drying so does not lend itself to blending very well. It was the primary form of painting until the introduction of oils.

Encaustic Encaustic is a form of painting done with beeswax. It dates back to the Egyptians and Greeks, (the word comes from the Greek word encaustikos, meaning "to burn in"). It is not used much today because of the difficulty of the process. The most famous of modern painters to work in this medium is probably Jasper Johns. The paintings created by this process are very permanent and will withstand almost everything except extreme heat and cold. The medium is especially suited to impasto and knife work. The paint is made by mixing beeswax with pigment and a resin such as damar varnish. These are mixed while being heated on some sort of hot plate to about 150¡-200¡ F. The paint is then allowed to cool into paint sticks. A palette is prepared by rubbing the dry sticks of paint on a heated palette. The hot, liquid paint is then painted on a rigid surface. When the paint has dried (this happens very fast), and the painting is done, the whole painting is then laid on a flat surface and a heat lamp is passed over the surface until the whole thing has fused together and to the support. This is a very tedious process, requires a lot of equipment, and if not done properly, could be dangerous.

Engraving The printing process of drawing on a metal plate, usually copper or zinc, with a steel needle. This process is very spontaneous and can almost be called the same as drawing with a pencil. The print from this is characterized by the softness of line. This is caused by the small burr that is left on the sides of the furrow made with the needle. This burr breaks down very fast and changes the look of the print. The number of prints possible with drypoint is very small, about 30 or so. The proof number is therefore more significant in drypoint than any other form of printing. Some of the best works ever done in drypoint were executed by Rembrandt.

Etching An etching is a print produced by the printing method known by the same name. It is done by coating a copper or zinc plate with a wax or similar protective shield and then the drawing is produced on the surface with a needle. Only the coating is cut, not the plate. When the drawing is complete, the plate is submerged in an acid bath and the areas that were exposed by the needle are cut by the acid. Then the plate is cleaned and inked and then wiped so ink is only in the recesses. The plate is then put in a press where it is pressed hard against a damp print paper. The resulting print is a reverse of the original drawing on the plate. This process dates back to about 1500. The first dated print is from 1513. During the time of Rembrandt (1606-1669), and with his help, etchings became the most popular printing form. Other later artists known for their etchings are Goya, Whistler, Picasso, and Chagall.

Expressionism This is a style of art that is based on expressing the artists emotions. It is in direct opposition to the cerebral art of Geometric Abstraction. It is also not to be confused with Impressionism, which is also far different in its attempt to depict certain forms of lighting effects.

Expressionism is not from a particular period, but started at the end of the nineteenth century with such artists as Vincent Van Gogh, and later with the Fauves, such as Henri Matisse. Most often the term is used as part of a movement's name such as the German Expressionist or the Abstract Expressionists. It is really any painting that is primarily based on the release of the artist's emotions.

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Figurative This term has two meanings. At first it was used to mean any painting that concerned itself with the representation of nature, human figures, landscapes, and still lifes. Lately, it has become used to mean any painting of the human figure. The latter meaning is becoming more common.

Fixative Any for various sprays that are applied to a picture or drawing to hold the particles of pigment to the surface. The spray may be either workable, allowing for some erasure, or nonworkable and are much harder to work over. They can be purchased in spray cans or used with an atomizer. Most commonly used with pastel and charcoal drawings. Flake White Lead white. A warm, fast drying white used extensively in oil painting.

Frottage See Oil Painting page, Mediums, Varnishes, and Solvents Art Dictionary G - L

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Gesso From the Italian for gypsum or plaster. This is used in the making of grounds for painting. The traditional gesso is made from a combination of hide glue and whiting, sometimes with pigment added. It makes a smooth, hard non-yellowing surface that is very absorbent. This ground is only for rigid supports because it is brittle. There are other gesso grounds made of half chalk and half oil. These can be used on flexible surfaces. The most common use of the term "gesso" today, is in the acrylic gessoes. They are not as absorbent as the traditional ones, but are very strong and flexible. They can be used on any clean surface. They come ready made in various sized containers.

Glair Egg whites beaten until they are frothy, and mixed with a little water, and then let to stand until the froth disappears. This has been used for centuries as the adhesive for gilding and as the binder for paints used in manuscript illumination.

Glaze The technique of putting one transparent color over another, already dry color. Used in almost all mediums. Most talked about in oil and acrylics.

Gouache Opaque watercolor paint. Most commonly used for commercial illustration. Can be mixed with transparent watercolors to make less opaque. These paints are made by adding chalk to the pigments to make them opaque. The use of gouache goes back to medieval manuscript illumination and was used in 16th - 18th century minature painting. Many painters combine gouache, pastel watercolors and India ink in the same painting.

Graffiti Art An art form most popular during the 1970's and 1980's, but still alive today. The word Graffiti is the plural word for scratch in Italian. The actual practice of graffiti goes back to the Egyptians, but it was not thought of as an art form until the 1970's when the art world saw the work of street teens in the New York subways. There were some shows and artists acknowledged, but as soon as the raw street art came into the galleries of New York, the interest faded.

Gilding Affixing thin metal leaf to a surface to give the effect of solid or inlaid metal. It is a very old technique that goes back to the Egyptians and the Chinese. It reached its highest point at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century with Victorian fashion and in the gilding of gold picture frames.

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Hardboard Panels of shredded wood that is glued together with its own natural adhesive called lignin. It is excellent as a painting surface. It resists warping and swelling. It is made in two types, tempered and untempered. The tempered is impregnated with oil to aid in resisting moisture. It is harder and has a smoother surface. The surface of the tempered should be sanded to roughen it before priming.

Hard-Edge Painting A term first used in 1958 by the critic Jules Langsner to describe the work of West Coast painters rejecting the brushy look of Abstract Expressionism. It later became used for all American work that treated the picture surface as a single flat surface. These paintings took on a geometrical look and usually had a limited palette.

Hide Glue Most commonly known as rabbitskin glue. A glue made from skins and bones of animals. Can be bought in sheets, powdered granules, or in powder. When mixed with hot water in various proportions it makes a very strong binder and good sealer. It is used in preparing grounds.

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Impasto A painting technique where the paint is thick enough to have actual form. The strokes themselves create some of the effect. Rembrandt was one who employed this technique to great success.

Imprematura Term used in oil painting. It is a thin, transparent glaze of color. This glaze is applied to the surface over a drawing. It goes directly on the white surface. It is sometimes called a veil.

India Ink India ink originated in China, but was named so by the fact that the pigment used in making it came from India. The pigment is lampblack, bone black, or carbon black. Traditionally, it is mixed with a hot hide glue in the proportions of 1 part pigment to 2 or 3 parts glue and dried into sticks. These are rubbed on stone and the particles mixed with water. When it is manufactured in liquid form and sold in bottles, the pigment is mixed with a little shellac which makes it water-resistant. This ink is considered quite lightfast. It is not to be confused with the inks made for many technical pens, many of which are not water-resistant and not lightfast. India ink can be used with pens or brushes.

Installation This term is used in art to mean any work that is designed to be set up for viewing by the public. It is often designed for a specific site. They were first used in art in the 1970's and are still being done today. They are not as common today perhaps because of their unsalability. Most are only installed for a short time and then either moved or dismantaled. They can include any number or type of objects and activities imaginable. Some of the artists involved are Joseph Beuys, Daniel Buren, and Donald Lipski.

Intaglio Any print or printing process that uses the idea of the ink being in recessed grooves in the plate. The plates are inked and then wiped. The print is made by pressing a damp print paper in the plate and the ink is drawn up out of the grooves and onto the paper. Some of the processes included in this category are etching, engraving, drypoint, and photogravure.

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Junk Sculpture Mostly known in the 1950's. Really started by Kurt Schwitters, the German Dada artist, who made assemblages from things found in the streets after World War I. As an art form it seemed to gain speed during the period after World War II with the manufacture of so much throwaway merchandise by the United States. These products were glued and welded together to make artwork which made varying statements on our culture.

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Kinetic Sculpture Any sculpture that contains moving parts. It started with the Dada artist, Marcel Duchamp, with his spinning bicycle wheel on a stool in 1913. The root of this style is connected by the interest in modern technology. This art form was most popular during the 1950's and 1960's. Today, it is still being carried on by some and is including work with lasers, computers and other high-tech methods. Two of the founders were Jean Tinguely and George Rickey. Kitsch This term refers to the "low-art" artifacts of everyday life. Paintings of Elvis on velvet, lamps from the statue of David, and clocks in statues of Budda. The term comes from the German verkitschen meaning "to make cheap." It has been made popular in the years since the beginning of pop art. These objects are now revered by collectors as "camp" making low art into high art.

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Lay Figure Mannequin . Used to study and draw from when a model is not possible. There are lay figures of people and of some animals, such as horses.

Lightfast The ability of a substance, usually paint, to withstand exposure to daylight with out fading. This is a term found on tubes of paint. Remember, the term "lightfast" on a tube of artist's paint is a guarantee of permanence under normal conditions. The same term on a can of industrial paint or when referring to inks, only means the product is lightfast for the purpose it was intended. Not for artwork.

Limited Edition This is when the artist promises to not make more than a specified amount of prints. In the old days of printing the artist would destroy the plate or stone that the print was made from so no more could be made. This is still true today of the traditional printing methods, but most prints are made by offset photolithography, called lithographs, and since they are produced by the means of photographing an original, the buyer only has the word of the artist. An edition can be of any length. For the most part, really fine art prints are limited to 200 to 300 prints. Most of the offset prints are more in the area of 1000 copies. Some are far larger than that. There is no limit to the number of prints that could be made on a modern press. In the old days, the number of prints was very limited and the higher the number the poorer the print. However, today, with photo offset the last one is just the same as the first.

Linseed Oil An extraction from the seed of the flax plant, the same plant that is used to make linen for canvas. See Oil Painting, Mediums, Varnishes and Solvents.

Liquin A painting medium manufactured by Winsor & Newton. It is excellent when used with oils or alkyds. It speeds up the drying of oils, makes them more brushable, and gives gloss. Also adds transparency. Very good for glazing. It also resists yellowing.

Lithograph This is a printing process based on the fact that oil and water don't mix. It originated in Solnhofen, Germany where in 1798, Alois Senefelder discovered that when a greasy crayon was used to draw on a smooth limestone surface and then the surface was covered with water and then with ink, the ink would only stick to the stone where the greasy crayon had drawn marks. Paper could then be pressed on this surface and a print made of the drawing The process was soon refined and rapidly became a favorite printing method of and for artists. It was used by such greats as Goya, Daumier, GŽricault, Delacroix, Degas, Munch, Toulouse-Lautrec. In the twentieth century it has been used by such artists as Picasso and Miro. Lithography is sometimes confused with the photomechanical printing method of Offset Lithography. This is a very big mistake. The process of traditional lithography is a very time consuming and delicate work. The photomechanical process is the one used for almost all printing today from magazines to newspapers to the fine art prints sold in most galleries. The only difference between the fine art printing and the newspaper is the quality of the paper and the care given to the printing process.

Luminism The depiction of light in a painting. Any school of painting where the central theme is the depiction of lighting effects, such as pointillism and impressionism.

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Manipulated Photography Any photograph that has been altered by any means. The attempt here is to enhance the effect of the photograph by further manipulation. This has been used as an art form since the mid 1970's.

Mat Matting is the most popular way to protect works on paper when framing. There are many companies providing a wide range of colors and surfaces in various grades from standard to museum quality. Mats are cut into frames to be put in heavier frames so the artwork will be protected from the elements and from any of the surfaces that might harm it.

Masstone Sometimes called body color. This is the hue that is seen when a pile of the paint is sitting alone.

Mastic A resin from the pistachio tree and is from the Mediterranean areas of southern Europe. In painting, it is used to the making of varnishes. It adds in paint manipulation and gives a glossy finish but will bloom, darken and yellow so is inferior to most other varnishes. It was used in the nineteenth century in a mixture called Meglip, but the paintings in which it was used were subject to defects. Not to be used as a medium

Maul Stick A wooden stick of various length, usually about 2 feet, with a wooden or cloth ball at one end. The end is put on a dry section of the painting and the stick is used as a support, upon which the brush hand can be rested to steady the brush.

Mezzotint A relief printing method that reverses the engraving process. A metal plate is abraded with a special tool and is made to have an overall burr. It would print a solid soft black. The design is then made by smoothing the surface with a burnisher so that it will not print in the burnished areas. The name comes from the combination of the Italian words mezzo, meaning half, and tinta, meaning tone. This combination giving the word mezzotint, or halftone. This is the unique property of this method in that with varying degrees of burnishing, different degrees of darkness can be achieved. The main drawbacks to this method is the lack of fine detail and the labor of preparing the steel plate.

Mineral Spirits See Mediums, Varnishes, and Solvents

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Naive Art Artwork that is produced by artists without formal training. Probably the best-known artist of this type is Grandma Moses. The style is generally childlike and innocent, but will have an unusual sensitive touch and a natural understanding of composition and spatial organization. This style should not be confused with folk art. Folk art contains functional forms that are specific to a culture.

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Oil of Cloves From the blossoms of the clove tree. Very light in hue. The darker comes from the branches. For painting, it is used to make oil painting mediums. It is very slow drying and should be used sparingly in "alla prima" techniques. It is sometimes used in restoration work.

Oleopasto An alkyd resin based substance manufactured by Winsor & Newton. Excellent for adding body to oil or alkyd paints. Can also be used as an extender. It will reduce the drying times when used with oils. (I like to mix it with white to speed up the drying).

Op Art Short for optical art. This term was coined in 1964 by George Rickey. This style is abstract by nature and is based on trying to cause the illusion of movement with a stationary two dimensional surface. It reached its peak in popularity in the mid 1960's and then soon faded away but enjoyed a small resurgence in the 1980's. Some of the artists involved were Bridget Riley, Yaacov Agam, and Victor Vasarely.

Opaque The amount of transparency of a color or surface. The amount of light a surface will let go through it. All colors that have white added have a certain amount of opacity.

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Photomontage A collage technique that uses parts of photographs. One artist known for this is David Hockney.

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Realism Art which is an accurate depiction of nature. This is a term that is used in the most general sense. The term originated in the mid nineteenth-century, in France, when the painter Gustave Courbet said that since he had never seen an angel he could certainly never paint one. He devoted his life to painting the life around him.

Realism was a big part of the art world until the 1950's when it was almost eliminated from critical consideration. It resurfaced in the 1960's with Pop art and the new realism. Today, realism is still a big part of the art world and is argued all the time as to its merits. Sometimes there is a very fine line between realism in hight art and hack art.

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Scratchboard A cardboard coated with gesso and then with a dark color such as India ink. The drawing is then done by scratching into the dark surface to expose the white board. This will give the look of a wood engraving. There are various tools that can be used to do the scratching. Some fit in standard pen holders. Scratchboard was introduced in the 19th century and is used mostly in commercial art.

Scumble Scumbling is the technique of putting a semi-dry paint over an existing dry paint in such a way as to create a haze. This is done with semi-opaque or opaque paint, and is used mostly in oil and acrylic painting.

Shade The property of a color that is the darkness of the color. When a color is darker than it is in its pure form, it is said to be a shade of that color.

Siccative Metallic salts that are mixed with paint to speed up the drying process. They should be used sparingly. They can cause cracking and brittleness.

Stand Oil See Mediums, Varnishes, and Solvents

Surrealism A term that is much abused and misused nowadays. It was coined in 1917, but was really given birth by the French poet AndrŽ Breton in 1924 when he defined it as "pure psychic automatism by which it is intended to express..... the true function of thought. Thought dictated in the absence of all control exerted by reason, and outside all aesthetic or moral preoccupations." Surrealism followed hard on the heels of Dada. It was a psychological approach to Dada art. It went in two directions in the 1920's, one the dream world of painters like Salvador Dali which were painted in precise realist style, the other, was the work of painters such as Joan Mir— and AndrŽ Masson. These were loosely drawn figures or form shown in shallow space. The last official surrealist painter was Ashile Gorky working in New York. Other painters of note are Jean Arp, Max Ernst, Man Ray, Yves Tanguy, Remedios Varo, Pablo Picasso, and RenŽ Magritte.

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Tanagra Figurines Small painted terra-cotta statuettes from ancient Greece. Usually depicting every day life. Named after a small town in Boeotia that was an important site of their production in the latter part of the 4th and 3rd century B.C.

Terra Cotta A baked clay. It is usually a redish-brown in color. The word really means, baked earth. This clay is used by many sculptors and potters. It is also used in the manufacturing of some roof tiles. It has excellent shaping and molding qualities.

Tint The property of a color that is the lightness of the color. When a color is lighter than it is in its pure form, it is said to be a tint of that color.

Thalo Blue The American trade name for the paint pigment known as phthalocyanne blue and green.

Thalo Red The American trade name used to denote the pigment called quinacridone red when it is of the scarlet or yellowish shade.

Triptych A set of three paintings, related in subject and set side by side. Originally used as altarpieces. Works in this style date from the medieval time. Today, we see the style used in many decorative paintings.

Trompe l'oeil A French term meaning deception of the eye. In painting it is used to classify paintings that are painted so realisticly as to fool the viewer into thinking the objects in the painting are not painted, but real. One of the famous painters in the style is the 19th century painter, William Michael Harnett.

Turpentine See Mediums, Varnishes, and Solvents

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Undertone The property of a color that can be seen when it is mixed with a large amount of white into a tint or spread very thin on a surface such as a watercolor wash. The stronger the undertone, the more pigment in the paint.

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Varnish See Mediums, Varnishes, and Solvents

Veduta A depiction of a whole or large portion of a town or city. Paranesi's engravings of Rome are a good example. A venduta ideata is a scene which is realistically conceived but is completely imaginary.

Venetian School The painters leading the development of oil painting in Venice during the 16th century. Characterized by paintings with a rich glowing warmth caused by the building up of layers. These painters also were pioneers in the use of secular subjects. Among the leading artists of this school were Giorgione, Bellini, Titian, and Tintoretto.

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Walnut Oil A natural drying oil. Used in the mixing and grinding of oil colors. Yellows less than linseed oil, but more than safflower oil. This makes it good for making light colors. It dries relatively fast, but is very expensive.

Whiting Chalk . Made from calcium carbonate, derived from limestone or dolomite. Whiting can come in various grades of coarseness. For painting, it is used in the making of gesso.

Wood Engraving A relief printing technique where a block of wood is incised with a special tool to create the printing surface. The wood is cut transversely to create an end grain. Only very hard wood is used, such as box wood or red maple. The drawing is transferred to the surface and then the cutting is done. The design is made by the nonprinting area of the block.

Woodcut A relief printing technique in which the printing surface is carved with special tools in a solid block of wood. The wood is cut longitudinally from the tree so the grain runs the length of the block. The block is cut and then inked with a brayer or dabber. The paper is then placed in the block and the whole thing is run through a press or rubbed over by a baren or the bowl of a large spoon. This art form was developed in Europe in the 14th century. The oldest prints from wood blocks are playing cards.

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