Glossary of Terms A foray into the art world can be
confusing at the best of times! So I though I'd throw in a glossary of terms to help you to understand some obscure "art words" If you have any to ad, please let me know! Art: Originally painted on cave walls to tell of Mammoth hunts, now hangs on walls to tell of mammoth tax refund. (that's how we could afford it.) Acrylic paint: Essentially the same as oil paints, the difference being acrylic uses pigment in a polymer binder, a bit like colour pigment powder in PVA glue. Acrylics also dry a lot quicker than oils. Brushes:
Usually made of pig bristles, but are also made of horse hair, squirrel fur, sable (member of the Mink family) and now days mainly synthetic. Canvas: What the painting is created on. The canvas is usually stretched over a frame or stretcher bar and secured with staples. On smaller works, I glue the canvas to MDF board. Canvas is usually made of either cotton or linen.
This is then primed with Gesso, a mixture of white paint containing Gypsum. Cadmium red/ yellow: Brilliant red colour, derived from the element Cadmium. Highly toxic, it is reportedly what sent a lot of artists mad! (most don't have far to go! Chiropractor:
Health care professional, kept in steady work by artists. Dog: An artist's best friend and usually the only one who will tolerate him/her. Also the name of a painting that is not real good! Easel:
An upright tripod or other free standing structure that holds a canvas or board while painting. Also something an artist is usually chained to as punishment for sins in a previous life. Frame: Most picture frames now days are made of softwoods imported from SE Asia. Unfortunately, the plantation timber framing is more expensive, so the softwoods are logged illegally in
Malaysia and Indonesia. Synthetic mouldings have been around for more than 10 years and are quite good in quality, but are yet to capture the market. Foam core: A light sheet material made of polystyrene sandwiched between layers of white cardboard. Used as a backing board for works under glass. Gesso: a mixture of white paint containing Gypsum, used for preparing canvasses before painting. Glazing: A transparent layer of colour or wash, used to give a painting a glowing or "glassy" appearance. Giclee:
giclée - French for "sprayed ink." A sophisticated printmaking process, today typically produced on an IRIS or ink-jet printer, capable of producing millions of colours using continuous tone technology. Also a print resulting from this process, also called an Iris print. Hangers: People who hang around artists, usually with nothing better to do! Also, small
bracket or wire loops, screwed to the back of frames or canvases, then strung or wired, so as to hang from a hook. Impasto: A thick application of paint, usually applied with a palette knife or brush. Impasto medium is an additive with gives paint a thicker structure
Job: Something most artists don't have, but probably need to pay the bills. Knob: :Thing that drops off if you eat too much cadmium paint. Lithograph: A print, produced by pressing an etching plate, covered with ink, onto paper or cardboard. This is the
standard way most mass produced art prints and consumer printing (milk cartons, cereal boxes etc.) are produced. Usually printed in a 4 or 5 colour process (a separate plate for each colour.) Mouldings: Another name for picture framing. Usually denotes the raw framing, uncut in a 3-4m length. Nag: Something an artist's partner does when they don't paint! Oil paint or oils: Pigment powders in a suspension of oil based binders. these are usually thinned with turps or linseed oil and typically take from a day, to weeks to dry. The earliest paints were Tempura, pigment powder mixed with egg whites. Pallete knife: a small, offset blunt knife, used for mixing paints and applying thick "impasto" style effects. A bit like a miniature brickies trowel. Pastels: Essentially sticks of high quality chalk, usually applied to rough papers and sealed and framed under glass.
Rubber: handy thing for erasing mistakes and family planning. Sable: an animal of the Mink family that is used for making very soft, fine brushes, also called Kolinsky. Stucco: Something that happens to my cd's when I'm painting. Turps: Thing the artist drinks while painting, oh and washes brushes in too. Underpainting
: Where you use a different colour beneath the final colour for a contrasting effect. Varnish: A final layer of transparent paint, usually turps based, to seal the painting and add a gloss or mat finish. Watercolour:
water based pigment paints, usually applied to thick papers or compressed rag, gives a translucent appearance and the colours are built up in layers. Xpression: Thing you stick on someone's face when you paint them. Yellow: Colour which is not blue Zoloft: Thing you take when youve had enough of painting | 
