Art Techniques: English Vocabulary List

a technique used in painting, where a layer of paint (usually in a monochromatic or neutral color) is applied to a canvas or other surface before the final layers of colors are added

"The underpainting was brown."

"The artist's skillful underpainting provided a solid foundation of tonal values before the vibrant colors were applied."

a technique used in drawing and painting that involves the use of small dots or markings to create a pattern or texture

"She used pouncing pattern."

"The textile designer utilized pouncing to transfer the intricate floral motif onto the fabric before embroidering it."

a technique used in drawing and painting that involves the use of light and dark tones to create a sense of depth and contrast

"He used chiaroscuro."

"The painter used dramatic chiaroscuro to create strong contrasts between light areas and dark shadows in the portrait."

a painting technique that involves diluting ink in water and applying it to a surface to create a range of shades and tones, from light to dark, to create a monochromatic painting

"He painted ink wash."

"The artist mastered ink wash, creating subtle atmospheric landscapes with varying dilutions of black ink on rice paper."

a technique used in drawing and painting that involves the use of textures to create a pattern or texture

"She used frottage texture."

"By placing paper over a rough surface and rubbing with a pencil, the artist created a unique texture through frottage."

a technique used in painting that involves the application of wet paint onto a wet surface

"She painted wet-on-wet."

"The watercolorist achieved soft, blended effects by applying wet paint directly onto a wet paper surface using the wet-on-wet technique."

a painting technique that involves applying paint to a surface using a brush without the use of stencils, rulers, or other tools to create a more spontaneous and expressive style

"Her freehand brush work was bold."

"The portrait's expressive quality was enhanced by the artist's confident and spontaneous freehand brush work."

a technique used in art, typically painting or graphics, in which various tints of a single color are used to create an illusion of shades and tones within the same color family

"The painting used camaieu."

"The artist employed camaieu to depict the subtle variations of light and shadow on the drapery using only shades of blue."

the various techniques used to shape and form clay into usable ceramic products like pots, vases, tiles, sculptures, and more

"She learned ceramic forming."

"The pottery class focused on various ceramic forming techniques, including wheel throwing and hand-building."

a decorative technique where a design is carved or cut into a surface, usually metal, and then filled with colorful enamel or other materials to make a raised pattern

"The jewelry used champleve."

"The intricate necklace featured a beautiful champleve design, with vibrant enamel filling the carved recesses of the gold."

a technique where an artist draws the outline of an object or figure without lifting their drawing tool from the paper

"He did contour drawing."

"The art student practiced contour drawing by sketching the profile of the model without ever taking their pencil off the page."

a phenomenon in visual perception where two curves or contours in the visual field compete for perceptual dominance

"Contour rivalry tricks eye."

"The optical illusion exploited contour rivalry, causing the viewer's brain to oscillate between perceiving a vase and two faces."

a drawing technique that involves using closely spaced parallel lines to indicate the form and shape of an object

"He used hatching lines."

"The artist achieved a sense of volume and shadow in the drawing through careful application of hatching."

a technique of creating decorative mosaic glass wall panels by embedding small square colored glass tiles into cement or plaster

"The church had dalle de verre."

"The cathedral's stunning stained glass windows were created using the dalle de verre technique, with thick glass pieces set in concrete."

the technique of depicting depth and distance in art by using color and tone to simulate the effects of atmosphere on the appearance of objects

"Aerial perspective makes far objects hazy."

"Aerial perspective makes distant objects hazy and less detailed to create a sense of depth."

a painting technique that uses water-soluble pigments to create transparent and luminous washes of color on paper or other absorbent surfaces

"Aquarelle is transparent watercolor."

"Aquarelle is a watercolor painting technique with transparent washes layered to create luminous effects."

a decorative metalwork technique that involves engraving or etching a low relief design onto a metal surface and then filling the grooves with translucent enamel to create a colorful and intricate design

"Basse-taille enamel over engraved metal."

"Basse taille is an enameling technique with light engraved metal showing through transparent enamel."

a technique used in art, printmaking, and bookbinding, which involves rubbing a smooth tool, such as a bone folder or agate burnisher, over a surface in order to create a polished or shiny finish

"Burnishing polishes surface to shine."

"Burnishing polishes a surface to make it shiny by rubbing with a smooth tool."

an abstract art technique in which paint is applied to a canvas by dripping or pouring the paint directly from the can or tube

"Drip painting lets paint fall."

"Drip painting lets paint flow and drip onto a canvas creating random organic patterns and lines."

an image or design that contains a smaller version of itself, appearing recursively within its own image

"Droste effect shows infinite recursion."

"The Droste effect shows an image within itself in infinite recursion like a picture of a picture."

a painting technique in which a brush with minimal paint is dragged across a surface to create textured lines and highlights

"Drybrush leaves textured broken marks."

"Drybrush uses a brush with very little paint to create a scratchy textured effect on rough surfaces."

the technique of applying thicker paint on top of thinner paint when painting, so that the layers stick together well and dry properly

"In oil painting, use fat over lean."

"The artist followed the fat over lean rule when painting with oil paints to prevent cracking."

a decorative technique that imitates other more expensive materials like stone, wood and metal by using paint

"Faux painting imitates other materials."

"Faux painting imitates materials like marble wood or stone using special painting techniques."

the art of painting using the fingers rather than brushes

"Finger-painting is messy."

"Children enjoyed finger-painting in art class."

a mural painting technique where pigments are applied to plaster that has dried or cured

"Fresco-secco paints on dry plaster."

"Fresco secco paints on dry plaster instead of wet plaster for murals and wall paintings."

the art of applying a thin layer of gold or silver to a surface to decorate and protect it

"Gilding applies thin gold leaf."

"Gilding applies thin gold leaf to a surface for decoration and to create a luxurious finish."

a Chinese brush painting technique using precise, deliberate brushstrokes to depict subjects in great detail

"Gongbi uses detailed brushwork."

"Gongbi is a detailed Chinese painting technique using fine brushwork with precise outlines and rich colors."

an artistic technique that involves scratching into wet paint with a sharp tool to create textured patterns and lines

"Grattage scrapes wet paint."

"Grattage scrapes wet paint to reveal layers underneath creating interesting textures and unexpected effects."

a painting technique using shades of gray or neutral color to depict a monochromatic scene that imitates a sculpture

"Grisaille uses only gray tones."

"Grisaille is a painting done entirely in shades of gray to simulate sculpture or relief."

a Japanese style of painting that uses sumi ink and water to create abstract, expressive brush strokes on paper

"Haboku is broken ink style."

"Haboku is a Japanese ink painting technique with broken splashed ink creating impressionistic landscape effects."

a method of composition used in art where the size and placement of figures and objects are arranged in a hierarchical structure

"Hierarchical proportion scales by importance."

"Hierarchical proportion sizes figures according to their importance rather than realistic scale in art."

a style of painting used in the Renaissance period in which a painted ceiling is designed to create the illusion of a three-dimensional space

"The church has a beautiful illusionistic ceiling painting."

"During the Renaissance, artists mastered illusionistic ceiling painting to make flat surfaces appear as if they opened up to the sky."

a sculpture technique in which a wax model is coated in a mold material, heated to melt out the wax, and then molten metal is poured into the empty mold to form the final sculpture

"Lost-wax casting molds metal precisely."

"Lost wax casting creates metal sculptures using a wax model that is melted away after molding."

an art form that uses small pieces of material, such as stone, glass or ceramic, arranged to form an image or pattern

"The floor was a beautiful mosaic of colored tiles."

"The ancient Roman mosaic floor depicted a scene of fishermen using tiny colored stones arranged in intricate patterns."

a Japanese clay technique in which contrasting pieces or textures of different colored clays are combined while wedged and rolled into a single form

"Nerikomi stacks colored clays."

"Nerikomi stacks and layers colored clays to create patterns throughout the body of ceramic pieces."

a method of perspective drawing in which the projection plane is oriented at an angle between the view direction and the horizontal plane

"Oblique projection shows front and side."

"Oblique projection shows the front face flat and sides receding diagonally in technical drawing."

an artistic technique in which gold or silver leaf is applied to a surface and then scraped away in patterns to create textures and designs

"Pholage scrapes gold leaf."

"The artist used pholage to create intricate patterns by carefully scraping away the applied gold leaf."

a decorative technique used in various crafts, including jewelry and enamel work, where a metal framework is filled with clear material, such as enamel or glass, allowing light to pass through and creating a stained glass-like effect

"Plique-a-jour creates stained glass effects."

"Plique a jour is enameling without a backing like stained glass creating translucent colorful patterns."

the ability to quickly imagine and mentally manipulate objects, scenes and logical relationships

"Rapid visualization sketches quickly."

"Rapid visualization sketches ideas quickly to explore designs without worrying about fine details."

a method of creating an image by applying pigment or graphite to the surface of textured material and then rubbing it with paper

"Rubbing transfers texture to paper."

"Rubbing transfers a raised texture onto paper by placing paper over a textured surface and rubbing."

a technique that involves blending or softening edges in a painting to create a "smoky" or hazy effect that evokes mystery and ambiguity

"Sfumato blurs edges softly."

"Sfumato blends colors and tones without sharp lines creating smoky atmospheric effects in painting."

a decorative technique in which designs are incised through the surface layer of plaster or paint to reveal a contrasting color underneath

"Sgraffito scratches through top layer."

"Sgraffito scratches through a top layer to reveal a different color underneath for decorative effects."

a painting technique in which paint that is kept under pressure in a container is sprayed on a surface

"Spray painting covers evenly."

"Spray painting applies paint through an atomizing device like a spray gun for even coverage."

a painting or drawing technique using small dots of color applied in patterns to create tones, textures and images

"Stippling uses dots for shading."

"Stippling uses small dots to create shading and texture building up values through dot density."

a method of applying an image or design to a different surface by using an intermediate material to which the image is first applied and then transferred

"Transfer technique moves images between surfaces."

"Transfer technique moves an image from one surface to another using carbon paper or heat."

a traditional Japanese painting technique where colors are dripped onto a still-wet surface to create a blending effect

"Tarashikomi pools wet ink."

"Tarashikomi pools wet ink or paint for a marbled effect by tilting the surface."

a painting created entirely in green

"Verdaille uses green monochrome."

"Verdaille is a monochrome painting using only shades of green to create a unified color scheme."