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Writer's pictureGurjas Chugh

25 terms you need to know as an artist

Updated: Feb 5, 2022





1. ALKYDS


Alkyd is a term commonly spoken by oil painters. It is fast drying like acrylic paints, but it can be of brilliant use to those who use many layers and glazes to give the painting a finishing touch.


2. ALLA PRIMA


Alla Prima, in simple words, is painted on paint, it is also known as wet on wet. It is a technique in painting where painters apply layers on wet paint, and blend it on layers accordingly, giving it a special effect.




3. BLEEDING


Bleeding refers to the situation where one paint leaks into the other, when the colors mix, in most cases, accidentally. One paint bleeds into the other, referring to how one paint mixed with another in a fluid state.





4. BLENDING


Blending is a term used both in paintings and pencil/charcoal sketches. It is a process in which the mixing of two shades of colors, two gradients gradually takes place to not leave any lines/differentiating texture behind.






5. CARICATURE


The caricature is basically a rough sketch of a person, with some of their features represented in a hyperbolic sense, to give them a touch of humor and sarcasm. It is mostly used in magazines/newspapers/political articles.





6. CHARCOAL


It is used by sketch artists. It is the residue that's left behind after carbon is extensively heated. Its extremely dark color, as well as a powdery texture, are used as per the sketch.











7. CONTOUR DRAWING


When we talk about diagrams, we think of perfectly measured lines and how their exact shape is given importance. Well, that's a part of contour drawing, where instead of the coloring or shading, only lines varying in thickness are used to outline and/or fill a figure.





8. EXTENDER


The extender is a part of the tool kit of a sketch artist, which is basically a holder usually made of metal, to hold/grip the pencil when it becomes too short to perfectly fit in your hands. It becomes an extension of the pencil at its end and lets you work with ease.



9. FIXATIVES


Fixatives are the sprays/fluids used to give a safety cover over them. They are used over those paintings or sketches that are prone to smudge over time. Fixatives give permanence to their beauty, just like their name, they fix it right there.



10. GRADATION


To understand the color palette, you need to understand gradation. Gradation is the gradual transition of one color to another, the transition of one shade into another, or transition in the hues of colors.





11. HATCHING


Hatching is a technique known to sketch artists. It is drawing really close, parallel lines over a particular area, the closeness of lines/overlapping of lines depends upon how dark/light the effect has to be.










12. ILLUSTRATION


The visual representation of a concept, a situation, a certain idea, by creating art related to it/about its aspects, is called illustration. It can be done for social/political views or personal emotions.







13. IMPASTO


The effect of paint that remains on the sheet or canvas when thick layers of paints are applied and aren't spread further, using brushes or knives, is known as impasto.





14. DRAWING FRAME


The drawing frame is the frame with wires and/or threads stretched across each other as to be in proportionate squares that the artist desires. It eases the artist's comfort and also makes the measurements more accurate.



15. HIGHLIGHT


Highlight as the name suggests is a slightly lighter or the lightest shade/tone/hue used in a painting to highlight the overall art. It gives it the exact tint needed to make the art come alive.



16. LEAD


We've all heard of lead pencils. Lead refers to the rod inside those pencils, a mixture of graphite and carbon. It is commonly used by sketch artists.



17. MEDIUM


Medium is an umbrella term for what you use in your art such as Charcoal, oil, water, etc. are the media in art, the very foundation of it. Also, you'd hear these quite frequently.



18. LINEAR PERSPECTIVE


Linear perspective, illusionary effects are created using lines parallel to each other, which converge at the vanishing point. The art showing railway tracks, skylines, and many such scapes are done through linear perspective.




19. PALLETE KNIFE/PAINTING KNIFE


Pallete knife/painting knife is a metal blade with a thick flat surface used to mix different shades of paint. It can also be utilized so that it can leave three-dimensional effects of paint on the canvas.





20. MONOCHROME


"Mono" meaning one/singular, itself explains the art form. Monochrome paintings are the ones done with different values/tones of a single color. It is usually done by the shades of black or white but can be done using other colors as well.






21. STYLUS


A stylus is a tool used by sketch artists/charcoal artists as an extender for their charcoal. Usually made of metal, it is used when the charcoal stick becomes too short to be held in comfort.



22. PRIMARY COLORS


Primary shades of colors are something we've all been taught in school and here's a revision. The three primary colors are Red, yellow, and blue. They can't be made using any other shades of color, hence the name.



23. SECONDARY COLORS


Secondary colors, green, orange, violet, are the ones that can be made by mixing the primary colors. Blue and yellow mixed together form the color green, red and yellow form orange, while blue and red together form violet/purple.




24. TERTIARY COLORS


Tertiary colors are those which are made by adding one of the primary colors in a higher proportion to alter the value of the shade made. More proportion of red in yellow for example will make a deeper shade of orange.



25. TINT


Tint refers to lightening a color using white tones. The colors like light blue, light green, lilac, lavender are all examples of this.





TELL US IN THE COMMENT SECTION IF THESE TERMS ENHANCED YOUR ARTISTIC DICTIONARY, ALSO IF THERE'S ANYTHING WE MISSED OUT ON DO MENTION THAT TOO BELOW!


Wishing You A 'Creative Escape' Ahead!



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