Art Glossary

Acrylic painting uses synthetic polymer emulsion as a binder. Learn how Pollock, Rothko, and Hockney adopted a mid-20th-century medium that dries in minutes and resists water.

A binder is the substance that holds pigment particles together and adheres them to a surface. From animal glue to linseed oil to acrylic, learn binder history and types.

Bone black, or ivory black, is a carbon pigment made from charred animal bones. Used since antiquity, it remains one of the oldest and most enduring black pigments in art.

Bronze is a copper-tin alloy used for casting sculpture since 3000 BCE. From the Riace Warriors to Rodin, bronze has been the premier metal for figurative sculpture.

The artist's brush applies paint to surface. Learn brush types (round, flat, filbert, fan), hair types (hog, sable, synthetic), and the history from ancient Egypt to today.

Cadmium pigments produce the most vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds in painting. Learn their history from 1818 to today, why they degrade, and how artists from Van Gogh to Pollock used them.

A canvas panel is primed canvas glued to a rigid backing like MDF or hardboard. Learn its history from Impressionist plein air studies to modern mass-produced panels.

Canvas is the woven fabric surface used for oil and acrylic painting. Learn its history from 15th-century Venice to modern cotton duck, types, weights, and how to choose canvas.

Carbon black is the pigment from burnt organic matter, used in cave paintings for 40,000 years. Learn its history, types from charcoal to lamp black, and how artists used it.

Casein is paint made from milk protein, used since ancient Egypt. Learn how Klimt, Warhol, and Native American artists used a fast-drying medium that dries hard and matte.

Chalk is a soft drawing material made from natural minerals: black shale, red iron oxide, and white calcite. Learn how Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Watteau used chalk and the trois crayons technique.

Charcoal is burnt organic matter used for drawing since prehistory. Learn vine vs compressed charcoal, techniques from blending to fixative, and artists from Da Vinci to Kathe Kollwitz.

Clay is the primary modeling material for sculpture, fired into earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. Used for over 30,000 years, it remains the most versatile and accessible sculptural medium.

Cold pressed paper is watercolor paper with a lightly textured surface, the most popular choice for watercolor. Learn how it works, its history, and why 80% of painters prefer it.

Conté crayons are compressed graphite or charcoal mixed with clay, invented in 1795 during the Napoleonic Wars. Learn how Seurat used them and why artists still choose them over soft pastels.

The easel is the upright support that holds a painting while the artist works. Learn its history from ancient Egypt to modern studio designs, types, and how to choose one.

Encaustic is painting with pigmented hot beeswax, an ancient technique used for Egyptian mummy portraits. Learn how the Fayum painters and Jasper Johns used molten wax as paint.

Fixative is a spray applied over charcoal, pastel, and pencil drawings to prevent smudging. From Loriot's 18th-century secret to modern acrylic sprays, learn its history.

Gesso is the white primer applied before painting to seal and prepare the surface. Learn its history from medieval gypsum grounds to modern acrylic gesso and how to use it.

Gouache is opaque watercolor made with heavier pigment and chalk filler. Learn how Durer, Goya, and Matisse used a medium that lets you paint light over dark on paper.

Graphite is a crystalline carbon used for drawing since the 1500s. Learn graphite grades from 9H to 9B, its Borrowdale origins, and how artists use it today.

The ground is the preparatory layer applied to a painting support before painting. From medieval gesso to modern acrylic primer, learn its history, types, and function.

Hot pressed paper is watercolor paper pressed through heated rollers for a smooth surface. Learn how it works, its history, and why botanical illustrators and realists prefer it.

Illustration board is paper mounted to a rigid backing, creating a warp-resistant surface for drawing and painting. Learn its history, types, and why illustrators and plein air painters use it.

Impasto mediums are additives that thicken oil and acrylic paint for visible texture. Learn what they contain, how they work, and how Rembrandt and Van Gogh used them.

Indigo is a blue dye extracted from plants, prized for 5,000 years as blue gold. Learn its history from ancient India to Mayan blue, its synthesis in 1880, and its role in art.

Ink wash is painting with ink diluted in water to create tonal gradations. Learn how Wang Wei, Sesshu Toyo, and contemporary artists use a medium where every stroke is permanent.

Lead white was the most important white pigment in European painting for two millennia. Learn its history, why it was so valued, and how its toxicity led to its replacement.

Lightfastness measures how well a pigment resists fading under light. Learn how the Blue Wool scale, ASTM ratings, and microfade testing protect art from irreversible color loss.

Linseed oil is the drying oil that binds pigment in oil paint. From Van Eyck to Rembrandt to modern conservation science, learn how it works and why it matters.

A mahl stick is a padded stick that steadies a painter's hand while working on detail. Learn its history from 16th-century studios to Vermeer and why some painters still use one.

Marble is a metamorphic limestone used for sculpture since ancient Greece. Its translucency and workability made it the preferred material for carving from the Parthenon to Michelangelo's David.

A painting medium is any substance added to paint to change its properties. From stand oil and dammar to modern alkyd gels, learn how mediums shape oil painting.

Mummy brown was a brown pigment made from ground Egyptian mummies, used by European painters from the 16th to the 19th century. Discontinued in 1964 when the supply of mummies ran out.

Naples yellow is lead antimoniate, one of the oldest synthetic pigments known. First used in Egyptian glass around 1500 BCE, it shaped painting from the Renaissance to the 19th century.

Ochre is the oldest known pigment, used by humans and Neanderthals for 300,000 years. Learn its history from prehistoric caves to modern painting, how it is made, and why it endures.

Oil painting is pigment suspended in drying oil, most often linseed. Learn how Van Eyck, Rembrandt, and Monet used the slow-drying medium that dominated European art for 500 years.

The collapsible paint tube, patented in 1841, made plein air painting practical. From Rand to Renoir to Monet, learn how a tin tube reshaped art history.

The palette knife is a flat-bladed tool for mixing and applying paint. Learn its history from medieval amassettes to Van Gogh, Courbet, and contemporary impasto painting.

A painting panel is a rigid wood or composite surface for painting, the dominant support before canvas. Learn its history from Byzantine icons to modern MDF, types, and how to choose one.

Pastel is a stick of pure pigment held together with minimal binder. Learn how Degas layered pastels with fixative, how La Tour built portraits in the 18th century, and why pastel blurs drawing and painting.

The pencil is graphite mixed with clay, encased in wood. Learn pencil grades from 9H to 9B, the history from 1564 Borrowdale graphite to Conté's clay process, and how artists use them.

Pigment is the colored substance used in paint, from prehistoric ochre to synthetic cadmiums. Learn its history, chemistry, types, and why some pigments last centuries.

Plaster is calcium sulfate used for casting sculpture and making molds since ancient Egypt. From death masks to Renaissance reliefs to Rodin's models, plaster is sculpture's most versatile intermediate.

The plein air easel, or French easel, is a portable box easel with built-in storage that made outdoor painting practical. From the Barbizon School to today, learn its history.

Rag paper is paper made from cotton or linen rags, valued for its archival quality and strength. Learn its history from medieval China to modern watercolor paper and why it outlasts wood pulp.

Rough paper is watercolor paper with the heaviest texture, left to dry with minimal pressing. Learn how it creates dramatic granulation, its history, and why landscape painters prefer it.

Sap green is a yellow-green pigment made from buckthorn berries, used in medieval manuscripts and 18th-century watercolors. Its poor lightfastness led to its replacement by modern pigment mixtures.

Sizing is the sealant applied to canvas or paper before gesso or ground to prevent oil penetration. Learn the history of rabbit skin glue sizing and why PVA size replaced it.

Solvents thin paint, dissolve resins, and clean brushes. From turpentine to mineral spirits to citrus solvents, learn the history and science of painting solvents.

A stump, or tortillon, is a rolled paper tool used to blend charcoal, graphite, and pastel. Learn the difference between stumps and tortillons, how to use them, and why they give artists precise control over tonal transitions.

Tempera is paint made with egg yolk as a binder, the dominant medium in European painting before oil. Learn how Botticelli, Fra Angelico, and Andrew Wyeth used this ancient technique.

Terracotta is fired unglazed clay, used for sculpture from the Nok culture to Renaissance Italy. Its versatility and affordability made it the most widely used sculptural medium in history.

Titanium white is the most opaque white pigment ever made, replacing lead white in the 20th century. Learn its history, how it changed painting, and why it matters for dating art.

Tooth is the surface roughness of paper, canvas, or panel that grips pigment. Learn why pastelists, watercolorists, and oil painters depend on tooth for adhesion and layering.

Turpentine is the traditional solvent distilled from pine resin, used to thin oil paint and clean brushes. From Old Masters to modern safer alternatives, learn its history.

Ultramarine is the deep blue pigment ground from lapis lazuli, once worth more than gold. Learn its history, how artists used it, and why synthetic versions changed painting.

Varnish is the transparent coating applied over finished paintings to protect and saturate the surface. From mastic to dammar to synthetic resins, learn its history.

The vehicle is the liquid that carries pigment in paint, combining binder and solvent. From linseed oil to gum arabic to acrylic polymer, learn how vehicles define paint types.

Vermilion is the brilliant red pigment made from cinnabar, a mercury ore mined for 9,000 years. Learn its history, toxicity, and how artists from Pompeii to Rothko used it.

Washi is traditional Japanese paper handmade from kozo, mitsumata, and gampi fibers. Learn its thousand-year history, how it is made, its role in art and conservation, and why it lasts.

Watercolor paper is thick, absorbent paper designed for water media. Learn its history, cotton vs. wood pulp fibers, weights from 90 lb to 300 lb, and how to choose the right surface.

Watercolor is transparent paint made of pigment and gum arabic, applied with water on paper. Learn how Durer, Turner, and Homer used a medium that rewards directness and punishes hesitation.

Wax is a modeling material and casting intermediate used in sculpture since ancient Greece. From lost-wax casting to anatomical models to death masks, wax has shaped art for 2,500 years.

Zinc white is a semi-transparent white pigment developed as a non-toxic alternative to lead white. Learn its history, why it causes conservation problems, and how artists used it.