(aka Art terminology)
Acrylic
Water-based plastic paint consisting of pigments bound in an acrylic resin mixture. Can be thinned with water while wet, but become tough and water resistant once dry.
Aquatint
A type of etching in which a ground of fine particles is used. A porous ground coats a metal plate, which is then immersed in acid allowing an even biting of the plate. The resulting image has a grainy and textural effect.
Artist’s Proof
The artist’s proof (also referred to as simply AP) typically refers to the first print pulled by the artist, taken to see the current state of the plate during the production process. Some say this is more valuable than the editions.
Charcoal
Charcoal refers to the drawing utensil employed by artists as a medium for sketches, finished works, and under-drawings for paintings. The black and crumbly nature of charcoal produces a freer and less dense line than graphite.
Collage
The word collage derives from the French, coller, which means to glue. Here a work of art is created by clipping and adhering flat articles, such as photographs, newspaper and fabric, to a two-dimensional surface.
Diptych
Simply put a diptych is a drawing or painting in two parts. The word diptych comes from the greek root ‘dis’, meaning two, and ‘ptykhe’, meaning ‘fold’, and was the name of the folding writing tablets used in Roman times. Usually are the same size whether that be landscape or portrait. It is sometimes a continuous but divided image, or may be composed of separate, closely related images.
Edition
Set of prints, photographs or sculptures, made from a single image off one plate, negative, or mold, and numbered consecutively. For example, a piece marked 20/100 is the 20th print out of 100 prints which were produced. These editions vary in size, and artists often choose to duplicate impressions on different types of paper or color states.
Etching
A method of printmaking in which a design has been incised by acid into a metal plate. The plate is first coated with an acid-resistant substance through which the design is drawn with a sharp tool. It is then exposed to nitric acid, which eats away at the unprotected areas. After the protective ground is removed, the lines that remain hold the ink and create the final design as it is pressed into paper.
Giclée Print
Giclée is a type of digital fine-art print most often associated with reproductions; a giclée is a multiple print or exact copy of an original work of art that was created by conventional means (painting, drawing, etc.) and then reproduced digitally, typically via inkjet printing. In giclee printing, no screen or other mechanical devices are used and therefore there is no visible dot screen pattern. The image has all the tonalities and hues of the original painting. Giclée printers use special light-fast inks, which, if kept out of the sun, will remain true for up to 25 years. The way the image is scanned is different also. The original is scanned directly on a drum scanner.
Intaglio
Intaglio includes the engraving, etching and drypoint methods of printmaking, and is produced via cuts made in a metal surface. These incised areas are then filled with ink and rolled through a press, thus transferring an image to paper. All intaglio prints have platemarks.
Lithography
Lithography is a method of printmaking based on the concept of the repulsion of oil and water. In this process, the artist uses a grease-based chalk to draw an image on stone. An oil-based ink is then applied to the stones surface allowing the ink to stick to the greased areas of the stone. The stone is then inked, and the image is transferred to paper, after being run through a press.
Mixed Media
An artwork that consists of more than one medium. A mixed media painting has multiple media to create a final piece eg. a work on canvas that combines paint, collage, and ink is considered a mixed media painting. The same can be said for art installations and collages that employ found objects such as wood, rocks, cuttings which are then used in conjunction with traditional artistic media such as paints and graphite.
Oeuvre
An artist’s “body of work” is their oeuvre. The term is commonly used by museums and curators, the interested public, the art patron, private art collector community and galleries.
Oil Paint
This term refers to the technique developed during the 15th and 16th centuries in which slow drying paint is made by mixing color pigments with an oil base.
Provenance
The history or exact record of ownership for a work of art. The provenance of a work of art helps museum staff, curators, gallerists and auction houses determine valuation and authenticity.
Triptych
A triptych from the Greek adjective (“three-fold”), from tri is “three” together with ptysso is “to fold”) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open.
Works on Paper
Works on Paper include artworks drawn, painted or otherwise created on paper using a variety of media.