Art Terms
Pastel
A drawing medium of dried paste made of ground pigments and a water-based binder that is manufactured in crayon form. Pastel is the simplest and purest method of painting, since pure color is used without a fluid medium and the crayons are applied directly to the pastel paper. Pastels are known as painting, rather than drawings, because color are applied in quantity rather than drawn in lines.
Patina
A thin greenish layer, usually basic copper sulfate, that forms on copper or copper alloys, such as bronze, as a result of corrosion. You can apply a chemical solution to derive different colored patinas on new bronze. Bronzes can be painted with lacquer and acrylic.
Perspective
The effect of distance upon the appearance of three-dimensional objects, by means of which the eye recognized them as being at a more or less measurable distance. Also defined as the appearance of things relative to one another as determined by their (the object's) distance from the viewer.
Pochoir
A stencil-brush process used to create multicolor prints, for tinting black and white prints, and for coloring reproductions; especially fine and limited editions. Pochoir, which is the French word for stencil, is sometimes called hand coloring or hand illustration.
Pointillism
A postimpressionist school of painting was exemplified by Georges Seurat (1859-1891) and his follower, Paul Signac (1863-1935), in the 19th-century France Pointillistic paintings are characterized by the application of paint in small dots and brush strokes. Most images are clearly visible from a distance when the viewer's eye can blend colors to create visual masses.
Realism
The representation in art or literature of objects, actions, or social conditions as they actually are, without idealization or presentation in abstract form.
Remarque
A current practice of some artists is a small mark or personalized drawing near a signature in the lower margin of a painting.
Repoussoir
Repoussoir is derived comes from the French verb meaning to push back. Repoussoir is a means of achieving perspective or special contrasts by the use of illusionistic devices such as the placement of a large figure. An example would be Schafer. Schafer's paintings typically have three distinct appeals. The primary one is a strong artistic merit, arising from a good sense of composition and color, and an overall feeling of having succeeded in capturing the impression and mood of the original scene. |
