Visual Arts Techniques: Drawing, Painting, Printmaking & Ceramics

What is contour drawing?

Drawing the outline/edges of a subject, focusing on continuous line rather than shading

What is blind contour drawing?

Contour drawing done without looking at the paper, to train hand-eye coordination and observation

What is gesture drawing?

Quick, loose sketches meant to capture the movement, energy, or pose of a subject rather than detail

Hatching vs. crosshatching

Hatching = parallel lines used to create shading/value; crosshatching = overlapping sets of parallel lines at angles for deeper value

What is stippling?

Creating value/shading using small dots — denser dot clusters read as darker values

What is chiaroscuro?

The use of strong contrasts between light and dark to create the illusion of volume and drama

What is tenebrism?

An extreme, theatrical form of chiaroscuro with very dramatic dark/light contrast and a spotlight-like effect (associated with Caravaggio)

What is sfumato?

A painting technique (associated with da Vinci) that blends tones and colors so subtly there are no harsh outlines

What is impasto?

A technique where paint is applied thickly, often leaving visible brush or palette-knife strokes

What is glazing (in painting)?

Applying thin, transparent layers of paint over a dried layer to build up color depth and luminosity

What is underpainting?

An initial monochromatic layer used to establish values/composition before adding color

What is sgraffito?

Scratching through a top layer of paint or clay to reveal a different color/layer underneath

What is the dry brush technique?

Using a brush with very little paint/water to create textured, broken color effects

Wet-on-wet technique

Applying wet paint onto a still-wet layer, allowing colors to blend softly on the surface

What is alla prima?

Painting a work in one sitting, wet-on-wet, without letting layers dry in between

What is plein air painting?

Painting outdoors, directly from the observed landscape, rather than in a studio

What is trompe-l'oeil?

An extremely realistic painting technique designed to trick the eye into believing depicted objects are three-dimensional/real

What is foreshortening?

Distorting the proportions of a form (usually a figure) to create the illusion it is extending toward or away from the viewer

Linear perspective vs. atmospheric perspective

Linear = using converging lines and a vanishing point to show depth; atmospheric = using color/value shifts (hazier, cooler, lighter in the distance) to show depth

What is a vanishing point?

The point on the horizon line where parallel lines in linear perspective appear to converge

One-point vs. two-point perspective

One-point uses a single vanishing point on the horizon (good for roads, hallways); two-point uses two vanishing points on the horizon (good for corners of buildings viewed at an angle)

What is a horizon line?

The implied line representing the viewer's eye level, where vanishing points in linear perspective are placed

What is fresco painting?

A technique of painting with pigment directly onto wet plaster, so the color becomes part of the wall as it dries

What is encaustic painting?

A technique using pigment mixed with heated beeswax, applied to a surface while hot

What is gouache?

An opaque, water-based paint similar to watercolor but with added chalk/opacifiers for flat, matte coverage

What is egg tempera?

A fast-drying paint made by binding pigment with egg yolk, historically used before oil paint became widespread

What is a palette knife used for in painting?

Applying or scraping paint to create texture, often for impasto effects, instead of using a brush

What is a wash (in watercolor)?

A thin, diluted layer of paint applied broadly and evenly, often for backgrounds or skies

What is cross-contour line used for?

Lines that follow the surface/form of an object (like contour lines on a map) to describe its volume and curvature

What is a study (in drawing/painting)?

A preliminary drawing or sketch made to explore a composition, pose, or detail before a finished work

What is intaglio printmaking?

A process where the image is incised/etched below the surface of a plate, and ink is held in the recessed lines

What is relief printing?

A process where the image is raised and the background is carved away; ink sits on the raised surface (e.g., woodcut, linocut)

Linocut vs. woodcut

Both are relief prints; linocut is carved into linoleum (softer, easier to carve), woodcut is carved into wood (harder, often more textured grain)

What is lithography?

A printmaking process based on the chemical repulsion of oil and water on a flat stone or plate

What is screen printing (serigraphy)?

A stencil-based process where ink is pushed through a mesh screen onto the surface below

What is a monotype?

A one-of-a-kind print made by painting/inking a smooth plate and transferring the single image to paper

What is a monoprint?

A print made from a plate with some fixed/repeatable elements, but where each impression is unique (unlike a true edition)

What is a collagraph?

A print made from a plate built up with varied textured materials glued to a surface

What is frottage?

A technique of creating a textured image by rubbing a drawing medium over paper placed on a textured surface

Mezzotint vs. aquatint

Mezzotint = intaglio method using a roughened plate scraped smooth to create tonal gradations; aquatint = intaglio method using acid-resistant resin to create tonal areas rather than lines

What is a printmaking 'edition'?

A numbered, limited series of identical prints pulled from the same plate/matrix (e.g., 5/50)

What is a 'matrix' in printmaking?

The surface (plate, block, stone, or screen) from which a print is made

Why must text/images be carved in reverse for relief and intaglio printmaking?

Because the plate/block is pressed onto paper, the final printed image is a mirror image of the carved matrix

What is a 'proof' in printmaking?

A trial print pulled to check the image before finalizing the edition (e.g., an artist's proof)

What is registration in multi-color printmaking?

The precise alignment of separate print layers/colors so they line up correctly on the final print

What are the stages of clay?

Slip (liquid clay), plastic/wet clay, leather-hard, greenware (bone dry, unfired), bisqueware (fired once, unglazed), glazeware (glazed and fired again)

What is slip used for in ceramics?

Liquid clay used to join clay pieces together or for decorative surface techniques like slip trailing

What is bisque firing?

The first firing of a clay piece, which hardens it (bisqueware) but leaves it porous and ready for glazing

What is a kiln?

A high-temperature oven used to fire (harden) ceramic pieces and mature glazes

What are the primary hand-building methods in ceramics?

Pinch, coil, and slab construction

What is throwing (in ceramics)?

Forming clay on a spinning potter's wheel using the hands

What is additive sculpture?

Building a sculpture by adding material (e.g., modeling clay, welding, assemblage)

What is subtractive sculpture?

Creating a sculpture by removing material (e.g., carving stone or wood)

What is casting (in sculpture)?

Creating a sculpture by pouring liquid material (metal, plaster, resin) into a mold and letting it harden

What is assemblage?

A sculptural technique combining found objects and materials into a single artwork

What is the lost-wax casting technique?

A metal-casting process where a wax model is coated in a mold, then melted out and replaced with molten metal

What is kinetic art?

Art that incorporates movement, either from the viewer, wind, motor, or other force

What is a maquette?

A small preliminary model or sketch for a larger sculpture

What is armature?

An internal support structure (often wire or metal) used to hold up soft sculpting material like clay or wax

What is relief sculpture?

Sculpture in which forms project from a flat background but remain attached to it (as opposed to freestanding 'in the round' sculpture)

What is the rule of thirds?

A composition guideline dividing an image into a 3x3 grid, placing key elements along the lines or intersections

What does aperture control in photography?

The size of the lens opening, controlling how much light enters and affecting depth of field

What is depth of field?

The range of a photograph that appears in acceptable sharp focus

What does shutter speed control?

How long the camera's sensor/film is exposed to light, affecting motion blur and brightness

What is ISO in photography?

A measure of a camera sensor's/film's sensitivity to light

What is a 'happening' (performance art)?

An improvisational, often participatory performance-based art event popularized in the mid-20th century

What is site-specific art?

Art created to exist in a particular location, designed in relationship to that environment

What is video art?

An art form using video technology as the primary medium, often exploring time, moving image, and screen-based experience

What is interactive art?

Art that requires or invites the viewer's participation to complete or activate the work

What is a pixel?

The smallest single unit of a digital image, containing color/value information

Raster vs. vector digital images

Raster images are made of a fixed grid of pixels (can lose quality when scaled up); vector images are made of mathematical paths (can scale infinitely without quality loss)

What is a camera obscura?

An early optical device that projects an inverted image of a scene onto a surface through a small hole or lens, a precursor to photography

Why was early photography significant for painting?

It reduced the need for painting to serve purely documentary/representational functions, encouraging movements like Impressionism and Modernism to explore subjective and abstract approaches

What is stop-motion animation?

An animation technique made by photographing physical objects in incremental positions and playing the images in sequence

What is digital collage?

Combining multiple digital images or elements into a single composite image using software