Acrylic Painting Vocabulary

Acrylic paint: A fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints are water-soluble, but become water-resistant when dry.

Double-loaded brush: Two or more colors on a brush to create blended color in one stroke.

Fluid medium: A substance added to paint for variety of uses such as extending the volume of thin paint, reducing viscosity of heavier paints, etc.

Gel medium: A substance added to paint for variety of uses and techniques such as added body to thinner paint, added transparency, slow drying times, etc.

Gesso: A plaster-like material spread upon a surface to prepare it for painting.

Glaze: Transparent painting over a light under-painting.

Gloss: A shiny surface.

Heavy body: Refers to the viscosity or thickness of the paint. Heavy body paints works best for impasto and will hold a brush or knife stroke.

High flow acrylics: Paint with inklike consistency that lends itself to a wide range of techniques such as staining, calligraphy and mixed media.

Impasto: Thick, opaque paint applied with a brush, knife or fingers, creating various textural features on the surface of the painting.

Matte: A dull surface. Mixed-media: Refers to an artwork of which more than one medium has been used. For example, a work on canvas that combines paint, ink, and collage could be called “mixed media”.

Palette knife: A shaped, metal spatula used for painting instead of a brush.

Palette: A rectangular or ovalshaped flat surface used for mixing colors. Also refers to the selection of colors used by an artist.

Pigment: Refers to color or hue. Prime: To make ready. The preparatory coating.

Saturation: The greatest possible intensity of the color.

Scumbling: Dragging paint in a broken manner over a previously painted dry surface.

Sgraffito: Involves scratching through a layer of still-wet paint to reveal what’s underneath.

Soft body: Refers to the viscosity or thickness of the paint. Soft body paints work best for watercolor techniques, or when smooth coverage is desired.

Stretcher: The wooden frame on which canvas or paper is stretched.

Study: A comprehensive drawing or painting. Also refers to a detail that can be incorporated into a finished painting.

Tacky: Sticky, partly dried.

Tempera paint: A fast-drying paint consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder.

Transfers (acrylic transfer or gel medium transfer): A method where a photocopied image is transferred to another surface thought the aid of gel medium.

Underpainting: A monochromatic sketch put down on the canvas first, as an infrastructure, which will be completely covered up by the painting.

Viscosity: The thick