Guyla - A Glossary of Art Terminology

Balance: A principle of design, it refers to the way the elements of art are arranged to create a feeling of stability in a work. Balance can be symmetrical, or formal; or it can be asymmetrical, or informal. It can also be radial.

Ball Clay: In ceramics, an ingredient in a number of clay bodies because of its plasticity. Ball clay may be black or gray in color but fires almost white. It contracts considerably as it dries and when fired.

Baren: A small, flat pad of woven bamboo leaves used for impressing a print from a wood block.

Bas-relief: As on a coin, it is sculpture in which figures project only slightly from a background and is also known as low relief sculpture.

Base: A plinth or podium on which a sculpture is exhibited, or the portion of a sculpture on which its weight rests.

Bat: Sometimes spelled batt. A thick plaster slab on which wet clay is left to lose sufficient moisture to make it plastic. Also, a disk which can be attached to a potter's wheel so that a pot can be thrown upon it, then the bat removed with the pot still on it, so that another can be attached to throw another pot, the earlier pot trimmed and removed from the bat when it is leather-hard. Such round bats are often made of plaster or plastic.

Batik: A method of dyeing cloth which involves the use of removable wax to repel (resist) the dye on parts of the design where dye is not desired. Batik originated in Indonesia, where its production continues to thrive.

Batten: In weaving, a flat stick used to pack the weft threads into place.

Beader: A punch with a hollow end used in chasing to leave dotted impressions on metal surfaces.

Bed: The surface on a printing press that establishes the maximum usable sheet size.

Beeswax: Wax from honeycombs, used as a medium in modeling, in encaustic painting, in wax varnishes, in etching grounds, as a resist in batik, and other techniques/media.

Benday: In printmaking, a process using screens of various dot patterns to mechanically produce shading effects. This process was invented by Benjamin Day (1839-1916). Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997) included benday as one of the elements in his paintings signifying Pop Art qualities.

Benzine: A toxic, flammable hydrocarbon used as a solvent, as a rubber cement thinner, and as a cleaning solution on photographs.

Beret: A round, soft brimless tam or hat sometimes worn by artists. It fits snugly, and is often worn angled to one side. The beret is strongest in the traditions of the French and Spanish cultures.

Bevel: The meeting of a line or surface with another at any angle other than 90°, or the angle at which they meet. Also, carving or cutting to make a bevel; a chamfer. It may also be an instrument which is formed by joining two rules as adjustable arms in order to measure or draw angles of any size or to fix a surface at an angle; an instrument also known as a bevel square.

Bezel: A bevel on the edge of a cutting tool, such as a chisel. Or, a thin wall or rim of metal that anchors a gemstone in place.

Bin: A container that both holds and displays a number of two-dimensional works of art. Although not an optimal method of exhibiting such works, bins are often used in galleries as an economical way to present them for sale.

Binary Colors: Colors made by the mixing of two hues. Examples are orange, green, and purple.

Binder: A substance in the vehicle of paints that causes particles of pigment to adhere to one another and to a support such as oil or acrylic. It creates uniform consistency, solidity, and cohesion.

Biomorphic Form: An abstract form whose shapes are more organic than geometric, more curvaceous than linear.

Bisque: Clay that has been fired once but not glazed, sometimes called biscuit.

Bistre Ink: A brown ink made by boiling or soaking wood soot in water. The exact tone of the ink depends upon the kind of wood that was burned to create the soot. Chestnut, for example, results in a golden brown ink, while birch produces an ink that is yellowish brown. It is often indistinguishable from faded iron-gall ink. Once the liquid is filtered to remove any insoluble residues, the end result is a transparent and luminous ink.

Bitten In: Etched with acid.

Black Chalk: A composite of carbon and clay, black chalk has a natural cohesiveness that allows it to be cut and sawed into sticks that can be used to create firmly rendered lines of the utmost precision, yet it is also friable enough to produce large-scale drawings of great tonal breadth and range. Although it has been known since antiquity, it was little used as a graphic medium until the sixteenth century, when artists recognized chalk's ability to render delicate transitions in tone in a smooth and seamless unity.

Blanket: The felt or foam rubber used between the paper and the roller on an intaglio press. Also, a rubber-surfaced fabric used on the cylinder of an offset printing press.

Bleed: Pigments that run into an adjoining area or up through coats of paint, usually undesirably. A fuzziness or spreading at the edges of a painted area. Bleeding through as referring to oil paints, degrees of visibility of underpainting when upper layers become translucent with the passage of time. Bleed-proof describes inks and paints that will not spread when wetted with water.

Blend: In artwork, to merge colors applied to a surface, whether with a brush, crayon, colored pencil, or other medium.

Blind Pressing: In printmaking, making an embossed print with an uninked plate. This is also called blind printing. When using an intaglio plate this is more specifically called either an inkless intaglio or a gypsographic print.

Block: A body of material for carving. The term is also applied to a piece of material for block printing, or to wood used to beat and consolidate large masses of clay.

Block Print: A relief-printing technique in which a block of wood, linoleum or some other material's surface is carved so that an image can be printed from it, uncarved areas receiving ink which transfers to another surface when the block is pressed against it and incisions made in a wood or linoleum block print white.

Blocking In: Laying down the initial statement of a picture by a broad indication of line, color, and tone.

Block Out: In graphics, to stop out an area with tusche, shellac, stencil film, etc. A resist is reffered to a block-out.

Bloom: A fine cloudy discoloration which forms, most commonly, on the surface of varnish, or on melted wax or concrete cast in a plaster mold.

Blotto Painting: A painting made by applying tempera paint onto one side of a sheet of paper, then folding the paper and pressing the two sides together. Like an inkblot, a blotto painting is apt to be symmetrical and nonobjective. Making one is largely an aleatoric act leaving much to chance.

Blow Forming: A method of forming acrylic sheet. The plastic is heated until pliable, then clamped and subjected to a blast of air which inflates it like a balloon.

Body: A term used to refer to a mass of clay formed from a mixture of clays, or clay and ceramic materials.

Body Color: An opaque paint. Transparent colors are often made opaque by mixing them with some gouache or some opaque white. Often considered synonymous with gouache. Body color has sometimes been used in local areas in drawings, and sometimes as a general medium. Also referred to as bodycolor.

Bokusaiga: In the Japanese art tradition, an ink painting employing the traditional black color.

Bole: A fine clay used as a preparatory undercoat for gold leaf, its color affecting the appearance of the gold leaf placed upon it. Bole can be pale pink or dark grayish-blue or green, but it is usually an orange or red.

Bon a Tirer: This is a French term which translates as "good to print". It denotes that the print that has just been pulled has been deemed satisfactory by the artist and the BAT can be used as a guide to match up the remainder of the prints that are pulled in the edition. The master printer then compares each graphic in the edition with the BAT before submitting the graphic to the artist for approval and signature. There is generally only one BAT and usually it becomes the property of the printer or workshop printing the edition.

Bond Paper: A good quality paper used for drawing and sketching.

Bone Dry: In ceramics, greenware which is thoroughly room dried.

Bone Emulsion: A material which, when added to plaster or moist clay, makes it self-hardening.

Bottega: The Italian word for studio or workshop, and is often used to identify an object made in the studio of a master when his pupils' or assistants' work on it appears to dominate his own.

Bozzetto: An Italian term for a sculptured sketch made as a model, typically of wax or clay. This is the Italian equivalent to a maquette, a French term used more often by English speakers than is bozzetto.

Brad: A thin nail with a small head.

Brass: A bright yellow or golden alloy of copper and zinc, in the proportion of about two parts of copper to one part zinc. The zinc makes brass stronger and harder than copper is alone. It is malleable and ductile , though variations in its composition make its properties variable. Also, incised plaques or tablets made of brass, many of which were made as memorials to the dead during the Middle Ages and Renaissance in Europe. Many of these have become so popular among people desiring to make rubbings of them that casts of the originals have been made to use this way in order to preserve the originals.

Brayer: A roller used to ink a surface by hand, usually in block printing and in monoprinting.

Braze: To join two pieces of metal, often mild steel, by heating to red heat and using a high-melting-point solder such as copper, zinc, or brass. This is known as hard soldering. A flux such as borax is necessary to aid the flow of the alloy.

Breathing: The expansion and contraction of paper, canvas, wood, and other absorbent grounds in response to atmospheric conditions.

Bridge: To support the hand to keep it off of work in progress. A tool that supports an artist's hand away from the surface of a work may be called an artist's bridge or a mahlstick.

Bright: A short, flat brush with a long handle, typically used with oil, acrylic and alkyd paints.

Bristle Brush: A brush made of boar (hog) bristles for painting in oil or acrylic with a variety of shapes; brights, flats, rounds and fans.

Bristol Board: A sturdy drawing surface used for many types of two-dimensional artwork, including lettering. It is available in several finishes, including a smooth plate finish and a medium vellum. It can be used on both of its sides.

Britannia: A silver-white alloy of tin, antimony, copper, and sometimes other elements, similar to pewter and once widely used in domestic utensils.

Bronze: An alloy of copper and tin, sometimes containing small proportions of other elements such as zinc or phosphorus. It is stronger, harder, and more durable than brass, and has been used most extensively since antiquity for cast sculpture. Bronze alloys vary in color from a silvery hue to a rich, coppery red. U.S. standard bronze is composed of 90% copper, 7% tin, and 3% zinc.

Brush Drawing: A drawing made by applying a water-soluble pigment or diluted ink with a fine brush. The brush can be used to create very fine, linear strokes or broad areas of wash.

Brushstroke: The result of a brush loaded with paint or ink leaving some of that paint on a surface. Because brushstrokes can vary so greatly, their individual and cumulative effects are of great concern in the discussion of paintings.

Brushwork: The particular manner in which an artist applies paint with a brush.

Buckeye: Any kitsch which is painted in oil and produced for the mass market, characterized by sloppy yet facile rendition, and stereotyped, flamboyant, or sentimental treatment of subject matter, typically landscape. Although most commonly used to refer to such work produced during the second half of the nineteenth century, since the production of such painting has never ceased, the term might be applied to later examples as well. In the twentieth century, vast numbers of such pictures have been produced by assembly line methods, usually found in "starving artist" sales.

Buckle: Waves or bulges that appear in paper and canvas, generally from too much moisture and uneven drying.

Buffer: A substance that restrains the acid migration of a material, or the act of using such a material this way. An acid-free papers are often used as buffers in matting, framing, displaying, wrapping, and storing art objects.

Burgundy Pitch: A viscous, slightly yielding, easy-to-melt resin used in repoussé to hold the work steady while it is being struck.

Burin: A tool used in engraving or incising metal plates and in carving stone. A knob-like wooden handle which holds a metal shaft having a sharp beveled point with one size of several possible shapes, either flat, round, multiple, or elliptical. Also called a graver. Sometimes refers to the technique or style of an engraver's work.

Burnisher: A tool with a hard smooth rounded surface used for smoothing and polishing, in metal work, ceramics and gilding. Burnishers are typically metal or stone, and held in a wooden handle.

Burnishing: The act of rubbing a surface with any smooth tool to polish it, and tighten the surface. The usual materials that are burnished are leather, clay, and soft metals.

Burr: In engraving and drypoint, the ridge of metal plowed up by the burin, or graver, or needle, on the surface of a metal plate. In a line engraving the burr is removed with a scraper to produce a clean line; in drypoint it is not removed, in order to produce the soft, blurred effect typical of that technique. Also, the rough edge remaining on any material after it has been cast, cut, or drilled.

Bush Hammer: A steel stone-carving tool, often with a large, brick-like head, having two striking ends, each covered with rows of pyramidal metal points. Found in several sizes, some with a longer, thinner head. Bush hammers are used to dress the surface of stone by breaking down the rock surface, pounding and removing small amounts at a time. The textures achieved are typical among finish in traditional French masonry. Granite and other igneous rock is worked with a bush hammer, although now it is usually an electrically motorized version. Also called by its French name, "bouchard" or "boucharde."

Butcher's Tray: A white enameled tray used as a palette for watercolor or acrylic paints.

Butterfly: Two pieces of wood bound together to form a cross, suspended from an armature as an extra internal support for the weight of the modeling material.

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