Bodycolor:
Any type of opaque
water-soluble pigment.
Chalk:
Natural chalks of various colors are derived from the
earth. Natural gray chalk is obtained from brick clay,
red (or "sanguine") from the ochre variety of haematite,
white (used for highlights) from the chalk variety of
calcite or soapstone, and black from carbonaceous shale.
Cartoon:
A drawing of the principal forms of a composition, made
to the same scale as the painting or fresco for which
it is preparatory. For some frescoes the cartoon was applied
in sections to the wall and the outlines cut through on
the wet plaster, destroying the cartoon in the process.
The cartoon was sometimes preserved by transferring its
design onto a secondary cartoon, a sheet of paper placed
beneath the first, by pricking or indenting it with a
stylus. This secondary cartoon would be placed on the
wall.
Fresco:
A highly skilled method of wall or ceiling painting of
ancient origin, perfected during the Italian Renaissance.
The paint was of the tempera type, in which the colors
are mixed with some binding substance soluble in water
and usually applied to fresh plaster. As the plaster set,
the pigment became sealed within it. Paint could also
be applied to the plaster when dry (a secco) which was
easier, but less durable.
Metalpoint:
A technique used frequently
in the 15th and early 16th centuries in Italy, almost
exclusively in Florence and Umbria. An instrument with
a point of gold, silver or other metal was used for drawing
on a prepared paper. A ground composed of powdered bones
or lead white mixed with gum-water or other glutinous
material was applied to the paper in several coats. This
ground was naturally off-white, but colored pigments were
often mixed in. The metal point reacted chemically with
the ground on the paper, thus producing a line. Highlights
were brushed in with white bodycolor.
Pounce:
A fine powder used
in the transference of the principal outlines of a drawing,
usually a cartoon, to another support such as a wall or
another sheet of paper. Small prick-holes were made in
the paper along the lines, and dust (usually from pumice)
was "pounced" or dabbed through these holes, leaving a
dotted outline of the design on the surface beneath.
Stylus:
A drawing instrument
usually of cast metal, with a point often at either end.
It was used to impress lines into paper and was frequently
employed by artists beginning to work out a composition,
in order to avoid the need to rub out incorrect lines.
It was also used to transfer the main lines of a composition
drawing, as from a cartoon to a fresco.
Wash:
When used in connection
with watercolor, this term denotes a covering with a broad
layer of color by a continuous movement of the brush.
When applied in ink drawing the term often means the use
of a diluted ink or an ink of a different color.
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