Artist's Resources∼Artist's Dictionary B
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B
B Symbol on tube of paint indicating
a color of a less than permanent quality, but fairly durable.
"Baby" Spot 1. A spotlight of
500 watts or less 2. A very small design or illustration.
Backing Board Any heavy cardboard or similar material used for
mounting pictures or to protect the back of a stretched Canvas. See also
Chipboard.
Backing-Up In printing,
a term meaning to print on both sides of a sheet of paper, as the pages of a book.
Backstein Gothic An
architectural term used to describe the 14th Century German variant of Gothic structures wherein brick
was used in place of stone.
Back-Up 1. Paper
or carboard glued to the back of ArtWork to prevent the curling of edges.
2. The printing of the second side of a printed page.
3. The process of filling in the back of a thin copper electroplate,
making it solid.
Badger Blender A soft-hair
Artists' brush similar to a shaving brush, used dry, flattened, and spread out to blend areas of
color; also called a "sweetner."
Baugette molding A simple strip of molding used for framing.
Balance In composition,
a visually favorable distribution of elements.
Ball-flower In architectural
decoration, 3 or 4 petals witha ball shape in the middle.
Balopticon A projectore that
enlarges or reduces the image of a sketch or photograph while projecting it onto a drawing surface for
the purpose of tracing or transferring the Work.
Bamboo brush An Oriental
brush with a handle of bamboo. See also
Calligraphy brush.
Bamboo pen A Japanese pen made from
a piece of bamboo, used for drawing and calligraphy; a versatile instrument that can produce a range
of heavy to fine lines.
Band In Design work,
a running motif.
Banding Wheel A small
turntable for banding pottery with colored glaze.
Barbizon School A group of French
naturalist Painters who left Paris and gathered in the village of Barbizon in the mid 1880's , seeking a
fresh approach to nature by painting on the site. Lead by Theodore Rousseau and Charles Francois Daubigny,
other members included Francois Millet, Narcisse-Virgile Diaz, and Constant Troyon.
Barbola paste A putty-like
paste painted on a surface to create an embossed effect.
Baren A round, smooth flat pad
used to lift an impression by hand from a wood or linoleum block; the traditional Japanese style
is covered with bamboo, but barens are now available in wood, nylon, and other synthetics.
Baroque
1. A style of
European Art dating from the latter part of the 15th Century to the early 18th Century. Although
centered in Rome, where the sculptural Work of Bernini and the paintings of Cortona are dominant
examples, the style also flourished in other areas. The Flemish painter Ruebens is classified as
high baroque. Sometimes derided for being flamboyant and overly decorative, baroque should not
be confused with rococo, a style that overlapped and followed it.
2. Used as an adjective, baroque
was, until the 19th Century, synonymous with the absurd or irregular, but such meaning is no longer
credited.
Bars In commercial Art, especially
textile design, a set of parallel bars used to mask an area for a stripe to be made with an Airbrush.
Bateau-lavoir, Groupe du
French, "the group of the floating wash house" A group of international Artists
located in Monmartre, Paris from 1908 to the beginning of World War 1; title
derived from a tenement building occupied by Picasso; cubism was a leading
pursuit, important names were Dulaunay, Gris, Leger and Modigliani.
Basic Forms The four intristic
3-D forms in Art; the cube, cone, cylinder and sphere; seperately or in combination, they
can suggest the structure of almost anything, whether natural or man-made.
Bas relief pronounced 'baa' French, low relief
A form of sculpture in which figures project only slightly from their background.
Bassetaille French, low-cut
In jewelry making, a process in which gold or silver is engraved with a design and
carved in low relief; transparent colored enamels are applied, drying between coats, and a clear coat is made
level with the rim, followed by enamel fizing.
Batik A wax
resist process used in textile design; originated in Indonesia.
Bauhaus A
German School of Architecture, design and applied Arts, founded in 1919 by Walter
Gropius, specializing in relating Art to Industrial technology; some of the Artists
involved included Lyonel Feininger,
Wassily Kadinsky and
Paul Klee.
Bead & Leaf A running
molding design of a bead shape and a leaf pattern.
Bead & Reel A
running molding pattern of a bead shape alternated with disk shapes.
Beading The
bubbling quality of paint when applied to a slick surface; most frequently occurs
with water-based mediums.
Beam Compass A
drawing compass with a long beam attachment which draws or cuts circles from
1 1/2" to 15 1/2".
Beau brillant paper A
65 lb. cover stock witha rough texture, available in a variety of colors.
Beaux-Arts, Ecole des
(French, Fine Arts, School of) A School of Fine Arts located in Paris.
Bed On a printing
press, the surface that establishes the maximum useable sheet size.
Beeswax Wax
from honeycombs of bees, used in encaustic painting, in etching grounds, in wax varnish,
and as a resist in batik and other procedures.
Bell's Medium
An Oil painting medium used since the 19th Century, superceded by Owalin or other medium mixtures.
Bench Hook A device
used to hold a wood block or linoleum block in place while cutting.
Benday In
printing, a process using screens of different dot patterns to mechanically produce
shading effects; named for its inventor, Benjamin Day (1838-1916) See also
Shading sheets.
Beni-ye, Beni-zuri-ye
(Japanese, pink picture) A two-color print in pink and green.
Benzine A toxic,
flammable hydrocarbon used as a solvent; as a rubber cement thinner, and as a photo
surface cleaner.
Bevel 1. To cut
an edge at an angle other than 90 degrees on mats, etc.
2. To round off or slant an edge.
3. A ruler with an adjustable arm used to draw or cut edges.
Bichromatic
A term describing a Work of Art created with just two colors.
In Latin, "bi" means "two").
Bicutter
A tool that cuts two lines at the same time; adjustable from 1/8" to 3/4".
Biedermeier
A term coined from the fictional Philistine poet and applied to a style of Art and Architecture
of Germany and Austria during the period 1815 to 1845; a style geared to the middle class,
similar to early Victorian Art in Britan, and considered stolid, simple and sentimental.
Bienfang
See Foamcore board.
Bimetal plate In
engraving or printing, a plate made with two layers of metal, for example, copper over
aluminum or copper over stainless steel.
Binary colors
Colors that are made up of two hues, as orange, green and purple.
Binder The
adhesive used to hole particles of pigment together in paint. In watercolor; gum arabic,
a water-soluble glue; in Oil; linseed oil; in tempura; egg yolk or whole egg; in pastels;
gum arabic; in acrylics; a liquid plastic.
Biomorphic A term
applied to shapes that resemble the curves of plant and animal life; applied
especially to the Works of Hans Arp.
Bird's eye 1. In textile design,
a woven cloth pattern that suggests the shape of a bird's eye in the middle of a
diamond. 2. In wood,
the tight circles or "eyes" that are usually of a deeper color and tighter grain than the
rest of the wood.
Bisect To cut into two equal parts.
Bite In engraving, to etch or bite from a metal plate.
Bitumen A native
asphalt used in the preparation of asphaltum. See also
Asphaltum.
Black letter A typeface, commonly called "text".
Black mirror A
piece of convex glass painted black and used to study values and composition
by reducing details and eliminating color; also called
"Claude Lorrain glass".
Black Sable A
lettering or fine varnish brush originally made from wood martin or stone
martin, now from civet cat hair.
Blanc d' argent (French, "silvery white")
Flake white, toxic.
Blanc fixe (French,
"fixed white") A white base for watercolor and fresco painting; also
called "constant white".
Bland Without impact or strength;
a term applied to Art that is too mild.
Blaue, Reiter, der (German,
"The blue rider")
An avant-garde group of early 20th century painters who had a noteable influence on modern Art;
members who were founders included
Wassily Kadinsky and
Franz Marc,
Paul Klee, August Macke and others.
Blaue Vier (German, "The blue four")
Four Artists,
Paul Klee,
Wassily Kadinsky, Lyonet Feiniger and Alexei von Jawlensky, who
held exhibitions together in Germany, Mexico and the United States in the 1920's.
Bleach-out
A bromide print that is underdeveloped and used as a basis for a line drawing,
then bleached away.
Bleed 1. Paint
or ink that runs into an adjoining area or up through coats of paint; usually
undesirable. 2. A fuzziness or spreading of the edges of a painted area.
3. In the graphic
Arts, to extend to the edge of a printed page, without a margin; accomplished by allowing
an extra 1/8" bleed edge, to be trimmed.
Bleed marks
Lines at the corners of piece of ArtWork to be reproduced, showing the area that will
extend over an edge, usually 1/8".
Bleed-proof
Said of dried paint or ink that will not spread when wet with water.
Blended roller technique
See Rainbow printing.
Blender
See
Badger blender and
Fan brush.
Bleu Celeste
Pigment; cerulean blue.
Blind pressing
Making an embossed print with an uninked plate; also called
"blind printing". See also
Embossed print.
Block book
A book in which text and illustrations were printed as one unit, all in one impression;
frequently used before the invention of movable type.
Blocking in
Laying in the initial statement of a picture by a broad indication of tone, color
and line.
Block letter
A typeface, commonly called "Gothic".
Block out
In graphics, to stop out an area with shellac, tusche, etc; to use a block-out
stencil.
Block Print
A print on paper or textile, each color requiring a seperate block; the hand-carved
wood or linoleum block may be stamped by hand or in a block printing press.
Block-printing ink
A thick ink applied to a wood or linoleum block; available in many colors in an
oil-base or water-soluable ink.
Bloom
In an Oil painting, an undesirable, dull, foggy, whitish effect on a surface of a varnished picture.
Blotting paper
In printing, an absorbent paper used to dry printed material.
Blowtorch
In metal sculpture, a hand-held gas-fueled burner that produces a flame hot enough to
melt or fuse some metals.
Blowup
An enlargement.
Blue ashes
Pigment; Brememn blue, toxic. Also called "Blue bice" and
"Blue verditer".
Blue Four
See Blaue Vier.
Blue pencil, pale
Used to mark ArtWork, photographs and photostats because it does not reproduce on line
film, a film insensitive to blue, used in photographic printing processes.
Blue Rider
Also called The Blue Rider Four.Important group of Artists, including Wassily. See also
Blaue Reiter.
Board
In ArtWork; 1. A drawing or painting surface with a stiff backing. See
"Bristol Board,
Canvas Board, Illustration Board, Masonite".
Boasting
In stone carving, the rough shaping of the design.
Boasting Chisel
In sculpture, a flat chisel used to rough shape the stone.
Bocour blue or green
Trade name for phthalocyanine blue or green.
Body
1.In painting, the viscosity or density of pigment or ink.
2.Referring to a "body" of Work, or the Artists' lifelong
accomplishments in his field of Art, be it painting, sculpture, etc.
Body color
Opaque color in paint, often achieved by the addition of gouache or opaque white
to transparent color.
Body matter
In typography, the text or body text.
Bogus drawing paper
A stiff sheet of paper used with markers, pastels, gouache, etc.
Bohemian
Originally an inhabitant of Bohemia Czech , now a nonconforming
person, indifferent to convention.
Boiled Oil
See Linseed oil.
Bokusaiga
A Japanese ink painting using the traditional black and color.
Bole
Gold size, a dull red background laid to provide a smooth, non-abrasive base
for gold leaf.
Bolognese School
A group of Artists in and around Bologna, Italy in the 12th to 17th centuries.
Bolus ground
A ground or base for canvas, prepared with a dark brown or reddish earth (bole);
eventually shows through and affects the painting.
Bon a tier
(French, "good to pull")A press proof of an etching, lithograph or other print that
is approved and sp labeled by the Artist. Serves as the standard for the edition of the print.
Bond Paper
A good quality paper used for drawing and sketching.
Bone Black
Pigment; a brownish black made from charred bones; Artists' grade called
"ivory black."
Bone emulsion
A product added to plaster or moist clay to make it self-hardening.
Boneless style
See Mo-ku.
Bone structure
The body frame, the way the bones affect the surface appearance.
Border print
1. An illustration, a design on all four sides of a picture.
2. In textile design, a
design on only one edge, such as on the bottom of a skirt or the top of a drapery.
Bordering wax
Wax used around the edges of a large plate as a molded border so that the plate can
be etched without immersion, also called "Wailing wax".
Boss
In sculpture, any projecting mass that will later be carved out or cut.
Boucharde
A mallet used by sculptors, with short, pyramidal points on both hammering ends to
bruise and break up stone and soften it, in the early stages of stone carving; also
called a "Bushhammer."
Bougival white
Bismuth White.
Bourges process
The use of transparent acetate sheets for color seperation in the printing process where
each overlay sheet is produced by the Artist; a relatively inexpensive means of acheiving
color in printed Art.
Bozzetto
(Italian, "small sketch") In sculpture, a small, rough model
used as a guide, also called a "Maquette."
Braquette An inexpensive, frameless frame in which clips
are held on the top and bottom of a piece of glass-covered artwork with
spring tension and nylon cord; adjustable to different sizes.
Brayer
A hand roller designed for inking printing blocks and plates; also sometimes
used by Artists painting large areas.
Braze
1. In metal sculpture, to solder with hard solders such as an alloy of copper
and zinc, zinc and silver, or nickel and silver. 2. To cover a metal with brass.
Breathing
The expansion and contraction according to weather conditions, of papers and canvas.
Breathing space
The empty space/area surrounding a form. See also
Negative space.
Bridge
See Artists' bridge.
Briefing
Instructions to an Artist from a Client.
Bright
A short, flat brush with a long handle, used mainly for oil, acrylic and alkyd
painting.
Bristle
See Bristle brush.
Bristol Board
A durable drawing surface used for all types of general ArtWork and lettering; can be
used on both sides; available in a smooth plate finish or medium vellum.
Broad manner
A style of engraving in which the lines are broad and bold; also a term sometimes
used to describe a bold manner of painting.
Broadside
A large folded advertisement, also called a "Broadsheet."
Brocade
In textile design, an interwoven jacquard design of raised flowers or figures with an
embossed appearance acheived by contrasting the background of twill or satin with gold
or silver threads or by using different surfaces and colors.
Brocatelle
In textile design, a stiff cloth with embossed, twilled figures woven onto a plain
ground, producing a high relief effect; similar to damask, it was originally made to
imitate Italian leather.
Broken color
Two or more colors so placed in a painting as to produce the optical effect of another
color, without being mixed on the palette.
Bromide print
In commercial Art, a photographic print.
Bronze
An alloy, princibally of copper and tin, used for sculpture.
Bronze powders
Powders made in different metallic shades and used decoratively;
will tarnish and turn dark,
Brucke, Die
(German,"The bridge") Name given to a turn of the century group of German expressionist
Artists who introduced the influence of Van Gogh, Gauguin, and others into Germany;
founding Artists were Erich Heckel, Ernst Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff.
Bristle brush
Oil painting brushes made from hog bristles, which have a unique taper, or curve.
See also Bright,
Egbert,
Filbert,
Flat,
Round.
Brush quiver
A container, with a carrying strap, to hold and carry brushes.
Brush script
1. Calligraphy with a brush. 2. A script typeface.
Brush washer
A metal cup specifically designed to use in cleaning watercolor brushes.
Brushwork
The distinctive manner in which an Artist applies paint with his brush.
Buckle
Waves, or bulges that appear in paper or canvas, usually from too much moisture
and uneven drying.
Buddhist School
A religious Art propagated in Japan by Buddhist priests.
Bug
See Logo.
Bump up
To make an enlargement.
Burgundy, School of
1390-1420∼ Flemish court Artists under Philip the Bold of Burgundy. The School practiced
Flemish realism superimposed on the naturalism that was dominant in the Italian Schools;
from this grew the International Gothic style; among the most noted members were
the Van Eyck brothers.
Burin
A graver; a tool of different sizes and styles, used to engrave wood or metal plates.
Burl
A knot or growth that may be found in a tree; in a woodblock it is hard to carve, but
sometimes can be utlilized effectively in a design.
Burn
1. In lithography, the result of too much nitric acid in a gum etch.
2. A term used in photographic platemaking for plate or film exposure.
Burnisher
A tool used to smooth, flatten, or polish, available in different sizes and materials.
Burnt Plate oil
An extender for etching ink.
Burr
A rough edge on a cut in metal.
Bushhammer
See Boucharde.
Bust
In sculpture, a portrait that includes the head, neck shoulders and breast.
Bust peg
In sculpture, the wooden support upon which a bust is modelled.
Butcher's tray
A white enameled tray used as a palette for watercolors or acrylics.
Butt joint
In design, a place where two motifs meet in a visible or invisible straight line
without overlapping.
Byzantine Art
The term refers to a particular style rather than the area of the Byzantine Empire.
Paintings and mosaics have been found in Europe, Asia and parts of Africa. Encompassing the period A.D.
330 to the 15th century, the Art is religious in nature, early Byzantine Art was called Early
Christian Art. The style creates floating figures with large eyes, bright colored mosaics on gold or toned
backgrounds; the effect tends to be flat and decorative, featuring frescoes and relief carving.