Artist's Resources∼Artist's Dictionary H

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H


Hague School   Dutch realist Artists who painted at the Hague during the last half of the 19th century.
Hairline register   A very close register; in printing a register within plus or minus one half row of dots.
Hake   Pronounced hoe-key  An Oriental flat brush made of sheep or goat hair, used for washes.
Halftone   1. In painting, a value between the lightest and the darkest tone of a color. 2. In printmaking, a gray or tint made by breaking an area up by use of dots or lines. 3. In commercial printing, a photo or gray or tint produced by photographing the original through a crosshatch screen, the dot size being determined by the number of crosshatch lines to the inch. 4. In commercial Art, a benday screen of dots on acetate, used on a layout to create grays and textures, known by various trade names, such as Zipatone.
Halo, Halation   1. A glowing or halo effect usually about the head of religious figures in Art. 2. In graphic Arts, the same type of effect around headlines, products, etc.
Hammer   In stone carving, a tool used to pound on a chisel or other tool to cut or remove stone.
Hand-blocked   Printed by hand with the use of a block plate.
Hand-burnishing   In printmaking, a method of rubbing a plate, often achieved with a wooden spoon.
Hand coloring   See Pochoir.
Handi-bender   A wire bending jig used to bend coat hangers or other wire into many desired shapes for crafts.
Hand-primed   As opposed to mechanically primed canvas, the primer is brushed or rolled on by hand rather than by machine.
Hand screen printing   See Silkscreen.
Hand-tacking iron   An electrically heated iron used to tack or fix, in the dry mounting process, without a press.
Hard realism   A realism with an exact and flat painting style; Grant Wood (1892-1942) painted in this manner.
Haricot   In design, a kidney bean shape.
Hatch, hatching   Lines superimposed upon lines to create texture and value. See Crosshatch.
Haze   An atmospheric condition that clouds an area.
H D   Hand made
Heartwood   In woodcarving, the harder and darker part of the tree near the center, the "heart".
Heel (of a brush)   The portion of hair on a brush where the brush and ferrule meet.
Henri, Robert   (1865-1929) An American painter and teacher, one of the founders of the Aschan School. He was author of "The Art Spirit", a popular manuscript dealing with the philosophy of picture making.
Heraldic   Pertaining to a design or emblem symbolizing or identifying a family or a profession, especially a coat of arms.
Herm   A rectangular block or slab of stone having a head carved at the top, used as a dedication to a god, or as a grave marker.
Hickey   In graphics, an undesirable mark or imperfection in printing, caused by dirt in the ink or on the press.
Hide glue   An adhesive made from the hides of animals, rabbit, calf and others.
Hieroglyphics   Pertaining to picture characters, (signs or symbols) in Egyptian and other early writings; any emblematic markings.
High key painting   The use of upper values on the value scale in a composition, creating a light, sometimes pale picture.
Highliner   A square-tipped, long or extra long lettering brush, the best being red sable.
HMP   Handmade paper; the pattern is more random, therefore will not tear as easily as mold-made paper.
Hogarth's line   See Line of Beauty.
Hog hair   See Bristle.
Hokusai, Katsushika   (1760-1849) A Japanese master printmaker, famous for "The great Wave" and "View of Mt. Fugi", among others. His sketchbooks are an invaluable source of Japanese life and custom.
Homer, Winslow   (1836-1910) An American illustrator, graphic Artist and Painter. He recorded the Civil War but is best known for his rural, small town genre paintings, and later for pictures of men and the sea.
Horizon line   In perspective, a straight horizontal line at the line of sight. See Line of sight.
Horsehair brush   An Oriental painting brush with stiff hairs, originally made with horsehair.
Hot pressed paper   (H.P.) Smooth, dense paper used for drawing and opaque watercolors.
Hudson River Painters   A 19th century group of American romantic landscape Artists who painted mainly in the Hudson River valley and the Catskill mountains, but some roamed as far west as the Sierras; famous painter of the early group included Cole, Doughty, Durand, among others, the second group were called the Luminists and included such Artists as Church and Bierstadt. See Luminism.
Humanism   A Renaissance doctrine centered on the potential of mankind, with some rejection of supernaturalism. In Art, brought a tendency toward secular themes.
Hyalography   Engraving on glass with diamond or emery cutting tools, or with an etching solution.
Hygroscopic   Capable of absorbing moisture from the air; said of paper that changes character and size with humidity.
Hypro paper fabric   Trade name of a paper that is textured on one side and smooth on the other; versatile and available in many sizes; even in rolls for murals. Moistened with water, it will form, drape and sculpt.