Artist's Resources∼Artist's Dictionary O
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Oak tag
A tough stock paper used for stencils and mounting.
Objective Art
The rendering of a subject as it appears; representational Art.
Objet d' Art
(French, "art object") A Work of Art.
Objet trouve
(French, "found object") An object such as a piece of driftwood, a dried weed, a
piece of machinery, that is seen as beautiful by an Artists and exhibited as a piece of Art.
Oblique
Diagonal; in type, a face that slants to the left.
Oblique perspective
See
Two-point perspective.
Oblique projection
Projection in which the object has two of its axels parallel to the picture plane.
See also
Axonometric projection.
Occult balance
Same as Asymmetry.
Oeuvre
(French, "complete Works") The life's Work of an Artist.
See also Body.
Ogee
In textile design, an ogival, or "S" shaped, repeat.
Oiling out
A process of rubbing an oil medium into dry areas in an oil painting, then
painting into the oil-wet surface with fresh color.
Oil of Spike Lavender
An essential oil often preferred by Artists who object to the odor of turpentine.
Oilstone
A grinding stone used to sharpen knives and tools.
Oil wash
An application of oil paint greatly diluted, usually with turpentine, and applied
to the canvas or other support as an undercoating or as a glaze, sometimes used
over an acrylic painting to add depth and character.
Okyo School
See
Maruyama School.
Old English
A style of lettering and type.
Oleograph
A chromolithographic printed with oil-based inks on a textured board or canvas to
suggest the appearance of an Oil painting.
Oleopasto
A medium used with oils so they can be applied thickly without cracking.
Olive branch
In design, a branch from an olive tree represents a symbol of peace.
One-Man Show
A showing for the public of one Artists' Work, usually provided by a gallery or
museum.
One-stroke brush
A square-tipped, flat brush used mainly for sign painting, lettering and watercolor detail work;
similar to a "flat" in shape.
One-point perspective
Perspective drawing or painting, usually of a structure, having a single vanishing point.
Opalescene
A cloudy irridescence, as the look of the Australian fire opal. See also
Iridescence.
Opal medium
A beeswax solution dissolved in turpentine, used as a matte medium for oils.
Opaque
Opposite of transparent; not allowing light to pass through.
Opaque projector
An instrument with a lens used to project an image of an opaque picture, copy,
photograph, etc.
Op Art
A term coined in the 1960's to denote a style of nonobjective Art in which geometric designs
and certain color combinations create an illusion of movement through visual vibrations.
Open weave
In textile design, a loosely woven pattern.
Optical balance
Elements that appear to balance in a composition. May be formal or informal
balance.
Orange peel texture
A surface that has a pocked effect similar to that of an orange peel, occuring during
the drying of some shellacs and varnishes.
Orange vermilion
Pigment; a form of pure vermilion.
Order of St. Luke
See
Nazarenes.
Organdy
A cloth used to wipe plates in graphic Arts.
Organic line
An unconciously handled line in a drawing that flows in such a way as to take on
a meaning of its own.
Oriental Lacquer
Name given to a coating used in Asia to create Artwork, usually bowls, boxes, etc.,
with multiple applications built up to create a hard, tough permanent surface,
sometimes thick enough to be carved, the artwork is also called lacquer.
Oriental perspective
An intellectual assumption that the top of the picture is the farthest away from the observer and the
bottom is the nearest.
Original print
A print pulled under the Artits' control in graphic Arts, such as etching, lithography,
etc.; not a mechanical or photographic reproduction.
Orphism, Orphic cubism
A type of early 20th century cubism using overlapping planes of brillant color; also
called "Simulatneoism, Synchronism and Color Orchestration."
Orpiment
Pigment; a native King's yellow, toxic, obsolete.
Orthographic projection
A means of projection in which every side of an object is drawn on one flat plane.
Example would be the "breaking down of a cardboard box, and drawing out each panel.
Osnaburg
A lightweight cotton canvas, generally not as durable as duck, used as a painting
support.
Ostwald system
The color system of Wilheim Otswald, a psychologist who, in 1916, based a color wheel
on a visual mixture of colors, using red, yellow, sea green and ultramarine blue.
Ottonian Art
Art in Germany areoun 950-1060, named after the Ottonian Emporers, a combination
of the Carolingian, Early Christian and Byzantine styles, notable in sculpture and
manuscript illumination.
Oval wash brush
A brush made of various hairs (pony, goat, squirrel, etc.) used to lay washes,
sometimes called a "Sky brush".
Overlays
1. Transparent papers, clear or in color, used one over the other for changes,
corrections, instructions, and for color seperation in multicolor reproductions.
2. In textile design, a transparent sheet placed over a design which
is then painted or copied in another color, directly on the transparent sheet.
Overpainting
Color applied on top of an underpainting or undercoat.
Overprinting
Printing colors or lines over a previously printed area.
Owalin
A mixture of fine linseed oil and oil of spike lavender; used in restoring old oil
paintings; sometimes called "Bell's medium".
Ox gall liquid or paint
A wetting agent added to watercolors to allow painting on a glossy surface. Also
used to float watercolor on the surface of a water bath when marbling paper.
Ox hair brush
Brush made from hair of an Ox ear; an imitation, without the spring of sable, and
much less expensive.