Processes
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EnamelVitrified (glasslike) coating of various colours used for decorative purposes on a metallic or porcelain surface...
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FiringIn ceramics, the process that ‘bakes’ the pottery clay hard, and fixes colours and glazes to pottery surfaces...
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Fresco
Mural painting technique using water-based paint on wet plaster that has been freshly applied to the wall... -
Stained GlassIn general, windows made of colored glass. To a large extent, the name is a misnomer, for staining is only one of the methods of coloring employed, and the best medieval glass made little use of it...
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GildingApplication of gilt (gold or a substance that looks like it) to a surface...
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StencilCutout device of oiled or shellacked tough and resistant paper, thin metal, or other material used in applying paint, dye, or ink to reproduce its design or lettering upon a surface...
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TemperaPainting medium in which powdered pigments are mixed with a water-soluble binding agent such as egg yolk removed from its sac...
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Casting
Process of producing solid objects by pouring molten material into a shaped mould and allowing it to cool... -
CartoonEither of two types of drawings: in the fine arts, a preliminary sketch for a more complete work; in journalism, a humorous or satirical drawing...
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Still Life
A pictorial representation of inanimate objects. The term derives from the 17th-century Dutch still-leven, meaning a motionless natural object or objects... -
CalligraphySkilled penmanship practiced as a fine art...
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MosaicArt of arranging colored pieces of marble, glass, tile, wood, or other material to produce a surface ornament...
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DrawingThe art of representation by use of lines or other marks...
Misc.
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Jewellery
Objects worn for ornament, such as rings, brooches, necklaces, pendants, earrings, and bracelets... -
WallpaperWas used in Europe in the 16th and 17th cent. as an inexpensive substitute for costly hangings...
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TextileThese are made from natural fibres and include cotton, linen, silk, and wool (including angora, llama, and many others)...
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Porcelain
White, hard, permanent, nonporous pottery having translucence which is resonant when struck... -
CeramicObject made from clay, hardened into a permanent form by baking (firing) at very high temperatures in a kiln...
Types of Art
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Arts and CraftsTerm for that general field of applied design in which hand fabrication is dominant. The term was coined in England in the late 19th cent....
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Lithography
Type of planographic or surface printing. It is distinguished from letterpress (relief) printing and from intaglio printing... -
Landscape PaintingRepresentation of inland scenery, such as a countryside view or city skyline; also a format of painting that is wider than its height...
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PhotographyProcess for reproducing permanent images on light-sensitive materials by various forms of radiant energy, including visible light, ultraviolet, infrared, X-rays, atomic radiations, and electron beams...
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Portraiture
The art of representing the physical or psychological likeness of a real or imaginary individual. The principal portrait media are painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography... -
PotteryIt usually falls into three main classes—porous-bodied pottery, stoneware, and porcelain. Raw clay is transformed into a porous pottery when it is heated...
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EmbroideryOrnamental needlework applied to all varieties of fabrics and worked with many sorts of thread—linen, cotton, wool, silk, gold, and even hair...
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Etching
The art of engraving with acid on metal; also the print taken from the metal plate so engraved... -
SculptureArt of producing in three dimensions representations of natural or imagined forms...
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StonewareHard pottery made from siliceous paste, fired at high temperature to vitrify (make glassy) the body...
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Tapestry
Hand-woven fabric of plain weave made without shuttle or drawboy, the design of weft threads being threaded into the warp with fingers or a bobbin... -
Wood CarvingIncludes any kind of sculpture in wood, from the decorative bas-relief on small objects to life-size figures in the round, furniture, and architectural decorations...
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Illustration
Any type of picture or decoration used in conjunction with a text to embellish its appearance or to clarify its meaning... -
TypographyThe design of letterforms for use as typefaces, and the selection of typefaces for typeset documents...
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Marine PaintingPaintings of the sea, coastline, or ships....
Technique
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ColorLight transmitted from an object to the eye stimulates the different color cones of the retina, thus making possible perception of various colors in the object...
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CompositionThe arrangement of elements within an artwork to give a desired effect, often described as pleasing (unified and appealing to the eye) or expressive...
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ProportionRelation of a part to the whole (usually expressed as a fraction or percentage)...
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PanoramaA long painting stretched round the inside walls of circular buildings, intended to create the illusion of real scenery seen from a central vantage point (sometimes called a cyclorama)...
Tools and Media
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Ivory
Type of dentin present only in the tusks of the elephant. Ivory historically has been obtained mainly from Africa, where elephant tusks are larger than they are in Asia... -
GlassHard substance, usually brittle and transparent, composed chiefly of silicates and an alkali fused at high temperature...
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PigmentIn paint, the pigment is a powdered substance which, when mixed in the liquid vehicle, imparts color to a painted surface...
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Oil PaintPainting medium in which ground pigment (colour) is bound with oil, usually linseed. It has the advantage of being slow to dry and therefore reworkable...
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cameraLightproof box or container, usually fitted with a lens, which gathers incoming light and concentrates it so that it can be directed toward the film (in an optical camera) or the imaging device (in a digital camera) contained within.
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WatercolorRefers to all pigments mixed with water rather than with oil and also to the paintings produced by this process; it includes fresco and tempera as well as aquarelle.