A fair number of people reach this site without knowing the word, only the phenomenon: they type „transparent layer of paint on an oil painting” or „thick layer of paint”. Sometimes they want a term for a crossword, sometimes they are starting to paint and do not yet know what it is called. The answer to both questions is the same, so I have collected the terms people ask about most often — with a real explanation rather than just the solution.
Glaze — a thin, transparent layer of paint laid over a layer that has already dried. Light passes through it, reflects off what is underneath and returns through the colour, so the hue glows differently from the same colour mixed on the palette. Usually described as „a transparent layer of paint on a painting”. More: glazing in oil painting.
Impasto — the opposite of a glaze: paint laid thickly, so that it stands out from the canvas and casts its own shadow. The painting then changes along with the light in the room. More: impasto.
Underpainting — the first, most diluted layer, where the arrangement of shapes and values is set before the real colour arrives.
Varnish — a transparent coating applied to a finished painting, usually after several months. It evens out the gloss and protects the paint, because dirt settles on it rather than on the paint layer. More: why varnish is applied.
Stretcher — the wooden frame a canvas is stretched over. Not to be confused with a decorative frame: the stretcher is the structure underneath and usually cannot be seen.
Support — anything a painting is made on: canvas, board, panel, paper. Choosing between linen and cotton is exactly a choice of support.
Ground — the layer separating paint from the support. Without it oil sinks into the canvas, colour goes matt and the fibre grows brittle over time.
Easel — the stand a painting rests on while it is being worked.
Palette — the surface for mixing paint, but also the set of colours someone works with. Both meanings are in use, and most of the confusion comes from that.
Gouache — a water paint with white added, which makes it cover rather than let light through. That is precisely how it differs from watercolour. More: gouache and watercolour.
Tempera — a paint whose binder is an emulsion, classically egg yolk. It dries very fast and gives a matt, silky surface.
Watercolour — a water paint without covering white; lightness comes from the paper showing through, not from the paint. Wet on wet is its most recognisable method.
Sanguine — a red-brown iron oxide chalk used for drawing; the name comes from the colour of blood.
Sepia — a dark brown colourant originally obtained from cuttlefish, today more a colour name than a material.
Pigment and binder — the two parts of every paint: pigment is the coloured powder, binder is the substance that holds it and decides whether the result is oil, watercolour or tempera. The same pigment in three binders gives three different paints.
Still life — a composition of motionless objects: vessels, fruit, cut flowers.
Landscape — a painting of scenery. Its botanical variety, painting with plant motifs, has a name of its own.
Veduta — a precise view of a city, painted so that particular buildings can be recognised.
Marine — a painting with the sea as its subject.
Triptych — a work in three parts; two parts make a diptych, many parts a polyptych.
From the studio, not from a dictionary — I paint in oils and watercolours, mostly meadows, flowers and plants. What all these terms actually produce can be seen in the oil paintings and watercolours. If you are looking for a term that is not here, write to me — I will add it together with an explanation.
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