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Artist's markers are just like large felt tip markers, with a chisel shape at one end and a point at the other. The major difference (besides price) is the inks - available in a large color range and more durable than regular markers, but are still not completely lightfast, so they can't be used for fine art work. They are very popular with illustrators and great for sketching.
The main difference between a sketch and a drawing, in my view, is one of intent. A sketch is for the artists' own pleasure and use. A sketch is usually less 'finished', sketchy, and focuses on the single, most important object or area. A drawing, on the other hand, is intended from the start for public display or sale. It is 'finished', complete, with appropriate levels of detail in all areas of the drawing. Again this is my view, but I find sketches to be intensely personal, and very few of my sketches have ever been seen by anyone outside of a close group of friends and relatives.
Hydrocal is a very fine, high density form of plaster originally developed for making casts of teeth for dentures. It is used in the fine arts for making durable casts of sculpture modeled in other, softer material (such as wax or clay). These may then be used as models for later casting in metal or carving in stone, or can be painted and used as the final product. One other use is to make plaster casts of existing sculpture Many art schools have plaster casts of well known works that are used for study and for drawing practice.
Media(pl) or Medium(sing) is the stuff the artist paints with - oil, acrylic, watercolor etc. The name is actually the fluid used as a binder - that is, the chemical compound used to hold the coloring mater in place. First, all artists media are pigmented - none use dyes. The pigment is finely ground organic or synthetic material that is lightfast and relatively inert so the colors will not change when mixed together nor fade over time. The pigments are then mixed into the media. Oil colors are mixed into a refined form of linseed (flax seed) oil, Acrylic into synthetic acrylic polymer and watercolor into water. Both oil and watercolor contain small amounts of other compounds used to improve the natural handling characteristics, binding quality or life. Other media include: cassine, made from milk; tempera, made from egg yolk; and alkyd (or alcid), a relatively new medium made from an alcohol and acid compound and then mixed with linseed oil. For more see Oil, Alkyd, Acrylic and more.
A Monotype is a form of print where the image is drawn or painted on a plate, covered with a sheet of paper and hand printed (usually with a small roller or brayer or even with the smooth bowl of a large spoon. Monotypes differ from other forms of printmaking in that only one print can be made and it is not precisely repeatable.
Over the years many artists have been involved with monotypes, most notably Edgar Degas. Monotyping has enjoyed a mini resurgence in popularity among artists in recent years.
Painting Knives are small trowel shaped tools used to apply paint to a canvas. There are three main ways to use them: 1. with the trowel flat to the painting surface to apply broad areas of smooth, even paint; 2. on edge in a scraping motion to apply paint only to bumps and ridges of existing paint layers; and 3. on edge in a cutting motion to produce fine straight or curved lines.
A Painting Support is the material a painting is painted on - usually cotton or linen canvas. But canvas isn't the only thing used as a painting support. Through history many materials have been used.
- GLASS - sometimes to be viewed from the painted side, sometimes from the back.
- PAPER - mostly used for color sketches, must be coated to reduce absorbency and because the acid in linseed oil will attack the paper.
- WOOD PANNELS - Very popular in the past. Not used often any longer due to the weight and the tendency to warp.
- CANVAS - the most popular support today due to its durability, flexibility, springy feel under the brush and more. Linen canvas is the more expensive but most durable and generally used by professional artists; cotton canvas is less expensive and generally used by students and amateurs. Canvas must be coated before it is primed and painted on, as the acid in linseed oil will eventually rot the canvas - rabbitskin glue is the usual size for linen canvas but cotton is often coated with acrylic primer.
- MASONITE - has found increasing popularity today. It is much less expensive than canvas (a few dollars a sheet vs hundreds of dollars per yard), and is very durable. It's only drawback is weight and a smooth, stiff surface (actually preferred by some). In larger sizes it needs to braced from behind to keep it from buckling thereby increasing it's weight.
- METAL - rarely used.
Silk-screen printing, also known as serigraphy or serigraphs, is a printing process first developed for commercial printing - images on cups, packaging etc. are examples of its use. The process involves stretching a piece of fine mesh silk on a frame and placing or painting a stencil on the screen. The screen is then placed over the object to receive the image and ink or paint is squeezed through the uncovered part of the screen with a squeegee. If multiple colors are required, multiple stencils and multiple passes are required. Its use in the fine arts is broad and varied. There are many who work exclusively in this process producing limited editions of highly detailed, complex images.
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