Painting Teacher

An optical device which, by the use of a prism, makes it possible to copy an object. The rays of light from the model are reflected by the prism and produce an image on the paper. By adjusting the prism and inserting magnifying lenses the size of reproduction can be made smaller or larger. It was invented by Richard Hooke about 1674.

Applied to painting media, the term glazing means the laying of a transparent colour over previously laid and dried-out pigments, that may be opaque or transparent. With water-glazing only water need be added to the colours, with acrylics just the acrylic medium and water. For glazing with oil-paints, the diluent can be such as: linseed oil, poppy oil, turpentine or white spirit. Glazed colours appear to advance while opaque recede. Very rich translucent effects can be gained; for example, note the extreme richness of crimson in some of Titian's paintings, obtained by glazing over these areas with lake.

Not a happy support for oils as it is a substance that is open to deterioration from a number of sources. It is difficult to control the movement of the material. There have been some instances of it being used by French painters for small-size pictures. There is a ceremonial parade shield of leather in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, which carries a painting of 'The Young David' by Andrea del Castagno; it is 45 in (1143 mm) high and tapers being 32 in (812 mm) wide at the top and 17 in (431 mm) at the bottom.

The brush should be loaded with the minimum of colour and then lightly dragged over the surface of the canvas or paper. A bright or flat brush will give the best results.

This is one of my favourite questions (it's based on a question my National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) coach used to ask me) because it gets candidates to think about their contribution to the school organisation and their team spirit. If I'm interviewing for a senior leader I would follow this up with: what would you want them to say about you in three years time? This way I can get a sense of where they want to develop as leaders.

To paint a picture in one sitting, particularly applicable to oil-painting. The French use the term au premier coup. It is the wisest method where heavy impasto is to be used. The paintings often have a virile life and freshness of colour and effect, not always attained by more precisely planned methods.

A manner worked on by Alexander Cozens, which is elaborated on in A New Method for assisting the invention in drawing original compositions of Landscape (1786). The idea is that an accidental blot or brush mark on the paper can act as a trigger for an imaginative composition. Leonardo makes mention of a similar approach to marks on walls that could be worked in with a painting. Twentieth-century Surrealists have experimented with the child ploy of folding paper over a blot of colour to produce a fantastic shape from which some idea could grow.

In oil-painting it signifies the first underpainting. It should be low in oil content to enable subsequent layers of colour to adhere properly. In oil-paintings early layers of colour should always be lean; if they are too rich and thick paint is put on top, varying speeds of drying will almost certainly cause cracking.

(also termed: Beaverboard, Masonite, Upson board) These boards are made from wood-pulp and/or waste paper. The front presents a smooth hard surface, the back having a textured tooth resembling a reverse canvas texture. Suitable for oils if sized and primed, also for acrylics if grounded with acrylic primer. Sizes over 20 x 24 in need some kind of battening for support.

This question really throws people. If it is maths or English they sometimes look back at you as if you are mad. They assume it is obvious – a very dangerous assumption – and then completely fail to justify the subject's existence.

Painting in fresh plaster with pigments diluted with water; the curing plaster locks pigment permanently into surface

A phenomenon that occurs with varnish on paintings, and occasionally on polished furniture. Causes can include damp conditions during varnishing, picture hung in a chilly, draughty position, or exposed to gross humidity such as can be generated by some gas heating devices. The condition appears rather like the bloom on a black grape. If it is on the surface of the varnish it can normally be removed by gentle wiping with a piece of cotton wool. If underneath the varnish, which is rare, the only cure is to remove the varnish and to revarnish.

A rectangular frame crossed with wires or threads to form squares, which the artist sets up between himself and his sitter at such a distance that his view is the same as the drawing he intends to make. The frame isolates his subject and if his paper is squared to correspond to the squares on the frame, he can quickly place the main outlines and details.

Ajointed wooden figure, either quite small or life-size, that may be used as a substitute for the sitter. The fIgure is so made that the limbs can only be moved in the same way as an actual human fIgure. Popular 18th-century portrait-painters used them dressed in the clothes the sitter demanded and thus saved the clients many arduous hours sitting still.

A drawing/sketching implement featuring a thick core of black and smooth graphite, capable of producing a wide tonal range.

A rich, fine, red clay used as a ground on a gesso panel for gold-leaf. The strong colour serving to enrich the optical effect of the very thin metal.

Category of material in which an artist works; can also refer to an additive mixture used to modify the properties of artists’ colors.

A small convex mirror that instead of being silvered was blackened at the back. The idea was that being convex it would reduce the scene and by being blackened it would only reflect the main masses of the subject. The artist would sit with his back to the view and hold the glass in front of him so that he could look over his shoulder. It is said to have been devised by Claude Lorrain (1600-82). It was popular in the 17th and 18th centuries and may still be seen in action today.

A liquid, that may be shellac in methylated spirits or synthetic cellulose solution, that is intended to be sprayed as a fine mist on to charcoal, soft pencil, chalk or pastel to consolidate the drawings and prevent smudging. This spraying must be done with care because too heavy an application can flood and float the drawing away. Tests should always be made with pastel as it is likely the fixative can alter tone and tint values.

Has many uses in art, including: mixed with turpentine to make a wax polish for finishing oils, tempera and alkyds; mixed with varnish and turpentine to prepare a painting medium for oils; as a stiff paste with a small amount of turpentine to assist impasto; mixed with Venice turpentine and resin asan adhesive for relining a painting.