Glossary

Glossary

I thought it might be a good idea to add a glossary of sorts, in relation to some of the terms used surrounding coloured pencils. I am sure some of you many think this is a bit odd, however, if you are new to this medium, as I was not so long ago, I think you will be quite surprised at how little you know about the medium, or at least about the techniques and tips used. 

• Lightfast     -     This is a term relating to how long the colour in your painting will last. 

• Burnishing     -     This is were you press hard into the tooth of the paper with a colourless pencil or another coloured pencil, usually a white. 

•  Blender     -     This refers to a solvent such as Zestit or a pigment free pencil know as a blender, being used to mix colours together 

• Archival     -     This refers to the paper being used, weather it is a high quality, acid free, sturdy paper that will stand the test of time with your work on it, to hang on walls well after the artist has gone 

•  Acid-Free     -     This refers to your paper being free of minerals that will yellow the paper over time, this is more often than not something you will look for in paper.

• Fixative     -     Normally a spray, this is something that protects and preserves your art work, used quite often on coloured pencil and pastel paintings. 

• OMS     -     Short for Oderless Mineral Spirits, referring to the Blender term. 

• Hot Press     -     This is paper that is smooth and has very little tooth 

• Tooth     -     This refers to the texture of the paper you are using, a rough texture would be described as a heavy toothed paper. 

• Hue     -     This term is used a lot in coloured pencil books and refers to the shade of colour. 

• Cold Press     -     This is paper that has a lot of tooth, quite a heavy textured paper.  

• Value     -     This refers to the darkness or lightness of a colour. 

• Opaque     -     This refers to how thick the colour is, one layer would cover another layer. 

• Transparent     -      This is the opposite of opaque, when you add a layer of colour to another you will still be able to see the first layer underneath. 

• Wax Bloom     -     This really only applies to wax based pencils, when many layers have been placed and you are pressing hard on the pencil, small clumps of wax will build up, also making it difficult to apply further layers. 

• W I P     -     Short for Work In Progress, which is what this blog is.