Art: Glossary

Glossary

Beveled - The angle or inclination of a line or surface that meets another at anything but 90 degrees.

Engraving - A printing technique in which an artist uses an engraving tool to scratch the lines of a drawing into a metal plate. The plate is then coated with ink or paint and pressed to paper to form a print.

Etching - A technique similar to engraving, except that the etching plate is not as durable as the engraving plate, thus limiting the edition size of a particular print.

Fillet - A narrow strip, typically made of gold-leafed wood, which frames the inner edge of a mat.

Giclee/Iris - A high-resolution print.

Limited Edition - Print editions that have been limited to a certain number either by an arbitrary decision from the artist or due to the fragile nature of the printing medium.

Mat - A decorative border placed around a picture to serve as a frame or to provide contrast between the picture and the frame.

Molding - A decorative, recessed or relieved surface.

Monoprints - A single-edition.

Off-set Reproductions - A photo-mechanical process that utilizes a powerful lens to break down an artist's blend of colors into four inks.

Paperbacked - When the back of a frame is covered with a protective sheet of paper.

Print - A design or picture transferred from an engraving plate, wood block, stencil or other medium.

Sawtooth Hanger - A straight, zig-zagged metal hanger often used instead of a wire.

Serigraph - A stencil hand-applied to a silk screen; its value is determined by the complexity of the stencil and the number of colors used.

Silk screening - An ancient method of printing using stencils.

Watercolor - Thin, transparent pigments applied to wet or dry paper, resulting in a range of colors from the most delicate hints to very brilliant, intense hues.

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