MAULSTICK

a wooden rod about 1 m long with a padded knob at one end, used by pai
nters to support and steady the brush hand, particularly when working on detaile
d passages.
MEZZOTINT a printmaking method that produces subtly graduated tones rather than
lines; the term also applies to a print made by this method. A metal (usually co
pper) plate is laboriously roughened with a serrated steel tool called a rocker.
MINIMAL ART a type of abstract art, particularly sculpture, characterized by ext
reme simplicity of form and a deliberate lack of expressive content.
MOSAIC the art of making patterns and pictures by arranging small (usually multi
-coloured) pieces of glass, marble, and other suitable materials and fixing them
into a bed of cement or plaster.
NAIVE ART
term applied to painting (and to a much lesser degree sculpture) produ
ced in more or less sophisticated societies but lacking conventional expertise i
n representational skills. Colours are characteristically bright and non-natural
istic, perspective non-scientific, and the vision childlike or literal-minded.
OIL PAINT paint in which drying oils are used as the medium; linseed oil is the
best known.
PALETTE a flat board, usually rectangular, ovoid, or kidney-shaped, on which art
ists arrange their paints ready for use.
PALETTE KNIFE
a thin, flexible, dull-edged blade, set in a handle, used for mixi
ng paint, scraping it off the palette or canvas, and also as a painting instrume
nt.
PANEL term in painting for a support of wood, metal, or other rigid material, as
distinct from canvas.
PASTEL a drawing or painting material consisting of a stick of colour made from
powdered pigments mixed with just enough resin or gum to bind them.
PASTICHE
d.
PEN

a work of art that imitates the style of another work, artist, or perio

writing and drawing instrument used with ink or a similar coloured fluid.

PENCIL writing or drawing instrument consisting of a slender rod of graphite or

similar substance encased in a cylinder of wood.
PERSPECTIVE
method of giving a sense of depth on a flat or shallow surface, util
izing such optical phenomena as the apparent convergence of parallel lines and d
iminution in size of objects as they recede from the spectator.
PLASTER OF PARIS a fine white or pinkish powder, made from gypsum, that when mix
ed with water forms a quick-setting paste that dries to form a uniform, solid, a
nd inert mass.
PLEIN AIR
term used to characterize paintings (usually landscapes) done outdoors
rather than in the studio, or more generally to describe pictures that give a s
trong feeling of the open air.
POINTILLISM technique of using regular small touches of pure colour in such a wa
y that when a picture is viewed from a suitable distance they seem to react toge
ther optically, creating more vibrant colour effects than if the same colours we
re physically mixed together.

POINTING
method of creating an exact copy of a statue or of enlarging a model in
to a full-size sculpture by taking a series of measured points on the original a
nd transferring them by means of mechanical aids to the copy or enlargement.
POP ART
a movement based on the imagery of consumerism and popular culture, flou
rishing from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, chiefly in the USA and Britain.
PRIMING a coating applied to a canvas, panel or other support to prepare the sur
face for painting.