Terminology

[crocoite]

As one who is very new to oil painting, I am hearing and seeing terms with which I am unfamiliar.

Is there a "glossary" or such that explains these terms?

What is the origin of them?

Examples include:

- scumble
- painterley
- en plaine aire

I'm sure that there are/will be more.

[cobalt fingers]

Search art terms on-line there are 4 or 5 really good on-line inFo places- artlex is one I think.

[lori]

Originally posted by crocoite

- scumble
- painterley
- en plaine aire



scumble: scrubbing with a dry brush. a dry brush is a brush with paint on dry bristles. the paint amount should be enough to get color, but not too much. this technique is good for glazing (thin upper layers where one can still see the paint underneath from previous painting sessions.

painterly: a painterly style is a painting that one can see the brush work, the lines in the paint dragging from the brush. it is loose, not a tight detailed work, where one can not see the actual "painting" of the paint.

en plaine aire: is just french for painting outdoors. for example, a landscape painter working from nature.

cobalt's site listing will be a good help for you...

[MrSpringGreen]

I'll not dispute the others but I thought that a scumble was like she said

scrubbing with a dry brush. a dry brush is a brush with paint on dry bristles. the paint amount should be enough to get color, but not too much.

but it's not really a glaze. Opaque or semi-opaque colors are used.
Rembrandt used a lot of scumbling in his paintings if you want an example... and can go look at one.

[lori]

the technique can be used when glazing. some people load pure pigment onto the brush and rub out to glaze, along those lines, some even scumble to do this.

yes, technically scumbling can and is done with both opaque and transparent pigments, and glazing is traditionally done with transparent...but you can get an interesting effect using the scumbling technique with either pigment type to glaze. i have seen many do this...

painting is about exploration...break a rule every now and again...it won't hurt you.

[paintfool]

Originally posted by lori
painting is about exploration...break a rule every now and again...it won't hurt you.

Oh absolutley!

[crocoite]

Thanks guys

It's sometimes difficult to easily locate this sort of information.

Also the origin of the word/phrase. I had assumed the meanings but with such a group as this, it's better to ask. Each person can have a different interpretation and that helps too.

I'll check out the suggestion by cobalt too.

[feather]

I also use ArtLex, and have found many good sources on this site:

http://refdesk.com/culture.html

[MrSpringGreen]

Lori is correct.
a scumble can be any color(transparent,opaque, semi-transparent, semi-opaque) painted on with a dry brush.
however, technically, one could also glaze with opaque colors, right?
An interesting effect to try would be to paint using a medium with damar varnish in it, then after it's had a month or two to dry(or maybe not), then "scumble" with turpentine. That will get some unique effects.

I was referring to the what was traditionally a scumble... as opposed to a sfumato or sgraffiti.