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Glossary beginning with I

Select the first letter of the term you're looking for from above to begin.
Illustration Board search for term

A bristol board made with a close weave in order to form a stronger and heavier paper or card. Appropriate for pencil, pen, watercolor, collage, and more.

Impasto search for term

A painting technique characterized by thick application of colors and heavy brushstrokes. Usually oil, acrylic, or encaustic paints are used for this style.

Impression search for term

In general, refers to a feeling, image, perception, effect, or a memory. In printmaking, a single print made from a block, plate, or stone is an impression; or the act of creating an impression.

Imprimatura search for term

A painting technique in which a thin, transparent, or semi-transparent layer of color is applied to a ground in order to lessen the ground's absorbency or to provide a toned ground different from standard white on which to paint.

In-Place Management search for term

A series of steps used as an alternative to lead-based paint removal that improves the condition of intact lead-based paint to reduce or eliminate hazards without totally removing it.

In-The-Round search for term

To be viewed from all sides. In sculpture, free-standing.

Incident Light search for term

The light hitting an object's surface.

Incising search for term

Cutting into a surface.

Incrustation search for term

A style of classical Roman wall decoration in which the wall was divided into bright, polychromatic panels of solid colors with rendered textural contrasts.

India Ink search for term

The name in the United States for a particular shade of black ink made from carbon. Traditionally known as lamp black, this ink is also made in cakes and sticks.

Indirect Carving search for term


Indirect Casting search for term

In lost-wax casting, a technique in which the model that is lost is not the original model but a wax cast from a mold taken from the original model.

Induction Time search for term

For multi-component products, this is the period of time which must elapse after the components are mixed before the coating can be applied.

Inert search for term

Stable, unable to move, or slow to change. Chemically, not readily reactive to other elements; not easily decomposed.

Infra-Red Light search for term

Portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is just below visible light, but is effective in helping speed the curing time of paint.

Inhibitor search for term

A material, such as a primer, that is used to retard rusting or corrosion.

Ink search for term

A liquid or paste that contains pigments or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Used with a pen, brush, or quill, and sometimes in paste form in letterpress and printmaking.

Ink Pad search for term

An ink-soaked pad, usually felt or a similar material, in a shallow box that is used for inking a rubber stamp or taking fingerprints.

Inking Plate search for term

A large, flat plate that is usually covered in ink in preparation for inking a plate or block. This process will smooth out any unwanted lumps in thick, viscous ink.

Inlay search for term

Making an image by setting thin pieces of material precisely in a depressed ground so that the edge where they meet is flush with the surface; or the act of creating such a piece.

Innercoat Adhesion search for term

The ability of one coat of paint to stick to another.

Inscribe search for term

To mark with letters or numbers. Such a label is called an inscription.

Intaglio search for term

Collective term for several processes in which prints are made from ink trapped in the grooves of an object decorated in such a manner that, when pressed or stamped into a soft substance, will produce a positive print.

Intarsia search for term

Inlay work that may result in either a pattern or picture. Done primarily in wood or a rarer surface, such as mother-of-pearl, ivory, bone, or marble.

Intensity search for term

The purity and brightness of a color.

Intercoat Adhesion search for term

The ability of one coat of paint to stick to another.

Interference search for term

Usually refers to a process of disruption. In painting, interference colors are types of paint that change colors based upon the darkness or lightness of the background they are placed upon. Interference colors often have two labels: one for the color it appears on a light surface, and one for the color it appears on a dark surface.

Interference Color search for term

Colors that change based upon the angle at which the light hits their surfaces.

Intermediate Coat search for term

The coating between the primer and finish. Also called a barrier coat.

Intermediate Color search for term

Colors produced by mixing uneven amounts of primary colors. Intermediate colors are located between primary and secondary colors on a color wheel.

Intermix search for term

The mixing of specific colors by adding different components or colorants to produce a usable mixture at the paint store or shop level.

Intonaco search for term

The final layer of plaster on which a fresco is painted.

Investment search for term

A thick jacket of refractory material built around a wax model which forms the mold in lost-wax casting. Can be made of plaster or clay. The finest layers are painted over the wax models, and the outer layers are reinforced by wire.

Iridescent search for term

Having a rainbow-like brightness and display of colors, such as seen on oil slicks.

Iron Oxide search for term

A chemical compound composed of iron and oxygen.

Iron Oxides search for term

A chemical compound composed of iron and oxygen.

Isocyante search for term

Material containing a functional group of nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Used in urethane catalyst and hardener to cross link material into a solid urethane film.

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