Resources
Glossary of terms
Artist's Proof: One of a small group of prints set aside from an edition for an artist's use. An artist's proof is typically one of the first proofs from a limited edition of prints, for the artist's own copyright use, and marked as an A.P., and not numbered. Artist's proofs generally draw a higher price than other impressions.
Collage: A composition made by pasting various materials, such as strips of newspaper, wallpaper, cloth, etc., to a flat surface.
Diptych: Any picture consisting of two parts or sections.
Edition: A set of identical prints, sometimes numbered and signed, pulled by, or under the supervision of the artist. Two numbers are often written at the lower edge of a print - the first indicating the print's place in the order of all prints in the edition, the second number indicating the total number of prints in the edition.
Encaustic: A method of painting with pigments suspended in molten wax much practiced in antiquity. Encaustic colours are remarkably brilliant and durable.
Medium: i) The physical material with which an artist works (marble, clay, ink, oil paint, acrylic paint, plaster, etc.). ii) The fluid, or 'vehicle' in which pigment is suspended to make paint, allowing it to spread easily and adhere to a surface. The medium of oil paint may be one of various drying oils; gum and water is the usual medium of watercolour; egg yolk and water is the medium for egg tempera, etc. The same pigments may usually be mixed with many different mediums.
Mixed Media (or mediums): A term indicating the use of two or more mediums in the making of a work of art. The use of this term by artists often indicates that a work is made using a complex combination of mediums.
Monotype: A one-of-a-kind print made by painting on a smooth metal, glass or stone plate and printing on paper. The pressure of printing creates a texture not possible when painting directly on paper.