Painting Media, Materials, and Tools
This domain tests knowledge of painting media, supports and tools: what each medium does, how it dries, what it needs, and how to handle it safely.
Core rules
- Watercolour is transparent and water-soluble; use heavy paper, stretch it if flooding, and reserve white paper for lights. Techniques include wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry and lifting.
- Gouache is opaque watercolour, rewettable and matte; it can be used light-over-dark but thick layers may crack.
- Acrylic is a polymer emulsion, fast-drying and water-cleanable; it dries darker and cannot be rewetted. Clean brushes before paint sets.
- Oil dries slowly by oxidation; follow fat-over-lean, use primed supports, and keep solvents away from flame.
- Tempera is a fast-drying emulsion; apply lean and build thin layers.
- Brushes: round for line, flat for blocks, filbert for soft edges, rigger for fine lines. Natural hair holds water differently from synthetic.
Worked example
Choose a medium for a two-hour outdoor study. Acrylic is suitable because it dries fast, cleans with water and tolerates a primed board. Prime the board, keep a spray bottle for the palette, and work dark to light. Oil would stay wet and be awkward to transport; watercolour would need stretched paper and careful drying.
Traps
Letting acrylic dry in the ferrule. Using oil over a water-based layer that is not fully dry. Thinking gouache is permanent when rewetted. Using solvent near a flame. Choosing a support without priming.