Drawing and Painting Media and Techniques
What this domain tests
This domain covers the materials themselves - what each medium does, how to lay it down, and how to combine them without ruining the surface.
Core rules
- Match medium to support. Pencil and ink suit smooth paper; charcoal and pastel need tooth (texture) to grip; watercolour needs heavy, sized paper that will not buckle; poster colour works on cartridge or mount board.
- Know the pencil scale. H grades are hard and pale (H, 2H, 4H), B grades soft and dark (B, 2B, 4B, 6B). Start light with H, finish with 2B–4B, and keep a kneaded eraser for lifting highlights.
- Techniques differ. Hatching and cross-hatching build tone with lines; stippling with dots; scumbling with a dry, light layer over a dark one; blending with a stump or finger, used sparingly.
- Water media: a wash is laid on tilted paper with a loaded brush in one direction and left alone; wet-on-wet spreads softly; dry brush gives texture; glazing means a transparent layer over a dry one.
- Opaque media are worked light to dark, letting each layer dry. Fixative seals charcoal and pastel.
Worked example
A sky in watercolour. Tape the paper, tilt the board about fifteen degrees, wet the area with clean water, then run a loaded blue wash across in single strokes, adding a warm tint near the horizon while it is still wet. Stop touching it. When bone dry, glaze a slightly darker blue for cloud shadow.
Traps that cost marks
Overworking a watercolour until the paper lifts; poster colour mixed too thin (streaky) or too thick (cracking); painting the next layer before the first is dry; graphite shining through a watercolour wash; pastel left unfixed and smudged; and using a soft 6B pencil for the first light sketch.