Flat stroke

A broad, even band of consistent width laid down with a flat-headed brush held perpendicular to the stroke direction. The foundation of colour-blocking and underpainting.

Tapered stroke

Begins thin, swells to full body under pressure, then releases back to a fine point. The most natural mark of a pointed round brush — captures the rhythm of the hand.

Dry brush

A nearly paint-starved brush dragged quickly across the surface, leaving broken, feathered marks that reveal the texture beneath. Used in watercolour for water and wood grain.

Impasto

Thick paint applied with a loaded brush or palette knife, building physical relief on the canvas. Light catches the ridges and valleys, creating texture that reads as both colour and sculpture.

Wash

Highly diluted paint flooded across a wet or dry surface, creating a transparent veil of colour. Watercolour’s defining move — layers of washes build luminous depth and atmosphere.

Scumble

A thin, opaque or semi-opaque layer of lighter paint dragged loosely over a darker dried layer. Creates atmospheric haze and luminous surface complexity — the Old Masters’ secret for skin.

Stipple

Tone and form built entirely from individual dots of paint or ink. Dense clusters read as dark; scattered dots as light. A pointillist relative — painstaking but uniquely textural.

Calligraphic stroke

A single continuous mark that alternates between thick and thin by rotating the brush and varying pressure. Derived directly from East Asian ink painting and Western sign-writing traditions.

Splatter / drip

Paint flung, flicked, or allowed to fall freely onto the surface. Associated with Abstract Expressionism and Pollock’s action painting — the mark of chance and physical energy.

Liner / detail stroke

A long, fine-tipped brush fully loaded with thinned paint that produces a single hairline with remarkable control and length. Used for rigging, grasses, whiskers, and fine script.

Fan brush stroke

The spread bristles of a fan brush leave a characteristic splayed, feathered mark. Used for foliage, fur, grass, and blending — each bristle leaves its own individual thread.

Palette knife stroke

A flat, flexible metal blade spreads paint with crisp, sharp edges and a slick, even surface. Creates faceted planes of colour — no bristle texture, just the geometry of applied paint.

Round brush swell

The classic round brush pressed fully into the surface, belly down, then lifted — depositing a fat, lens-shaped mark thickest at centre and tapering symmetrically. The basic unit of oil painting.

Broken colour

Short, separate marks of pure colour placed side by side without blending, allowing the eye to optically mix them at a distance. The Impressionist and Divisionist method for luminous paint surface.

Glaze

A thin, transparent film of oil-diluted paint laid over a thoroughly dried layer. Light penetrates the glaze, reflects off the surface beneath, and returns through it — creating depth that opaque paint cannot replicate.

Egg tempera hatching

Because tempera dries instantly and cannot be blended, tone is built through fine parallel hatching — hundreds of individual brushed lines. The method of Botticelli, Van Eyck, and medieval panel painters.

Graffiti / spray stroke

Fluid, continuous marks made at speed with aerosol or a loaded brush held loosely at distance. The hand moves from the shoulder, not the wrist — large, gestural, and deeply personal in character.

Ink wash / Sumi-e

Diluted ink applied with a soft, fully loaded brush in a single, unrepeatable gesture. Rooted in Chinese and Japanese painting — the mark cannot be corrected, so intention and breath must precede it.

Bristle splay

A stiff brush pressed firmly onto the surface splays its bristles outward, creating a fan-shaped mark with individual bristle tracks visible. Used for fur, foliage, and directional texture in oil painting.

Buon fresco

Pigment applied directly into wet lime plaster — the colour bonds chemically as the plaster cures, becoming part of the wall itself. The artist works in sections called giornate (one day’s work), never returning to a dried patch.