Artist's Vocabulary

     Leslie and I were painting a model the other day and while getting ready to paint, I unscrewed the top to a tube of acrylics and we both laughed at the little "thing" of paint that sticks to the tube of paint. What the heck is this little bugger called? After thinking about this for awhile, I decided that there are many little things and some big things that an artist encounters on a daily basis and these things don't even have names. So, here is a start...perhaps we can have our own little dictionary after awhile...

1. Craint-The "crusty" accumulation of dried paint around the mouth of a tube of  acrylic, oil or watercolor paint.

2. Brush Roots- this is the dark area that comes to an old paint brush after many uses and attaches itself to the hairs closest to the ferrule. If you would just carefully and lovingly REALLY clean your brush you wouldn't have this happen.

3. Freeze Frame-That momentary pause just before putting the first stroke of paint on a blank canvas. Anything is possible at this very  moment.

4. Critistab-When unsolicited comments about your "work in progress" slice right to the heart.

5.Virgin Swipe-New brush, first paint load, and then, and then, first stroke on the canvas.

6. Moan ehhhhh!....-the noise made while in the "zone" painting and you accidently drop a loaded brush, palette, or linseed oil and it literally goes everywhere. You know also that Monet NEVER made such a mess.

7. Zerobuck-Amount you get paid for everytime you hear the comment, "Oh, I wish I had your talent" or "I just LOVE your work!" and better yet, "How fun it must be just to paint and not have to work."

Many more of these out there I am sure...let me hear some of them.