Art History Words and Terms Beginning With B

As a basic principle of art (specifically of design), balance refers to the ways in which the elements (lines, shapes, colors, textures, etc.) of a piece are arranged.

A French term from the Italian basso-relievo ("low relief"), bas relief is a sculpture technique in which figures and/or other design elements are just barely more prominent than the (overall flat) background.

A binder is the agent in paint that serves - on the molecular level - to make the paint stick to the support.

Bisque, or biscuit ware is unglazed clay that has been fired in a kiln at a low temperature.

Black here means a color singularly devoid of any light whatsoever.

"Bosse" simply translates to "bump," which leads us to "with the bump" and "according to the bump." These are (atypically) cute French ways of saying "learning how to draw via carefully executed studies of plaster casts."

A brayer is a roller with which one spreads ("brays") ink during the printmaking process.