Painting with words

Colours have many named shades:

• blues: navy, indigo, cobalt, denim, sky, ice;
• greens: pine, India green, apple, jade, olive, pistachio;
• reds: rusty, salmon, scarlet, crimson, blood red, vermilion.

Art words:

• an easel holds the painting upright;
• a canvas is the cloth painted on; a palette holds the colours;
• tonal range runs from light to dark;
• a portrait shows a face; a mural is painted on a wall;
• underpainting is a first layer under the final colours.

Guess new words from context. 'Capturing his friend's features' tells us a portrait shows a person.

Two kinds of description:

• a factual description gives only facts that can be checked: name, look, size, colour, materials, origin, how it is made, its use. No 'I think it is lovely'.
• a descriptive piece paints with words: colours side by side, textures (velvety petals), light (morning sun on leaves).