2.2: Painting
1. Paint in its most basic form is composed of ________ and a liquid binder.
a. pigment d. beeswax
b. glaze e. tempera
c. impasto
2. This component of paint has traditionally been extracted from minerals, soils, vegetable matter,
and animal by-products.
a. glaze d. pigment
b. solvent e. impasto
c. polymers
3. This is not a traditional paint binder.
a. beeswax d. gum arabic
b. lye e. walnut oil
c. egg yolk
4. We have discovered paintings at Pech Merle in France that have been made by artists dating back
________ years.
a. 25 d. 25,000
b. 2,500 e. 250,000
c. 250
5. The binding agent in the spotted-horse paintings at Pech Merle is ________.
a. saliva d. linseed oil
b. egg yolk e. gum arabic
c. milk casein
6. Recent findings, derived from studying the finger lengths from the handprints that surround the
spotted horses, have caused researchers to believe that most of the paintings were done by
________.
a. Neanderthal artists d. spotted horses
b. male artists e. none of the other answers
c. female artists
7. Artists at Pech Merle in France were using paint to create images some 25,000 years ago, and the
medium is still popular today. Why do you think paint has continued to be so highly regarded?
Support the reasons in your answer with examples.
8. The binding agent in encaustic painting is ________.
a. beeswax d. linseed oil
b. egg yolk e. gum arabic
c. milk casein
9. A brush called a Filbert is best used for ________.
a. sketching and thinned paint application
b. applying color, its short bristles offer more control and softened edges
c. long, fluid strokes and sharp edges
d. controlled detailing and applying areas of color
e. blending slow-drying paint and softening edges
10. This painting tool can be used to apply thick encaustic paint.
a. arrezzo d. intonaco
b. airbrush e. palette knife
c. impasto
11. Naturalistic encaustic portraits of the Roman era, from the Fayum Oasis in Egypt, were created as
________.
a. historical records d. government identification
b. home decorations e. practice studies
c. funerary adornments
12. The best surface to paint the medium of encaustic on is fabric.
13. Point out the advantages and disadvantages of encaustic painting. What may have been the reasons
that this painting medium was preferred by the artists of the Fayum Oasis in Egypt?
14. This painting process relies on freshly applied lime plaster to hold the pigment in place.
a. casein d. tempera
b. encaustic e. oil
c. fresco
15. The earliest examples of fresco, found at the Palace of Knossos on the Mediterranean island of
________, date to c. 1600–1500 BCE.
a. Crete d. Rhodes
b. Malta e. Sicily
c. Elba
16. There are two types of fresco. Fresco secco, which means “dry fresco,” and this kind, which means
“good fresco.”
a. calabria d. buon
b. mezzo e. tondo
c. unum
17. Taking four years to complete, the Sistine Chapel ceiling was painted by this artist in sections
using the buon fresco method.
a. Michelangelo d. Leonardo
b. Raphael e. Bronzino
c. Giotto
18. If an artist wanted to create an artwork that he or she could easily alter, and in which he or she
could quickly fix any mistakes, buon fresco would be a good method to use.
19. Why do you think that fresco was chosen as the medium for the political works of the Mexican
Muralists? Discuss how the medium plays a role in enhancing the message in works of art. What
kind of role do you think art played in the Mexican Revolution?
20. The binding agent for tempera paint is ________.
a. egg d. oil
b. milk e. gum arabic
c. beeswax
21. Tempera lends itself to high ________ because it is usually applied with a brush in short, thin
strokes.
a. impasto d. detail
b. color e. gloss
c. value
22. Islamic and Renaissance artists often used tempera in conjunction with oil and this material, which
adds a rich appearance to the work.
a. wax d. marble dust
b. gold leaf e. chalk
c. polished stones
23. This twentieth-century American painter chose tempera to describe his neighbor’s “extraordinary
conquest of life” in the work Christina’s World.
a. Roger Shimomura d. Hung Liu
b. John Matos e. Andrew Wyeth
c. Joan Brown
24. If an artist wanted to paint a very detailed miniature forest scene, tempera would be a good
medium to use.
25. This painting binder is a by-product of flax production and first came into common use during the
late Middle Ages and the Northern Renaissance.
a. beeswax d. milk casein
b. linseed oil e. egg
c. gum arabic
26. Artists used oil paint on cave walls thousands of years ago.
27. The Renaissance artist and writer Giorgio Vasari credited this Flemish painter with the invention
of oil paint.
a. Robert Campin d. Peter Paul Rubens
b. Pieter Bruegel e. Rembrandt van Rijn
c. Jan van Eyck
28. The transparency of oil paint allows a painter to use a process called glazing in order to add a high
degree of ________ to a painting.
a. sgraffito d. luminosity
b. saturation e. impasto
c. value
29. Californian artist Joan Brown used this painting technique, created by applying thick layers of
paint to a surface.
a. sgraffito d. scumbling
b. glazing e. broken stroke
c. impasto
30. ________ can create many different effects, depending on how it is applied. Chinese-born artist
Hung Liu utilized these qualities to separate reality and the ideal in her work Interregnum.
a. oil paint d. encaustic
b. tempera e. all of the other answers
c. fresco
31. Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi used this medium for her Allegory of Painting, a
self-portrait of the artist with a paintbrush in hand.
a. acrylic paint d. tempera
b. fresco e. encaustic
c. oil paint
32. This medium is made of pigment suspended in water so that it adheres to the fibers of paper to
which it is commonly applied. Usually there is a small amount of gum arabic in this medium, and
it most often uses only black pigment.
a. ink d. acrylic
b. tempera e. encaustic
c. oil
33. This Japanese artist exploited the rich, dark value of ink painting to capture the character of a river
by moonlight.
a. Hung Liu d. Melchor Peredo
b. Suzuki Shônen e. Albrecht Dürer
c. Roger Shimomura
34. This painting medium is transparent, applied to a paper surface, and has a gum arabic binder (the
French version uses honey.)
a. watercolor d. bister
b. soot ink e. sepia
c. gall ink
35. This painting medium is opaque, applied to a paper surface, and uses a gum arabic binder.
a. soot ink d. oil
b. gouache e. acrylic
c. tempera
36. An artist paints the US flag using the medium of watercolor, but forgets to do the white stars. To
add them to the painting, the artist just needs to use the white watercolor pigment.
37. This German artist’s naturalistic depiction A Young Hare was created using a combination of
watercolor and gouache highlighting.
a. Hung Liu d. Sonia Delaunay
b. Melchor Peredo e. Joan Brown
c. Albrecht Dürer
38. Sonia Delaunay used this medium for her lively illustrations accompanying Blaise Cendrars’s
poetry in their “simultaneous” artist’s book.
a. oil d. watercolor
b. ink e. fresco
c. acrylic
39. This contemporary painting medium uses a polymer resin as a binder.
a. acrylic d. tempera
b. oil e. ink
c. encaustic
40. One of the advantages of acrylic paint is that it can be cleaned up using this liquid.
a. turpentine d. kerosene
b. oil e. Dr. Pepper
c. water
41. If an artist wanted to work on a painting over a number of days, blending and making changes,
acrylic paint would be a good medium to use.
42. This Japanese-American artist used acrylic paint to express the relationship between American and
Japanese cultures.
a. Melchor Peredo d. Riza Abbasi
b. Hung Liu e. Roger Shimomura
c. Suzuki Shônen
43. The work Coalopolis by American artist Ralph M. Larmann utilizes acrylic paint. This medium is
derived from modern manufacturing processes and conveys ________.
a. the relationship between economic progress and ecological damage
b. an industrial, menacing landscape
c. twisting clouds of coal soot rising to fill the sky over a fictional town
d. a message of impending environmental disaster
e. all of the answers
44. Painting that integrates many different painting media and materials is classified as ________
painting.
a. alternative d. mixed-media
b. performance e. time-based
c. crazy
45. This mural painter involved the entire community when she created Danza de la Tierra at the
Dallas Latino Cultural Center:
a. Frida Kahlo d. Joan Brown
b. Georgia O’Keeffe e. Jane Frank
c. Judy Baca
46. This painting technique was used by the prehistoric cave painters of Pech Merle, France, and is
still used by contemporary graffiti artists.
a. broken stroke d. glazing
b. scumbling e. impasto
c. spray paint
47. This British artist practices street art using a process that involves stencils and spray paint.
a. Banksy d. Vincent van Gogh
b. Mary Cassatt e. Edgar Degas
c. Georges Seurat
48. Graffiti artist Banksy has created many works in public places without permission, but he has also
become popular with the public. How do you think these different settings affect the way that
viewers react to his artworks? What is it about spray paint that makes its artists thrive on creating
works in unexpected places and away from traditional art venues?
Match the painting with its medium:
a. oil d. tempera
b. watercolor and gouache e. fresco
c. acrylic
49. Albrecht Dürer, Hare
50. Roger Shimomura, Untitled
51. Hung Liu, Interregnum
52. Michelangelo, The Libyan Sibyl
53. Riza Abbasi, Two Lovers