Also called plastic paint or acrylic-resin paint. Depending on how the painter handles it, acrylic paint may be as transparent as watercolor or as thick and pasty as some oil paints. It will stick to almost any surface. It will not yellow, and it is not affected by heat and humidity. All these qualities make it one of the most popular paints today.
DISTEMPER
Pigment and glue. This somewhat impermanent kind of paint is used in schools as a great deal, for it is cheap and dries quickly.
EGG TEMPERA
Pigment ground into egg yolks and thinned with water. Tempera dries almost immediately. It is usually applied with short strokes of a soft, small brush. Most tempera paintings are done on wooden boards that have been prepared with several coats of gesso, white chalk mixed with glue. Tempera is transparent and is often applied in several layers.
ENCAUSTIC
Pigment and wax. In this ancient technique the color and vehicle are heated and applie, while still hot and liquid, to a wall or other surface.
FRESCO
Painting done with watercolors or moist plaster walls or ceiling.
GOUACHE
Opaque (it can't be seen through) watercolor. Gouache (pronounced "gwash") is applied like watercolor, but white may be used to lighten surface.
OIL PAINT
Pigment ground into oil. For centuries after its invention, probably in the 15th-century, oil painting dominated all other techniques until the development of acrylics. It dries slowly. It can be wiped off or painted over. It can be applied thickly or thinly. It can be transparent or opaque. The most common oil used for mixing is linseed oil, but for various effect, varnish, turpentine, beswax, and other kinds of oils can be added. Until commercially made oil paints became avaiable, the artist had to grind powdered pigment on a marble slab while adding oil little by little.
