Watercolor refers to a type of paint made from pulverized pigments combined with a water-soluble binder such as gum arabic. When diluted with water and applied to an absorbent surface, the translucency of the paint is highlighted by the color of the material being decorated. This type of paint has been used to create images on walls, silk, porcelain, ivory, and various papers.

The following excerpt was written in 2003 by Carol Robbins, the former Ellen and Harry S. Parker III Curator of the Arts of Americas and the Pacific, for the publication Dallas Museum of Art, 100 Years.

Canvas is traditionally sealed with a primer paint before a painting is made. Sealing, or priming, the canvas creates an even surface and protects the canvas. Unprimed canvas is not sealed and thus absorbs paint or other materials differently than primed canvas. Sometimes the term raw is used to describe surfaces that are left unprimed.

Surrealism, an early-20th-century literary and artistic movement, aimed to liberate the emotions and desires of the subconscious from the rational mind and its socially-enforced norms and taboos.

Screenprints (also known as serigraph or silkscreen) are created using a stencil to block out areas not intended to transfer to the paper (or fabric). Using a squeegee, the printmaker forces ink through the unblocked areas of the mesh screen. Additional colors or tones can be achieved by using multiple stencils.

For paints (as opposed to theater lights), the hues red, yellow, and blue are the primary colors. These building blocks of color are often arranged on a color wheel. From these three colors, with the addition of white or black, it is theoretically possible to mix the full range of colors in the spectrum.

Painterly describes a painting in which the tactile, fluid quality of the paint and traces of its physical application become a principal quality of the work.