Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The application of thick layers of pigment to a canvas or other surface in painting.
- noun The paint so applied.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In painting, the thick laying on of pigments. Compare
impaste , 2. - noun In ceramics, enamel colors or slip laid so thickly on the ware, in decoration, as to stand out from its surface in relief.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Paint.) The thickness of the layer or body of pigment applied by the painter to his canvas with especial reference to the juxtaposition of different colors and tints in forming a harmonious whole.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun In painting, the use of a thick-bodied paint to create sizable peaks and crests in an image.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun painting that applies the pigment thickly so that brush or palette knife marks are visible
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word impasto.
Examples
-
In this painting as in most of my oil paintings, I used bold colors and brushstrokes of thick paint called impasto, to create a textural rhythm in order to introduce a more intense feeling in the work.
-
He will learn the secret of that transparency, of that sumptuous richness of impasto, which is in itself a delight to the eye.
-
Contributions of urban imagery by the likes of George Shaw and Cornelia Parker bring the story up to date, but it's the old hands who make magic out of the mundane, with Frank Auerbach's Euston Steps a coagulated mass of painterly impasto and the local all-time master LS Lowry represented by a gem of a painting, depicting a park surrounded like a cultural oasis by the looming chimneys of factories.
-
I'm showing resin and wax pieces, which are impasto paintings with a gloss of thick resin in between the brush strokes.
Yasmine Mohseni: Beyond the White Cube: Stephanie Dotson on Drugs, Rugs and Painting Cats Yasmine Mohseni 2011
-
He avoids the gestural brushstroke, impasto—anything, indeed, that might draw attention to the fact that these pictures are paintings.
A Panorama of Purpose Andrew McKie 2011
-
The heavy impasto is an intriguing contrast to the skeletal figures she paints.
Tracey Harnish: Courtney Reid at Bleicher Gallery La Brea Tracey Harnish 2011
-
He painted it in deep impasto—where paint is laid on thickly—and did so repeatedly.
Painter's 'Naked Portraits' Depicted Friends, Relatives Stephen Miller 2011
-
I'm showing resin and wax pieces, which are impasto paintings with a gloss of thick resin in between the brush strokes.
Yasmine Mohseni: Beyond the White Cube: Stephanie Dotson on Drugs, Rugs and Painting Cats Yasmine Mohseni 2011
-
Seeing him eye a Picasso, Rockefeller took the man's hand and placed it on the impasto.
Swimming with Cézanne Mark Kerstetter 2011
-
I'm showing resin and wax pieces, which are impasto paintings with a gloss of thick resin in between the brush strokes.
Yasmine Mohseni: Beyond the White Cube: Stephanie Dotson on Drugs, Rugs and Painting Cats Yasmine Mohseni 2011
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.