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Art and Design Quiz - Painting (Questions)

This quiz addresses the requirements of the National Curriculum KS3 in Art and Design for children aged 11 to 14 in years 7 to 9. Specifically this quiz is aimed at the section dealing with understanding processes and techniques, and it focusses in particular on painting skills.

The art of painting covers a broad spectrum of materials - from watercolours to oils, acrylics to tempera - and also techniques. The wide variety of painting materials can be used in an almost limitless number of processes, and on many different surfaces, to produce vibrant, stunning and unusual results. A knowledge of the countless different combinations of materials and ways of using them will increase the choice available to you and improve your creative skills.

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Paint can be applied using brushes or other tools such as palette knives, rollers or sponges. Almost any surface can be painted, from paper and wood to glass, concrete and plastic. Painting is one of the earliest forms of creative expression known to man - from the early cave paintings depicting figures and abstract thoughts, through the beauty and breathtaking detail of the Renaissance, to the abstract, modern works of today. Almost anyone can paint and its therapeutic benefits to mental health and general well-being are well documented.

Paintings through the ages have stimulated debate, sold for millions of pounds and even spawned countless postcards and tea towels. Whether it be the famous Mona Lisa or the not so famous work of a small child, everyone has their own opinions on painting and most people have their favourite.

1. Painting has a lot to do with colour. What do we call the selection of colours an artist chooses to use?
[ ] His colour box
[ ] His colour wheel
[ ] His colour palette
[ ] His colour brush
2. Which colour is the odd one out?
[ ] Prussian
[ ] Ultramarine
[ ] Magenta
[ ] Cobalt
3. Which of the following types of brushes might a professional artist be likely to leave on the shelf?
[ ] Sable
[ ] Ox hair
[ ] Hog bristle
[ ] Synthetic
4. What can be found at the Grotte Chauvet in France?
[ ] Some of the oldest paintings known to man
[ ] The first man-made paintbrush
[ ] The best example of a portrait
[ ] The first use of the colour blue
5. A deep blue paint was made by crushing the valuable gemstone lapis lazuli. As it was so expensive, it was usually only used for what?
[ ] Large expanses of sky
[ ] Seascapes
[ ] Painting the eyes of rich ladies
[ ] The robes of the Virgin Mary
6. Which oil was originally mixed with pigment to create oil paint?
[ ] Olive Oil
[ ] Vegetable Oil
[ ] Linseed Oil
[ ] Baby Oil
7. Although acrylic paints are water-based, what happens to them when they dry?
[ ] They become waterproof
[ ] Their colour fades
[ ] They change colour dramatically
[ ] They develop a rippled texture
8. During the Renaissance, a particular type of painting was popular. It involved painting directly onto plaster which was wet. What was this called?
[ ] Freezer painting
[ ] Fresco painting
[ ] Fashion painting
[ ] Fisher painting
9. Tempera paint is a pigment commonly mixed with which unusual binding agent?
[ ] Egg yolk
[ ] Whipped cream
[ ] Animal blood
[ ] Mayonnaise
10. Which are the two usual ways for a canvas orientation to be described?
[ ] Seascape and photograph
[ ] Skyscraper and underground
[ ] Sideways and longways
[ ] Landscape and portrait
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Art and Design Quiz - Painting (Answers)
1. Painting has a lot to do with colour. What do we call the selection of colours an artist chooses to use?
[ ] His colour box
[ ] His colour wheel
[x] His colour palette
[ ] His colour brush
Some artists use a very limited palette, others use colour to provoke a particular emotion
2. Which colour is the odd one out?
[ ] Prussian
[ ] Ultramarine
[x] Magenta
[ ] Cobalt
Magenta is a pinky red, the others are all shades of blue
3. Which of the following types of brushes might a professional artist be likely to leave on the shelf?
[ ] Sable
[ ] Ox hair
[ ] Hog bristle
[x] Synthetic
Natural bristles are usually preferable - some are even made from squirrel, pony or mongoose hair!
4. What can be found at the Grotte Chauvet in France?
[x] Some of the oldest paintings known to man
[ ] The first man-made paintbrush
[ ] The best example of a portrait
[ ] The first use of the colour blue
They are painted using red and black and show horses, rhinoceroses, lions, buffalos, mammoths and what are possibly human figures. They are around 32,000 years old
5. A deep blue paint was made by crushing the valuable gemstone lapis lazuli. As it was so expensive, it was usually only used for what?
[ ] Large expanses of sky
[ ] Seascapes
[ ] Painting the eyes of rich ladies
[x] The robes of the Virgin Mary
If a picture included a woman wearing clothes painted with lapis blue, people understood it was probably Jesus' mother
6. Which oil was originally mixed with pigment to create oil paint?
[ ] Olive Oil
[ ] Vegetable Oil
[x] Linseed Oil
[ ] Baby Oil
The oil gave the colour gloss and body and helped it to stay pliable while the artist worked
7. Although acrylic paints are water-based, what happens to them when they dry?
[x] They become waterproof
[ ] Their colour fades
[ ] They change colour dramatically
[ ] They develop a rippled texture
Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion
8. During the Renaissance, a particular type of painting was popular. It involved painting directly onto plaster which was wet. What was this called?
[ ] Freezer painting
[x] Fresco painting
[ ] Fashion painting
[ ] Fisher painting
Buon fresco technique consists of painting in pigment mixed with water on a thin layer of wet, fresh lime mortar or plaster
9. Tempera paint is a pigment commonly mixed with which unusual binding agent?
[x] Egg yolk
[ ] Whipped cream
[ ] Animal blood
[ ] Mayonnaise
Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the first centuries AD still exist
10. Which are the two usual ways for a canvas orientation to be described?
[ ] Seascape and photograph
[ ] Skyscraper and underground
[ ] Sideways and longways
[x] Landscape and portrait
This also refers to what you might expect to see on the canvas when it hangs that way!