Art Quizzes Including Materials Artists Have Used in the Past

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Art Quiz - Artists' Materials (Questions)

Explore the materials artists use to create artworks, from pencils and paint to clay and stone. Learn how different materials affect texture, colour, and the finished look.

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Fascinating Fact

Drawing materials include graphite, charcoal, and coloured pastels. Pastels are pigment sticks, so the colour sits on the surface rather than soaking in.

Artists choose materials based on the effects they want to create and the way each material behaves. Some materials are dry and easy to control, like graphite or charcoal, while others can be layered, blended, carved, or fired, changing how an artwork looks and how long it lasts.

Key Terms

Pigment: A coloured substance that gives paint, ink, or pastels their colour.
Medium: The material or type of art used, such as oil paint, watercolour, charcoal, or clay.
Surface: The material an artist works on, such as paper, canvas, wood, or stone.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What are common materials used by artists?

Common artist materials include graphite pencils, charcoal, pastels, ink, watercolour, acrylic or oil paint, clay for modelling, and stone or wood for carving, depending on the artwork.

What is the difference between charcoal and graphite?

Graphite usually makes cleaner lines and can look shiny, while charcoal is softer and darker, smudges more easily, and is often used for bold shading and expressive sketches.

Why do artists choose one material over another?

Artists choose materials based on colour, texture, drying time, and control, as well as practical needs like how permanent the work should be and where it will be displayed.

Try These Related Quizzes

Watercolour may be the oldest kind of paint, possibly dating back to prehistoric cave paintings and certainly in use by the ancient Egyptians. But why is it called 'watercolour'?

[ ]	Because water is used to make the paint
[ ]	Because the paint is great for painting lakes and rivers
[ ]	Because the paint is water soluble
[ ]	Because the paint flows like water

Until it was replaced by canvas in the 16th century, what was the most common material for an artist to paint on?

[ ]	Wood
[ ]	Paper
[ ]	Card
[ ]	Cotton

To protect paintings which are not going to be framed beneath glass, a final coat is often added. What type of material is this final coat?

[ ]	Turpentine
[ ]	Gloss paint
[ ]	Egg white
[ ]	Varnish

A new type of paint, which is water soluble when wet but water resistant when dry, became popular in the 20th century. What is it called?

[ ]	Eggshell paint
[ ]	Acrylic paint
[ ]	Poster paint
[ ]	Satin paint

What is the name of the technique in which a brush full of solvent is loaded with diluted paint and then applied to a support which is also covered in solvent? This method should create a semi-transparent, uniformly coloured area with no brush strokes, if it is done correctly.

[ ]	A shine
[ ]	A wash
[ ]	A glaze
[ ]	A soak

What is the technique of mural painting in which a water based pigment is painted on to fresh plaster?

[ ]	Gecko
[ ]	Secco
[ ]	Tesco
[ ]	Fresco

Just as wooden panel supports were superseded by canvas ones, which type of paint became obsolete when oils were developed?

[ ]	Woad
[ ]	Gouache
[ ]	Egg Tempera
[ ]	Bone Palampore

Canvas has been the most popular form of support for oil paintings for over 400 years. Today it is usually made from cotton or linen but the original canvas material was made from what?

[ ]	Hemp
[ ]	Wool
[ ]	Flax
[ ]	Goat skin

Prior to application, paints are made into liquids by the addition of a solvent. Two examples of solvents are turpentine and white spirit, but what is the most commonly used type of solvent amongst artists?

[ ]	Water
[ ]	Toluene
[ ]	Acetone
[ ]	Methyl acetate

10.

Oil paints are made by binding pigments together with a kind of oil. Which of these oils have been used in oil paints?

[ ]	Poppy seed oil
[ ]	Linseed oil
[ ]	Walnut oil
[ ]	All of the above

Art Quiz - Artists' Materials (Answers)

Watercolour may be the oldest kind of paint, possibly dating back to prehistoric cave paintings and certainly in use by the ancient Egyptians. But why is it called 'watercolour'?

[ ]	Because water is used to make the paint
[ ]	Because the paint is great for painting lakes and rivers
[x]	Because the paint is water soluble
[ ]	Because the paint flows like water

Watercolours use water soluble binders to hold the pigment together. When water is introduced the binder dissolves and the pigment mixes with the water to create the liquid paint. Although it can be used to paint great pictures of lakes and rivers, that is not how it got its name!

Until it was replaced by canvas in the 16th century, what was the most common material for an artist to paint on?

[x]	Wood
[ ]	Paper
[ ]	Card
[ ]	Cotton

Paintings on wooden backgrounds, or 'Panel Paintings' as they were known, were popular from the time of the ancient Greeks up until the 17th century. They did not die out completely though. The Spanish painter Goya was still painting onto panels in the 19th century

To protect paintings which are not going to be framed beneath glass, a final coat is often added. What type of material is this final coat?

[ ]	Turpentine
[ ]	Gloss paint
[ ]	Egg white
[x]	Varnish

Turpentine would destroy the painting and gloss paint would obscure it! Clear varnish helps to protect the painting from the damaging effects of the environment.
I'm not sure what effect egg white would have on a painting, so I wouldn't recommend using it!

A new type of paint, which is water soluble when wet but water resistant when dry, became popular in the 20th century. What is it called?

[ ]	Eggshell paint
[x]	Acrylic paint
[ ]	Poster paint
[ ]	Satin paint

Acrylic paint can be diluted with water to the required thickness before application, and it dries quickly, is durable and has vivid colours. These attributes made it attractive to some modern artists such as David Hockney and Andy Warhol

[ ]	A shine
[x]	A wash
[ ]	A glaze
[ ]	A soak

This technique is most often seen in watercolour where it is used to provide a background for ink drawings. It is possible with oil based paints, although the brush and support would have to be soaked in turpentine or white spirit rather than water to get the same effect

What is the technique of mural painting in which a water based pigment is painted on to fresh plaster?

[ ]	Gecko
[ ]	Secco
[ ]	Tesco
[x]	Fresco

The Italian word fresco means 'fresh' in English, and frescos were so called because they were painted onto fresh plaster. When the plaster dried the painting became an integral part of the wall.
Seccos (meaning 'dry') were another type of mural in which paint was applied to dry walls.
Gecko and Tesco are not murals at all, but a species of lizard and a chain of shops!

Just as wooden panel supports were superseded by canvas ones, which type of paint became obsolete when oils were developed?

[ ]	Woad
[ ]	Gouache
[x]	Egg Tempera
[ ]	Bone Palampore

Egg tempera is a type of paint which uses egg yolk to bind the pigment together. It is not very flexible and needs to be painted onto a hard support such as wood.
The development of the more durable oil paint, together with canvas supports, rendered egg tempura obsolete. It has, however, enjoyed a couple of revival periods. The British artist William Blake was known to use it, and there was a surge in popularity during the 20th century. Some artists are still using egg tempura today, though they are in the minority

Canvas has been the most popular form of support for oil paintings for over 400 years. Today it is usually made from cotton or linen but the original canvas material was made from what?

[x]	Hemp
[ ]	Wool
[ ]	Flax
[ ]	Goat skin

The word canvas can trace its origins to the Latin cannapaceus meaning 'made of hemp'.
Ironically, oil paint will cause the fibres on a sheet of canvas to decay so, prior to painting, the material is coated with gesso (a mixture of chalk and gypsum bound together) to protect the canvas

[x]	Water
[ ]	Toluene
[ ]	Acetone
[ ]	Methyl acetate

Water is by far the most common solvent artists use. Most kinds of paint, such as watercolour, tempera and acrylic, are water soluble. Only the oil based paints require a stronger solvent than water

10.