The artist's studio, in one grid
Painting is one of the oldest and most loved crafts, and this word search gathers the kit. You'll be finding the basics — BRUSH, CANVAS and EASEL — the paints themselves, from ACRYLIC and OILS to WATERCOLOR, and the techniques that bring a picture to life, from SHADING to a smooth blend of MIXING.
Each puzzle pulls a fresh selection from the list, so the studio changes every time you play — gentle on Easy, and a fuller palette once the diagonals and backwards words appear on Hard.
Tools, paints and techniques in the grid
The grid lays out a whole studio. There are the tools — the BRUSH, CANVAS, EASEL, PALETTE and a SMOCK to keep clean — and the paints: ACRYLIC, OILS, WATERCOLOR, PASTEL and GOUACHE, made from PIGMENT, sealed with VARNISH and started with a coat of PRIMER. Then there's what you actually make — a PORTRAIT, a LANDSCAPE, a wall MURAL or a FRESCO — built up with a SKETCH, an OUTLINE, SHADING, TEXTURE, a STENCIL and careful MIXING.
Different paints, different magic
The kind of paint changes everything about a picture. WATERCOLOR is thin and see-through, perfect for soft, glowing skies; OILS are thick and slow to dry, so artists can blend them for days and build up rich, deep colour (which is why so many old masterpieces are oil paintings); and ACRYLIC dries fast and bright, making it a favourite in classrooms. A FRESCO is painted straight onto wet plaster so it becomes part of the wall — that's how Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Underneath the techniques is a little colour science. Painters mix the three primary colours — red, blue and yellow — to make all the others, blend in white or black to lighten and darken, and use SHADING to make a flat shape look round and solid. The skills in this grid have barely changed in centuries: cave painters used PIGMENT made from earth and charcoal tens of thousands of years ago. That blend of craft and colour makes painting a perfect fit for an art topic on colour and technique.
Great for an art topic
It's a great fit for a painting project or a colour-and-technique topic — most words are short, and Easy mode uses a small grid with no diagonals or reverse words. Play online, print a PDF pack, or use Make Your Own to build a grid from your own art words.