Art Encyclopedia - Body

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Body
Body is a painting term for the substance which a colouring matter must have in order to be a pigment useable by artists. Body is also related to the opacity of the paint and sometimes refers to the covering ability of the paint.

This term distinguishes colours with body from colours which are in fact made by drying fine clay with dye colour such as alazorin crimson. Colours with body are nearly always permanent and dye colours which are precipitated in chalk or fine clay are almost always fugitive.