Impasto

impasto (ĭmpăs`tō, –pä`stō), thickly applied paint that projects from the picture surface. Such works as Childe Hassam's Allies Day (1917; National Gall. of Art, Washington, D.C.) and Hans Hoffman's abstraction In Upper Regions (1963; David N. Marks Coll.) exploit to advantage the vigorous effect inherent in impasto technique.

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impasto

1. paint applied thickly, so that brush and palette knife marks are evident

2. the technique of applying paint in this way

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impasto [im′pä·stō]

(graphic arts)

The thick, heavy application of oil paint to a canvas, often with a palette knife; impasto sections stand out in considerable relief.

The thick application of polymer or other paint to any surface.

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impasto

In painting, the thick laying of pigments.

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Impasto 

the thick, uneven application of paint to a canvas or to a ground. The surface’s resulting sculptural quality, which is sometimes quite marked, often consists of the very strokes applied by the brush or palette knife. The areas with the thickest application of paint are most prominent.

The use of impasto, which in the past was often combined with a thin application of pigments in the dark areas of a painting, intensifies the emotional expressiveness of a work and conveys the textures of objects most convincingly, revealing the sculptural possibilities of the paint itself.