100+ Free Basque PAU Graphic-Plastic Techniques Practice Questions

Explanation: Graphite pencil leads are composed of finely ground graphite and binder clay fired at high temperatures. Higher 'H' (Hard) values indicate a greater clay content, yielding a harder core that produces faint, sharp, precise lines and resists smudging.

Explanation: Vine and willow charcoal are made by baking natural twig bundles in airtight kilns without added binders, resulting in a soft, dry medium that erases cleanly. Compressed charcoal blends powdered carbon with a binder (such as gum arabic or clay), producing intense, dense blacks that adhere strongly to paper tooth and are difficult to remove completely.

Explanation: A kneaded eraser is a pliable mass of unvulcanized rubber that absorbs loose carbon, graphite, or pastel particles through lifting rather than friction. Because it creates no eraser crumbs and does not abrade paper fibers, artists shape it into fine points or flat edges to pull out highlights reductively.

Explanation: Soft pastels consist of pure ground pigment bound with minimal water-soluble gum binders such as gum tragacanth or methylcellulose. The low ratio of binder to pigment leaves the pastel fragile and crumbly, preserving vivid color saturation upon application.

Explanation: Traditional waterproof India ink consists of fine carbon black (lampblack) suspended in water with shellac as a binder. Once applied, the water evaporates and the shellac cures into a water-insoluble resin film, allowing artists to apply subsequent wet watercolor washes without smudging the underlying ink lines.

Explanation: Sizing involves treating paper fibers with gelatin, starch, or synthetic compounds (either internally during pulping or externally on the sheet surface). Sizing controls water absorption, allowing paint washes and ink strokes to sit cleanly on the surface rather than feathering like blotting paper.

Explanation: Hot-pressed paper is passed through heated metal rollers during manufacture, flattening the fibers into a slick, ultra-smooth finish ideal for botanical illustrations, detailed pen drawings, and graphic line work. Cold-pressed paper is pressed between cold rollers, retaining a subtle, textured tooth ('grain') that absorbs water evenly and supports versatile watercolor washes.

Explanation: Invented by Nicolas-Jacques Conté in 1795, Conté crayons combine powdered graphite or iron oxide pigments with binder clay and a trace of wax. They produce firm, rich strokes in traditional warm earth tones—sanguine (terracotta red), sepia (brown), bistre, black, and white—widely used for classical figure drawing on toned paper.

Explanation: Fixative sprays contain resins (such as dammar or synthetic acrylic) dissolved in volatile solvents. When sprayed heavily, the resin coats the microscopic pigment dust particles, changing how light refracts through them. This reduces light scattering, causing white highlights to dull and dark values to appear significantly darker.

Explanation: Silverpoint involves drawing with a fine silver wire held in a stylus. Because silver is a relatively hard metal compared to paper, plain paper lacks sufficient friction to drag particles off the wire. A slightly abrasive ground containing calcium carbonate, bone ash, or zinc white provides the microscopic tooth necessary to shave tiny metal fragments onto the surface, which subsequently tarnish into warm brownish-grey lines.