Impasto

Paint that stands up from the surface it has been applied to, due either to the method of its application or to the sheer quantity of paint used. Impasto is most often associated with Baroque painters such as Rembrandt van Rijn or Diego Velázquez, who used the technique to depict aged skin or the reflection of jewels or armor. The impasto of modern and contemporary painters—particularly those moving into abstraction or creating fully abstract images, like Vincent van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, or Willem de Kooning—reflect an emphasis on gesture and the physical presence of paint itself.