Art · Unit 8

Kinds of Art

Painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking and more

The categories artists and galleries use are partly technical and partly historical, and the boundaries have been argued about for most of the last century.

The unit covers painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, and the crafts and digital work whose status has shifted considerably.

This unit breaks down into 22 short steps and 131 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 3. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 22
Questions: 131
Difficulty: 1-3

What this unit covers

Painting
Drawing
Sculpture
Printmaking
Crafts and Digital Art

Where this fits

Follows Ways of Making Art.

Where people slip

The line between art and craft is historical rather than technical. It has been drawn in different places at different times, usually to the disadvantage of textiles and ceramics.

How the unit is structured

Kinds of Art runs as 22 short steps that unlock in order. 16 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 3 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 22 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 131 in the unit altogether.

Crafts and Digital Art

Multiple choiceLevel 1
1. What is a collage?
- A picture made by gluing pieces of paper or material onto a surfacecorrect
- A statue carved from stone
- A photograph taken with a camera
- A pot shaped from clay
A collage is made by gluing pieces of paper, photos or other materials onto a surface.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
2. Which of these are traditional handmade crafts? Pick all that apply.
- Jewellery makingcorrect
- Basket makingcorrect
- Embroiderycorrect
- Digital painting
Jewellery, basketry and embroidery are handmade crafts, while digital painting is made on a computer.
Fact or fibLevel 2
3. Glassblowing is a craft where an artist shapes hot, melted glass by blowing air into it.
Answer: True
Glassblowers blow air through a tube to shape softened, molten glass.
Fill the blankLevel 2
4. The Japanese craft of folding paper into shapes is called ____.
- origamicorrect
- pottery
- weaving
- etching
Origami is the Japanese art of folding a flat sheet of paper into shapes like cranes and boxes.
Guess the numberLevel 2
5. A computer or phone screen mixes tiny lights of just a few colours to make every picture. How many colours of light does it mix?
Answer: 3 colours
Screens mix red, green and blue light (called RGB) to create all the colours you see.
Match the pairsLevel 2
6. Match each craft to the material it mainly uses.
Answer: Pottery = Clay; Mosaic = Small tiles; Weaving = Yarn; Glassblowing = Glass
Pottery uses clay, mosaics use small tiles, weaving uses yarn, and glassblowing uses glass.

Drawing

Fill the blankLevel 1
7. A quick, rough drawing done to plan an idea is called a ____.
- sketchcorrect
- sculpture
- mosaic
- mural
A sketch is a fast, loose drawing that captures an idea before the final artwork.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
8. Which tool is used mainly for drawing rather than painting?
- A pencilcorrect
- A paint roller
- A sponge
- A palette knife
A pencil makes lines for drawing, while the others are used to spread paint.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
9. Which of these are drawing tools? Pick all that apply.
- Pencilcorrect
- Crayoncorrect
- Ink pencorrect
- Kiln
Pencils, crayons and pens are for drawing, but a kiln is an oven for hardening clay.
Fact or fibLevel 2
10. Adding light and dark shading to a drawing makes shapes look flatter and less real.
Answer: False
Shading actually adds depth, making flat shapes look rounder and more solid.
Odd one outLevel 2
11. Which of these would you NOT use to make a drawing?
- Paint rollercorrect
- Graphite pencil
- Charcoal stick
- Ink pen
Pencils, charcoal and pens make drawings, but a paint roller is for spreading paint.
Match the pairsLevel 3
12. Match each drawing material to the mark or quality it is known for.
Answer: Charcoal = Matte and very dark; Ink = Crisp permanent lines; Coloured pencil = Waxy layered colour; Pastel = Soft and easy to blend
Each dry or wet medium has its own look, from matte charcoal to crisp permanent ink.

Painting

Fact or fibLevel 1
13. A mural is a large painting made directly on a wall.
Answer: True
A mural is a big painting done straight onto a wall or ceiling for everyone to see.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
14. What tool does a painter most often use to put paint onto a canvas?
- A brushcorrect
- A chisel
- A kiln
- A camera
Painters usually spread paint with a brush, though some also use knives, sponges or their fingers.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
15. Which of these are kinds of paint? Pick all that apply.
- Watercolourcorrect
- Acryliccorrect
- Oilcorrect
- Charcoal
Watercolour, acrylic and oil are all paints, but charcoal is a dry drawing material.
Fill the blankLevel 2
16. A painting made on fresh, wet plaster on a wall or ceiling is called a ____.
- frescocorrect
- collage
- sketch
- print
A fresco is painted into wet plaster, like Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Match the pairsLevel 2
17. Match each kind of paint to how it behaves.
Answer: Watercolour = Thinned with water; Oil paint = Dries very slowly; Acrylic paint = Dries quickly
Watercolour thins with water, oil paint stays wet for days, and acrylic dries quickly.
Odd one outLevel 2
18. Which one is NOT a type of paint?
- Marblecorrect
- Acrylic
- Watercolour
- Tempera
Marble is a stone used for carving sculptures, while the others are all paints.

Printmaking

Fact or fibLevel 1
19. Pressing an inked rubber stamp onto paper is a simple kind of printmaking.
Answer: True
A stamp transfers ink to make a repeatable mark, which is exactly what printmaking does.
Build the sentenceLevel 2
20. Build a short sentence about how prints are made.
Answer: Printmakers press ink onto paper
In printmaking, ink is pressed from a block onto paper.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
21. Which of these are printmaking techniques? Pick all that apply.
- Woodcutcorrect
- Linocutcorrect
- Screen printingcorrect
- Watercolour painting
Woodcut, linocut and screen printing all press ink to make prints; watercolour painting does not.
Fill the blankLevel 2
22. A print made by carving a design into a block of wood is called a ____.
- woodcutcorrect
- etching
- mural
- doodle
A woodcut is made by carving away wood, inking the raised parts, and pressing them onto paper.
Match the pairsLevel 2
23. Match each printmaking method to how its design is made.
Answer: Woodcut = Carved into wood; Etching = Scratched into metal; Linocut = Cut into lino; Screen print = Pushed through mesh
Each printmaking method makes its marks in a different material.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
24. What is printmaking mainly used for?
- Making many copies of the same imagecorrect
- Carving a single statue from stone
- Folding paper into shapes
- Mixing new paint colours
Printmaking transfers ink from a prepared block or plate, so you can make many copies of one image.

Sculpture

Fact or fibLevel 1
25. A sculpture can only ever be viewed from the front.
Answer: False
Most sculptures are made to be seen from many sides as you walk around them.
Guess the numberLevel 1
26. How many dimensions does a solid sculpture have?
Answer: 3 dimensions
A sculpture is three-dimensional, so it has height, width and depth.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
27. What makes sculpture different from a painting or a drawing?
- It is a three-dimensional form you can walk aroundcorrect
- It is always flat like a piece of paper
- It can only be one colour
- It must be made with a camera
Sculpture is three-dimensional, a solid form you can walk around and see from many sides.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
28. Which of these are ways to make a sculpture? Pick all that apply.
- Carvingcorrect
- Modellingcorrect
- Castingcorrect
- Etching
Carving, modelling and casting all make 3D forms, but etching is a flat printmaking process.
Fill the blankLevel 2
29. Michelangelo carved his famous statue of David from a huge block of ____.
- marblecorrect
- paper
- glass
- ice
Michelangelo carved David from a single block of white marble in the early 1500s.
Match the pairsLevel 2
30. Match each way of making a sculpture to what the artist does.
Answer: Carving = Cutting material away from stone or wood; Modelling = Building a shape up from soft clay; Casting = Pouring liquid metal into a mould
Carving cuts material away, modelling builds a shape up, and casting pours liquid metal into a mould.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 14 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

Build the sentence
Choose all that apply
Fact or fib
Fill the blank
Guess the number
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
Odd one out
Picture question
Put in order
Sort into groups
Spell it
True or false
Type the answer

Practise Kinds of Art

131 questions across 22 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about Kinds of Art

Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.

More units in Art

See all 18 units in Art →