scumble

[ skuhm-buhl ]

verb (used with object)

, scum·bled, scum·bling.

1. to soften (the color or tone of a painted area) by overlaying parts with opaque or semiopaque color applied thinly and lightly with an almost dry brush.

noun

1. the act or technique of scumbling.
2. the effect produced by this technique.

scumble

/ ˈskʌmbəl /

verb

1. (in painting and drawing) to soften or blend (an outline or colour) with an upper coat of opaque colour, applied very thinly

noun

1. the upper layer of colour applied in this way
2. the technique or effects of scumbling

Word History and Origins

Origin of scumble¹

1790–1800; perhaps equivalent to scum (v.) + -le, with intrusive b

Word History and Origins

Origin of scumble¹

C18: probably from scum

Example Sentences

Up close, you can see how Rembrandt’s application of wet paint over dry creates a texture, or scumble, uncannily close to human skin, with its pores and subcutaneous blood vessels.

From Washington Post

We see an arch, then he rubs his wet cloth around it and scumbles of blue appear, then a farmhouse, almond green feathery strokes of what may be a tree.

From The New Yorker

With scumbles he completed the colour and the modelling.

From Project Gutenberg

Across the surface, gossamer scumbles of paint proceed, appropriately, without a care, rising into the pale greens of the trees.

From New York Times

It is perhaps owing partly to patina on the old glass, which "scumbles" it; but I have myself sometimes succeeded in getting the same >effect by using yellow-stain on pure white glass.

From Project Gutenberg