scumble

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The Word of the Day for December 1 is:

scumble   \SKUM-bul\   verb 
     1 a : to make (as color or a painting) less brilliant by covering with a 
thin coat of opaque or semiopaque color  b : to apply (a color) in this manner 
    *2 : to soften the lines or colors of (a drawing) by rubbing lightly 

Example sentence: 
     The painting's dreamy look was created by first drawing sharply defined 
figures and then scumbling them.

Did you know? 
     The history of "scumble" is blurry, but the word is thought to be related 
to the verb "scum," an obsolete form of "skim" (meaning "to pass lightly 
over"). Scumbling, as first perfected by artists such as Titian, involves 
passing dry, opaque coats of oil paint over a tinted background to create 
subtle tones and shadows. But although the painting technique dates to the 16th 
century, use of the word "scumble" is only known to have begun in the late 18th 
century. The more generalized "smudge" or "smear" sense appeared even later, in 
the mid-1800s. 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.