noun

• 1A brownish-yellowish pigment made from the soot of burned wood.

  ‘It is a drawing in bister and reed pen on paper with no watermark.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘De los Reyes has created new bister on paper works, stainless steel sculptures and exquisite monochromatic paintings in this exciting follow-up to his critically acclaimed 2005 exhibition.’
  • ‘The color of bistre varies with the wood from which the soot was derived, but in general it has a warm, transparent brown tone.’

  1. 1.1The color of the pigment bister.
     ‘Conté sticks and pencils are available in a wide range of colours including the traditional black, white, sepia, bistre and sanguine.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘The colors on French colonial stamps are often brilliant and in unusual combinations: fuchsia and turquoise, blue and orange, purple and bistre.’
     • ‘By little and little, the surface of the plate takes a yellow tint, which darkens more and more, approaching to bistre.’