MODULE 5: MEDIUMS IN VARIOUS FORMS OF ART

MEDIUMS OF VISUAL ARTS

(Painting, Sculpture and Related Arts)
Medium which comes from the Latin word medium means by which an artist
communicates his idea. These are the materials which are used by an artist to interpret
his feelings or thoughts. Many mediums have been used in creating different works of art.
The architect uses wood, bamboo, bricks, stone, concrete, and various building materials.
The painter used pigments on wood or canvas to recreate reality of nature. A sculptor
uses steel, marble, bronze, metal, and wood, a musician uses instruments to produce
and communicate a message and a literary writer uses words. Thus, medium is very
essential in arts.
On the basis of medium, the arts are primarily classified as visual and auditory.
Visual arts are those mediums can be seen and which occupy space. These are grouped
into two classes: (1) the dimensional or two-dimensional arts which include painting,
drawing, printmaking, and photography and (2) the three dimensional arts which include
sculpture, architecture, landscape, community planning, industrial design, and craft like
ceramics and furniture.
Visual arts are those arts that can be perceived with our eyes. the most common
visual arts are painting, sculpture, and architecture. Their mediums are discussed as
follows.

PAINTING
The medium of painting is color. Color is applied on surfaces such as canvass,
cloth, wood, paper and the likes to produce images and meanings.
Pigment is that part of painting that provides the color, and pigment is taken from
organic sources like trees, vegetables and other natural elements.

Spolarium by Juan Luna.

The painting was submitted by Luna to the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes
in 1884, where it garnered a gold medal.

Common Color Medium

OIL. Features: Color pigments are ground and mixed with linseed oil to produce a liquid-
like constituency whose viscosity (thickness or fluidness) can be thinned by turpentine or
any other solvent. It is a flexible medium. It is slow to dry, but it can be applied by any
kind and size of airbrush. It can cover or overlay previous layers, thus, create translucent
effects in the combinations of colors, or even erase what a painter may wish to change.

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (oil)

ACRYLIC. Features: This is the most common medium, easily accessible and
inexpensive. It is versatile as this synthetic paint may be mixed with water to tamper
thickness or thinness. It is flexible and can be applied to any space. It is quick to dry and
does not crack or turn yellow with age.

Miss Sasha Colette (acrylic)

WATERCOLOR. Features: Pigment in watercolor is mixed with water rather than with
oil. It dries quickly, hence, it is a difficult medium to control. It is characterized by the
transparency of its texture which is controlled by the amount of water that the artist
mixes with the paint.
 Watercolor Painting

TEMPERA. Features: Pigments are taken from organic pigments mixed with egg. It is
usually applied on wooden panels surfaced with gesso (combination of gypsum and
gelatine). It dries quickly.

Egg Tempera Painting by Niccolo Semiticolo (tempera)

FRESCO. Features: Fresco painting is produced when organic pigments are mixed
with water and applied to a damp plaster wall. This allows water to seep into the surface
and become a part of the wall and remains so until the wall falls. This was the process
that Michelangelo used in painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
 The Sistine Chapel Ceiling by Michelangelo (fresco)

ENCAUSTIC. Features: Encaustic process adds colored pigments to heated beeswax.

The mixture is then applied to porous surfaces like wood. This is an ancient technique
used to paint portraits and other images on coffins.

Encaustic Painting

RELATED VISUAL ARTS

DRAWING
Drawings are the outlined designs of paintings. It is the most fundamental of the skills in
the visual arts and is the route artists take to acquire technique. It often sets the final
designs in paintings, the rough draft of a proposed work. The mediums used in drawing
are pencil, lead, ink, pastel, chalk, charcoal, crayons and silverpoint.
MOSAIC
Mosaic is the art of creating a picture by assembling pieces of colored glasses, stones,
and other materials. These small cubic pieces glued to a surface by glue or plaster to
create images are called tesserae. Mosaic art was important in the interiors of cathedrals
which depicted the life of Christ or the various events in the Bible.
STAINED GLASS
Stained glass art uses assembled pieces of colored glass to create pictures. The
translucent glass pieces allow light to produce various color values to affect a glorious
atmosphere. These pieces are assembled with strips of lead or iron placed in positions
that will hold the glass pieces. Subjects were religious personages and images
complementing the teachings of the Church.

TAPESTRY
Tapestries were the art forms of royalty, as tapestry artists were usually members of royal
families who wove these from expensive silk and gold threads. These were hung on walls
of castles, palaces and cathedrals. It is produced by weaving two sets of interlaced
threads on a vertica loom : one set running parallel to the length (called the warp) and the
other, width (called weft).
PRINTMAKING
This involves creating images from ink that is transferred to paper from another material,
either wooden block or metal plate that are etched or carved with designs in the reverse
position. This is so when ink is applied over the surface and this mold is pressed over
paper, an image is printed out. Prints have been produced in 4 different ways:
Relief printing (woodcut). The ink sits on the top surface of a plate or block that
has been carved.
Intaglio printing (etching and engraving). The ink sits in the grooves.
Planography printing (lithography). The matrix is flat, and the printing part is
treated to hold ink, the other parts, to repel it.
Stencil printing (silkscreen). There is a hole cut in the matrix and the ink is
pushed through it.

SCULPTURE
It is a 3-dimensional work of art made of material like stone, metal, glass, wood, bronze,
clay, iron, steel, paper, metal, marble, wood and even soap, chocolate, butter, balloons,
ice, snow and sand. These are carved, assembled, constructed, fired, welded, molded,
or cast and its final forms are often painted. Most of these are called statues, 3-
dimensional images of persons or animals shaped from solid substances.

Medium. Depending on objective of the sculptors, they use medium such as bronze and
stone (like marble, limestone and granite), precious materials (like gold, silver, jade and
ivory), hard wood (like narra, molave), glass, terracotta, ceramics.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography (from the Greek 'phos' which means light and 'graphis' which means
representation by drawing) is the process of creating pictures using light projected on a
light-sensitive medium (the photographic film). It is the art of recording light on a sensitive
material called film made from thin , transparent base coated with light sensitive
chemicals.

Photography uses light as its prime source and the chemical processing of light-sensitive
materials, its medium, to produce its composition: the picture. Photography requires the
manipulation of a camera that captures images through the reflection of light from a
subject. The inventions of photography allowed artists to faithfully "copy" images in the
real world.

Traditionally, the images are reproduced in 'negatives' (because these images are in their
reversed states: dark spots are light and light spots are dark) and processed to produce
these images' opposite ('positive') states on photographic paper.
Mediums of Auditory Arts
Auditory arts are those whose mediums can be heard and which are expresses
in time. The mediums of auditory arts are:
 Motion pictures, film, or movies
 Theater (a place for viewing)
 Television or TV for short
Medium of Combined Arts (Mixed Media)
 Doing a charcoal sketch before painting
 Doing a pencil sketch before painting
 Combining watercolor with pastel in landscape painting
Artist and Artisans
Artists are the creator of tangible or intangible products (works of art) as an
expression of creativity and imagination for purely aesthetic reasons.
Artisans (craftsman) are the makers of products or crafts, not only for aesthetic
value of for decorative purpose but for practical value, such as for business purpose.
Art Management
Art management (also referred to as art administration) is the process of running
the daily business operation of art institutions either private or public in nature. Art
institutions includes museums, art galleries, theatres, opera house, art and cultural
centers, among others.
Art Manager
An art manager has the following duties and responsibilities:
1. He/She plans, directs, and coordinates all activities in the art department.
2. He/She executes the marketing objectives, spectators and concepts in design,
advertising media, print, and campaign materials.
1. 3.He/She monitors the department projects.
3. He/She prepares the department reports that track and analyze productivity
trends and other factors that impact costs.
4. He/She evaluates the staff and other employees of the department.
5. He/She selects any additional staff in the day-to-day performance of jobs.
6. He/She selects any additional staff in the day-to-day performance of jobs.
7. He/She ensures that project, milestones and goals of the department are carried
out and adhering to approved budgets.
8. He/She has full authority for personal actions in his department.
9. He/She reports to a senior manager.
Typically, an art manager requires a bachelor’s degree. The position requires 5 years’
experience in the related area as an individual contributor or artists. One to three years’
supervisory experience may be required.
Role of Curators in the Art World
Curators are involved in nearly all facets of a museum’s functions.
His roles are:
1. Preserving and safeguarding the heritage of art
2. Selector of new work in the museum
3. Deciding which works are to be displayed
4. Deciding how works are hung in the galleries
5. Deciding how the viewing public experience the exhibition
6. Researching hoe to show artworks in art historically coherent and in an
entertaining way
Role of a Dealers in the Art World
1. To bridge the gap between artist and collector by championing their chosen
artists and bringing their work to public attention
2. Sometimes, act as curator by travelling extensively, creating a collection which
can be shown to the art buying public in their art galleries, art fair, or online.
Role of Art Collectors
Art collectors must have good relationship with their artists. Some collectors are
duty-bound to collect pieces of art work for display in art institutions; they must get the
trust and confidence of artists. Artists like to find collectors that truly believe in their work
of art.
Role of Buyer in the Art World
1. He must be well-versed in all types of art techniques and development process.
2. Keep up to date on the art theory and art criticism
3. Knowledgeable in evaluating the quality and worth of a piece of art
Art Production Process
Art is concerned with the actual doing and how actions can be achieved seeing
the art as pure human expression. Art production often entails an inherent motivation,
rationale and intentionality.
Thus, art is valued as a creative journey or process rather than as a deliverable
or end product.
Three (3) Parts of Art Production
1. Pre-Planning/ Pre-Production
 2. Production
3. Post-Production
Pre-Production is the process of fixing some of the elements in art (such as film,
play or other performance) For example, in movie production, there are nine stages
involves. (Jack Picone, 2017):
1. Finalize a Shooting Script
2. Storyboards and Shot Lists
3. Find the Right Crew
4. Location Scouting
5. Create a proper Budget (and Stick to it)
6. Choose Your Gear
7. Clear That Red Tape
8. Find the Right Cast
9. Rehearse
Production
Production is the process of combining various material inputs and non-material
inputs to be able to make something for consumption (the output). In other words, it is
the act of creating output such as a good or service which has value that contributes to
utility of individuals.
Economics well-being is important in this aspect if it directly or indirectly satisfy
human needs and wants.
Post-Production
This is the process of filmmaking, video production, and photography. The
selection of an expert editor is the one who will go through all the scripts and the scenes
of the movie and decide which shots will be used to create a flow of the story correctly.
Technique in Arts
Artists differ from one another in technique even they use the same medium. A
musician’s technique is his ability to make music sound the way he wants it. For
instance, a pianist, my sound different from another pianist even as they handle the
same instrument and play the same musical composition.
Technique differs in the various arts. An arts and techniques in one medium will
be quite different from his technique in another. A painter may have a fine technique in
watercolor but a poor one in oil. The distinction between an art and a craft may be made
on the basis of the technique used. For an artist, technique is not the end but the
means, while a craftsman’s technique is the end. The making of a piece of sculpture for
example, is not the same as the making of a chair. While both require technique,
knowledge and competence, creativity comes to play in the work of a sculptor.
Technique, thus, is an important aspect that distinguishes an art from a craft.
Some techniques of Visual Art
 Blowing etching
 Printing transfer design
 Tinkering, splattering
 Throwing coloring
 Flowing cutting
 Scratched etched
 Stencil process
 Relief painting
Some techniques in Auditory Art
 Sound as in music
 Speech
 Signaling with instruments
Some techniques in Combines Art
Items attached to painting might include:
 Photographic images
 Clothing
 Newspaper clippings
Technique Approaches in Visual Arts, Auditory Arts, and Combined Arts
According to Katherine Brooks, there are 9 techniques that anyone can do in
approaching creativity in arts.
1. Paint an object from your home or office.
2. Perfectly frame an architectural photograph.
3. Design a whimsical collage.
4. Craft a metal sculpture from thin steel.
5. Make a fabric masterpiece.
6. Turn your camera on the clouds.
7. Turn your journal into visual diary.
8. Finger-paint
9. Doodle like a Traditional Animator
New Trends in Art Advertising
A trend is a change or development towards something new or novel. To set a
trend is to do something that become accepted or fashionable so that a lot of other
people copy of follow.
Six (6) Big Visual Trends for 2017
By Tom May
1. Unfiltered Imagery (antithesis of glossy advertising)- this kind of imagery helps
brands to connect with younger, savvy consumers and bring a raw, spontaneous edge
to their storytelling.
2. New Naivety Trend- Loose and irreverent, this type of imagery proudly displays traits
we once tried to hide- such as being freckled, chubby or geeky and is full of personality,
humor and individuality.
3. Virtuality Trend- People nowadays are immersed into an experienced and exciting
ways of art.
4. Color Surge- This is the use if unnatural combination of color that immediately ignite
interest and excitement in the works of art.
5. Gritty Woman Trend- about a whole new type of female representation that’s
starting to appear in design, branding and advertising.
6. Global Neighborhood Trend- a trend where people are more concern on what they
believed based on their connections.
New Trends in Art Forms
The development of new art forms has led to new trends in arts, especially visual
arts. Because of this impact of technological advancements, our lives have changed
and even in the way we perceive and represent art. As a consequence of technological
advancements, art forms have broadened tremendously taking art beyond the frame of
canvas and paper.
Artists too began experimenting and stretching their limits of creativity. New
mediums in visual art have emerged such as computer paintings, graphics, installation,
video installation, land art, body art, street paintings, mask making, digital photography,
mixed medium, and installation art are being explored. According to Ms. Guneeta
Chudha of India, artists are doing new experiments with all kinds of waste materials to
create new and interesting works of arts.
In the Philippines, lantern, belen, and children’s toys are made of waste materials
which should have been thrown away but are still useful in the production of art.
The present digital technology has brought the buyer and seller virtually face to
face. Anyone can view art in any place setting from their desk.
 The contemporary art is being revolutionized and being “re-defined” with the help
of new age technology.
New Trends in Performing Arts
Performing arts trend appears to be on the rise. Live performance continues to
grow elsewhere, Broadway plays and live opera performances are rising. Even to
demand for new trends of commercial recording in televisions and radios are stronger
now than ever.