MEDIUMS OF ARTS
MEDIUM
• In art, it refers to the material or means which the artist
uses to objectify his feeling or thought.
• Pigment for painting, stone, wood, and metal in sculpture,
various building materials in architecture, sound in music,
words in literature, and body movements in the dance.
ARTS ARE CLASSIFIED INTO:
• The visual or space arts – those whose mediums can be seen and which
occupy space
1. Two-dimensional arts – such as painting, drawing, printmaking,
and photography.
11. Three-dimensional arts – such as sculpture, architecture,
landscaping, community planning, industrial design and the
crafts like ceramic and furniture making.
• Auditory or time arts – those whose mediums can be
heard and which are expressed in time.
• Combined arts – those whose mediums can be both seen
and heard, and which exist in both space and time. Also
known as “performing arts”
THE ARTIST AND HIS MEDIUM
• An artist proceeds to give shape to his vision, his first thoughts are
on what medium to employ.
• An artist’s choice is usually influenced by such practical
considerations as the availability of material, the use to which the
art object will be put, the idea that he wants to communicate, and
the nature and special characteristics of the medium itself.
THE ARTIST AND HIS TECHNIQUE
• A good artist makes his medium work for him to
produce effects he cannot possibly attain by any other
means.
• An artist’s knowledge of his medium and his skill in
making it achieve what he wants it to, is what is called
technique.
•Artists differ from each other in technique even
if they work with the same medium.
•It is in the use of technique that the artist differ
from the craftsman.
•Originality, is what distinguishes an art from a
craft. Originality in expression.
MEDIUMS OF THE VISUAL ARTS
Painting and the Related Arts
A.Painting mediums
Painting is the process of applying pigment on a
smooth surface (paper, cloth, canvas, wood or plaster) to
secure an interesting arrangement of forms, lines, and
colors.
• Pigment – part of the paint which supplies the color, is fine
powder ground from some clay, stone or mineral, extracted
from vegetable matter, or produced by a chemical process.
• Encaustic – one of the early mediums, is the application of a
mixture of hot beeswax, resin, and ground pigment to any
porous surfaces, followed by heat application to set the colors
and bind them to the ground. The Egyptians, greeks, and
Romans used encaustic to paint portraits on coffins.
•Tempera – are earth material or mineral pigments
mixed with egg yolk and egg white. Since the paint
dries quickly, corrections are difficult to make.
•Fresco – Fresco painting is the application of earth
pigments mixed with water on plaster wall while
the plaster is damp. Color then sinks into the
surface and becomes an integral part of the wall.
• Watercolor – is tempered paint made of pure ground
pigment bound with gum Arabic. Painters apply watercolor in
thin, almost transparent films. The surface of the paper then
shows through, giving a delicate, luminous texture to the
painting.
• Oil – is a very flexible medium. Using a brush, an air brush, a
palette knife, or even his bare hands, the artist can apply the
paint thinly or thickly, as a transparent film or an opaque
surface.
•Acrylic – synthetic paints using acrylic
polymer emulsions as binder are the newest
mediums the ones that are widely used by
today’s painters. It is a combination of the
transparency and quick drying characteristics of
watercolor and the flexibility of oil.
MOSAIC
•Is an art related to painting.
•Are wall decorations made of small cubes or
irregularly cut pieces of colored stone or glass
called tesserae. Fitted together to form a pattern
and glued on a surface with plaster or cement.
STAINED GLASS
• Developed as a major art when it appeared as an important part of the
Gothic Cathedral.
• Stained glass windows admitted the much-needed light that was missing
from the Romanesque churches.
• Enlivened the tomblike interiors and introduced a bright and warm
atmosphere.
• Depicting scenes from the bible and from the lives of the saints.
TAPESTRY
• Walls of palaces, castles, and chapels in Europe were decorated
in the middle ages with hangings called tapestry.
• Adds color to the drab interiors and also served to retain in
the room whatever heat was generated from the fireplace.
• Tapestries are fabrics into which colored designs have been
woven.
DRAWING
•The most fundamental of all skills needed in arts.
•It may be sketch showing the general organization
or design of a product being planned.
•It may be a cartoon, or it may be a finished work.
MEDIUMS OF DRAWINGS
•Pencil, the lead •Pastel and chalk
(graphite) •Charcoal
•Ink •Crayons
•Pen •Silverpoint
