VISUAL ARTS

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Visual Arts

Module 6-9 Art and Artisans: Production Process,

Medium, Technique, Curation

Welcome to the six module on the Art Appreciation.

In the Art Appreciation, it helps to develop students’ personal artistic styles,
artistic techniques for the different art medium and the ability and evaluate
great art.

At the end of this module you are expected to:

1. Value the true meaning of Arts Medium and Techniques
2. Enumerate the basis of medium
3. Enumerate the mediums of visual arts, sculpture, and music

Definition of Medium
The word medium, which comes from the Latin word medium, denotes
the means by which an artist communicates his idea. It is the stuff out of
which he creates a work of art. These are the materials which the artist
uses to translate his feelings or thought into a beautiful reality. This may
be pigment in painting, stone, wood brick, concrete and various building
materials in architecture, steel, marble, bronze, and wood in sculpture,
sound in music and words in literature.

On the basis of medium, the arts are primarily classified as: Visual and
Auditory.

Visual- The visual or spaces are those whose mediums can be seen and
which occupy space. These are grouped into two classes. The first is the
dimensional or two dimensional arts which include painting, drawing
printmaking, and photography. The community planning, industrial
design and the crafts like ceramics and furniture making

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 Auditory- or time arts are those mediums that can be heard and which are
expressed in time. These are music and literature. The combined arts are
those whose mediums can be both seen and heard, and these exist in both
space and time.

The Artist and His Mediums

The artist thinks feels and gives shape to his vision in terms of his mediums. When an artist
chooses his medium, he believes that this can best express the idea he wants t convey. Most
often an artist employs more than one medium to give meaning to his creative production.
Oftentimes, the matter of selecting the medium depends entirely on the artist himself since
this is a part of the artistic inspiration. The distinctive character of the medium determines
the way it can be worked on and turned into a work of art. The nature of each medium
determines how a work of art may be realized.

Definition of Technique
Technique is the manner in which the artist controls his medium to achieve the desired
effect. It is the ability with which he fulfills the technical requirement s of his particular
work of art. It has to do with the way he manipulates the work of art. It has to do with the
way he manipulates his medium to express his ideas. Apparently, artists differ from one
another in technique even if they use the same medium..

The Mediums of Visual Arts

Watercolor- as a medium is difficult to handle because it is difficult to produce warm and
rich tones. While changes may be made once the paint has been applied such changes
normally tend to make the color less luminous. This defect however are rendered by
watercolor artists through some techniques

An example is the method of gouache, an opaque watercolor painting the major effects of
which are caused by the whitepaper itself. The gouache, is done by mixing zinc white with
the regular watercolor paints to tone them down giving the appearance of sobriety suitable
for dramatic purposes

Fresco- This is the painting on a moist plaster surface with colors ground in water or a
limewater mixture. The colors dry into plaster, and the picture becomes a part of the wall.
Fresco must be done quickly because it is an exacting medium
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Tempera- paints are mineral pigments mixed with egg yolk or egg white and ore. They are
often used as a binder due to its film forming properties and rapid drying rate.
Pastel- This is a stick of dried paste mage of pigments ground with chalk and compounded
with gum water. Its colors are luminous, and it is a very flexible medium. Some artists use a
fixing medium or a protecting surface such a glass, but when the chalk rubs, the picture
loses some of its brilliance.
Encaustic- This is one of the early mediums used by the Egyptians for the painted portrait
on mummy cases. This is done by painting with wax colors fixed with heat. Painting with
wax produces luster and radiance in the subject making them appear at their best in
portraits.
Oil- painting is one of the most expensive art activities today because of the prohibitive
cost of materials. In oil painting, pigments are mixed with linseed oil and applied to the
canvas. One good quality of oil paint as a medium is its flexibility. The artist may use brush,
palette knife or even his bare hands when applying paint in his canvass. In some cases we
do not even notice the artist’s strokes because the paint is applied very smoothly. One
distinctive characteristic of oil paints, compared with other mediums, is that they dry
slowly and the painting may be changed and worked over a long period of time. Painting
done in oil is glossy and lasts long.
Acrylic- This medium is used popularly by contemporary painters because of the
transparency and quick drying characteristics of water color and the flexibility of oil
combined. This synthetic paint is mixed with acrylic emulsion as binder for coating the
surface of the artwork. Acrylic paints do not tend to break easily, unlike oil paints which
turn yellowish or darker over a long of period of time.
Mosaic- art is a picture or decoration made of small pieces of inlaid colored stones or glass
called “tesserae” which most often are cut in into squares glued on a surface with plaster or
cement. Mosaic is usually classified as painting. Although the medium used is not strictly
pigment. Mosaic art is an important feature of Byzantine churches. A prominent religious
artwork in Manila done in mosaic is found in the altar of Sta. Cruz Church showing a
wounded white lamb, symbolizing Christ, with a stream that flows down directly to the
tabernacle
Stained Glass- as an artwork is common in Gothic Cathedrals and churches. This is made
by combining many small pieces of colored glass which are held together by bands of lead.
Tapestry – This is a fabric consisting of a warp upon which colored threads are woven by
hand to produce a design, often pictorial and for wall hangings and furniture covering.
During the middle Ages, they were hung on the walls of palaces and in Cathedrals on festive
occasions to provide warmth.
Drawing- is usually done on paper, using pencil pen and ink, or charcoal. It is the most
fundamental of all skills necessary in the arts.

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Drawing can be done with different kinds of mediums and the most common is pencil
which comes in different degrees of hardness or softness, with the pencil lead (graphite)
depending on the kind of drawing the artists will undertake. For line work, hard pencil lead
is applied. Ink, one of the oldest mediums still in use, offers a great variety of qualities,
depending on the tools and techniques used in applying the ink on the surface.
Bistre- is a brown pigment extracted from the soot of wood, and often used in pen and
wash drawings.
Crayons- are pigments bound by wax and compressed into painted sticks used for drawing
especially among children in the elementary grade. They adhere better on paper surface.
Charcoal- These are carbonaceous materials obtained by heating wood or other organic
substances in the absence of air. Charcoal is used in representing broad masses of light and
shadow. Like drawing pencil, soft charcoal produces the darkest value, while the darkest
produces the lightness tone.
Silverpoint- In this medium, the artist has technique of drawing with a silver stylus on
specially prepared paper to produce a thin grayish line that was popular during the
Renaissance period.
Print making- a print is anything printed on a surface that is a direct result from a
duplicating process. Ordinarily, the painting or graphic image, is done in black ink on white
paper and becomes the artist’s plate.
Five Major Types of Prints
1) Woodcut
 As the name implies, this is made from a piece of wood. The design stands as a
relief, the remaining surface of the block being cut away. A woodblock prints just
as do the letters of a typewriter. The lines of the design are wood, so they are
very fine. Woodcuts can be identified because of their firm, clear and black lines.
2) Engraving
 This is the art of forming designs by cutting, corrosion by acids. In engraving, the
lines of the designs are cut into a metal plate with ink and transferred from the
plate to the paper. The lines of an engraving are cut by hand with an instrument
called burin, a steel tool with an oblique point and rounded handle for carving
stone and engraving metal.
3) Intaglio
 Is a printing process in which the design or the text is engraved into the surface
of the place and the ink is transferred to paper from the groover. The design is
engraved or etched into a metal plate.
4) Stencil Printing
 Is a very common art activity done by high school students these days as a part
of their practical arts courses. It is a process which involves the cutting of the
design on special paper cardboard or metal sheet in such a way that when ink is
rubbed over it, the design is reproduced on the surface.
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5) Relief
 Involves the cutting away from a block of wood or linoleum the parts of the
design that the artist wants to be seen. Leaving the portion of a design to stand
out wants to be seen, leaving the portion of a design to stand out on a block or on
the linoleum. The apparent projection of parts of the design gives the
appearance of the third dimension. Color prints are made by preparing a
separate block for each color to be used. It is important that only the parts to be
printed with precision are on the proper area
The Mediums of Sculpture
There are a number of materials available for a sculpture to work with according to the
artists interest in the subject- stone, marble, jade, and granite, to name a few. Each of them
presents an interesting motivation to challenge the sculptor’s creativity.
Stone- is the hard substance formed from mineral and earth material. The finish is granular
and dull in appearance. These are normally used for gravestones in cemeteries.
Granite- is a granular igneous rock composed of feldopars and quartz, usually combined
with other minerals and is quite difficult to chisel. This is good for large works with only a
few designs.
Marble- is limestone in a more or less crystalline state and is capable of taking a high
polish, occurring in many varieties. It is easier to carve than granite
Jade- is a fine, colorful stone usually green, and used widely in Ancient China. It is highly
esteemed as an ornamental stone for carving and fashioning jewelry.
Ivory- which comes from the main parts of the tasks of elephants is the hard white
substance use to make carvings and billiards balls. In the home of some well to do families
in the Philippines, faces and hands of images of saints are made of ivory. The bodies are
made of wood, carved and painted.
Metals- include any of a class of elementary substances as gold, silver or copper all of
which are characterized by capacity, ductility, conductivity and peculiar luster when
freshly fractured. Traditionally, the metals that have been the medium for sculpture are
copper, brass, bronze, gold, silver, and lead. Aluminum is a recent addition to the list
Bronze is another by product of metal consisting of copper and tin with color and is one of
the most universally popular metals for sculpture. Bronze as a material is strong, durable
and resistant to any atmospheric corrosion.
Brass -an alloy of copper and zinc is not popularly used by artists because of its limitations
as a medium. Although it has many practical uses, brass does not rust and it takes a brilliant
polish.
Copper – which has a peculiar brilliance, is used as a costing medium. This is basically
shaped by hammering. It can into relief forms.

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Gold and Silver- are used as casting materials for small objects like medals, coins and
pieces of jewelry. Because they are quite expensive, they are used for either personal
accessories or religious adornments.
Lead- a bluish gray metal is used for casting and forging. With the help of a welding torch
iron, it can be worked into a variety of unique and exciting forms.
Plaster – is a composition of lime, sand and water. Plaster is worked on an armature of
metal wires and rods in addition to various materials and fibers. This is applied on walls
and ceilings and allowed to harden and dry. The medium is used extensively for making
manikins, models, molds, architectural decorations and other indoor sculpture.
Clay- is a natural earthy material that has the nature of plasticity when wet, consisting
essentially of hydrated silicates of aluminum used for making bricks and ceramics.
Glass- is a medium that is hard, brittle, noncrystalline, more or less transparent substances
produced by fusion, usually consisting of mutually dissolved silica and silicates and
contains soda and lime.
Wood- as a medium is perhaps easier to carve than any other mediums available because it
can be intricately carved and subjected into a variety of treatment not possible with stone.

The Mediums of Music

Basically, music deals with sound. The medium of music is the sound. The medium of music
is the sound produced by man and the human voice and by most musical instruments. The
musical instruments which have a vibrator, a resonator and a system for producing and
regulating fixed pitches are grouped into four main types- stringed, woodwind, brass and
percussion instruments.

Stringed Instruments
 The violin is the smallest of the stringed instruments and has the highest pitch.
 The cello is much larger than the violin and has longer, thicker and heavier strings
 The viola and violin are played by tucking the instrument under the chin of the
musicians when they are playing
 The cello is bigger than the violin and the viola it resets on the floor when it is
played. The large protruding pin at its base holds it firmly on the floor
 The double bass is the longest of the string instruments and has the lowest pitch.
The distinguishing feature of the string instruments is that the smaller the size, the
higher is its pitch and the larger it is lower is its pitch.
 The Harps one of the oldest string instruments consisting of a triangular frame
formed by a sound box, a pillar and curved neck, and having strings that are
stretched between the sound box and the neck are plucked with fingers
 The guitar is a stringed musical instrument with a long fretted neck a flat somewhat
violin-like body and has six strings which are plucked
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Woodwinds
The wind instruments consist of tubes usually made of wood which have holes on the sides.
When one or another of these holes is opened or closed, air inside the tube is changed, thus
producing tones of varied pitches. The keys are set and arranged to suit the natural
position of the fingers of the musician while he plays the instrument
 The Flute is a musical wind instrument consisting o a tube with a series of finger
holes or keys in which the wind is directed against a sharp edge. The flute produces
a melodious sound, and so it often plays solo parts in orchestral compositions in a
concert
 The Clarinet is a woodwind instrument in the form of a cylindrical tube with a
single reed attached to its mouthpiece. It has a wide range and usually plays the alto
part when the flute plays the melody.
 The Piccolo is a small flute, sounding an octave higher than the ordinary flute
 The oboe is a wood wind instrument having a slender conical body and a double
reed mouthpiece. The tone of the oboe is nasal
 The Bassoon is a larger woodwind instrument of low range with a doubled tube and
a curved metal crook to which a double reed is attached.
 The Saxophone is a musical wind instrument consisting of a conical, usually brass
tube with keys or valves and mouthpiece with one reed. This musical instrument is
not a regular member of the orchestra

Brass Instruments
The brass instruments consist of cylindrical brass tubes of varying length.
 The trumpet is a brass instrument with a powerful, penetrating tone, consisting
of a tube commonly curved once or twice around on it and having a cup shaped
mouthpiece at one end and bell at the other. Because of its piercing tone when
played, it is associated with martial pomp.
 The horn is a wind instrument originally formed from the hollow horn of an
animal but now usually made of brass or other metals
 The trombone is a musical wind instrument consisting of a cylindrical metal
tube expanding into a bell and bent twice in U shape, usually equipped with a
slide
 The tuba is the bass of the brass choir. It is also a valued brass wind instrument
having a low range.
Percussion Instruments
The word percussion simply means the striking of one body against another with
some sharpness. The striking or tapping or scratching of the instrument with the
hand generates some excitement ad enlivens the orchestral sound.
 The chimes is a musical instrument consisting of a set of slabs of metals
which produce musical tones when struck
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  The glockenspiel is a musical instrument composed of a set of graduated
steel bars mounted in a frame and struck with hammers and used especially
in bands
 The cymbal is a concave plate of brass or bronze that produces a sharp,
ringing sound when struck played either in pairs, by being struck together or
simply by being struck by a drumstick
 The xylophone is a musical instrument consisting of a graduated series of
wooden bars, usually sounded by striking with small wooden bars usually
sounded by striking with small wooden hammers
 The Kettledrum is a drum consisting of a hallow hemisphere of brass or
copper over which is stretched a skin
 The percussion instruments can produce tones of different and definite
pitches.

References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals
1. Fernandez, Steven Patrick (2010) Making Theatre; The Craft of the Stage. Iligan City:
MSU – Iligan City: MSU Iligan Institute of Technology, Mindanao State University

.Online Supplementary Reading Materials

1. http://www.saylor.org/courses/arth101b
2. http://www.sbctc.edu
3. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sac-artappreciation/part/context-and-
perspectives/