The Mediums of the Arts

MEDIUM AND TECHNIQUE

Medium in art refers to the material or means which the artist uses to objectify his feeling or thought.
According to medium, the arts are classified into:
1. The Visual or Space Arts- those whose mediums can be seen and which occupy space.

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2. The Auditory or Time Arts- those whose mediums can be heard and which are expressed in time. These are music
and literature.
3. The Combined Arts- those whose mediums can be both seen and heard, and which exist in both space and time.
This include the dance, the drama, the opera, and the movies. Along with music, these are also known as the
performing arts, because each artwork is apprehended as a “happening”.
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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.
Technique – an artist’s knowledge of his medium and his skill in making it achieve what he wants it to, make up.
Poet’s Technique- is his way of putting words together to express an emotion or narrate a story.
Pianist’s Technique- is his skill in handling the instrument and in interpreting a musical composition.
The Mediums of the Visual Arts
Painting and the Related Arts
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- that 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.
Vehicle- it is a substance mixed with a binder, usually a liquid that allows the powder to be spread over the
flat surface until it dries.
Encaustic- one of the early mediums, is the application of a mixture of hot beeswax, resin, and ground pigment to
any porous surface, followed by the application of heat to set the colors and bind them to the ground. When the
surface cools, it is polished with a cloth.
Tempera- tempera paints are earth or mineral pigments mixed with egg yolk and egg white. Since the paints dries
quickly, corrections are difficult to make.
Now tempera is normally applied on wooden panels carefully surfaced with gesso, a combination of gypsum
or chalk and gelatin or glue.
Fresco- fresco painting is the application of earth pigments mixed with water on a plaster wall while the plaster is
damp.
Watercolor- is tempered paint made of pure ground pigment bound with gun Arabic. Painters apply watercolor
in thin, almost transparent films.
Oil- in oil painting, pigment ground in linseed oil is applied to primed canvas.
Acrylic- synthesis paints using acrylic polymer emulsions as binder are the newest mediums and the ones that
are widely used by today’s painters.
Mosaic
- are wall or floor decorations made of small cubes or irregularly cut pieces of colored stone or glass called tesserae.
Stained Glass
 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.
 They were also a means of religious instruction, depicting scenes from the Bible, and from the lives of the
saints.
 It is a translucent glass colored by mixing metallic oxides into the molten glass or by fixing them onto the
surface of the clear glass.
Tapestry
  The walls of palaces, castles, and chapels in Europe were decorated in the Middle Ages with hangings called
tapestry.
 Tapestries are fabrics into which colored designs have been woven.
Drawing
 Is the most fundamental of all skills needed in the arts.
 A drawing may be a study made for the sake of learning how to draw some forms or as a means of
investigating a particular detail of what may eventually become a larger composition. It may be:

Sketched – showing the general organization or design of a product being planned.

Cartoon –such as the full-size work meant to be a basis for some other work like a relief print.
Or it may be a finished work in itself.
Drawing can be done with various mediums:
 Pencil- lead (Graphite)
 Ink- one of the oldest materials still in use
 India Ink- comes in liquid form
 Chinese Ink- in solid sticks that are dissolved in water before use.
 Bistre- is gray-brown ink made from the soot produced by burning some resinous wood.
 Pen and Ink Drawings- are characterized by precisely controlled and uniformly wide lines.
 Pastel and Chalk- are dry pigment held together with a gun binder and compressed into sticks.
 Charcoal- is especially useful in representing broad masses of light and shadow. Charcoal may just come from
a burned twig or piece of wood.
 Crayons- are pigment bound by wax and compressed into sticks.
 Silverpoint- a silver-pointed instrument or a silver wire is drawn over a sheet of paper prepared beforehand
with zinc white.
Printmaking
 A print is a graphic image that results from a duplicating process.
 Each print is considered an original work, not a reproduction.
Four Major Processes
1. Relief
2. Intaglio
3. Planographic and
4. Stencil Processes
Relief Printing
 Relief printing involves cutting away from a block of wood or linoleum the portions of the design that the
artist does not want to show, leaving the design to stand out on the block.
 Color prints are made with a separate block for each color, as in the Japanese ukiyo-e.

Intaglio Printing
 The principles of printing in intaglio are exactly the opposite of those of relief printing.
 The design is scratched, engraved, or etched into a metal plate.
Engraving- is one of the most highly skilled methods of incising lines into a hard surface.
It is done with a cutting tool called a burin.
Drypoint- is done with needlelike instruments.
The Planographic Process
 Planographic or surface printing is done from an almost smooth surface which has been treated chemically or
mechanically so that some areas will print others will not.
The lithographic process is based on the fact that grease repels water and that fatty substances tend to stick
to each other.
The Stencil Process
 Stencil printing is done by cutting designs out of special paper, cardboard or metal sheet in such a way that
when ink is rubbed over it, the design is reproduced on the surface beneath.
 Serigraphy, or silk-screen printing, is fundamentally a multicolor stencil process.
Photography
 A painting is not, strictly speaking, an actual likeness of an object; rather it is a likeness of what exists in the
artist’s mind.
 A photograph, on the other hand, is an actual likeness, the production of which may not actually involve an
artist’s creativity.

Photogram- permanently recorded image made by placing objects directly on light sensitive paper and exposing the
paper to light.

SCULPTURES
The Techniques of Sculpture
A work of sculpture is a three-dimensional form constructed to represent a natural or imaginary shape. It can
be free-standing, carved in relief, or kinetic.
Free-standing Sculpture- or Sculpture in the Round, is one which can be seen from more than one position.
- It refers to as statuary, reserving the term sculpture for “those in the round but penetrated
or pervaded by space”
Relief Sculpture project from a flat background.
Bas Relief- the forms are slightly raised. Coins and medals are of this kind.
High Relief- those whose figures project to the next of one half their thickness or more.
Mobiles, a kind of kinetic sculpture, are made of strips of metal, glass, wood or plastic, arranged with wires and hung
where they can move.
Carving- is a subtractive process; it involves removing unwanted portions of the raw material to reveal the form that
the artist has visualized.
Materials:
 Wood
 Stone
 Ivory
Modeling- is an additive process. It means building the form, using highly plastic material such as clay or wax.
Casting- can faithfully reproduce in bronze or other metals.
Fabrication- a fourth method developed in the 20th century.
 Nailing
 Stapling
 Soldering
 Welding
Welding is done by pieces of metal with an oxyacetylene torch.
The Materials of Sculpture
Stone- limestone and sandstone are relatively soft and porous.
Granite and basalt, both stones of volcanic origin.
Wood- wood is light and softer to work with than stone.
Grain and color are the most interesting qualities of wood.
Softwood is lightweight, porous wood that ranges in hardness from that of the balsa.
Cedar

Ivory- which comes from the tusks of elephants and wild boar.
Metals
Metal possesses three unique qualities:
 Tensile Strength
 Ductility
 Malleability
 Metals traditionally used for sculpture:
 Bronze
 Brass
 Copper
 Gold and Silver
 Lead
 Aluminum
Plaster- is finely ground gypsum or burned limestone. Plaster is normally worked on an armature of metal wires
or rods or strengthened by the addition of various materials and fibers.
Clay- has been used for ceramics and sculpture since the earliest times. Moistened to a putty-like plasticity, it is
kneaded and coaxed into form by the sculptor’s bare hands.
Earthenware and stoneware- commonly referred to as terra cotta baked clay or clay fired.
Porcelain- is made from mixed clay containing a generous amount of koalin and feldspar.
Plasticine- is a synthetic nonhardening compound of earth clays, sulfur, and oil or grease.
Glass- can also be used to make beautiful but very fragile sculpture.
Hand-blown Glass- is produced without the use of molds or machinery.
Excess Glass- is cracked off or melted away by very intense flame.
Plastics- one of man’s successful inventions in his search for new materials to meet his construction and
designing needs.
- They are lightweight, easy to handle, and remarkably scratched- and stain-resistant.
Acrylic Plastics- which can be transparent as glass and which can withstand hard blows, are used for
windows, furniture, and tableware.
Luminal Sculpture- the newest materials for sculpture are electronic devices- cathode tubes, photoelectric cells,
and the like- that make beams of light travel in patterns.
Architecture and the Related Arts
The Mediums of Architecture
Architectureis the art of designing and constructing a building which will serve a definite function, ranging from
providing the simplest shelter to meeting the technological demands of our modern cities.
This may be any of the following:
1. Post-and-lintel- the oldest of construction systems, which makes use of two vertical supports (post) spanned
by a horizontal beam (lintel).
2. The Arc- which consists of separate pieces of wedge-shaped blocks, called voussoirs, arranged in a semicircle.
The keystone, which is the last set stone at the top center, locks the pieces together into a single curved structure.
Barrel Vault- one place directly behind another to produce a structure similar to a tunnel
Groin Vault- is formed by intersecting arches.
Dome- which is hemispherical roof resembling a pingpong-ball half, is built on a framework formed by a
series of arches rising from consecutive points on a base called the drum.
3. The Truss- which is a system of triangular forms assembled into a rigid framework and functioning like a beam
or lintel.
4. Skeleton Construction- which employs reinforced concrete and steel.
5. The Cantilever, which makes use of a beam or slab extending horizontally into space beyond its supporting
post.

Interior Design
Interior design is concerned with the selection of space and furnishings to transform an empty shell of a building
into a livable area.
Landscaping
The artificial arrangement of outdoor areas to achieve a purely aesthetic effect is known as landscaping.

 .
THE MEDIUM OF MUSIC
The Musical Instruments
Musical sounds- tones- are produced by man-made instruments and by the human voice.
 Two mediums in music:
 Instrumental Medium
 Vocal Medium
The groups are:
1. The Stringed Instruments;
2. The Wind Instruments- which are grouped into two separate choirs:
a. The woodwinds, so-called because they were originally made of wood and
b. The brasses, which are usually made of brass or some other metal;
3. The Percussion Choir, which may be grouped into two types:
a. Those that produce musical tones and have definite pitch, and
b. The noisemakers, which do not have definite pitch; and
4. The Keyboard Instruments
The Stringed Instruments
These strings are made to vibrate by means of a horsehair bow which is rubbed over them. The pitches of the
strings set by pressing the fingers of the left hand on the strings at different points on the fingerboard, so that only a
part of the string vibrates at a time.
Violin- is the smallest of the stringed instruments in the symphony orchestra. It is also the highest pitch among them.
Viola- is slightly larger than the violin, and also has longer, thicker, and heavier strings.
Cello- is much larger than the violin and the viola, and it therefore rests on the floor when it is being played.
Double Bass- is the largest among the string family. It also has the lowest pitch.
Harp- is not all constructed like the rest of the stringed instruments. It is not a regular member of the orchestra, but it
is one of the oldest instruments known.
Guitar- is probably the most popular stringed instrument today. It is seldom used in an orchestra, but it is almost
always a part of jazz bands.
The Woodwinds
The wind instruments are found behind the string choir in an orchestra. These instruments are sounded by
blowing into them, thus setting a column of air vibrating. These are grouped under the woodwind and the brass
choirs.
Flute- is a slender pipe which used to be made of wood. Today, the flute is made entirely of metal.
Piccolo- is a replica of the flute, but it is only half as long. Its full name is flauta piccolo, which means “little flute”. An
octave higher than the flute.
Clarinet-is a cylindrical tube which is about two feet long. It has a very wide range.
Oboe- is a slender instrument, about the same length as the flute. The tone of oboe is plaintive and nasal.
CorAnglais or English Horn- is like the oboe. But it has a longer and wider body, and ends in a pear-shaped bell.
Bassoon- is considerably longer and larger than the other members of the woodwind choir.
Contrabassoon or Double Bassoon- is even longer than the bassoon, but it is folded up on itself. It produces lowest
tones among the woodwinds.
Saxophone- is not a regular member of the orchestra. It is considered a woodwind instrument although it is made of
brass, because it is equipped with a reed.
The Brass Instruments
All brass instruments consist of a cylindrical brass tube of varying length. The tube is either doubled on itself or
coiled (for ease in handling) and expands into a bell-shaped end.
Trumpet- is actually an eight-foot long tube, which has been coiled up so that it is only about a foot-and-a-half long.
Horn- generally called the French horn, is the most expressive member of the brass choir.
Trombone’s nine feet of tubing is doubled on itself. Instead of valves, it has a sliding U-shaped tube that changes the
length of the vibrating column of air inside the tube.
Tuba- is the bass of the brass choir. It is the largest of the brass instruments and is quite bulky and unwieldy.
Cornet- is a smaller and simpler trumpet.
Bugle- has a powerful tone which carries in the open air.
The Percussion Instruments
The word percussion means “the sharp striking of one body against another”. The complete percussion section
includes almost any instrument that is sounded by striking, shaking, or scratching with the hands or with another
object.
Most important percussion instruments:
 Kettledrums or Tympani
Chimes- consist of a set of tuned metal tubes of different lengths, suspended from a frame and struck with a hammer.
Glockenspiel- is a series of tuned steel plates of various sizes, arranged on a tablelike frame.
Xylophone- is made of tuned wooden blocks which produce clicking sounds when struck.
Vibraphone- has metal bars instead of wooden ones. It combines the principle of the xylophone with motor-driven
fans, one to each note, which gives a tremolo effect to the tone.
Bass Drum- has two calfskin heads and gives out deep booms when struck with padded sticks.
Snare Drum or Side Drum- has a set of snares or strings stretched across one of its sides, which produce a buzzing
sound when hit with padded sticks.
Cymbals- consist of two metal plates which are clapped together to climactic portions of the music; they are also
sometimes tapped with a drumstick.
The Keyboard Instruments
Instruments which are equipped with keyboards occasionally play with the symphony orchestra.
Piano- is the most familiar keyboard instrument. It is basically a stringed instrument. The instrument was invented in
the 18th century and was called pianoforte (soft-loud).
Harpsichord- is a stringed instrument whose strings are plucked by pectra made from quills, leather tongues, or brass
tongues held in place by wooden jacks attached to the keys.
Celesta- consists of a series of small steel bars placed over renators; the bars are strucked by a small hammer
controlled by a keyboard.
Organ- once regarded as the “king of the instruments”, is a wind instrument.
Some keyboard instruments have free reeds that vibrate back and forth in a slot are:
 Accordion
 Concertina
Instrumental Groups
Orchestra- a big gathering of instrumentalists having the string section as its nucleus.
It is generally composed of four choirs:
 Strings
 Woodwinds
 Brasses
 Percussion
Band- is smaller in size. It is composed mostly of wind and percussion instruments with only a few strings or none at
all.
Some smaller groups are those which play chamber music:
 Woodwind Quintet- consisting of a flute, an oboe, a clarinet, a bassoon, and a French horn
 String Quartet- composed of two violins, a viola, and a cello.
 Piano Quartet- with the piano replacing one of the violins in the string quartet.
 String Trio- made up of a violin, a viola, and a cello.
Rondalla- is the best known Philippine instrumental grouping today.
It is a band made up mostly of stringed instruments:
 Bandurria- which assumes the lead part and plays the melody.
 Laud and the Octavina- which carry the alto and contrapuntal parts.
 Piccolo- tuned above the bandurria, which plays the ornamental passages.
 Guitarra and the Bajo- which give solidity to the rhythm and support the harmony.
The Conductor
As orchestras became larger and more unwieldy through the years, it became necessary to assign somebody to
keep the member playing together harmoniously. The person entrusted with this tremendous task of controlling
some one hundred players at a time is called the conductor of an orchestra.
.
A score is a written record of the composer’s work.
 Rehearsing the orchestra is the conductor’s most important job.
The Human Voice
 Man is equipped with a most wonderful musical instrument, the human voice. He must have use it to express
himself through music long before he ever conceived of making music with instruments of his own invention.
The human voice is rather like a wind instrument.
Human voices, like manmade instruments are classified according to their range and tone quality:
 Soprano- the high-pitched female voice
 Alto- the low-pitched female voice
 Tenor- the high-pitched male voice
 Bass- the low-pitched male voice
 Mezzo-soprano- voice combining the soprano and the alto
 Baritone- lying between the tenor and the bass
THE MEDIUMS OF LITERATURE AND THE COMBINED ARTS
Literature
The medium of literature is language; that is, the writer uses words with which to “build” his composition in the
same manner that a builder uses stone, bricks, or wood to construct an edifice. Each word has its particular sound
and meaning.
The Combined Arts
The dancer uses his body to communicate an idea or feeling to his audience. His movements may involve only
parts of his body.
THE ELEMENTS AND ORGANIZATION OF ART
THE VISUAL ARTS
Man has always tried to understand and control his environment. Inseparable from these instinctive efforts is
his impulse to express his understanding of his environment and life.
The Elements of the Visual Arts
Line – is a man’s own invention. The artist uses lines to imitate or to represent objects and figures on a flat surface.
Line has many qualities which the artist exploits:
 Short or Long
 Fine or Thick
 Heavy or Light
 Wavy or Jagged
 Straight or Curved
Direction and Movement of Lines
Horizontal Line- creates an impression of serenity and perfect stability, since we associate it with reclining forms
in nature such as of that sleeping person, or with the horizon.
Vertical Line- appears poised and stable.
Diagonal Line- implies action. It show movement and, consequently, instability.
Curved Line- results when there is a gradual change of direction. Because it is gradual, it shows fluidity.
Angular Line- when the change in direction is abrupt.
Shape- classified according to their sources, shapes may be natural, abstract, non-objective or geometric.
Natural Shapes- are those we see in nature, such as shapes of men, animals, or trees.
Abstract Shapes- are formed after the artist has drawn out the essence of the original object and made it the
subject of his work.
Non-objective Shapes- seldom have reference to recognizable objects, but most often they show a similarity to
some organic forms. Sometimes called as biomorphic shapes.
Often we find great difficulty in recognizing geometric shapes in paintings because we see them as parts of
objects, or as objects themselves.
Shapes can give illusion of weight, volume or flatness.
Negative Shapes- between the shapes of figures are areas which are not occupied by any form.
In sculpture
When mass is structured or has a definite shape, it is said to have volume.
Sculpture may have plane surfaces.
 Single-curved Surfaces- surfaces which are curved in a single direction
 Warped Surface- when a surface curves in a several directions
 Double-curved Surfaces- are curved in all directions
  Convex Surfaces- seem to result from the action of internal forces
 Concave Surfaces- appear to result from the action of external forces
Transition in Sculpture
 Abrupt Transition- is one in which the intersection of the forms shows a clearly defined line.
 Smooth Transition- is achieved when one form flows into or blends with another element without any
sudden interruption in the continuity of the surface.
In Architecture
The form or shape of buildings and other structures depends upon the materials and type of construction used.
Texture- usually refer to the feel or tactile quality of the surface of an object- that is whether the surface is rough or
smooth, grooved or ridged, furry or silky.
For the sculptor and the architect, texture results chiefly from the physical properties of the materials they
use.
Functions of Texture
 Texture can be enjoyed for its sensuous, decorative quality alone.
 The artist does this by a careful rendering of light and dark patterns on the surface of an object.
 Painters can thus show, with varying degrees of realism, the intrinsic textures of things by imitating or
simulating the way light is reflected by them.
 Textures can also be used as a means of description.
 Textures clarifies space.
 Textures built up from symbolic patterns can create a greater degree of spatial depth as well as
volume.
Color- is not a permanent property of things we see around us. It is derived from light, whether natural, like sunlight,
or artificial like fluorescent light.
- it is a series of wave lengths which strike our retina
Pigmentation- any object that has a color quality
Neutral Colors
Black- reflects no light at all
White- reflects all colors
Gray- results from a partial reflection of light
Physical Properties of Color
HUE- is the quality which gives a color its name.
VALUE- adding neutrals, such as black or white, to any hue results in changing the quality of light it reflects.
 Shade- black is combined with a color
 Tint- when white is added to it
 Value- lightness or darkness of a color
INTENSITY OR SATURATION- is the strength of the color’s hue. It refers to the quality of light in a color.
Primary Colors – pure colors
 Red
 Blue
 Yellow
Secondary Colors- combination of two primaries
 Yellow + Green = Orange
 Yellow + Blue = Green
 Blue + Red = Violet
Intermediate Colors- mixing a primary and secondary color.
 Yellow + Green = Yellow-green
 Blue + Green = Blue-green
Complementary Colors- the colors opposite each other in the color diagram.

Color Relationships
Colors gain intellectual and emotional significance and a sensuous quality only in terms of their relationship
with each other.
 Analogous Colors- where colors actually appear next to each other, there is the shortest interval of the color
relationship.
Uses of Color
 Color may give spatial quality to the pictorial field.
 Color may create a mood and symbolize ideas and express personal emotions.
 Color has the ability to arouse sensations of pleasure because of a well-ordered system of tonality.
Value- is tonal relationship between light and dark areas in the painting. It is also referred to us tone.
- is an element that must be considered in relation to other elements such as line, color, texture, and shape
Functions of Value or Tone- may be used to create an illusion of form.
Tonal Gradations- often used to express surface changes resulting in the creation of forms
Value is also used to express emotion
The use of light for expressive effects resulted in the development of two styles known as chiaroscuro and tenebrism.

Chiaroscuro- refers to the technique which concentrates on the effects of blending light and shade on objects to
create an illusion of space and atmosphere.
Tenebrism- is the style of painting which exaggerates the effects of chiaroscuro. The painters make us of a larger
amount of dark areas beside smaller areas of light for emphasis.
Space and Movement
Space exists as an “illusion” in the graphic arts, but in sculpture and architecture it is actually present.
There are two basic types of space in painting:
1. Decorative Space- the depthless space
2. Plastic Space- the third dimension which is a matter of illusion in the case of painting.
Overlapping Planes –a way of suggesting depth is by overlapping planes or volumes.
- This method gives the observer the impression that one object has a particular
thickness or breadth and that is in front of another.
Variation in Size – largeness of size as nearness and a diminishing size as an indication of distance.
- Size sometimes indicates power and strength, rather than distance from the viewer.
Position on the Picture Plane – in certain paintings the spatial representation is based upon the position of forms
relative to the bottom of the frame.
- Sometimes the “horizon” line provides a point of reference.
Color – the warm colors give the illusion, under certain conditions, that they are closer to us than the cool colors.
Perspective – artists often try to show space relationships of things as they appear in real life.
- They use linear perspective and aerial perspective, both of which make up what we call
perceptual perspective.
Linear Perspective- can be best explained by our experience as we travel along the highway.
When an artist wishes to create depth through linear and aerial perspective, he makes use of the “errors of
vision”.
(a). Parallel Lines- appear to meet at a point called the vanishing point.
Horizon Line- parallel to the ground
(b). Objects seem to become smaller and less distinct in outline as they recede into the distance or into the
atmosphere.
(c). The color of objects seems to become lighter as the objects go farther into the distance or atmosphere.
Conceptual Perspective- we do not see objects represented as we see them in real life.
Reverse Perspective- where the artist takes liberties with spatial order.
New Spatial Dimension- artist devised other ways by which he could incorporate motion in his “static” art,
adding to it a fourth dimension- time.
Space in Sculpture–It may be considered as a single solid or an assemblage of solids that inhabits space.
Some sculptures do not only inhabit space nor do they show space between their component parts. They are
invaded by space. Their masses are either hollowed our into cavities or penetrated by holes.
Negative Spaces- holes which are surrounded by single curved concave surfaces that the mass has been
penetrated or cut through by something.
The materials used are those that have no internal or three-dimensional structure. Most often they are:
 Wires
  Sheets of metal
 Strings or wood
Expressive Quality of Space in Sculpture
- The cavities and holes in sculptures have their own expressive content.
Space in Architecture
- In architecture, the element of space is physical and very fundamental. We walk
through buildings and experience them physically.
Two categories:
 Closed
 Open
Space in architecture is created and defined by the shape, the position, and the materials employed by
the architect.
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
Design is the overall visual structure of a work of art. It is a means by which the artist makes comprehensible
the ideas he wishes to express and communicate.
Harmony
Harmony is one of the important principles of design. In the visual arts, it refers to the adaptation of the visual
elements to each other, the agreement between the parts of a composition which result in unity.
Variety
Variation in nature is infinite. The varying colors of flowers, the variations of greens of grasses and leaves, or the
contrast of the dry and rainy seasons prevent utter uniformity and monotony in the environment of man.
Rhythm
In the visual arts, rhythm is a continuance, a flow, or a feeling of movement achieved by the repetition of
regular visual units.
Simple- only one type of motif is repeated.
Composite- two or more recurring motifs exist simultaneously.
Motif- is an element or a combination of elements repeated often enough in a composition to make it the
dominating feature of a work. It is the equivalent of theme in music.
Proportion
Proportion deals with the ratio of one part to another and of the parts to the whole.
In sculpture, the relation of one part to another and the relation of the whole to its surroundings are
important.
Emphasis and Subordination
Closely related to proportion are emphasis and subordination. They are the principles that concern the giving of
proper importance to parts and to the whole.
The various ways in showing emphasis in a painting. The artist may depict the object as a single unit. An element
may stand by itself.
Balance
Balance is a feeling of equality in weight, attention, or attraction of the various elements.
Balance is inherent in nature.
In art, balance is more felt than seen.
There are many factors which contribute to a sense of balance. They are:
 Position, size, proportion, quality, direction of all the elements
 Size
 Proportion
 Quality
 Direction of all the elements
Position plays a most important role in balance.
Symmetrical Balance- the most obvious type of balance. It is achieved by the use of identical compositional
units on either size of an imaginary vertical axis within the pictorial space, or when one-half of a work mirrors the
image of the other half.
 Assymmetrical Balance- some artist resort to some kind of “felt” balance. This is more exciting than formal
balance. It is obtained when the visual units on either side of the axis are not identical but are placed in positions so
equated as to produce a “felt” equilibrium.