ELEMENTS

Intensity

What enables painting is the perception and representation of intensity. Every point in space has different
intensity, which can be represented in painting by black and white and all the gray shades between. In
practice, painters can articulate shapes by juxtaposing surfaces of different intensity; by using just color
(of the same intensity) one can only represent symbolic shapes. Thus, the basic means of painting are
distinct from ideological means, such as geometrical figures, various points of view and organization
(perspective), and symbols. For example, a painter perceives that a particular white wall has different
intensity at each point, due to shades and reflections from nearby objects, but ideally, a white wall is still a
white wall in pitch darkness. In technical drawing, thickness of line is also ideal, demarcating ideal
outlines of an object within a perceptual frame different from the one used by painters.

Color and tone

Color and tone are the essence of painting as pitch and rhythm are of music. Color is highly subjective,
but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ from one culture to the next. Black is
associated with mourning in the West, but in the East, white is. Some painters, theoreticians, writers and
scientists, including Goethe, Kandinsky, and Newton, have written their own color theory. Moreover the
use of language is only a generalization for a color equivalent. The word "red", for example, can cover a
wide range of variations on the pure red of the visible spectrum of light. There is not a formalized register
of different colors in the way that there is agreement on different notes in music, such as C or C♯ in
music. For a painter, color is not simply divided into basic and derived (complementary or mixed) colors
(like red, blue, green, brown, etc.).

Painters deal practically with pigments, so "blue" for a painter can be any of the blues: phtalocyan, Paris
blue, indigo, cobalt, ultramarine, and so on. Psychological, symbolical meanings of color are not strictly
speaking means of painting. Colors only add to the potential, derived context of meanings, and because
of this the perception of a painting is highly subjective. The analogy with music is quite clear—sound in
music (like "C") is analogous to light in painting, "shades" todynamics, and coloration is to painting as
specific timbre of musical instruments to music—though these do not necessarily form a melody, but can
add different contexts to it.

Rhythm

Rhythm is important in painting as well as in music. If one defines rhythm as "a pause incorporated into a
sequence", then there can be rhythm in paintings. These pauses allow creative force to intervene and add
new creations—form, melody, coloration. The distribution of form, or any kind of information is of crucial
importance in the given work of art and it directly affects the esthetical value of that work. This is because
the esthetical value is functionality dependent, i.e. the freedom (of movement) of perception is perceived
as beauty. Free flow of energy, in art as well as in other forms of "techne", directly contributes to the
esthetical value.

Non-traditional elements

Modern artists have extended the practice of painting considerably to include, for example, collage, which
began with Cubism and is not painting in the strict sense. Some modern painters incorporate different
materials such as sand, cement, straw or wood for their texture. Examples of this are the works of Jean
Dubuffet and Anselm Kiefer. There is a growing community of artists who use computers to paint color
onto a digital canvas using programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, and many others. These
images can be printed onto traditional canvas if required.

Oil on canvas; tempera on panel; watercolor on paper. Those and similar phrases are on the labels of
nearly any painting in a museum or art gallery. Different painting mediums yield different visual effects
because of the paint's overall properties and because of how the paint works with the surface being
painted. Whether of completely natural or man-made ingredients, all painting mediums are composed of
pigments (color) added to a vehicle (or base).

Acrylic

 Acrylic paints are a combination of pigments added to an acrylic resin solution. Pliable and easy to
work with, acrylics offer brilliant hues and quick drying times. First developed in the 1940s, today's acrylic
paints are water-soluble. They are among the more-frequently used artist's painting mediums and, for
many artists, are an alternative to the slower-drying medium of oil.

Enamel
.

Enamel paints are most often oil- , latex- or water-based paints with varnish added to them. In use since
the 1930s, enamels can be applied by traditional fine-art utensils, spray can or air brush. Used for
painting such objects as porcelains and cars, enamels are prized for their ultra-glossy appearance and
finish.

Encaustic

Combs of beeswax that might be used for encaustic paitning.

Used most often in the Middle East and Northern Africa, encaustic is an ancient practice that combines
pigments with a hot wax such as beeswax. Encaustic artists apply the paint to a prepared surface of
panel or canvas. Unlike other mediums, encaustic does not yellow over time and temperature changes
and moisture do not significantly affect it.

Fresco
Raphael's "School of Athens" from the Vatican's Stanza della signatura 1509-11, Vatican, Rome
If you've ever taken an art history class, the term "fresco" might seem familiar. Used widely during the
height Italian Renaissance by such painters as Giotto, Raphael and Michelangelo, fresco is a sensitive
and painstaking medium. Meaning "fresh" in Italian, fresco is the process of painting images directly into
the wet plaster on walls. In true fresco, or buon fresco, pigments (often of tempera) are applied to small
working sections of wet plaster. Once dry, the pigments become a permanent part of the wall. Noted
examples of fresco include Giotto's Arena Chapel, Raphael's Stanze at the Vatican and Michelangelo's
Sistine Ceiling.

Latex

A can of latex paint and brush.

For most people, painting with latex paint involves brushes, rollers and moving furniture. While it is the
preferred medium for painting building interiors and exteriors, this water-soluble medium is also good for
such artistic applications as murals. Don't confuse the latex paint used for house painting with Liquid
Latex, however. Liquid Latex has a higher rubber content than house paint and is suitable for deliberately
placing on the skin. Modern latex house paint, while non-toxic and safe for skin contact, contains
polymers and little to no rubber, despite its given name.

Oil Paint & Alkyds

Layers of oil paint create a thick impasto.

Used widely since the 15th century, oil paint is perhaps the most used medium. It's made from combining
pigments to such oils as linseed, flax, hemp or nut. Oil paints are quite pliable and allow artists to work
with quick or broad brushstrokes and even build up layers of paint. The properties of the oil allow for a
rich, bright finish even when dry. Rembrandt is one artist known for his mastery of the medium. 

Modern and contemporary artists often use alkyds--a synthetic cousin of the traditional oil paint. Alkyds
are a mixture of pigments and an alkyd base that is composed of a synthetic resin made of oil-modified
poylesthers (polybasic acids) and a polyhydric alcohol such as glycerin. Alkyd is prized for its quick drying
time and, for some artists, superior workability to traditional oil paints.

Tempera

Four tubs of classic, school tempera paint.

Most people are probably familiar with tempera, and may not even realize it. If you went to kindergarten in
the United States, chances are excellent that you have used it for finger painting and crafts. In its truest
form, tempera paint is made by adding pigments ground to a fine powder with egg yolks and mixed to a
uniform color. Most commercially-made tempera paint is composed of various non-toxic and water-
soluble chemicals. Tempera paint is bold, adheres well to nearly any surface and is nearly permanent
once dry.

Watercolor

A classic case of pan watercolors with brush.

Quite probably the oldest painting medium, pigments added to water create watercolor paint. Known for
its transparency, watercolor layers well and the ratio of water to pigment modifies color intensity. It is not
an easy technique to master, as it can be difficult to overcome its aqueous--and sometimes runny--nature.
Modern watercolors contain some additives to ease work and watercolor's cousin, gouache, includes
chalk to create a more opaque consistency.