The Visual Arts are art forms that create works that are primarily

visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture,

printmaking, design, crafts, photography, video, film making and
architecture. These definitions should not be taken too strictly as
many artistic disciplines (performing arts, conceptual art, textile
arts) involve aspects of the visual arts as well as arts of other
types. Also included within the visual arts are the applied arts such
as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior
design and decorative art. The current usage of the term "visual
arts" includes fine art as well as the applied, decorative arts and
crafts, but this was not always the case. Before the Arts and Crafts
Movement in Britain and elsewhere at the turn of the 20th
century, the term 'artist' was often restricted to a person working
in the fine arts (such as painting, sculpture, or printmaking) and
not the handicraft, craft, or applied art media. The distinction was
emphasized by artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement who
valued vernacular art forms as much as high forms. Art schools
made a distinction between the fine arts and the crafts
maintaining that a crafts-person could not be considered a
practitioner of art.

The Visual Arts include a wide array of media, tools and processes.
The area’s most people associate with the visual arts include
drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture and photography. There
are, however, many other areas that fall entirely or partially within
the visual arts, ranging from design areas such as architecture and
the built environment, fiber and clothing to the folk arts and from
crafts to video animation. One of the challenges to art educators
as they design local curricula is to select appropriately among the
many media available, choosing those that provide the best
vehicle for their students to meet local program goals and
objectives by creating and responding to art. In other words,
curriculum objectives should drive the choice of media, rather
than vice versa. Students need breadth, through experiencing and
working with a variety of media, and depth, through mastering at
least a few media sufficiently those they are able to use them to
express or communicate their ideas and feelings. Through those
experiences, they also need to gain insight into the enormous
body of visual work that has been created throughout the
centuries, from early cave paintings to the present.

Elements are a particular part of Visual Arts from something

abstract especially one that is essential or characteristic.

1. Line - It is the most basic of all the elements. A line is a visible
path traced by a moving point which may vary in types. We have
straight, horizontal, vertical, diagonal or curved. These lines are
used to signify different emotions, feelings and idea for example:

 Horizontal lines are parallel to the horizon. They look like

they’re lying down, at rest, asleep. They suggest calm and
quiet, a relaxed comfort that cannot fall over. They
accentuate width. They’re stable and secure. The convey an
absence of conflict, a restful peace.
 Vertical lines are perpendicular to the horizon that is filled
with potential energy that could be released if they were to
fall over. Strong, rigid, stable, especially when thicker, lack of
movement, which is usually seen as horizontal. They stretch
from the earth to the heavens and are often connected with
religious feelings. Their tallness and formality may give the
impression of dignity.
  Diagonal lines are unbalanced, restless and uncontrolled
energy. They can appear to be either rising or falling and
convey action and motion. Their kinetic energy and apparent
movement create tension, excitement, dramatic, solid and
unmoving if they are holding something up or at rest against
a vertical line or plane.
 Curved lines are softer than straight lines. They sweep and
turn gracefully between end points. They are less definite
and predictable than straight lines. They bend, they change
direction. Curved lines express fluid movement. They can be
calm or dynamic depending on how much they curve. The
less active the curve the calmer the feeling.

2. Shapes - Shapes and forms are figures which define objects in

a space. It can be natural or man-made, regular or irregular, flat
(2-dimensional) or solid (3-dimensional), representational or
abstract, geometric or organic, transparent or opaque, positive or
negative, decorative or symbolic, colored, patterned or textured.

The Perspective of Shapes: The angles and curves of shapes

appear to change depending on our viewpoint. The technique we
use to describe this change is called perspective drawing.

The Behavior of Shapes: Shapes can be used to control your

feelings in the composition of an artwork:

 Squares and Rectangles can portray strength and stability

 Circles and Ellipses can represent continuous movement
 Triangles and Cones can lead the eye in an upward
movement
  Inverted Triangles can create a sense of imbalance and
tension

3. Value - It is the relative degree of lightness or darkness in

anything that is visible. It gives an impression of solidity, distance
and depth. The values or tonal values of an artwork can be
adjusted to alter its expressive character.

Values can be used:

 to create a contrast of light and dark.

 to create the illusion of form.
 to create a dramatic or tranquil atmosphere.
 to create a sense of depth and distance.
 to create a rhythm or pattern within a composition.

4. Color - It is the product of light reflected off objects but in

Visual Arts, the relationship of colors is the best seen in a color
wheel and its visual element has the strongest effect on our
emotions. We use color to create the mood or atmosphere of an
artwork.

There are many different approaches to the use of color:

 Color as light
 Color as tone
 Color as pattern
 Color as form
 Color as symbol
 Color as movement
  Color as harmony
 Color as contrast
 Color as mood

5. Texture - is the surface quality of an artwork - the roughness

or smoothness of the material from which it is made. We
experience texture in two ways: optically (through sight)
and physically (through touch).

 Optical Texture - An artist may use his/her skillful painting

technique to create the illusion of texture. For example, in
the detail from a traditional Dutch still life above you can see
remarkable verisimilitude (the appearance of being real) in
the painted insects and drops of moisture on the silky
surface of the flower petals.
 Physical Texture - An artist may paint with expressive
brushstrokes whose texture conveys the physical and
emotional energy of both the artist and his/her subject. They
may also use the natural texture of their materials to suggest
their own unique qualities such as the grain of wood, the
grittiness of sand, the flaking of rust, the coarseness of cloth
and the smear of paint.
 Ephemeral Texture - This is a third category of textures
whose fleeting forms are subject to change like clouds,
smoke, flames, bubbles and liquids.

6. Space - It is the area in which an artist arranges elements in a

composition. It is also refer as physical volume of a shape and the
space that it occupies. Space can be:
Two-Dimensional Form - constructs the illusion of 3D in 2D
media by a skillful manipulation of the visual elements.
Perspective Drawing, trompe l'oeil, 3D computer graphics
programs and holograms are examples of 2D form.

Three-Dimensional Form - can be modeled (added form), carved

(subtracted form) and constructed (built form). It can be created
from sculptural materials like clay, wax, plaster, wood, stone,
concrete, cast and constructed metal, plastics, resins, glass and
mixed media. It may also be kinetic, involving light and movement
generated by natural, mechanical and electronic means. More
recently the CAD process of 3D printing has be been added to the
list of sculptural processes.

The principles of good design are the tools every artist uses to

create an effective composition. These tools are: balance, contrast,
emphasis, movement, proportion, repetition, simplicity, and unity.
How well an artist understands and uses these tools
will determine if the composition is a weak or strong one. The
desired outcome should be a work of art that is both unified and
aesthetically pleasing to look at. In a series of discussions we’ll
take a look at each one of these principles.

 Balance – a feeling of equality of weight, attention, or

attraction of the various elements within the composition as
a means of accomplishing unity.

   Symmetrical balance - it has equal visual weight on either side of

the canvas. it is visually stable.
   Asymmetrical balance - an uneven balance.
   Radial balance - a symmetrical balance wherein elements are
distributed evenly around a central point.

 Contrast – the difference between elements or the

opposition to various elements.
 Emphasis – the stress placed on a single area of a work or
unifying visual theme.
 Movement – the suggestion of action or direction, the path
our eyes follow when we look at a work of art.
 Proportion – the relation of two things in size, number,
amount, or degree.
 Repetition and rhythm – the act of repeating an element
either regularly or irregularly resulting in a rhythm of the
repeating elements.

    Regular - Repetition of a single motif.

    Altering - use of two different motifs alternately
    Flowing - a smooth and graceful type of rhythm
    Progressing - motifs may be presented in a gradual shift in
characteristics, like size (from small to large)

 Simplicity (a.k.a. visual economy) – the elimination of all

non-essential elements or details to reveal the essence of a
form.
 Unity – the relationship between the individual parts and the
whole of a composition. This is the desired result in all great
art.
Visual Arts in Philippines
The Philippine visual arts encompass a range of forms developed
by Filipinos in the Ethnic, Spanish, American, and contemporary
traditions. In ethnic communities, pottery, weaving, carving, and
metalcraft are made for ritual purposes or for everyday use.
Spanish colonization introduced painting and sculpture whose
subject matter was for the most part religious, although secular
themes and forms emerged in the 19th century under the
patronage of the new mestizo elite. The American period
witnessed the conflict between conservatism and modernism, with
the latter gaining ground in the end in painting and sculpture.
After World War II artists explored a variety of Western and
Eastern styles, media, and philosophies—some conciously going
back to ethnic roots—to express themselves as individuals and as
Filipinos. The Ethnic Tradition Pottery stands among one of the
most ancient arts. The Manunggul Jar, excavated in Palawan circa
8th century BC, shows the high artistic level which the art attained
in ancient times. This large burial jar has a cover showing two men
rowing a boat, suggesting the belief among early Filipinos in an
afterlife across a mythical body of water. Around its body is an
incised design of curved lines and dots. Indeed, extant examples
of early Philippine pottery display a wide variety of shapes and
decorative techniques, including incision, stippling, applique,
openwork, and impression by rope and mat. Designs are often
geometric and include stylized nature motifs. In later years pottery
would become more and more associated with objects for daily
use, such as the palayok (clay pot) for cooking, and the banga and
tapayan (clay pot) for storing liquids. In the Ilocos, the making of
burnay pottery continues as a lively tradition. Weaving also
originated from the precolonial times and remains as a precious
living tradition. The Cordillera groups of the north are well-known
for the art of weaving. With a backstrap loom, they produce
blankets and articles of clothing that fulfill a practical function and
also play a part in religion and ritual. This tradition is also found in
the adjacent Ilocos provinces which take pride in their sturdy abel
(weave). In Mindanao, the Tboli of Cotabato weave abaca cloth,
called tnalak, in a difficult tie-dye process. This cloth has a large
repertoire of motifs, such as the gmayaw bird, whose rhythms
create the feeling of flapping wings, the frog which signifies
fertility, and the dancing man which calls for rain. These motifs
attest to the Tboli's deep-seated sense of harmony between
humans and nature. Weaving techniques are also used in the
exquisite mats with vivid colors and intricate geometric designs
woven by the women of Sulu, particularly from the islands of
Laminusa and Siasi. In the Visayas, Samar and Leyte are known for
colorful mats with bird and flower designs. The large mats are
meant for family
Drawing is simply the process of layering shapes, lines, scribbles
and values on top of each other until you get your desired result.

In this lesson, we're going to focus on the process of sketching. If

you can make a mark on a piece of paper, you can learn how to
sketch! You don't need to be able to draw straight lines or perfect
circles in order to be an artist.

INTRODUCTION TO SKETCHING

Sketching is a process of roughly scribbling an idea on paper. It

allows you to bring your ideas to life quickly so you can save time
in the long run. It's a great way to brainstorm. Sketching
traditionally refers to a preliminary rough type of drawing that an
artist might make in preparation for either a painting or a more
formal drawing (like a study).

A sketch is less detailed than a study - a study may be a highly

detailed rendition of something to be used in a large
composition. Of course sketching is also a form of doodling that a
person may do to pass time with no end goal in mind. Formally
however it is a useful way for an artist to capture a fleeting
impression of a scene or person before it changes. For this
purpose, it is typically executed rapidly and with little concern for
accuracy. Not unlike caricature art, sketching is often about
capturing a mood or key feature of the subject.
The awesome thing about sketching is that they usually blend in
or fade away while you continue to build upon the concept of
your drawing. Sketching is perhaps when an artist is most free
because you can’t make a 'mistake'. It is not about drawing an
accurate likeness, but rather about capturing the essence of a
person or object. To do this, you need to be loose, bold and not
afraid to make mistakes. It essentially allows the inner you to
come out. For this reason sketches are conceptually unique and
highly individual. They portray the inner identity of the artist and
are more difficult sometimes to copy as a result than a finished
work. It was this realization that prompted art historians to re-
evaluate sketches and even led to the situation where sketches by
the English landscape artist John Constable came to be valued as
finished works alongside his paintings. The same can be said for
chalk and pen sketches by High Renaissance artists Raphael and
Leonardo da Vinci which are continually being exhibited in
the best art museums around the world.

So don;t be afraid to make mistakes!

It's best to use free flowing lines that are loosely and lightly
drawn. To do that, adjust your grip on the pencil so that your
hand is relaxed instead of tense. If your hand usually gets tired
after you've drawn for less than an hour, you're probably gripping
it too tightly.

It's okay if your lines are wobbly because you may not be used to
drawing certain lines and curves yet. Drawing is very different
from writing, so you'll need to improve your muscle memory by
drawing as frequently as you can. When making an initial sketch,
you'll want to leave your perfectionism behind and focus on
general shapes. Think about the size, shape, angle, etc. The last
thing you want to think about is detail.

Sketching is generally a prescribed part of the studies of art

students. This generally includes making sketches (croquis) from a
live model whose pose changes every few minutes. A "sketch"
usually implies a quick and loosely drawn work, while related
terms such as study, modello and "preparatory drawing" usually
refer to more finished and careful works to be used as a basis for
a final work, often in a different medium, but the distinction is
imprecise. Underdrawing is drawing underneath the final work,
which may sometimes still be visible, or can be viewed by modern
scientific methods such as X-rays.
Most visual artists use, to a greater or lesser degree, the sketch as a method of
recording or working out ideas. The sketchbooks of some individual artists have become
very well known, including those of Leonardo da Vinci and Edgar Degas which have
become art objects in their own right, with many pages showing finished studies as well
as sketches. The term "sketchbook" refers to a book of blank paper on which an artist
can draw (or has already drawn) sketches. The book might be purchased bound or
might comprise loose leaves of sketches assembled or bound together.

Sketching is also used as a form of communication in areas

of product design such as industrial design. It can be used to
communicate design intent and is most widely used in ideation  It
can be used to map out floor plans of homes.
The ability to quickly record impressions through sketching has found varied purposes
in today's culture. Courtroom sketches record scenes and individuals in law courts.
Sketches drawn to help authorities find or identify wanted people are called composite
sketches. Street artists in popular tourist areas sketch portraits within minutes.

HISTORY OF SKETCHING

In Classical Antiquity, artists used a metal stylus to sketch on

papyrus. During the era of Renaissance art (1400-1530), the stylus
was employed with a variety of metal alloys to create other dry
media like metalpoint and silverpoint. Apprentice artists and
young pupils were usually given an empty stylus with which to
practice sketching by making easily removable linear marks on
wax tablets. See also: Venetian Drawing (1500-1600).

However, artists kept sketches for their own inspiration; they were
not viewed as a proper form of fine art, to be sold in their own
right. However by the 18th and 19th century sketching became an
independent type of art, even acquiring the additional sense of a
stand-alone artwork. It coincided with a time when there was a
surge in naturalism and tourists started carrying sketchbooks with
them to capture impressions of day-trips to the countryside or
tours abroad. They sketched landscapes, animals, new cities,
vegetation and flowers. It became a popular hobby enjoyed by
both amateur and professional artists alike and was a useful tool
for retaining memories at a time before photography was
invented. Popular mediums for sketching were similar to those for
drawing, and included pencil and crayon, as well as pen-and-
ink and charcoal. Even pastel drawings were made.

Types of Sketches/Sketching Techniques

At the time of the Renaissance successful Master artists who had

their own studio handed sketches over to their apprentices for
turning into a finished painting. There were 3 main types of
sketches:

1. Croquis
A croquis was intended to remind the artist of some person or
scene he wished to remember in a more permanent form - they
were not necessarily for a finished product. Today fashion
designers use the term croquis to indicate a quick sketch of a live
model. It is even possible to download croquis templates (outlines
of the body in different positions) to use in a computer program
like Adobe Illustrator.
2. Pochade
Artists use colour to record a scene's atmospheric effect and to
capture the fleeting effect of light for a planned landscape
painting. Where croquis is a quick sketch using lines to record an
event or person, pochade is a quick colour sketch to capture
atmosphere. Many artists use pochade when painting plein
air and return with their sketches to the studio to use them in
planning large-scale landscape paintings. Impressionists
like Claude Monet (1840-1926) and Edouard Manet (1832-83)
took this even further turning their pochades into an end product.
The same could be said of Vincent Van Gogh who would take his
canvas outdoor, sketch directly onto it and then continue to paint
until the end product was achieved (usually within a few hours).

3. Portrait Sketch
This is used in portrait art to record moments where a person's
character is momentarily revealed, a mischievous twinkle in the
eye or a sour smile. Sketching was also used to draw the sitter
from different angles before deciding which angle was best for
the main project. These sketches - whether made with oil paint,
watercolour, charcoal or acrylics - typically had a dynamic
rhythmic flow which made them worthy stand-alone artworks.

Since this is a sketching tutorial for beginners, I'm using my left

hand (non-dominant hand) to show you that you don't need to
have a good control of your hand in order to sketch well.

Step 1: Sketch a circle loosely

Sketch a circle using a bunch of

loosely drawn lines. Don't worry
if your lines are going in weird
directions. It's likely that you're
not going to draw something
perfect the first time around. That's totally fine! Remember, we're
supposed to work in layers.

Step 2: Refine the shape

After your initial sketch, find areas

that need improvement and
sketch over it until you get closer
to your desired result.

Step 3: Keep refining

Keep repeating that step until you

get even closer to what you want.

Tip: You can rotate your sketch

book to help your eyes look at the
shape differently. You might spot
some obvious areas that need
fixing.
Step 4: Define the shape

Happy with how it looks overall?

Use more confident lines to define
the shape of your circle. You can
erase the scribbly lines or let them
disappear naturally as you continue
to work on your drawing.

When we speak of drawing as an art form, we are referring mainly to an artist's use of line to
make a picture. However, the definition of drawing can be expanded to include the use of
color, shading, and other elements in addition to line.

The history of drawing is as old as the history of humankind. People drew pictures even
before they learned how to write. Like other art forms, drawing has changed and developed
through history. Each new style grew out of the style that came before it. This evolution of
drawing styles closely parallels the development of painting. As drawing styles changed, so
did drawing materials.

Early History
The earliest known drawings date from 30,000 to 10,000 B.C.. They were found on the walls
of caves in France and Spain. Other examples of early drawing are designs that were
scratched, carved, or painted on the surfaces of primitive tools. Ancient Egyptians
(beginning about 3000 B.C.) decorated the walls of their temples and tombs with scenes of
daily life. These drawings had a flat, linear style. Texts written on papyrus (an early form of
paper) were illustrated with similar designs in pen and ink.

Nearly all that survives to show the drawing and painting skills of the ancient Greeks are
their decorated pottery vases. These great works of art show the Greeks' ability to draw
graceful figures and decorative lines.
 The Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages, from about the 400's to the 1400's, art was produced mainly to glorify
God and to teach religion. Painting and drawing merged in the illustration of Bibles and
prayer books produced by monks. These beautifully decorated manuscripts were hand-
lettered on vellum (calfskin), or later, on paper. Those made for royalty contained miniature
paintings ornamented with gold. Those made for less wealthy persons were decorated with
pen-and-ink drawings. The flat, linear forms often resembled the ornamental patterns made
by metalworkers.

Drawings were used in the preparatory stages of a work of art during the Middle Ages, but
few survive. Paper was not made in Europe until the 1100's, and at first it was expensive and
difficult to obtain. Artists sometimes drew on prepared animal skins such as parchment or
vellum. But these were also expensive. For centuries, artists made their preparatory drawings
on tablets made of slate, wood, or wax. These tablets were thrown away or reused. Some
painters made their preparatory drawings directly on the panel or wall that was to be
painted. These were covered in the final stage of painting.

Drawings had another important function during the Middle Ages. They helped artists keep
a record of images they frequently used. Pen-and-ink drawings of the human figure,
costumes, plants and animals, and many other forms were collected in model books. Artists
then copied the drawings instead of working directly from live models or from nature.

The Renaissance
Modern drawing in Europe began in the 1400's in Italy, during the period known as the
Renaissance. A special love of drawing was born at this time. The production of drawings
also increased steadily. This was because paper had become easier to obtain and because of
the new importance attached to drawing.

Drawing came to be considered the foundation for work in all the arts. Art students first
trained in drawing before going on to painting, sculpture, or architecture. Drawing was used
as a tool for the study of nature, which was becoming increasingly important. Artists
carefully studied the physical structure of the human body for the first time and began to
draw from nude models. The portrayal of the human figure became increasingly realistic.

The need for preparatory drawings also grew during the Renaissance. In Italy, many large-
scale paintings were produced to decorate the interiors of churches, palaces, and public
buildings. Paintings of this size required extensive preparation. Drawings were an important
step in creating the finished work. The artist often made a very detailed working drawing
before beginning to paint.

Renaissance artists continued to use pen and ink for drawing. But they turned increasingly
to softer materials, such as black and red chalks and charcoal, to make larger drawings and
to achieve a greater variety of effects. Shading was introduced to suggest solids and
textures. Among the most celebrated draftsmen (masters of drawing) of this period are
Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci.

The Renaissance in Northern Europe

Artists living in Northern Europe (Germany, France, the Netherlands) in the 1500's gradually
absorbed some of the ideas and styles that were first developed in Italy. Albrecht Dürer, the
great draftsman and printmaker of Germany, was one of the first to travel to Italy. He
inspired others to make the same journey. Yet the Northern artistic tradition remained
different from the Italian. The Italians produced many working studies to prepare their
paintings. The Northerners made many more finished drawings as works of art for sale.
Portraits and landscape drawings were especially popular. Northern artists also portrayed
their subjects with greater interest in realism. Dürer's precise studies of people, animals,
landscapes, and plants, especially those rendered in watercolor and in chalk, are
outstanding examples. So are the portrait drawings of Hans Holbein the Younger of
Switzerland. Holbein's black chalk drawings of members of the English Court are masterful
in their simple realism.

The 1600's and 1700's

The precision and control of Renaissance drawings were replaced in the Baroque period by
livelier forms and by bolder use of materials. Chalk and pen lines became freer and more
flowing. Washes of ink and watercolor were also used. The drawings of Peter Paul Rubens of
Flanders, who was inspired by the Italian painters, are good examples of art in the 1600's.
His larger-than-life figures seem to burst through the surface of the picture.

The Netherlands had its greatest period of artistic flowering in the 1600's. Rembrandt van
Rijn was the most famous painter and printmaker of Amsterdam. He was also one of the
world's greatest draftsmen. He was able to convey form, movement, and emotion with just a
few simple pen lines. Dutch artists made a specialty of landscape painting. They often went
into the countryside with sketchbook in hand and produced finished drawings or studies for
paintings to be completed in the studio.

The rococo period of the 1700's was dominated by French taste and culture. Decorative
lines and cheerful subjects are characteristic of the work of Jean-Antoine Watteau and
François Boucher. Both artists often drew with red, black, and white chalks. Sometimes they
combined all three.

The 1800's and 1900's

Many different styles developed side by side during the 1800's. Pencils were first
manufactured early in the century. They became the preferred drawing tools of many artists.
The French artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres produced highly finished portrait
drawings in this medium. Francisco Goya of Spain is known for his expressive drawings
rendered with brush and black and gray wash. Late in the century Edgar Degas led the
realist movement in France. He experimented with various drawing techniques (oil on paper,
pastel, and crayon, for example) with very original results. Everyday scenes, ballet dancers,
and horse races were among his favorite subjects.

The tradition of academic training founded on drawing had dominated European art since
the Renaissance. In the last quarter of the 1800's, artists began to question the merits of this
training. The change began with the impressionists. They painted directly on the canvas
without using preparatory drawings.

Since the beginning of the 1900's, art has been liberated from past traditions. This means
that the definition of drawing has also been expanded. It can be almost anything an artist
wishes it to be. All modern western art movements are represented in the drawing medium.
These include cubism ( Pablo Picasso), abstract expressionism ( Jackson Pollock), fauvism
( Henri Matisse), and postmodernism (Robert Rauschenberg). Artists continue to express
themselves through drawing, just as our ancestors felt the impulse to draw on their cave
walls so many years ago.

WHAT IS DRAWING?

Drawing, the art or technique of producing images on a surface, usually paper, by means of

marks, usually of ink, graphite, chalk, charcoal, or crayon.

Drawing as formal artistic creation might be defined as the primarily linear rendition of
objects in the visible world, as well as of concepts, thoughts, attitudes, emotions, and
fantasies given visual form, of symbols and even of abstract forms. This definition, however,
applies to all graphic arts and techniques that are characterized by an emphasis on form or
shape rather than mass and colour, as in painting. Drawing as such differs from graphic
printing processes in that a direct relationship exists between production and result.
Drawing, in short, is the end product of a successive effort applied directly to the carrier.
Whereas a drawing may form the basis for reproduction or copying, it is nonetheless unique
by its very nature.

Although not every artwork has been preceded by a drawing in the form of a
preliminary sketch, drawing is in effect the basis of all visual arts. Often the drawing is
absorbed by the completed work or destroyed in the course of completion. Thus, the
usefulness of a ground plan drawing of a building that is to be erected decreases as the
building goes up. Similarly, points and lines marked on a raw stone block
represent auxiliary drawings for the sculpture that will be hewn out of the material.
Essentially, every painting is built up of lines and pre-sketched in its main contours; only as
the work proceeds is it consolidated into coloured surfaces. As shown by an increasing
number of findings and investigations, drawings form the material basis of mural, panel, and
book paintings. Such preliminary sketches may merely indicate the main contours or may
predetermine the final execution down to exact details. They may also be mere probing
sketches. Long before the appearance of actual small-scale drawing, this procedure was
much used for monumental murals. With sinopia—the preliminary sketch found on a layer
of its own on the wall underneath the fresco, or painting on freshly spread, moist plaster—
one reaches the point at which a work that merely served as technical preparation becomes
a formal drawing expressing an artistic intention.

The Difference between Sketching and Drawing

What’s the real difference between drawing and sketching? To answer to this conundrum,
let’s first establish that sketching is a form of drawing, and drawing is the method we
produce marks in a sketch. Drawing can simply be defined as making marks on a surface.
The two descriptions are often used interchangeably. It’s really no surprise that there is
some confusion out there as to the differences between the two and I’m not really sure that
a perfect answer exists, but I’ll offer my humble opinions.

Most people consider sketching to be a looser, less refined form of drawing.

Sketches are typically created as preliminary drawings in order to prepare for a more
finished work of art. Sketches are typically created with quick marks and are usually lacking
some of the details that a finished drawing may have.

Often, the “nuts and bolts” of a finished drawing is worked out in the sketching stage of the
artistic process. Composition, balance between values, and proportion can all be worked out
in a quick sketch, rather than jumping right into a finished drawing, risking mistakes.

Another consideration is the medium. Graphite, charcoal, ink and conte can all be considered as

media that may be used to create a sketch, whereas pastels and colored pencils may be considered
more finished media for a “drawing”. Sketches are also usually considered to be smaller than
drawings, although many small “drawings” exist. Surface is another area where we can distinguish
sketches from drawings.

Mostly, sketches are created on lower quality papers such as newsprint, while finished
drawings are created on higher quality surfaces, like Bristol paper, rag paper, or drawing
paper. But this definition of sketching isn’t quite complete. There are no rules here, just
assumptions and generalizations.

Overall, A SKETCH implies a drawing, usually quickly executed, intended as a way of

exploring aspects of the subject.
A DRAWING is a more carefully constructed, usually final, image.
People talk of sketching and drawing in the same breath which is incorrect as they are two
different means of expression for an artist.

• While sketching is a freehand drawing that focuses on capturing the essence rather than
going into details, drawing is a slow and more careful expression that makes use of tools
and uses colors too.

• Sketching is done using pencils and charcoal only. Drawing is done using pencils, crayons,
pastel, markers, etc.

• Sketches often serve the purpose of a beautiful drawing later on.

• Sketching produces a picture made with minimum details while drawing produces a very
detailed picture.

• Drawings are always the final, finished product while sketches are preliminary attempts to
catch a beautiful scene or an experience.

• Sketching does not take much time, but drawing takes a lot of time.

The Significance of Drawing

Throughout history, drawing has occupied a central role in the early stages of the artistic
process, the immediacy of the medium granting artists the ability to commit ideas and
motifs to paper and to record the world around them before putting brush to canvas.
Several such “cartoons” have even become famous in their own right, for example a
preliminary drawing for Hans Holbein’s portrait of Henry VIII, currently on display in
London’s National Portrait Gallery, which has outlived the original painting, destroyed in a
fire in 1698.

Yet whilst such figurative works may be more commonly associated with the medium, we
should not overlook the importance of abstract drawing in art history. Drawings paved the
road to abstraction for artists such as Picasso, whose famed bull studies, progressing from a
lifelike visual representation of the animal to a powerful and abstract composition of lines
via a series of gradual steps, represent an important milestone in the development of
abstract art. Indeed, drawing has played a prominent role in the work of many of the most
celebrated abstract artists in history, including the likes of Richard Serra and Anish Kapoor.

However we choose to define drawing, there is no doubt that the medium has brought us
some of our most important works and ground-breaking innovations over the course of art
history. Though often dwarfed by painting or sculpture in terms of prestige, sale prices,
representation in institutions, as British contemporary artist Grayson Perry remarks, “until we
can insert a USB into our ear and download our thoughts, drawing remains the best way of
getting visual information onto the page.”

Basic Types of Drawing

1. Blind Contour - Drawing Exercise where you only look at the object you are drawing, not
at the paper you are drawing on, helps to train the hand to draw what the eye sees.

2. Modified Contour
Drawing - Drawing

exercise where you spend 90% of your time looking at the object and only glancing at your
drawing paper 10% of the drawing time.
3. Cross-Contour Drawing - Lines that show the form of an object. Cross-Contour lines lie
across the object rather than form the outline.

4. Contour Drawing - An informed line drawing. It can encompass all forms of contour
drawing like blind and modified. The quality of the line is most important in this type of
drawing.
5. Gesture Drawing - Quick drawing that shows movement or the mass of an object. It is
made through quick sketches and reflects the thinking of the artist.

6. Value to Model Form - Using light and dark values to give the sense of form to two-
dimensional drawings.

Different Types of Drawing Styles

Drawing is the foundation of so many creative practices, from architects to fashion

designers to animators and artists. Using a piece of paper and a pen or pencil, the
opportunities for self-expression are endless. And by using different drawing techniques, it’s
incredible to see just how many different ways there are to sketch.

There are innumerable drawing styles to be studied and explored, each one conveying a
different final product. Naturally, different types of illustration call upon different skills from
the artist. Some are quite detailed and meticulous, requiring a lot of patience, while others
work well when the artist is able to be loose and free with their strokes. The most skilled
illustrators don’t stick to just one type of drawing, but experiment freely in order to stretch
their skills. Of course, they may specialize in one particular way of sketching, but by being
flexible with their work they are able to test of different drawing styles and bring those
lessons back to their main work. For instance, Leonardo da Vinci may be known for
the Mona Lisa, but he was also known to fill hundreds of notebooks with refined finished
sketches and spontaneous doodles.

As you look to carve out your own personal style, consider playing with these different types
of drawing in order to understand the positive impact they’ll have on your creative growth.

1. Line Drawing

While lines form the basis of all drawing styles, line drawings use contours without shading
to create memorable sketches. If you really want to exercise your drawing skills, try
continuous line drawing. In this exercise, the pen or pencil never leaves the sheet of paper,
so the end result is formed from one single line.

2. Doodling
 While we may think of doodling as a mindless
past time, this type of drawing is a wonderful way to let your subconscious mind flow. Great
artists like Leonardo da Vinci are known for their doodles, which populate the margins of
his notebooks. Illustrator Vincent Bal plays with the shadows and shapes he finds in
everyday like and transforms them into whimsical works of art with his doodles. Meant to be
executed quickly and with simple, clear lines, doodles are wonderful, immediate impressions
of the world in front of us.

3. Cartoon
 Cartoons have a long history, dating back to print magazines in the 19th century when they
were used as satirical and comical illustrations. Cartoon illustration is a large category,
having evolved over time. Some different cartoon styles include caricature, anime or manga,
and classic Disney. Playing with cartoon drawings means liberating yourself from
hyperrealistic representations, while still attempting to capture the essence of a figure in a
semi-realistic manner.

4. Pointillism

While we often associate pointillism with the

post-Impressionist paintings of Georges Seurat,
it’s a technique and style that also works well
for drawing. By stippling hundreds, or even
thousands, of tiny dots, artists are able to build
up light and shadow. The results can often be
shockingly realistic, with viewers only realizing
that dots—not lines—were used when looking
at the finished artwork closely.

5. Photorealism/Hyperrealism

For artists working in a photorealistic or hyperrealistic drawing style, patience is key.

Hundreds of hours can be passed in front of any artwork in order to polish to a level where
it looks like a photograph. While portraiture is a popular subject for hyperrealist drawings,
you don’t need to limit yourself. 
6. Architectural

This type of drawing can be extremely

technical, but no less artistic. While
architectural drawing is a skill often honed in
the design world, non-architects are still able to
create stunning artwork. Whether drawing an
exact replica of a historical building like Notre
Dame or creating your own fantasy piece of
architecture, precision and attention to detail
are necessary.

7. Anamorphic

Another technical style, 3D drawings require mastery of perspective to create depth and
illusion. While it may take some practice to get the hang of, the results are stunning and
surprising works of art that will delight viewers. Sometimes called anamorphic drawing,
there are lots of great YouTube drawing tutorials that can help beginners get the hang of
this style.
What is Painting?
The expression of ideas and emotions, with the creation
of certain aesthetic qualities that could be done in a two-
dimensional visual language is greatly known as Painting.
The elements of this language—its shapes, lines, colours,
tones, and textures—are used in various ways to produce
sensations of volume, space, movement, and light on a
flat surface. These elements are combined into
expressive patterns in order to represent real or
supernatural phenomena, to interpret a narrative theme,
or to create wholly abstract visual relationships. An
artist’s decision to use a particular medium, such
as tempera, fresco, oil, acrylic, watercolor or other water-
based paints, ink, gouache, encaustic, or casein, as well
as the choice of a particular form, such as mural, easel,
panel, miniature, manuscript illumination scroll, screen or
fan, panorama or any of a variety of modern forms, is
based on the sensuous qualities and the expressive
possibilities and limitations of those options. The choices
of the medium and the form, as well as the artist’s own
technique, combine to realize a unique visual image.

Painting is the application of pigments to a support

surface that establishes an image, design or decoration.
In art the term “painting” describes both the act and the
result. Most painting is created with pigment in liquid
form and applied with a brush. Exceptions to this are
found in Navajo sand painting and Tibetan mandala
painting, where powdered pigments are used. Painting
as a medium has survived for thousands of years and is,
along with drawing and sculpture, one of the oldest
creative media. It’s used in some form by cultures around
the world.

Three of the most recognizable images in Western art

history are paintings: Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa,
Edvard Munch’s The Scream  and Vincent van Gogh’s The
Starry Night. These three art works are examples of how
painting can go beyond a simple mimetic function, that
is, to only imitate what is seen. The power in great
painting is that it transcends perceptions to reflect
emotional, psychological, even spiritual levels of the
human condition. Painting media are extremely versatile
because they can be applied to many different surfaces
(called supports) including paper, wood, canvas, plaster,
clay, lacquer and concrete. Because paint is usually
applied in a liquid or semi-liquid state it has the ability to
soak into porous support material, which can, over time,
weaken and damage it.  To prevent this a support is
usually first covered with a ground, a mixture of binder
and chalk that, when dry, creates a non-porous layer
between the support and the painted surface. A typical
ground is gesso.

History of Painting
Each style grows out of the styles that came before it.
Every great artist adds to the accomplishments of earlier
painters and influences later painters. We can enjoy a
painting for its beauty alone. Its lines, forms, colors, and
composition (arrangement of parts) may appeal to our
senses and linger in our memories. But enjoyment of art
increases as we learn when and why and how it was
created. A painting always describes something. It may
describe the artist's impression of a scene or person. It
also describes the artist's feelings about the art of
painting itself. Suppose. Many factors have influenced
the history of painting. Geography, religion, national
characteristics, historic events, the development of new
materials—all help to shape the artist's vision.
Throughout history, painting has mirrored the changing
world and our ideas about it. In turn, artists have
provided some of the best records of the development
of civilization, sometimes revealing more than the written
word.

Prehistoric Painting
Cave dwellers were the earliest artists. Colored drawings
of animals, dating from about 30,000 to 10,000 B.C., have
been found on the walls of caves in southern France and
in Spain. Many of these drawings are amazingly well
preserved because the caves were sealed up for many
centuries. Early people drew the wild animals that they
saw all around them. Very crude human figures, drawn in
lifelike positions, have been found in Africa and eastern
Spain.

The cave artists filled the cave walls with drawings in rich,
bright colors. Some of the most beautiful paintings are in
the Cave of Altamira, in Spain. One detail shows a
wounded bison, no longer able to stand—probably the
victim of a hunter. It is painted in reddish brown and
outlined simply but skillfully in black. The pigments used
by cave painters were earth ochers (iron oxides varying in
color from light yellow to deep orange) and manganese
(a metallic element). These were crushe

d into a fine powder, mixed

with grease (perhaps animal fat), and put on with some
sort of brush. Sometimes the pigments were used in
sticks, like crayons. The grease mixed with the powdered
pigments made the paint fluid and the pigment particles
stick together. The cave dwellers must have made
brushes out of animal hairs or plants, and sharp tools out
of flint for drawing and scratching lines.

As far back as 30,000 years ago, people had invented the

basic tools and materials for painting. Techniques and
materials were refined and improved in the centuries
following. But the discoveries of the cave dweller remain
basic to painting.

Egyptian and Mesopotamian Painting (3400-332 B.C.)

One of the first civilizations was developed in Egypt.

From the written records and the art left by the
Egyptians, much about their way of living is known. They
believed that the body must be preserved so that the
soul may live on after death. The great pyramids were
elaborate tombs for rich and powerful Egyptian rulers.
Much Egyptian art was created for the pyramids and
tombs of kings and other important people. To make
absolutely sure that the soul would continue to exist,
artists made images of the dead person in stone. They
also recorded scenes from the person's life in wall
paintings in the burial chambers.

Egyptian techniques of painting remained the same for

centuries. In one method watercolor paint was put on
mud-plaster or limestone walls. In another process
outlines were cut into stone walls, and the designs were
painted with watercolor washes. A material called gum
arabic probably was used to make the paint stick to a
surface. Fortunately, the dry climate of the region and
the sealed tombs have prevented some of these
watercolor paintings from being destroyed by dampness.
A number of hunting scenes from the walls of tombs in
Thebes of about 1450 B.C. are well preserved. They show
hunters stalking birds or spearing fish of many varieties.
These varieties can still be identified today because they
were so accurately and carefully painted.

The Mesopotamian civilization, which lasted from 3200

to 332 B.C., was located in the valley between the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers in the Near East. The
Mesopotamians built mostly with clay. Because clay is
softened by rain, their buildings have crumbled away to
dust, destroying any wall paintings there may have been.
What has been preserved are the decorated ceramics
(painted and fired pottery) and colorful mosaics.
Although mosaics should not be considered painting,
they frequently influenced the forms of painting.

The Aegean Civilization (3000-1100 B.C.)

The third great early culture was the Aegean civilization,

on the islands off the shores of Greece and in the
peninsula of Asia Minor. The Aegeans lived around the
same time as the ancient Egyptians and the
Mesopotamians. 
In 1900 archeologists began to excavate the palace of
King Minos at Knossos on the island of Crete. The
excavations turned up works of art painted around 1500
B.C. in an unusually free and graceful style for that time.
Evidently the Cretans were a lighthearted, nature-loving
people. Among their favorite themes in art were sea life,
animals, flowers, athletic games, and processionals. At
Knossos and other Aegean palaces, paintings were made
on wet plaster walls with paints made of mineral
substances, sand, and earth ochers. The paint soaked
into the wet plaster and became a permanent part of the
wall. This kind of painting was later called fresco, an
Italian word meaning "fresh" or "new." The Cretans liked
bright yellow, red, blue, and green. 

Greek and Roman Classical Painting (1100 B.C.-A.D.

400)
 The Ancient Greeks
decorated their temples and palaces with mural (wall)
paintings. We can tell from ancient literary sources and
from Roman copies of Greek art that the Greeks painted
small pictures and made mosaics. The names of the
Greek master painters and something of their lives and
works are also known, although very little Greek painting
has survived the effects of time and wars. The Greeks did
not paint much in tombs, so their works were not
protected.

The earliest style of vase painting was known as the

geometric style (1100-700 B.C.). Vases were decorated
with bands of geometric shapes and human figures in a
brown glaze on light-colored clay. By the 6th century,
vase painters were using the black-figured style, in which
human figures were painted in black on the natural red
clay. The details were cut into the clay with a sharp
instrument. This allowed the red beneath to show
through. The red-figured style eventually replaced the
black. It is just the opposite; the figures are red and the
background black. The advantage of this style was that
the painter could use a brush to make the outlines. A
brush gives a freer line than the metal tool used in black-
figured vases.

Roman mural paintings were found chiefly in the villas

(country homes) of Pompeii and Herculaneum. In A.D. 79
these two cities were completely buried by an eruption
of the volcano Vesuvius. Archeologists who have
excavated the area have been able to learn much about
ancient Roman life from these cities. Almost every house
and villa in Pompeii had paintings on its walls. Roman
painters carefully prepared the wall surface by applying a
mixture of marble dust and plaster. They put the mixture
on in layers and polished it to a marblelike finish. Many
of the pictures are copies of 4th-century B.C. Greek
paintings. The graceful poses of the figures painted on
the walls of the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii inspired
artists of the 18th century when the city was excavated.

The Greeks and Romans also painted portraits. A small

number of them, mostly mummy portraits done in the
Greek style by Egyptian artists, have survived around
Alexandria, in northern Egypt. Founded in the 4th century
B.C. by Alexander the Great of Greece, Alexandria
became a leading center of Greek and Roman culture.
Mummy portraits were painted in the encaustic
technique on wood and were fitted into mummy cases
after the death of the person portrayed. Encaustic
paintings, done in paint mixed with melted beeswax, last
for a very long time. Indeed, the mummy portraits still
look fresh, though they were done as long ago as the
2nd century B.C.

Early Christian and Byzantine Painting (A.D. 300-

1300)

The Roman Empire began to decline in the 4th century

A.D. At the same time Christianity gained strength. In
A.D. 313 the Roman Emperor Constantine gave the
religion official recognition and became a Christian
himself.

The rise of Christianity greatly affected the arts. Artists

were commissioned to decorate the walls of churches
with frescoes and mosaics. They made panel paintings in
the church chapel and illustrated and decorated the
books of the Church. Under the authority of the Church,
artists had to communicate the teachings of Christianity
as clearly as possible.

Early Christians and Byzantine artists continued the

technique of mosaic that they had learned from the
Greeks. Small, flat pieces of colored glass or stone were
set into wet cement or plaster. Sometimes other hard
materials, such as bits of baked clay or shells, were used.
In Italian mosaics the colors are especially deep and full.
The Italian artists made the background with pieces of
gilded glass. They set the human figures in rich colors
against the glittering gold. The general effect is flat and

decorative, not realistic. 

The mosaics of Byzantine artists often were less realistic

and more decorative than those of the early Christians.
"Byzantine" is the name given to a style of art that
developed around the ancient city of Byzantium (now
Istanbul, Turkey). The mosaic technique perfectly suited
the Byzantine taste for splendidly decorated churches.
The famous mosaics of Theodora and Justinian, made
about A.D. 547, show the taste for rich display. The
jewelry on the figures glitters, and the brilliantly colored
court dresses are set against a shining gold background.
Byzantine artists also used gold liberally in fresco and
panel paintings. Gold and other precious materials were
used throughout the Middle Ages to set spiritual
subjects apart from the everyday world.

 Medieval Painting (500-1400)

The first part of the Middle Ages, from about the 6th to
the 11th centuries A.D., is commonly called the Dark
Ages. In this time of unrest, art was kept alive mainly in
the monasteries. In the 5th century A.D. barbarian tribes
from northern and central Europe roamed over the
continent. For hundreds of years they dominated
Western Europe. These people produced an art that has
a strong emphasis on pattern. They were especially fond
of designs of intertwining dragons and birds.

The best of Celtic and Saxon art is found in manuscripts

of the 7th and 8th centuries. Book illumination and
miniature painting, practiced since late Roman times,
increased in the Middle Ages. Illumination is decoration
of the text, the capital letters, and the margins. Gold,
silver, and bright colors were used. A miniature is a small
picture, often a portrait. Originally the term was used to
describe the decorative block around the initial letters in
a manuscript.
Charlemagne, who was crowned emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire in the early 9th century, tried to revive the
classical art of the late Roman and early Christian
periods. During his reign painters of miniatures imitated
classical art, but they also conveyed personal feelings
about their subjects.

Very little wall painting survives from the Middle Ages.

There were several great series of frescoes painted in
churches built during the Romanesque period (11th-13th
centuries), but most of them have disappeared. Churches
of the Gothic period (12th-16th centuries) did not have
enough wall space for mural paintings. Book illustration
was the main job of the Gothic painter. Among the finest
illustrated manuscripts were the books of hours--
collections of calendars, devotional prayers, and psalms.
A page from an Italian manuscript shows elaborately
decorated initials and a finely detailed marginal scene of
Saint George slaying the dragon. The colors are brilliant
and jewel-like, as in stained glass, and gold shimmers
over the page. Exquisitely delicate leaf and flower
designs border the text. Artists probably used
magnifying glasses to do such intricate work. 
Early Renaissance (1400-1500)

The founder of Renaissance painting was Masaccio,

Giotto's greatest successor in the quest for
realistic perspective (the three-dimensional articulation
of space), modelling (the three-dimensional articulation
of surfaces, via lighting/shading), and emotion.2,8 His
masterpiece is Tribute Money, part of a mural series at
Brancacci Chapel, Florence. This work demonstrates how
the halo, a remnant of medieval art, is adapted to a
three-dimensional environment as though it were a solid
disk; the halo would eventually disappear completely
during the Renaissance, though some artists modified it
into realistic light shining from a figure's head.
Late Renaissance (1525-1600)

Though mannerism flourished primarily in Florence and

Rome, the most renowned of all mannerist painters is El
Greco, the greatest Spanish painter of the
Renaissance.35 His foremost work, The Burial of Count
Orgaz, features elongated figures and swirling distortions
of space that achieve a fantastic, dreamlike effect.


 

Mannerism had only limited influence on Titian, greatest

of all Venetian painters. Assumption of the Virgin is often
considered his masterpiece. Titian's paintings showcase
the vibrant colouring and strong lighting of the
Venetian school.18

  
 

In the sixteenth century, Renaissance

painting radiated from Italy across Europe. Many artists
of northern Europe responded by merging Italian
classical composition with the finely-detailed realism of
Low Countries painting; this was achieved most
successfully by Dürer. Yet the greatest Low Countries
painter of the sixteenth century, Pieter Bruegel (the
Elder), chose not to embrace Italian art. Instead of
classically-structured biblical scenes, Bruegel preferred to
chronicle the everyday lives of peasants against realistic
interiors and landscapes.

Baroque Painting (1600 - 1800)

Baroque art is characterized by dynamism (a sense of

motion), which is augmented by extravagant effects (e.g.
strong curves, rich decoration, stark lighting; see Western
Aesthetics). The full-blown Baroque aesthetic (full
Baroque) was embraced in southern Western Europe,
while northern Western Europe struck a classical-
Baroque compromise (restrained Baroque). The chief
exception to this generalization is Flanders, which
embraced "full Baroque" (see Diffusion of Baroque). One
would therefore expect Baroque painting to
feature dynamic composition (see Visual Composition).
This is not always the case, however; sometimes, instead
of using a preconceived aesthetic structure (dynamic
composition), Baroque painters simply composed scenes
as they appear in the real world (or, in the case of
imagined scenes, as they would plausibly appear in the
real world). This approach can be described as realist
Baroque, as opposed to dynamic Baroque.

To reiterate: painting of the Baroque age can be divided

into dynamic Baroque painting (which features dynamic
composition) and realist Baroque painting (which
features realistic composition). The former can be viewed
as the descendent of Italian Renaissance painting (which
focused on overall composition), the latter as the
descendent of Low Countries Renaissance painting
(which focused on realistically capturing the immediate
physical world).
The greatest painters of the Baroque era belong to
the High Baroque period. The various styles and
subjects of High Baroque painting continued to flourish
during the Late Baroque, in the brushes of many less
renowned successors. The last phase of Baroque
was Rococo (1725 - 1800), in which the curves and
dynamism of Baroque were retained, but its weighty
drama softened to a light, playful style. Cheerful
subjects, light colours, and delicate curves are all typical
features of Rococo art. The most iconic Rococo artist
is François Boucher, whose work includes paintings,
ceramics, and tapestries; his masterpiece is The Birth of
Venus.

19th Century Painting

The 19th century is sometimes regarded as the period

during which modern art began to take shape. One
important reason for the so-called revolution in the arts
at this time was the invention of the camera, which
forced artists to re-examine the purpose of painting.

A more important development resulted partly from the

widespread use of manufactured paints. Before the 19th
century, most artists or their assistants made their own
paints by grinding pigment. Early commercial paints were
inferior to handmade paints. Artists late in the 19th
century found that the dark blues and browns of earlier
paintings were turning black or gray within a few years.
They began to use pure colors again. These artists used
pure colors in order to preserve their work and
sometimes because they were trying to capture the
effects of sunlight in outdoor scenes more accurately. 
20th-Century Painting

A number of artists soon became dissatisfied with

impressionism. Artists such as Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
felt that impressionism did not describe the solidity of
forms in nature. Cézanne liked to paint still lifes because
they allowed him to concentrate on the shapes of fruits
or other objects and their arrangements. Objects in his
still lifes look solid because he reduced their forms to
simple geometric shapes. His technique of placing
patches of paint and short brushstrokes of rich color side
by side shows that he learned much from the
impressionists.

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-90) and Paul Gauguin (1848-

1903) reacted against the realism of the impressionists.
Unlike the impressionists, who said that they were
viewing nature objectively, Van Gogh cared little for
accurate drawing. He frequently distorted objects in
order to express his ideas more imaginatively. He used
the impressionist device of putting contrasting colors
next to each other. Sometimes he squeezed paint from
the tubes right onto the canvas in thick ribbons, as
in Field of Yellow Corn.
Gauguin did not care for the spotty color of the
impressionists. He applied color smoothly in large flat
areas, which he separated from one another by lines or
dark edges. The colorful civilizations of the tropics
provided much of his subject matter.

Cézanne's method of building up arrangements in space

with simple geometric forms was further developed by
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Georges Braque (1882-1963),
and others. Their style became known as cubism. The
cubists painted objects as if they could be seen from
several angles at once, or as if they had been taken apart
and reassembled on a flat canvas. Often the objects
barely resemble anything in nature. Sometimes the
cubists cut out shapes from cloth, cardboard, wallpaper,
or other materials and pasted them on the canvas to
make a collage. Textures were also varied by adding sand
or other substances to the paint. Since Manet, the trend
has been to put less emphasis on subject and more
emphasis on composition and technique.

Early Mediums in Painting

1. Encaustic paint mixes dry pigment with a heated

beeswax binder. The mixture is then brushed or spread
across a support surface. Reheating allows for longer
manipulation of the paint. Encaustic dates back to the
first century C.E. and was used extensively in funerary
mummy portraits from Fayum in Egypt. The
characteristics of encaustic painting include strong,
resonant colors and extremely durable paintings.
Because of the beeswax binder, when encaustic cools it
forms a tough skin on the surface of the painting.
Modern electric and gas tools allow for extended periods
of heating and paint manipulation.

2. Fresco painting is used exclusively on plaster walls and

ceilings. The medium of fresco has been used for
thousands of years, but is most associated with its use in
Christian images during the Renaissance period in
Europe.

There are two forms of fresco: Buon or “wet,”and secco,

meaning “dry.”
Buon fresco - technique consists of painting in pigment
mixed with water on a thin layer of wet, fresh lime
mortar or plaster. The pigment is applied to and
absorbed by the wet plaster; after a number of hours, the
plaster dries and reacts with the air: it is this chemical
reaction that fixes the pigment particles in the plaster.
Because of the chemical makeup of the plaster, a binder
is not required. Buon fresco is more stable because the
pigment becomes part of the wall itself.

Domenico di Michelino’s Dante and the Divine

Comedy from 1465 is a superb example of buon fresco.
The colors and details are preserved in the dried plaster
wall. Michelino shows the Italian author and poet Dante
Aleghieri standing with a copy of the Divine
Comedy open in his left hand, gesturing to the
illustration of the story depicted around him. The artist
shows us four different realms associated with the
narrative: the mortal realm on the right depicting
Florence, Italy; the heavenly realm indicated by the
stepped mountain at the left center – you can see an
angel greeting the saved souls as they enter from the
base of the mountain; the realm of the damned to the
left – with Satan surrounded by flames greeting them at
the bottom of the painting; and the realm of the cosmos
arching over the entire scene.
Secco fresco - refers to painting an image on the surface
of a dry plaster wall. This medium requires a binder since
the pigment is not mixed into the wet plaster. Egg
tempera is the most common binder used for this
purpose. It was also common to use secco fresco over
buon fresco murals in order to repair damage or make
slight changes to the original. Leonardo Da Vinci’s
painting of The Last Supper  was done using secco fresco.
Because this was painted on a dry plastered wall, the
pigments are only on the surface, not part of the wall
like a true fresco. As you’ll notice in Da Vinci’s painting,
the paint is faded and flaking off as a result.

These are the common mediums used in contemporary

painting.
1. Oil paint is the most versatile of all the painting media.
It uses pigment mixed with a binder of linseed
oil. Linseed oil can also be used as the vehicle, along with
mineral spirits or turpentine. Oil painting was thought to
have developed in Europe during the fifteenth century,
but recent research on murals found in Afghanistan
caves show oil based paints were used there as early as
the seventh century.  Some of the qualities of oil paint
include a wide range of pigment choices, its ability to be
thinned down and applied in almost transparent glazes
as well as used straight from the tube (without the use of
a vehicle), built up in thick layers called impasto (you can
see this in many works by Vincent van Gogh). One
drawback to the use of impasto is that over time the
body of the paint can split, leaving networks of cracks
along the thickest parts of the painting. Because oil paint
dries slower than other media, it can be blended on the
support surface with meticulous detail. This extended
working time also allows for adjustments and changes to
be made without having to scrape off sections of dried
paint.

In Jan Brueghel the Elder’s still life oil painting you can
see many of the qualities mentioned above. The richness
of the paint itself is evident in both the resonant lights
and inky dark colors of the work. The working of the
paint allows for many different effects to be created,
from the softness of the flower petals to the reflection on
the vase and the many visual textures in between.

Richard Diebenkorn's Cityscape #1  from 1963 shows how

the artist uses oil paint in a more fluid, expressive
manner. He thins down the medium to obtain a quality
and gesture that reflects the sunny, breezy atmosphere
of a California morning. He used layers of oil paint, one
over the other, to let the under painting show through
and a flat, more geometric space that blurs the line
between realism and abstraction.

The abstract expressionist painters pushed the limits of

what oil paint could do. Their focus was in the act of
painting as much as it was about the subject matter.
Indeed, for many of them there was no distinction
between the two. The work of Willem de Kooning leaves
a record of oil paint being brushed, dripped, scraped and
wiped away all in a frenzy of creative activity. This idea
stays contemporary in the paintings of Celia Brown

2. Watercolor is the most sensitive of the painting

media. It reacts to the lightest touch of the artist and can
become an over worked mess in a moment. There are
two kinds of watercolor
media: transparent and opaque. Transparent watercolor
operates in a reverse relationship to the other painting
media. It is traditionally applied to a paper support, and
relies on the whiteness of the paper to reflect light back
through the applied color (see below), whereas opaque
paints (including opaque watercolors) reflect light off the
skin of the paint itself. Watercolor consists of pigment
and a binder of gum arabic, a water-soluble compound
made from the sap of the acacia tree. It dissolves easily in
water.

Watercolor paintings hold a sense of immediacy. The

medium is extremely portable and excellent for small
format paintings. Transparent watercolor techniques
include the use of wash; an area of color applied with a
brush and diluted with water to let it flow across the
paper. Wet-in-wet painting allows colors to flow and drift
into each other, creating soft transitions between
them. Dry brush painting uses little water and lets the
brush run across the top ridges of the paper, resulting in
a broken line of color and lots of visual texture.

John Marin's Brooklyn Bridge (1912) shows extensive use

of wash. He renders the massive bridge almost invisible
except for the support towers at both sides of the
painting. Even the Manhattan skyline becomes
enveloped in the misty, abstract shapes created by
washes of color.
Boy in a Red Vest by French painter Paul Cezanne builds
form through nuanced colors and tones. The way the
watercolor is laid onto the paper reflects a sensitivity and
deliberation common in Cezanne’s paintings. 
The watercolors of Andrew Wyeth indicate the landscape
with earth tones and localized color, often with dramatic
areas of white paper left untouched. Brandywine Valley is
a good example.

Opaque watercolor, also called gouache, differs from

transparent watercolor in that the particles are larger, the
ratio of pigment to water is much higher, and an
additional, inert, white pigment such as chalk is also
present. Because of this, gouache paint gives stronger
color than transparent watercolor, although it tends to
dry to a slightly lighter tone than when it is applied. Like
transparent watercolor, dried gouache paint will become
soluble again in water.

Gouache is a medium in traditional painting from other

cultures, too. Zal Consults the Magi, part of an
illuminated manuscript form sixteenth-century Iran, uses
bright colors of gouache along with ink, silver and gold
to construct a vibrant composition full of intricate
patterns and contrasts. Ink is used to create lyrical
calligraphic passages at the top and bottom of the work.

3. Acrylic paint was developed in the 1950’s and

became an alternative to oils. Pigment is suspended in an
acrylic polymer emulsion binder and uses water as the
vehicle. The acrylic polymer has characteristics like
rubber or plastic. Acrylic paints offer the body, color, and
durability of oils without the expense, mess and toxicity
issues of using heavy solvents to mix them. One major
difference is the relatively fast drying time of acrylics.
They are water soluble, but once dry become impervious
to water or other solvents.  Moreover, acrylic paints
adhere to many different surfaces and are extremely
durable, Acrylic will not crack or yellow over time.
The American artist Robert Colescott (1925-2009) used
acrylics on large-scale paintings. He uses thin layers of
underpainting, scumbling, high-contrast colors, and
luscious surfaces to bring out the full range of effects
that acrylics offer.

Other painting media used by artists include the

following:

Enamel paints form hard skins typically with a high-gloss

finish. They use heavy solvents and are extremely
durable.

Powder coat paints differ from conventional paints in

that they do not require a solvent to keep the pigment
and binder parts in suspension. They are applied to a
surface as a powder then cured with heat to form a
tough skin that is stronger than most other paints.
Powder coats are applied mostly to metal surfaces.

Epoxy paints are polymers, created mixing pigment with

two different chemicals: a resin and a hardener. The
chemical reaction between the two creates heat that
bonds them together. Epoxy paints, like powder coats
and enamel, are extremely durable in both indoor and
outdoor conditions. These industrial grade paints may
also be used in sign painting, marine environments, and
aircraft painting.
What is Printmaking?

Printmaking is a fine art process that allows the artist to produce multiple copies of his original
image. But in no sense is the original print a copy or a reproduction or a giclée: the artist's hands
steer its creation from start to finish. As Carl Zigrosser has written, "The print is created through
contact with an inked or uninked plate, stone, block, or screen that has been worked on directly
by the artist alone or with others." There are four main categories of printmaking: relief, intaglio,
lithography, and screenprinting. Each color in a print usually requires a separate stone, plate,
block, or stencil, and any of these basic processes may be combined in the creation of a finished
work. Unique works (or works in an exceedingly limited number of copies) are sometimes
produced as monotypes or monoprints. Printmaking uses a transfer process to make multiples
from an original image or template. The multiple images are printed in an edition, with each
print signed and numbered by the artist.  Most printmaking media result in images reversed from
the original. Print results depend on how the template (or matrix) is prepared. There are three
basic techniques of printmaking: relief, intaglio and planar. You can get an idea of how they
differ from the cross-section images below, and view how each technique works from this site at
the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
What are the printmaking processes?

A relief print, such as a woodcut or linoleum cut, is

created when the areas of the matrix (plate or block)
that are to show the printed image are on the
original surface; the parts of the matrix that are to be
ink-free having been cut away, or otherwise removed.
The printed surface is in relief from the cut away
sections of the plate. Once the area around the image is
cut away, the surface of the plate is rolled up with ink.
Paper is laid over the matrix, and both are run through
a press, transferring the ink from the surface of the
matrix to the paper. For most artists, the nature of the
relief process doesn’t allow for lots of detail, but does
result in graphic images with strong contrasts. Carl
Eugene Keel’s Bar shows the effects of a woodcut
printed in black ink.

Block printing developed in China hundreds of

years ago and was common throughout East Asia.
Japanese woodblock prints show dynamic effects
of implied motion. Ukiyo-e or “floating world”
prints from Japan became popular with the middle
class Japanese in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, and even influenced
European artists during the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. These often incorporate
extremely fine detail and multiple colors. Relief
printmakers usually use a separate block or matrix
for each color printed. This method can result in a
print with many colors, such as the well-
known Great Wave off Kanagawa, by Hokusai.

Intaglio prints such as engravings and etchings,

are made by incising channels into a copper or
metal plate with a sharp instrument called
a burin to create the image, inking the entire
plate, then wiping the ink from the surface of the
plate, leaving ink only in the incised
channels below the surface. Paper is laid over the
plate and put through a press under high pressure,
forcing the ink to be transferred to the paper.
Today artists also use plexiglass, a hard clear
plastic, as plates. Characteristically these prints have strong line quality and exhibit a slightly
blurred edge to the line as the result of burrs created in the process of incising the plate, similar
to clumps of soil laid to the edge of a furrowed trench. A fine example of dry point is seen in
Rembrandt’s Clump of Trees with a Vista. The velvety darks are created by the effect of the
burred-edged lines.

Etching begins by first applying a protective wax-based coating to a thin metal plate. The artist
then scratches an image with a burin through the protective coating into the surface of the metal.
The plate is then submersed in a strong acid bath, etching the exposed lines. The plate is
removed from the acid and the protective coating is removed from the plate. Now the bare plate
is inked, wiped and printed. The image is created from the ink in the etched channels. The
amount of time a plate is kept in the acid bath determines the quality of tones in the resulting
print: the longer it is etched the darker the tones will be. Correccion by the Spanish master
Francisco Goya shows the clear linear quality etching can produce. The acid bath removes any
burrs created by the initial dry point work, leaving details and value contrasts consistent with the
amount of lines and the distance between them. Goya presents a fantastic image of people,
animals and strange winged creatures. His work often involved biting social
commentary. Correccion is a contrast between the pious and the absurd.

 Planar prints like monoprints are created on

the surface of the matrix without any cutting or incising.
In this technique the surface of the matrix (usually a thin
metal plate or Plexiglass) is completely covered with ink,
then areas are partially removed by wiping, scratching
away or otherwise removed to form the image.  Paper is
laid over the matrix, then run through a press to transfer
the image to the paper. Monoprints (also monotypes) are
the simplest and painterly of the printing media. By
definition monotypes and monoprints cannot be
reproduced in editions. Kathryn Trigg’s monotypes show
how close this print medium is related to painting and
drawing.

Lithography is another example of planar

printmaking, developed in Germany in the
late eighteenth century. “Litho” means
“stone” and “graph” means “to draw.” The
traditional matrix for lithography is the
smooth surface of a limestone
block.Lithographic stone is on the left with
the negative image. Printed positive image
is on the right. While this matrix is still
used extensively, thin zinc plates have also
been introduced to the medium. They
eliminate the bulk and weight of the
limestone block but provide the same surface texture and characteristics. The lithographic
process is based on the fact that grease repels water. In traditional lithography, an image is
created on the surface of the stone or plate using grease pencils or wax crayons or a grease-based
liquid medium called tusche. The finished image is covered in a thin layer of gum arabic that
includes a weak solution of nitric acid as an etching agent. The resulting chemical reaction
divides the surface into two areas: the positive areas containing the image and that will repel
water, and the negative areas surrounding the image that will be water receptive. In printing a
lithograph, the gum arabic film is removed and the stone or metal surface is kept moist with
water so when it’s rolled up with an oil based ink the ink adheres to the positive (image) areas
but not to the negative (wet) areas.

Because of the media used to create the imagery, lithographic images show characteristics much
like drawings or paintings. In A Brush for the Lead by Currier and Ives (below), a full range of
shading and more linear details of description combine to illustrate a winter’s race down the
town’s main road.

Currier and Ives, A Brush for the Lead; New York Flyers on the Snow, 1867. Lithograph Library
of Congress. Image is in the public domain.

Serigraphy, also known as screen printing, is a third type of planar printing medium. Screen
printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The
attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials that can be
pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate such as paper or fabric. A
roller or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink past the threads of
the woven mesh in the open areas. The image below shows how a stencil’s positive (image)
areas are isolated from the negative (non-image) areas.
In serigraphy, each color needs a separate stencil. You can watch how this process develops in
the accompanying video. Screen printing is an efficient way to print posters, announcements, and
other kinds of popular culture images. Andy Warhol’s silk screens use images and iconography
from popular culture.

HISTORY OF PRINTMAKING

WHAT IS AN ORIGINAL PRINT?

An original print is the printed impression produced from a block, plate, stone or screen on
which the artist has worked. By choosing to use a fine art print medium, it is possible to produce
a number of identical images, each one a hand-made original by the artist. Normally there is a
separate inking, wiping and printing of each color and for each copy within the edition. The total
number of prints is predetermined by the artist and thereafter; the blocks, plates, stones, or
screens are destroyed or recycled so that no further impressions may be taken. Only in modem
times have editions been limited to make them more desirable as an investment. Each original
print must bear the signature of the artist (usually in the lower right-hand comer or margin) and
also an indication of the total edition and serial number of the print. This appears like a fraction;
1/5 meaning the first print out of an edition of five.

WHAT ARE PROOFS?

Besides numbered prints, a fine art edition usually includes artist's proofs. These proofs are
designated P/A. The number of these proofs is usually 5 -- 10% of the total number of the
edition, more would be considered abusive. So an edition of 50 would have a maximum of five
artist's proofs. Sometimes these proofs are numbered with Roman numerals, e.g. I/V, II/V, III/V
etc. Some of the most valuable proofs do not form part of the edition. These are the trial proofs,
P/E, which the artist pulls in the process of creating the final print. A series of trial proofs
represents a unique record of the work in process, and as such is highly sought after by fine art
print collectors. Sometimes H/C is seen written in the margin of a print. This is a French
annotation "hors de commerce", which means the print was a gift or unsuitable for selling. Every
edition has a single "bon a tirer”, which is the artist's final proof, the ideal which all the prints in
the edition must emulate.

I. RELIEF PRINTING A relief print is any print in which an image is printed from the raised
portion of a carved, etched, or cast block. A simple example would be a rubber stamp. The most
common relief prints are woodcuts.

CHINESE STONE RUBBINGS AND WOODCUTS

Printmaking originated in China after paper was invented around AD 105. Relief printing
appeared in Europe in the 15th Century, when the process of papermaking was imported from
the East. Stone rubbing predates any form of woodcut. To enable Chinese scholars to study their
scriptures, the classic texts and accompanying holy images were carved into large, flat stone
slabs. After lines were cut into the stone, damp paper was pressed and molded on the surface, so
that the paper was held in the incised lines. Ink was applied and the paper was carefully
removed. The resulting image appeared as white lines on a black background. This technique
was the foundation of printing. The development of printing continued with the spread of
Buddhism from India to China; images and text were printed on paper from a single block. This
method of combining text and image is called blockbook printing.

WOODCUTS

Woodcuts are the oldest method of printmaking. They were first developed in China in the 9th
Century. European examples date from the 14th Century. It is called a relief process because the
lines and surfaces to which the ink adheres are higher than the parts that are not printed.

To create a woodcut, the artist draws a design on a piece of wood sawed lengthwise across the
grain. Pine is the wood most commonly used, although fruitwoods such as pear or cherry may
also be used. After smoothing the surface, the wood may be hardened by treating it with shellac.
This makes it more durable under the pressure of a press and also makes it easier to carve strong,
bold images. The artist then paints or draws an image on the surface. The wood between the
drawn lines is cut away, leaving only the drawn image standing on the surface. To make the cuts
chisels, gouges or knives may be used.

A roller holding a film of oil-based ink is rolled completely over the block. A sheet of paper,
ideally an absorbent paper like rice paper, is placed over the block and the artist may then print
the image by hand rubbing the surface with the bowl of a spoon or with another burnishing
instrument. The block and paper may be run through a press; under the pressure of the press the
image is transferred to paper. The impression is pulled by carefully lifting a corner of the paper
and peeling it off the block. Separate blocks are used for color woodcuts, one block is used for
each color.

In the Middle Ages woodcuts were used to print patterns on textiles. Beginning in the 1400's,
artists made woodcuts to portray religious subjects, to decorate and illustrate books, and to make
playing cards. In the late 1400's and early 1500's the German artist, Albrecht Dürer brought the
art of woodcuts to a new level with his expert artistic and technical skills.
During the 1700's and 1800's Japanese artists produced outstanding woodcuts that greatly
influenced such European artists as Degas, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec and Van Gogh.

In the 1900's expressionist artists such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner of Germany and Edvard Munch
of Norway created many fine woodcuts.

Museum examples: A la Víbora de la Mar (To the Viper of the Sea), Luis Garcia Robledo (1960)
Alexander Gallery; Au Dormir de Lantar (The Dormant Lantara) from La Forête de Fontainbleau
(The Forest of Fontainbleau) Auguste-Louis Lepère (1887-1890) Belk Gallery

LINOLEUM CUT

Linoleum cut is a relief print carved into linoleum rather than wood. Linoleum is composed of
burlap coated with linoxyn; polymerized oil mixed with ground cork and pigments. The best
grade, battleship linoleum, is usually brown or gray. Linoleum is more easily cut than wood and
lighter weight tools are now made and sold for this process. Generally speaking, linocuts are less
esteemed by artists than woodcuts. Linoleum will not take very delicate or subtle cuts. The end
result may appear block or poster like. However it is a good medium for artists who enjoy
producing less exacting, more casual work. Museum Examples: Untitled, Luis Garcia Robledo
(1960) Williamson Gallery

II. INTAGLIO

The intaglio method of printing involves cutting or incising an image into a metal plate with
various tools or acids. The wide variety of methods used gives this medium enormous range. The
two basic typed of intaglio printing are engraving and etching. In engraving the image is cut into
the plate with tools called needles, burnishers, scrapers or rockers. In etching the image is cut
into the plate with acids.

ENGRAVING

Engraving is a form of intaglio printing (from Italian meaning to carve or to cut) in which the
lines that print are incised into the surface of the print form. The print form is a thin metallic
plate, usually made of copper. A sharply pointed steel instrument called a burin is used to cut the
grooves into the surface of the plate. Burin engraving requires considerable force and is done
from the strength of the arm (this differs from etching which is done more from the fingertips
like a fine drawing). The finished plate is inked with heavy, viscous ink and wiped with a rag,
leaving ink in the grooves. Slightly moistened paper is applied to the inked plate. Plate and paper
are run through a printing press, which can apply sufficient pressure to force the paper to pick up
the ink in the grooves. The resulting printed lines are sharply defined and slightly raised. Several
hundred prints can be made before weak lines on the print reveal the plate is wearing down.

Most early engravings were book illustrations and religious images intended for popular
use.Today these are sought after by museums and collectors.

Today engraving is used for producing currency and certificates.

Museum Examples: An Accurate Map of North and South Carolina with Their Indian Frontiers,
Henry Mouzon - Alexander Gallery; The American Partridge, Mark Catesby (1712) - Spangler
Gallery; Roseate Spoonbill, Audubon (1836) -Spangler Gallery; Le Reflet, Jean Solombre -
Williamson Gallery

GICLEE PRINT

Giclee is a relatively new and exciting form of fine art reproduction. It is a French term,
pronounced "zhee-clay", meaning "that which is sprayed". This plateless fine art printing method
was developed in 1989, and was used mainly for printing posters and proofs. Giclee prints are
sometimes referred to as Iris prints due to the fact they were printed on an Iris printer, one of the
first high-end digital printers. Giclee prints can be original works of art generated with a
computer, multiple originals based on artwork (created with or without a computer) made with
the Giclee process in mind, or high quality reproductions of original artwork.

One of the drawbacks of the early Iris printers was the lack of durability of their inks. The initial
colors were rich and beautiful, but tended to fade noticeably in two to three years. As the Iris
giclee evolved from the Iris print process, the permanence of the inks has improved dramatically.
A typical giclee now resists fading for thirty to sixty years. Ongoing advancements in ink
technology include inks that will remain stable for up to seventy-five years.

Prints can be made on most absorbent media, from glossy or textured photo papers to canvas to
watercolor paper. When prints are executed using high visual resolution, even artists have a hard
time telling the original from the copy. Obviously, using quality paper and inks are key to this
process.

After determining the paper, size and quantity of the edition, the printmaking process begins. A
roll of paper or canvas is loaded on the machine. The system's computer processes the digital file
with the final approved pre-press version. The artist chooses (this final version). The computer
controls six heads which each spray pigmented ink. The heads move back and forth across the
width of the paper as it slowly moves through the printer at a rate of about one-inch per minute.

Giclee has several advantages over other printmaking methods such as streamlining production,
reducing upfront costs and eliminating the need for storage. The artist works with the printer to
approve the Giclee print; he can then order prints as needed without huge upfront costs and
storage problems. This method gives the artist a chance to test market a new idea without
investing time and money on an image that may not sell in large quantities. Also artist can build
inventory slowly over time in response to the market.

How do Giclee Prints differ from lithographs and serigraphs?

Taking a continuous tone image and processing it through a screen makes offset lithographs. The
result is an image created with a series of dots, each one proportional in size to the density of the
original at the location of the dot. The human eye is tricked into seeing something that
approximates a continuous tone image. Most printed material such as newspapers and magazines
are made this way.
Serigraphs are really screenprints. These prints are made by creating a set of screens, each
representing one color. Ink is squeeged through the screen and onto the media. For fine art
reproduction, the number of screens required to approximate the tonal qualities of the original
are typically from 20 to more than 100. The larger the number of screens the closer a serigraph
can appear to be continuous tone and the more expensive it is to reproduce.

Giclee prints have advantages over both of these methods. The color available for giclee
processing is limited only by the color gamut of the inks. Therefore, literally millions of colors
are available and the limitation imposed by the screening process does not exist. The giclee
process uses such small dots and so many of them that they are not discernible to the eye. So a
giclee print is essentially a continuous tone print showing every color and tone nuance. And
lastly, giclee prints are available to "print on demand", meaning you only print what you need
and can reorder additional quantities as needed.

But are Giclee Prints "Real Art"?

Giclee prints are not "computer-generated" in the way we usually know and think of that term.
Computers control the complex and technologically advanced printers that create the
reproductions, much as computers are used to create offset lithographs and serigraph. The giclee
process is simply a new and significant step in the creation of limited edition fine art prints.

It is also interesting to note that many photographers are using giclee-reproduced photographs.
They like the soft, painterly look of giclee prints, and photos reproduced in this way do not have
the reflectance of traditional photographic prints.

Artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Jim Dine, David Hockney and Andrew and Jamie Wyeth
are using giclee to create original works of art, multiple originals or reproductions. Also, giclee
prints are shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Los Angeles Museum of
Modem Art and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC.

But it isn't just high-profile artists and galleries who are making and showing giclees. Artists at
all levels are working in a wide variety of media to create prints and original works using giclee
technology. While the fine art market increases by about three percent annually, the giclee
market is growing more than 60 percent annually. The growth in the print market of giclees has
been mostly at the expense of the serigraphs.

III. LITHOGRAPHY

Process

Lithography is a method of printmaking based on the chemical repellence of oil and water. It is a
process of printing from a smooth plate; the printing and non-printing surfaces are all at the same
level, as opposed to intaglio or relief processes in which the design is cut into the printing block.
Designs are drawn or painted on a level, porous surface with a greasy material, such as conte
crayon, grease pencil or a greasy substance called tusche. The most commonly used surfaces are
limestone or plates made of metal or plastic. 

After the image is drawn, the stone is dampened and ink is applied with a roller. The greasy
image repels the water and holds the oily ink while the rest of the surface does the opposite. The
stone is chemically treated after the image is created in order to enhance the effect.

The artist then places a sheet of paper on the printing surface and runs the paper and the stone or
plate through a printing press under heavy pressure. The pressure transfers the inked design onto
the paper. To make additional impressions the artist redampens and reinks the surface.

It is interesting to note that because of the equipment used and the knowledge and skill required
for the printing process, lithography lends itself to collaboration between artist and printer. Also
pulling a large print requires two people.

History

Lithography was the first fundamentally new printing technology since the invention of relief
printing in the 15th Century. Alois Senefelder invented it in Germany in 1798. He was a comedic
playwright looking for a way to publish multiple copies of his works. Realizing the commercial
possibilities of this technique, Senefelder patented it a year later in Munich. Within 20 years
lithography appeared in England and the United States.

Although lithography enjoyed early commercial success as a leading method of printing books,
magazines and newspapers, it took a while longer to be accepted as a legitimate art form. In the
19th and early 20th century many people saw it only as a less expensive means to own a work of
art by a well-known painter.

However many European artists began experimenting with lithography soon after its invention in
1798. They liked the spontaneous effect they could achieve by drawing directly on the printing
surface. Some of these early masters included Eugene Delacroix, Pierre Bonnard, Henri de
Toulouse-Lautrec and Edvard Munch.

Today it has come to be seen as a well-respected art form with very unique expressive
capabilities. Many artists combine lithography with other printmaking processes, such as silk-
screen. Some leading lithographers of the 1900's included Marc Chagall, Edvard Munch, Pablo
Picasso, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg to name only a few.
Museum Examples: Family Arc, John Biggers (1992) - Harris Gallery; $20 Bank of Charlotte
bill (1853) - Alexander Gallery

COLOR LITHOGRAPHY

Almost immediately after lithography was invented, attempts were made to create works in
color. In 1837, Godefroy Engelmann patented a color printing technique called
"Lithocolorprinting or Lithographs in color imitating printing". His use of the word "imitating"
illustrates the initial attitude toward this procedure as an accepted art form.

Color lithography is a complex process that usually involves multiple pressings, one for each
color in the image. According to one text on the technique, "The original color drawing should
be treated as a guide for the final print, not as a finished work to be exactly duplicated". When
different stones are used for each color (the same stone may also be used for multiple colors), it
is very important to keep the print in register each time it passes through the press. This means
insuring that the print is lined up exactly each time it goes through so that each color is in the
right position and the overlaying colors merge correctly.

Museum Examples: “Siren’s Song” from the Odysseus Suite, Romare Bearden (1979) Dalton
Gallery

IV. MONOPRINT

A monoprint or monotype refers to any print made in one version and incapable of being exactly
duplicated. It cannot be editioned.

They may be unique prints or variations on a theme. The artist paints, rubs or wipes designs
directly onto a plate using a slow drying paint or ink. The image must be printed before the ink
dries. It is printed by press or hand. The artist gets only one strong impression. The remaining
pigment can be reworked, but the next print will not be an exact copy of the first print. The final
effect can only be guessed at as no trial proofs can be done. This method allows the artist much
freedom and spontaneity. No Museum Examples on Exhibit.

V. SCREEN PRINTING

The principle of screenprinting, or silkscreening, consists in applying stencils to a screen

(constructed of silk or of some synthetic or metallic material), in such a way that when ink is
applied it is prevented from passing through some parts while penetrating the rest of the screen,
thereby printing an image on paper placed underneath. The screen is stretched across a frame and
attached to a base in such a manner that it can readily move up and down, so that paper can be
easily placed and removed as required. For each impression, the paper is placed against
registration tabs to ensure that the printing is done in the correct position. The ink is poured over
the masking at one end of the screen and when this has been lowered into position, the ink is
scraped across the screen with the aid of a squeegee.

The most important part of the process is the preparation of the screen. Stencils may be applied
in a variety of ways, including the use of filling-in liquid, varnish or plastic film. A drawing can
be made directly on the surface with a special ink which is removed in readiness for printing
after the rest of the screen has been blocked out. A photographic stencil is made by initially
sensitizing the screen.

SERIGRAPHY
Serigraphy (silk-screen printing or screen printing) is a 20th Century printmaking technique that
was developed in America. It was introduced as a fine art technique with an exhibition of
serigraphs at the New York World's Fair in 1939. 

Anthony Velonis of New York City developed the term serigraphy. In 1940, Velonis was
working for the WPA as head of the Fine Arts Project. The WPA was a depression era project
aimed at finding work for the unemployed. The Fine Arts Project was developed to find
government projects for unemployed artists to work on. The work was mostly of a commercial
nature, such as producing poster and other mass media type work. Velonis noticed that many of
the artists in his employ were suffering depression and a lack of self-esteem due to their
situation. He consulted with gallery owner Carl Zigrosser about this problem, and also spent
much of his own time thinking about and researching the situation. Finally he came up with the
word Serigraphy to differentiate the creative art in silkscreen produced by the artists from the
commercial applications. Seri comes from the Latin work for silk and graphein, from the Greek,
means to write or draw. This simple word change did much to elevate the feelings of fine artists
such as Elizabeth Olds, Ruth Chaney and Harry Gottleib, who were working with the FAP at the
time.

The origin of screen-printing may have been in Japan, where artist made large, delicate paper
cuttings in which the elements were joined and held together by human hair. The hairs served as
stencil ties without interfering with the printmaking process.

In its simplest form, screen-printing involves forcing ink through a stencil that is embedded or
securely attached to a silk or synthetic mesh screen. The screen is tightly stretched on a wooden
or metal frame. Viscous ink is squeegee through the screen depositing the ink on the paper under
the frame. A separate screen is used for each color and selected parts of the stencil can be
blocked out, if desired, during the reprinting. Wet prints are usually hung to dry.

In the 1930's and 1940's artists used the touche-washout method. This involved painting directly
on the top surface of the screen fabric with a grease crayon or touche. Once the image is drawn,
the screen is elevated and a water based glue solution is pulled evenly across the fabric. When
this solution dries, the grease marks on the fabric are removed leaving the image areas of the
fabric open for painting. It is interesting to note that according to Velonis these depression era
artists used fabric remnants for mesh, literally “anything they could get their hands on!” They
used paint from the hardware store in lieu of today's fine art inks. Today many artists use
photographic techniques to make stencils directly on the screen.

STENCIL (Pochoir)

Stencils are an essential part of screenprinting: they are attached to or incorporated with the
screen to ensure that the ink passes through in the correct places. They can be made in many
different forms, e. g. as a simple masking or covering stencil; as a “wash-out” stencil, which
involves drawing the design on the screen in a greasy substance, then covering the whole screen
with filler or gum, and finally dissolving the greasy image in turns, thereby forming a 1. positive
stencil; or as a photo-stencil, whereby photographic images are incorporated into the screen. 2.
Stencils are also used for coloring prints by hand. Stencils of the areas to be colored are cut out
in zinc or aluminum; the colors are dabbed on with a large brush (known as a pompon in
French); they may be juxtaposed or superimposed over each other. The method was much used
in the coloring of maps, topographical prints and devotional woodcuts. It is still used today for
book illustration and on greeting cards.

HISTORY OF PRINTMAKING IN THE PHILIPPINES

Printmaking in the Philippines did not gain popularity as an art form until the early
1960s. Manuel Rodrigo Sr. and Rodolfo Paras-Perez were responsible for the development of
interest in contemporary printmaking techniques. Rodriguez in particular became known as the
Father of Philippine Printmaking.

Printmaking was soon taught in several schools. Rodriguez taught at the Philippine Women’s
University, making it the unofficial center of printmaking in the country. He helped organize
the Philippine Association of Printmakers. The majority of the first young printmakers were
taught by Rodriguez either in PWU or in his workshops. Among these are Virgilio
Avadio, Lucio Martines, Lamberto Hechanova, Restituto Embuscado, Mario Parial, Adiel
Arevalo, Petite Calaguas, Emet Valente, Brenda Fajardo, Nelfa Querubin, Ivi Avellana-Cosio ,
and Nonon Padilla as well as his own sons Manuel Jr., Marcelino, and Ray Rodriguez.

Sample of print making

In the 1930s Rodriguez was first introduced to the art of printmaking and in 19 4 8 he spent a lot
of his time reproducing his paintings via screen printing methods. Rodriguez began to really
experiment with printmaking in the 1950s, making greeting cards of rural Philippine life.

Rodriguez was born in Cibu in 1912. His father was an engraver and goldsmith for liturgical
vestments and church ornaments. Rodriguez left Cibu in 1935 and moved to Manila to attend the
University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts, where he was mentored by Philippine
artistsToribio Herrera, Fernando and Pablo Amorsolo, Fabian de la Rosa, and Ramon Peralta. He
left the Philippines in the 19 6 0 sfor New York to pursue a Rockefeller printmaking scholarship
at the prestigious Pratt Graphic Center. It was during 19 6 0 - 6 2 that Rodriguez worked in
the print department of the Museum of Modern Art, after which he repeatedly visited the
famed Atelier 17 in Paris, run by British artist and teacher Stanley William Hayter.
HISTORY OF SCULPTURES
For thousands of years sculpture has filled many roles in human life. The
earliest sculpture was probably made to supply magical help to hunters. After
the dawn of civilization, statues were used to represent gods. Ancient kings,
possibly in the hope of making themselves immortal, had likenesses carved,
and portrait sculpture was born. The Greeks made statues that depicted
perfectly formed men and women. Early Christians decorated churches with
demons and devils, reminders of the presence of evil for the many
churchgoers who could neither read nor write.
From its beginnings until the present, sculpture has been largely monumental.
In the 15th century, monuments to biblical heroes were built on the streets of
Italian cities, and in the 20th century a monument to a songwriter was built in
the heart of New York City. Great fountains with sculpture in the center are as
commonplace beside modern skyscrapers as they were in the courts of old
palaces. The ancient Sumerians celebrated military victory with sculpture. The
participants of World War II also used sculpture to honor their soldiers.

Prehistoric Sculpture

Sculpture may be the oldest of the arts. People carved before they painted or
designed dwellings. The earliest drawings were probably carved on rock or
incised (scratched) in earth. Therefore, these drawings were as much
forerunners of relief sculpture as of painting.
Only a few objects survive to show
what sculpture was like thousands of
years ago. There are, however,
hundreds of recent examples of
sculpture made by people living in
primitive cultures. These examples
may be similar to prehistoric
sculpture.
From recent primitive sculpture and from the few surviving prehistoric pieces,
we can judge that prehistoric sculpture was never made to be beautiful. It was
always made to be used in rituals. In their constant fight for survival, early
people made sculpture to provide spiritual support.

Figures of men, women, and animals and combinations of all these served to
honor the strange and sometimes frightening forces of nature, which were
worshiped as evil or good spirits. Oddly shaped figures must have represented
prayers for strong sons, good crops, and abundant game and fish. Sculpture in
the form of masks was worn by priests or medicine men in dances designed to
drive away evil spirits or beg favors from good ones.

Sculpture in the Ancient World

Egypt

Egyptian sculpture and all Egyptian art was based on the belief in a life after
death. The body of the Egyptian ruler, or pharaoh, was carefully preserved,
and goods were buried with him to provide for his needs forever. The
pyramids, great monumental tombs of
Giza, were built for the most powerful
early rulers. The pharaoh and his wife
were buried in chambers cut deep inside
the huge blocks of stone.

Life-size and even larger statues, carved

in slate, alabaster, and limestone, were as
regular and simple in shape as the tombs
themselves. Placed in the temples and
inside the burial chambers, these statues
were images of the rulers, the nobles,
and the gods worshiped by the
Egyptians. The Egyptians believed that
the spirit of the dead person could always return to these images. Hundreds of
smaller statuettes in clay or wood showed people engaged in all the normal
actions of life: kneading bread, sailing, counting cattle. These statuettes were
astonishingly lifelike. Scenes carved in relief and painted in the tomb
chambers or on temple walls described Egyptian life in all its variety.

Egyptian sculptors always presented ideas clearly. The pharaoh or noble is

made larger than less important people. In relief sculpture every part of a
figure is clearly shown. An eye looking straight forward is placed against the
profile of a face, the upper part of the body faces front, and the legs are again
in profile.

The Egyptians often combined features from various creatures to symbolize

ideas. For example, the human head of the pharaoh Khafre is added to the
crouching figure of a lion to form the Great Sphinx. This composition suggests
the combination of human intelligence and animal strength.

Egyptian sculptors made standing and seated figures in the round and in
relief. Changes in style reveal changed circumstances. The portraits of rulers of
the Middle Kingdom (2134-1778 BC) Lose the strength and vigor of those of
their ancestors at Giza. The faces are drawn, sad, and weary. A greater energy
and force returns in the period of Egypt's greatest power, the New Kingdom
(1567-1080 B.C.). Colossal figures like those of Ramses II at the entrance to his
tomb at Abu-Simbel are broad, powerful, and commanding. A smaller portrait
of Ramses II shows the smooth finish, precise craftsmanship, and elegance of
late New Kingdom art.

Mesopotamia

The "land between the rivers,"

Mesopotamia, had a much less stable
society than Egypt and lacked Egypt's
vast amounts of stone for monumental
sculpture. Its cities were often destroyed
by floods and invading armies.

The earliest examples of sculpture in this

region were formed of light materials:
baked and unbaked clay, wood or
combinations of wood, shells, and gold
leaf. A group of stone figures from Tell Asmar depicts gods, priests, and
worshipers in a way very different from Egyptian sculpture. These figures are
cone-shaped, with flaring skirts, small heads, huge, beaklike noses, and large,
staring eyes.

Stone sculpture from such heavily fortified city palaces as Nineveh, Nimrud,
and Khorsabad reveal the aggressive, warlike character of later (10th-century
B.C.) conquerors of this region, the Assyrians. At the entrances of their palaces
the Assyrians placed huge symbols of the king's might and majesty in the
form of colossal guardian monsters--five-legged, winged bulls with human
heads. Slabs of stone carved in relief with scenes of hunts, battles, victory
banquets, and ceremonial rituals were placed along the lower walls inside the
palaces.

A greater lightness and brilliance can be seen in a still later center of this
region, Babylon. The Babylonians used brightly colored tiles in their reliefs.

Persian conquerors who occupied Babylon in the 6th century B.C. brought with
them a tradition of fine craftsmanship. This skill persisted as they continued
creating superb designs in bronze and gold. Sometimes the designs are purely
abstract ornamental patterns; sometimes they are animal forms freely shaped
into graceful figures. Relief sculpture from the great palace of Darius at
Persepolis (begun about 520 B.C.) retains some Assyrian features. The figures
have heads with tightly curled hair and beards. Flat areas bounded by sharply
cut lines contrast with richly patterned ones. The figures in this sculpture are
softly curved and rounded; draperies are fine and light.

Aegean Civilization

 
Just a few examples of sculpture remain from the
colorful Minoan civilization on the island of
Crete. Ivory and terra-cotta; small statuettes of
snake goddesses, priestesses, and acrobats; and
cups with such scenes in relief as a bull being
caught in a net or harvesters returning from the fields give lively suggestions
of Minoans in action.
Just a few examples of sculpture remain from the colorful Minoan civilization
on the island of Crete. Ivory and terra-cotta; small statuettes of snake
goddesses, priestesses, and acrobats; and cups with such scenes in relief as a
bull being caught in a net or harvesters returning from the fields give lively
suggestions of Minoans in action.

Power passed from Crete to the mainland, but little sculpture from such sites
as Tiryns or Mycenae has been found. The Lion Gate at Mycenae (about 1250
B.C.), with its two massive beasts guarding the entrance to the fortified city, is
an exceptional monumental sculpture from this time. The beaten-gold mask of
Agamemnon is memorable for its suggestion of the great heroes of Homeric
legends. The mask was found buried with golden cups, daggers, breastplates,
and other objects in the tombs and shaft graves of Mycenae.

Greek Sculpture

Around 600 B.C., Greece developed

one of the great civilizations in the
history of the world. Sculpture
became one of the most important
forms of expression for the Greeks.

The Greek belief that "man is the

measure of all things" is nowhere
more clearly shown than in Greek
sculpture. The human figure was the
principal subject of all Greek art.
Beginning in the late 7th century B.C.,
sculptors in Greece constantly sought
better ways to represent the human figure.

The Greeks developed a standing figure of a nude male, called the Kouros or
Apollo. The Kouros served to depict gods and heroes. The Kore, or standing
figure of a draped female, was more graceful and was used to portray maidens
and goddesses. The winged female figure, or Nike, became the personification
of victory.

The fact that Greek sculptors concentrated their energies on a limited number
of problems may have helped bring about the rapid changes that occurred in
Greek sculpture between the 7th century and the late 4th century B.C. The
change from abstraction to naturalism, from simple figures to realistic ones,
took place during this period. Later figures have normal proportions and stand
or sit easily in perfectly balanced poses.

The most important function of Greek sculpture was to honor gods and
goddesses. Statues were placed in temples or were carved as part of a temple.
Greek temples were shrines created to preserve the images of the gods. The
people worshiped outdoors.

Greek sculpture changed with Greek civilization. Praxiteles' Hermes is slimmer

and more elegant than the strong, vigorous SpearBearer, by Polykleitos.
Figures by Skopas from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus are harsher and more
dramatic than the quiet, controlled figures by Phidias.

The Greeks were defeated by the Romans, but the Hellenistic style lasted for
centuries. Greek sculpture survived because the Romans were greatly
impressed by Greek art. From the early days of the republic, Romans imported
examples of Greek art, ordered copies of famous Greek works, and
commissioned Greek sculptors to do Roman subjects.

Etruscan and Roman Sculpture

Greek sculpture and

Greek art had been
exported to Italy long
before Romans ruled the
land. By the 7th and 6th
centuries B.C. the
Etruscans were firmly settled in Italy. Hundreds of objects have been and are
still being found in vast Etruscan cemeteries. Some of the sculpture and many
vases are Greek, while others are lively Etruscan translations of Greek forms.
Many small bronze figures of farmers, warriors, or gods show the great talents
of the Etruscans as metalworkers and sculptors.

Rome profited from the double artistic inheritance of Greek and Etruscan
sculpture. The inventiveness of Roman sculptors added to this heritage. The
most important contributions of the Roman sculptors were portraits.

The development of Roman sculpture was the reverse of that of Greek

sculpture. Instead of progressing from fairly simple, abstract forms to more
natural and realistic statues, Roman sculpture, once realistic, became far more
simple and abstract.

Early Christian Sculpture

Early Christian sculpture resembled the

art of Rome. Sarcophagi (burial chests)
found in Italy are all Roman in type,
although they are given a special
meaning by subjects, signs, or symbols
important for Christians.
Sculpture, however, was not a natural form of expression for the early
Christians. This was because one of the
Ten Commandments forbids the making
of graven (carved) images. Many early
Christians interpreted this
commandment, just as the Hebrews
had, to mean that it was wrong to make
any images of the human figure.
Eventually church authorities decided
that art could serve Christianity. It was
only the making of idols (false gods)
that was regarded as a breach of the commandment.

In the 5th century A.D. the western half of the Roman Empire fell to invading
Germanic tribes from northern and central Europe. These peoples soon
became Christians and spread the religion throughout Europe. Unlike the
Romans, the Germanic peoples had no tradition of human representation in
art. Their art consisted mainly of complex patterns and shapes used for
decoration. It influenced Christian art as much as Greco-Roman art did.

There are relatively few examples of sculpture made in the first 1,000 years of
Christianity. Among these rare examples are portable altars, reliquaries
(containers for the remains of Christian saints and martyrs), chalices, and other
objects used in the services of Christian worship. These were shaped with
great care and were often made of precious materials. Sculptors used the
fragile and lovely medium of ivory in many ways. They carved it in relief for
small altars or as covers for the Gospels, the Bible, or prayerbooks. Small,
freestanding figures represented the Madonna and the Christ Child, angels, or
Christian saints.

Romanesque Sculpture

A new and brilliant chapter in Christian art began after the year 1000. For the
next three centuries sculptors, architects, masons, carpenters, and hundreds of
other craftsmen created some of the most impressive Christian churches ever
built.

These artists worked on a bolder and larger scale than had been possible for
hundreds of years. For their ideas they looked to the best examples of great
structures they knew—Roman buildings. The term "Romanesque" suggests the
Roman qualities of the art of the 11th and 12th centuries. Important changes
were made by these later artists. German Romanesque churches differ from
Italian ones, and Spanish from French ones. Ideas of carving, building, and
painting circulated freely, for people often went on pilgrimages to worship at
sacred sites in different countries.

An early 11th century example of Romanesque sculpture shows the way

Roman ideas were translated. The bronze doors of the Cathedral of
Hildesheim have ten panels with scenes from the Bible. The placing, purpose,
and arrangement of these large doors clearly recall the 5th-century doors of
Santa Sabina in Rome. But the details are different. Small figures twist and turn
freely. Their heads and hands are enlarged and stand out from the surface of
the relief

Gothic Sculpture

Sculpture after the 12th century

gradually changed from the clear,
concentrated abstractions of
Romanesque art to a more natural and
lifelike appearance. Human figures
shown in natural proportions were
carved in high relief on church
columns and portals.

As Gothic sculptors became more

skilled, they also gained greater
freedom and independence. Later
Gothic figures are depicted much
more realistically than those made during the Romanesque and earlier Gothic
periods. The faces of the statues have expression, and their garments are
draped in a natural way. Hundreds of carvings in the great Gothic cathedrals
all over Western Europe presented aspects of the Christian faith in terms that
every Christian could understand.

The great era of building drew to a close by the early 14th century. A series of
wars and crises prevented the building of anything more than small chapels
and a few additions to earlier structures. One finds only small statuettes and
objects, used for private devotions, instead of the great programs of
monumental sculpture that in the 13th century had enriched such cathedrals
as those at Amiens, Paris, Rheims, Wells, Burgos, and Strasbourg.

Renaissance Sculpture

Jutting into the Mediterranean Sea,

the Italian peninsula, at the crossroads
of several worlds, had been the heart
of the Roman Empire. Rome was the
center of the western Christian world.
Later, northeastern Italy--especially
Venice--became the gateway to the
Near East and the Orient. Italian artists
never completely accepted the Gothic
styles that dominated art in Western
Europe. The reason is that Italian
artists were surrounded by the
remains of the Classical Age and
exposed to the Eastern influence of Byzantine art. (The article Byzantine Art
and Architecture can be found in this encyclopedia.)

As early as the 13th century the Italians planted the seeds of a new age: the
Renaissance. Although the elements of medieval and Byzantine art
contributed a great deal to the formation of Renaissance sculpture, Italian
artists were interested in reviving the classical approach to art. ("Renaissance"
means "rebirth.")

The most significant change in art that occurred in the Renaissance was the
new emphasis on glorifying the human figure. No longer was sculpture to deal
only with idealized saints and angels; sculpted figures began to look more
lifelike.

The relief sculpture of Nicola Pisano (1220-84) forecast the new age. In the
late 13th century Pisano carved nude male figures on a church pulpit. (The
nude figure had not been used in sculpture since the fall of Rome.) Although
Pisano obviously tried to copy the heroic figures of classical art, he knew little
about human anatomy, and his work was still proportioned like Byzantine and
medieval sculpture.

By the early 15th century the Renaissance was well under way. The sculptor
Donatello created the first freestanding nude since classical times, a bronze
figure of David. Donatello clearly understood the whole anatomy of the figure
so well that he could present the young biblical hero with an ease and
assurance. By the early 16th century the sculptural heritage of another
Florentine, the great painter and sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti, was such
that his version of David is almost superhuman in its force and strength.

Donatello and his contemporaries Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455) and Jacopo

della Quercia (1378?-1438) made themselves the masters of both the
freestanding human figure and sculpture in relief. Jacopo's stone panels at San
Petronio, Bologna, are powerful and emotional. Ghiberti's famous bronze
doors of the Baptistery in Florence show his control of the science of
perspective and his masterful handling of the human figure.

A host of sculptors worked with these men and, in turn, trained younger
sculptors. Their individual talents varied, and these were applied to a number
of different sculptural problems. Christian themes continued to be important,
but in addition, fountains, portraits, tombs, equestrian statues, and subjects
from classical mythology were all created to meet a lively demand. Luca della
Robbia (1400?-82) and others developed a new medium--glazed terra-cotta. It
was a popular and attractive substitute for the more expensive marble.
Michelangelo unquestionably became the dominant figure in 16th-century
sculpture, and he is thought by many people to be the greatest single figure in
the history of art. All his sculpture, from the early, beautifully finished Pietà to
the tragic fragment the Rondanini Pietà, left unfinished at his death, was made
with skill and power. Michelangelo's contemporaries and the sculptors who
lived in later years in Italy and elsewhere developed a more elegant,
decorative style, relying on a smooth, precise finish and complex, elaborate
designs. This style was called mannerism.

Baroque Sculpture

Sculptors in the 17th century

continued to deal with the same wide
variety of sculptural problems as their
Renaissance predecessors, using the
human figure as a form of expression.
They reacted, however, against the
mannerism of late 16th century
sculptors. They worked instead for a
return to the greater strength of
Michelangelo and the energy and
agility of 15th-century sculpture.

Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)

was, like Michelangelo, a gifted artist.
In a long and productive career, he
easily became the dominating figure in
his own country and one of the major artists in Europe during a brilliant,
creative period. Bernini's David reveals his admiration for Michelangelo and his
own originality. It has the largeness and strength of Michelangelo's David but
is a much more active and less tragic figure. Bernini's figures stand in dramatic
poses--as though they were actors on a stage, reaching out to the observer.
As a result, we feel drawn toward them and their grace.

Rococo Sculpture

The basic qualities of 17th-century art

were carried forward into the 18th
century but were transformed for the
taste of a different generation. The
term "rococo" suggests the
preference for gayer, lighter, and
more decorative effects in sculpture
and in all the arts.

Jean Baptiste Pigalle (1714-85) and

Étienne Maurice Falconet (1716-91)
show the same technical dexterity as
Bernini, but their figures are slight and
cheerful. The skill revealed in their
delicate work, with its tiny, sweetly shaped figures and graceful movement,
represents a marked change from the strong, religious intensity of Bernini's
work.

Statuettes and statues of small groups were designed as pleasant and often
witty additions to lovely rooms. The individual talents of the sculptors and
their joint efforts created an ornamental effect. The same brilliance and skill
also created a group of superbly beautiful churches in southern Germany.

Neoclassic and Romantic Sculpture

The pendulum of taste swung in a new

direction in the late 18th century while
Clodion (1738-1814) and other rococo
sculptors were still active. This direction, called neoclassic to describe the
deliberate return to classical subject matter and style, lasted in strength for
nearly a century. The change can be seen in the work of the distinguished
sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon (1741-1828). His statue of George Washington
could be compared to a portrait of a Roman emperor.

The most commanding figure of neoclassical sculpture was the Italian Antonio
Canova (1757-1822). Canova was a favorite of the kings and noblemen of
Europe. His specialty was the monument in which a statesman or other
important figure was dressed in the robes and garlands of classical figures.
Canova frankly imitated antique sculptors. His Perseus and The Pugilists are
exhibited in the Vatican with ancient classical sculpture.

During the 19th century many sculptors rebelled against the neoclassical
tradition. They wanted their works of art to say something, to express an idea
or a feeling. They wanted to copy nature, not the works of other sculptors.
François Rude (1784-1855) was one of the first to react against the coldness of
the neoclassical style.

An intensity of emotion brings to life the work of Antoine Louis Barye (1795-
1875). Jaguar Devouring a Hare is an exciting scene of conflict and violent
struggle.

20th-Century Sculpture

The 20th century was an age of

experimentation with new ideas,
new styles, and new materials.
Studies of the human figure gave
way to new subjects: dreams,
ideas, emotions, and studies of
form and space. Plastic,
chromium, and welded steel
were used, as well as boxes, broken automobile parts, and pieces of old
furniture.

Twentieth-century sculptors owed a great debt to Rodin. His tremendous

output and variety inspired a new generation of sculptors to express new
thoughts in an art form that had been repeating old ideas for 200 years.
Although Rodin's successors tended to move away from both his realism and
his literary subjects, his innovations had an important influence. Aristide
Maillol (1861-1944) rejected Rodin's rough surfaces. The smooth figures of
Maillol's stone and bronze works seem to rest in calm repose.

As artists of the Renaissance had used the rediscovered works of classical

Greece and Rome for inspiration, artists of the 20th century looked to the
simple and powerful forms of the primitive African and Oceanic art. Wilhelm
Lehmbruck (1881-1919), the German sculptor, began under the influence of
Maillol. Later Lehmbruck distorted his figures by making them unnaturally
long in the manner of primitive art. The faces of Women, by Gaston Lachaise
(1882-1935), suggest the sculpture of ancient India. The round, solid, and
massive bodies seem to symbolize the vitality of womanhood.

Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957), a Romanian who worked mostly in Paris,

combined Romanian folk traditions with the simplicity of African wood carving
and Oriental sculpture. Brancusi sought absolute simplicity of form and purity
of meaning. This simplicity and purity is found in such works as New-
Born and Bird in Space.

Pablo Picasso, one of the greatest sculptors as well as perhaps the greatest
painter of the 20th century, saw another quality in primitive art. In the
simplicity of forms he saw that objects of nature are not necessarily solid
masses but are made up of circles, squares, triangles, and cubes. This led to a
style called cubism, which was developed by Picasso and Georges Braque.
Picasso's Head of a Woman (1909) is one of the first cubist sculptures. In it
Picasso divided the surface of a head into many different planes.

As World War I began, the atmosphere in Europe was anxious. Some artists
reflected the tensions of the uneasy times in a new form of art called dada--
meaningless, representing nothing, and opposed to all other art. "Found
objects" and household items, such as the sinks and hangers of Marcel
Duchamp (1887-1968), were exhibited as sculpture. At the same time, a group
of Italian artists called futurists were excited by the pace of the machine age.
Their sculpture showed objects in motion. Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916) was
a leading futurist.

After World War I, the movement called surrealism developed. Many artists
who had been cubists or dadaists became surrealists. The work of Jean Arp
(1887-1966), with its fanciful forms that seem to float in space, belongs to this
movement.

During the 1920's and 1930's, the constructivists built rather than carved or
modeled their sculptures. The beauty of pure form and space excited them.
The Russian brothers Naum Gabo (1890-1977) and Antoine Pevsner (1886-
1962) used blades of metal and plastic to achieve an effect of lightness and
transparency. Julio Gonzalez (1876-1942) introduced the use of forged iron.
The tremendous influence of his technique is seen particularly in the work of
Picasso, a student of Gonzalez in the technique of welding.

As modern sculpture developed, it became more and more individualistic,

although it still showed its debt to the past. The long, thin figures of Alberto
Giacometti (1901-66) seem to wander alone in a world without boundaries.
Alexander Calder (1898-1976) created moving sculptures called mobiles and
stationary ones called stabiles. The wire and metal-strip constructions made by
Richard Lippold (1915-2002) evoke a feeling of delicate lightness. The steel
geometric sculptures of David Smith (1906-65) have a sense of balance and
order that pleases the eye.

In the 1960's and 1970's, still more new styles developed. Some artists chose
to portray subjects from the everyday world around them—the Brillo boxes
and soup cans of Andy Warhol (1928-87), the surrealist boxes of Joseph
Cornell (1903-72), the plaster hamburgers and "soft typewriters" of Claes
Oldenburg (1929-). Others combined painting, sculpture, and "found objects,"
as in the work of Marisol Escobar (1930-). George Segal (1924-2000) used
plaster casts of human figures in everyday poses. Louise Nevelson (1900-88)
combined small units of metal and wood (often table and chair legs, bed
posts) into huge structures that she called "environments." Sculptors like
Barnett Newman (1905-70) and Tony Smith (1912-80) created massive pieces
that are often shown outdoors. Some sculpture not only moves but is run by
computer.

One dominant figure in the world of sculpture, Henry Moore (1898-1986),

used traditional materials (wood, bronze, and stone) in exploring traditional
problems of sculpture such as the seated figure and the reclining figure. He
believed that the space shapes created by a sculpture are as important to its
design as the solid forms, and he often put holes or openings in his sculptures.
Moore also contrasted light and dark by curving his bronze figures inward and
outward.

Form and space, reality, emotion, and perfect beauty are the interests of artists
in all centuries. The 20th century only gave them new shape.

WHAT IS SCULPTURE?
"Sculpture is the only branch of the visual arts that is specifically
concerned with expressive three-dimension form."

 Traditionally, there are two main methods: carving material such as

wood or stone, and modeling forms by adding pieces of material such
as clay. Modern artists have explored new materials and
techniques. Sculpture can concurrently be referenced as the most
traditional and the most innovative of the visual arts.  It is among the
oldest and most contested forms of representation. In its complexity,
sculpture is both noun and verb, both the means and the end to
production. It is according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "originally,
the process or art of carving or engraving a hard material so as to
produce designs, or figures in relief, in itaglio, or in the round.  In
modern use, that branch of fine art which is concerned with the
production of figures in the round or in the relief, either by carving, by
fashioning some plastic substance, or by making a mold for casting in
metal."  Most basically, sculpture can be defined as an artistic medium in
 so much as it acts as a mode of communication through which the artist
emotionally and intellectually expresses himself to the audience. 
 Sculpture is an artistic form in which hard or plastic materials are
worked into three-dimensional art objects. The designs may be
embodied in freestanding objects, in reliefs on surfaces, or
in environments ranging from tableaux to contexts that envelop the
spectator. An enormous variety of media may be used, including clay,
wax, stone, metal, fabric, glass, wood, plaster, rubber, and random
“found” objects. Materials may be carved, modeled, molded, cast,
wrought, welded, sewn, assembled, or otherwise shaped and combined.

WHAT DOES “THREE-DIMENSIONAL” MEAN?

The term refers to the three dimensions of space—length, breadth, and depth.
It is a useful way of distinguishing between art such as painting, drawing, and
prints, which are two-dimensional (flat), and sculpture, which is three-
dimensional.

IS SCULPTURE ALWAYS VIEWED FROM ALL SIDES?

Not all sculptures are carved in the round. Relief sculptures are carved on one
side only, and stand out from a background surface. Relief panels have been
used since ancient times, often to decorate important buildings, such as
temples and churches.

HOW IS SCULPTURE MADE?

Techniques depend upon the materials used. When carving stone or wood,
the sculptor chips away with a hammer and chisel. When sculpting clay, artists
may use their hands. Clay models may be cast in bronze to create a strong,
permanent sculpture. Other techniques include welding metal, molding plastic
or concrete, and using fiberglass.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STATUE & SCULPTURE?

Generally speaking a statue is a three dimensional representation of a human,

animal or in some cases an imaginary figure such a deity or mythological
creature. The term statue tends to imply a fairly representational (realistic)
approach although some degree of sylisation is not uncommon, especialy in
termsof pose and composition but something highly abstract is less likely to
be described as a statue.

Often statures will be close to life size and usually represent the whole figure,
there is also a class of ‘equestrian statuary’ where the subject is mounted on a
horse. Smaller statues are often described as ‘statuettes’. The terms also tends
to imply that the subject is a specific, recognisable figure, either a real person
or an embodiment of some attribute, usually presented in a positive light,
often including a certain amount of symbolism and very often intended for
display in a public place.

There are also a few related forms such as portrait busts which are the head
and neck of the subjects and effigies which are specifically funerary sculptures,
often forming the ‘lid’ of a tomb in a lying position. In terms of the difference
statuary is essentially one type of sculpture. Not all sculptures are figurative
and not all figurative sculpture would necessarily be considered statues.

A sculpture is a unique piece. A statue may be the same, or may be one of

many identical works produced from a mold. As to size, a statue is usually life
size, but does not have to be. A sculpture has no particular dimension.

ELEMENTS OF SCULPTURE DESIGN

The two most important elements of sculptural design are mass and space, of
course separable only in thought. All sculpture was made of a material
substance that has mass and exists in three-dimensional space. The mass of
sculpture is thus the solid, material, space-occupying bulk that is contained
within its surfaces.

Space enters into the design of sculpture in three main ways:

01. The material components of the sculpture extend into or move through
space;
02. They may enclose or enfold space, thus creating hollows and voids within
the sculpture;
03. They may relate one to another across space. Volume, surface, light and
shade, and color are supporting elements of sculpture.

The amount of importance attached to either mass or space in the design of

sculpture varies considerably. In Egyptian sculpture and in most of the
sculpture of the 20th-century artist Constantin Brancusi, For example, mass is
paramount, and most of the sculptor’s thought was devoted to shaping a
lump of solid material. In 20th-century works by Antoine Pevsner or Naum
Gabo, on the other hand, mass is reduced to a minimum. Sometimes
consisting only of transparent sheets of plastic or thin metal rods. The solid
form of the components themselves is of little importance. Their main function
is to create movement through space and to enclose space. In works by such
20th-century sculptors as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, the elements
of space and mass are treated as more or less equal partners.

It is not possible to see the whole of a fully three-dimensional form at once.

The observer can only see the whole of it if he turns it around or goes around
it himself. For this reason it is sometimes mistakenly assumed that sculpture
must be designed primarily to present a series of satisfactory projective views.
And that this multiplicity of views constitutes the main difference between
sculpture and the pictorial arts, which present only one view of their subject.
Such an attitude toward sculpture ignores the fact that it is possible to
apprehend solid forms as volumes, to conceive an idea of them in the round
from any one aspect. A great deal of sculpture is designed to be apprehended
primarily as volume.

VOLUME ELEMENT

A single volume is the fundamental unit of three-dimensional solid form that can be
conceived in the round. Some sculptures consist of only one volume, others are
configurations of a number of volumes. The human figure is often treated by sculptors
as a configuration of volumes, each of which corresponds to a major part of the body,
such as the head, neck, thorax, and thigh.

Holes and cavities in sculpture, which are as carefully shaped as the solid
forms and are of equal importance to the overall design, are sometimes
referred to as negative volumes.
SURFACE ELEMENT

The surfaces of sculpture are in fact all that one actually sees. It is from their
inflections that one makes inferences about the internal structure of the sculpture. A
surface has, so to speak, two aspects:

01. It contains and defines the internal structure of the masses of the
sculpture.
02. It is the part of the sculpture that enters into relations with external space.

The expressive character of different kinds of surfaces is of the utmost

importance in sculpture. Double-curved convex surfaces suggest fullness,
containment, enclosure, the outward pressure of internal forces. In the
aesthetics of Indian sculpture such surfaces have a special metaphysical
significance representing the encroachment of space into the mass of the
sculpture. Concave surfaces suggest the action of external forces and are often
indicative of collapse or erosion. Flat surfaces tend to convey a feeling of
material hardness and rigidity. They are unbending or unyielding, unaffected
by either internal or external pressures. Surfaces that is convex in one
curvature and concave in the other. It can suggest the operation of internal
pressures and at the same time receptivity to the influence of external forces.
They are associated with growth, with expansion into space. 

LIGHT EFFECTS ELEMENT

Unlike the painter, who creates light effects within the work, the sculptor manipulates
actual light on the work. The distribution of light and shade over the forms of his
work depends upon the direction and intensity of light from external sources.
Nevertheless, to some extent he can determine the kinds of effect this external light
will have. If he knows where the work is to be sited, he can adapt it to the kind of light
it is likely to receive. The brilliant overhead sunlight of Egypt and India demands a
different treatment from the dim interior light of a northern medieval cathedral.

Then again, it is possible to create effects of light and shade, or chiaroscuro,

by cutting or modeling deep, shadow-catching hollows and prominent,
highlighted ridges. Many late Gothic sculptors used light and shade as a
powerful expressive feature of their work. They are aiming at a mysterious
obscurity, with forms broken by shadow emerging from a dark background.
The sculptors from Greek, Indian, and most Italian Renaissance shaped the
forms of their work. And making them to receive light in a way that makes the
whole work radiantly clear.

COLOUR ELEMENT

The colouring of sculpture may be either natural or applied. In the recent past,
sculptors became more aware than ever before of the inherent beauty of sculptural
materials. Under the slogan of “truth to materials” many of them worked their
materials in ways that exploited their natural properties, including colour and texture.
More recently, however, there has been a growing tendency to use bright artificial
colouring as an important element in the design of sculpture.

In the ancient world and during the Middle Ages almost all sculpture was
artificially coloured, usually in a bold and decorative rather than a naturalistic
manner. The sculptured portal of a cathedral, for example, would be coloured
and gilded with all the brilliance of a contemporary illuminated manuscript.
Combinations of differently coloured materials, such as the ivory and gold of
some Greek sculpture, were not unknown before the 17th century; but the
early Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini greatly extended the practice by
combining variously coloured marbles with white marble and gilt bronze.

PRINCIPLES OF SCULPTURE DESIGN

It is doubtful whether any principles of sculpture design are universal in the art
of sculpture as the principles of sculpture that govern the organization of the
elements of sculpture into expressive compositions differ from style to style. In
fact, distinctions made among the major styles of sculpture are largely based
on recognition of differences in the principles of design that underlie them.
Thus, the art historian Erwin Panofsky was attempting to define a difference of
principle in the design of Romanesque and Gothic sculpture. He stated that
the forms of Romanesque were conceived as projections from a plane outside
themselves.  Those of Gothic were conceived as being centred on an axis
within themselves. The “principle of axiality” was considered by Panofsky to be
“the essential principle of classical statuary,” which Gothic had rediscovered.
The principles of sculptural design govern the approaches of sculptors to such
fundamental matters as orientation, proportion, scale, articulation, and
balance.

Axis and Planes

For conceiving and describing the orientation of the forms of sculpture in

relation to each other, to a spectator, and to their surroundings, some kind of
spatial scheme of reference is required. This is provided by a system of axes
and planes of reference.

An axis is an imaginary centre line through a symmetrical or near symmetrical

volume or group of volumes that suggests the gravitational pivot of the mass.
Thus, all the main components of the human body have axes of their own.
While an upright figure has a single vertical axis running through its entire
length. Volumes may rotate or tilt on their axes.

Planes of reference are imaginary planes to which the movements, positions,

and directions of volumes, axes, and surfaces may be referred. The principal
planes of reference are the frontal, the horizontal, and the two profile planes.

The principles of sculpture that govern the characteristic poses and spatial
compositions of upright figures in different styles of sculpture are formulated
with reference to axes and the four cardinal planes. For example:
The principle of axiality already referred to.
The principle of frontality, which governs the design of Archaic sculpture.
The characteristic contrapposto (pose in which parts of the body, such as
upper and lower, tilt or even twist in opposite directions) of Michelangelo’s
figures.
And in standing Greek sculpture of the Classical period the frequently used
balanced “chiastic” pose. Stance in which the body weight is taken principally
on one leg. Thereby creating a contrast of tension and relaxation between the
opposite sides of a figure.

Linear Dimensions, Areas, Volumes And Masses

Proportional relations exist among linear dimensions, areas, and volumes and
masses. All three types of proportion coexist and interact in sculpture,
contributing to its expressiveness and beauty. Attitudes toward proportion
differ considerably among sculptors. Some sculptors, both abstract and
figurative, use mathematical systems of proportion. For example, the
refinement and idealization of natural human proportions was a major
preoccupation of Greek sculptors. Indian sculptors employed iconometric
canons, or systems of carefully related proportions. These determined the
proportions of all significant dimensions of the human figure. African and
other tribal sculptors base the proportions of their figures on the subjective
importance of the parts of the body. Unnatural proportions may be used for
expressive purposes or to accommodate a sculpture to its surroundings. The
elongation of the figures on the Portail Royal (“Royal Portal”) of Chartres
cathedral does both: it enhances their otherworldliness and also integrates
them with the columnar architecture.

Proportions of Sculpture

Sometimes it is necessary to adapt the proportions of sculpture to suit its

position in relation to a viewer. A figure sited high on a building. For example,
is usually made larger in its upper parts in order to counteract the effects of
foreshortening. This should be allowed for when a sculpture intended for such
a position is exhibited on eye level in a museum.

The Scale of Sculpture

The scale of sculpture must sometimes be considered in relation to the scale

of its surroundings. When it is one element in a larger complex, such as the
facade of a building, it must be in scale with the rest. Another important
consideration that sculptors must take into account when designing outdoor
sculpture is the tendency of sculpture in the open air—particularly when
viewed against the sky—to appear less massive than it does in a studio.
Because one tends to relate the scale of sculpture to one’s own human
physical dimensions, the emotional impact of a colossal figure and a small
figurine are quite different.

Hierarchic Scale
In ancient and medieval sculpture the relative scale of the figures in a
composition is often determined by their importance; e.g., slaves are much
smaller than kings or nobles. This is sometimes known as hierarchic scale.

Different Styles Merge together

The joining of one form to another may be accomplished in a variety of ways.

In much of the work of the 19th-century French sculptor Auguste Rodin, there
are no clear boundaries, and one form is merged with another in an
impressionistic manner to create a continuously flowing surface. In works by
the Greek sculptor Praxiteles, the forms are softly and subtly blended by
means of smooth, blurred transitions. The volumes of Indian sculpture and the
surface anatomy of male figures in the style of the Greek sculptor Polyclitus
are sharply defined and clearly articulated. One of the main distinctions
between the work of Italian and northern Renaissance sculptors lies in the
Italians’ preference for compositions made up of clearly articulated, distinct
units of form and the tendency of the northern Europeans to subordinate the
individual parts to the allover flow of the composition.

The balance principles of sculpture

The balance, or equilibrium, of freestanding sculpture has three aspects. First,

the sculpture must have actual physical stability. This can be achieved by
natural balance—that is, by making the sculpture stable enough in itself to
stand firmly—which is easy enough to do with a four-legged animal or a
reclining figure but not with a standing figure or a tall, thin sculpture, which
must be secured to a base. The second aspect of balance is compositional. The
interaction of forces and the distribution of weight within a composition may
produce a state of either dynamic or static equilibrium. The third aspect of
balance applies only to sculpture that represents a living figure. A live human
figure balances on two feet by making constant movements and muscular
adjustments. Such an effect can be conveyed in sculpture by subtle
displacements of form and suggestions of tension and relaxation.

The Types of Sculpture

Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. It is one of the plastic
arts. Durable sculptural processes originally used carving (the removal of material) and
modelling (the addition of material, as clay), in stone, metal, ceramics, wood and other materials
but, since Modernism, there has been an almost complete freedom of materials and process. A
wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled by welding or
modelling, or molded or cast. Sculpture in stone survives far better than works of art in
perishable materials, and often represents the majority of the surviving works (other than pottery)
from ancient cultures, though conversely traditions of sculpture in wood may have vanished
almost entirely. However, most ancient sculpture was brightly painted, and this has been lost.

Sculpture has been central in religious devotion in many cultures, and until recent centuries large
sculptures, too expensive for private individuals to create, were usually an expression of religion
or politics. Those cultures whose sculptures have survived in quantities include the cultures of
the ancient Mediterranean, India and China, as well as many in Central and South America and
Africa.

Sculpture can be divided into two classes: relief sculpture and sculpture in the round. There are
three methods for making sculpture: modeling, carving, and assembly.

The Three Basic Sculpture Processes Sculpture is the creation of three-dimensional forms. A
form is an object defined by contour, height, depth, and width. Sculpture is created through three
basic processes: carving, modeling, or assembly.
Carving: The sculptor removes unwanted material to create the form. This is also called
subtractive sculpture. Generally, materials such as a block of wood, stone, and other hard
materials are used. Can be thought of as the opposite of modeling because it involves removing
rather than adding material. With knife or chisel, the sculptor carves from a block of wood or
stone until the form is made.

Modeling: The sculptor creates a form by building it up from an amorphous lump of plastic
material. This is also called additive sculpture. Clay, paper machê, and other pliable materials are
modeled into a sculpture. Modeling with clay is generally the first process for creating a cast
metal sculpture.

Assembly (or construction): The sculptor joins prefabricated elements as in welded metal
constructions. This is also additive sculpture. Materials such as steel, wood, and found materials
are glued, welded, or connected in some other fashion to create a sculpture.

Other types of sculpture are.

Relief sculpture is sculpture in which images are set against a flat background. A coin is a good
example of relief sculpture: the inscription, the date, and the figure--sometimes a portrait of a
statesman—are slightly raised above a flat surface when the image is only slightly raised, as with
the coin, the sculpture is called low relief or bas-relief. The ancient Egyptians sometimes carved
figures into a flat surface. This type of carving is known as sunken relief. Statues that are almost
three-dimensional but still are attached to backgrounds are regarded as high relief.

Sculpture in the round is freestanding, attached to no background. Most statues and portrait
busts are carved in the round.

Joining, or constructing, was not widely practiced until the 20th century. In this method the
artist uses pieces of wood, metal, or plastic and joins them together into a construction. The airy,
abstract kinds of forms that are popular in modern times lend themselves to the joining system.

How Sculpture Works

We think of the sculptor as a creative, sensitive, and original thinker. Seldom, however, do we
think of the physical demands that the art of sculpture makes on the artist. A sculptor's work can
be backbreaking. Marble must be moved and cut. Wood must be carved and sandpapered. Clay
must be pounded and kept in condition with day-to-day care.

The sculptor must have a great deal of technical knowledge. He or she must know a good piece
of stone from a bad one and just how much force that stone can take before it cracks. The
sculptor must judge the quality of woods and learn how much water different kinds of clays need
to stay workable. For casting models, the sculptor must know the chemistry of metals and their
melting points. And the modern sculptor is frequently a competent welder, riveter, and machinist
as well as an artist.
Materials

Before beginning to work, the sculptor must decide what material to use. Materials range from
something as rare and costly as ivory, which comes from elephants' tusks, to common clay. Good
clay is highly prized, but almost anyone can afford it, since it is found in many places all over the
world.

The sculptor must decide between a material that is permanent and one that must be made
permanent. Each kind has its advantages and disadvantages. A stone like marble is, of course,
very hard. Carving must be done with great strength and at the same time with great delicacy.
Mistakes are difficult to repair, and too much force can cause breakage. But when a marble
statue is carved and polished, the sculptor's work is done. Clay, in contrast, is very soft. The
artist can experiment a great deal, adding pieces and remodeling sections. If a mistake is made,
the error can be removed quickly. However, clay must be kept workable. Every day the
unfinished work must be covered with damp rags, and from time to time the unused clay in the
bin must be moistened with water and pounded. Moreover, when the modeling is finished, the
statue is by no means ready for exhibition, for clay does not last long. Therefore, the statue must
be converted to another kind of material. A number of systems may be used, each requiring
additional work. These systems--pointing, firing, and casting--will be described later.

Perhaps because they are permanent, stone and metal have always been important materials for
the sculptor. Other materials that have been used include wood, ivory, jade, bone, glass, and
plaster. For sculpture that is to be converted to another material, clay is by far the most
frequently used substance, but various kinds of wax have also been employed.

In modern times the sculptor has turned to new materials such as one of the plastics, fiberglass,
stainless steel, and aluminum.

Tools

Sculpting tools are an extension of the artist's hands. Some tools let a sculptor work a soft
substance easily and precisely. Other tools allow the use of materials otherwise too hard to
handle.

Loops of wire held in wooden handles can drag off large sections from a mass of clay more
quickly and neatly than can a person's hands. Sticks or blades of wood, ivory, or light, flexible
metals can give clean edges and draw fine lines across the surface of wax, clay, or soft metal.
Hardwood and all forms of stone demand different kinds of tools. Hammers, mallets, chisels, and
drills are needed for the process of carving. Today sculptors often use welding torches and
soldering irons to join metal together for sculpture. Special machines that join or separate
plastics with heat and pressure may also be used.

Pointing, Firing, and Casting

Many sculptors begin working from their sketches, while others work directly with their
materials. Whatever the approach, the sculptor's aim is to produce a lasting work of art.
Pointing is not used very much today, but to sculptors in the past it was a dependable system for
converting clay or wax sculpture into stone. First, the sculptor made a clay model of a statue. The
sculptor then placed points, or marks, on the model, measuring the distances between the points.
Using hundreds and sometimes thousands of points as guides, the exact proportions of the model
could be transferred to the stone.

Firing is the only system that converts clay sculpture itself into a durable object. Not all clay
sculpture is suitable for firing, for the system requires the object to be hollow and free from
impurities and air bubbles. Therefore, as a rule, only small statues are fired. After the sculpture is
completed, it must be left uncovered while the moisture in the clay evaporates. Then it is placed
in a kiln, a high-temperature oven, and fired (baked) until very hard.

Casting is the most common system of converting a clay or wax sculpture into another material.
There are many systems of casting, most of which are used in foundries. Basically, casting
involves making a mold of the clay or wax model. This mold may be made of plaster, rubber,
clay, or any of several other substances that are both workable and tough. If the sculpture is clay,
the mold must be made in several parts, so that it can be removed from the model and then
reassembled. If the figure is made of wax, the mold may be of one piece; for the mold can be
heated, causing the wax to melt and run out. Hot liquid metal--usually bronze--is poured into the
mold. When the metal has hardened, the mold is broken away and the sculpture is cleaned and
finished. Casting Sculptures that are cast are made from a material that is melted down—usually
a metal—that is then poured into a mold. The mold is allowed to cool, thereby hardening the
metal, usually bronze. Casting is an additive process.

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
Long before the magnificent structures of ancient Greece and Rome, humans
were designing and constructing. The period known as the Classical Era grew
from ideas and construction techniques that evolved centuries and eons apart
in distant locations.

This review illustrates how each new movement builds on the one before.
Although our timeline lists dates related mostly to American architecture,
historic periods do not start and stop at precise points on a map or a calendar.
Periods and styles flow together, sometimes merging contradictory ideas,
sometimes inventing new approaches, and often re-awakening and re-
inventing older movements. Dates are always approximate — architecture is a
fluid art.

11,600 B.C. to 3,500 B.C. — Prehistoric Times

 Archaeologists "dig"
prehistory. Göbekli Tepe in
present day Turkey is a good
example of archaeological
architecture. Before recorded
history, humans constructed
earthen mounds, stone circles,
megaliths, and structures that
often puzzle modern-day
archaeologists. Prehistoric architecture includes monumental structures such
as Stonehenge, cliff dwellings in the Americas, and thatch and mud structures
lost to time. The dawn of architecture is found in these structures.

Prehistoric builders moved earth and stone into geometric forms, creating our
earliest human-made formations. We don't know why primitive people began
building geometric structures. Archaeologists can only guess that prehistoric
people looked to the heavens to imitate the sun and the moon, using that
circular shape in their creations of earth mounds and monolithic henges.

Why does the circle dominate man's earliest architecture? It is the shape of the
sun and the moon, the first shape humans realized to be significant to their
lives. The duo of architecture and geometry goes way back in time and may be
the source of what humans find "beautiful" even today.

3,050 B.C. to 900 B.C. — Ancient Egypt

In ancient Egypt, powerful rulers

constructed monumental
pyramids, temples, and shrines.
Far from primitive, enormous
structures such as the Pyramids
of Giza were feats of engineering
capable of reaching great heights. Scholars have delineated the periods of
history in ancient Egypt.

Wood was not widely available in the arid Egyptian landscape. Houses in
ancient Egypt were made with blocks of sun-baked mud. Flooding of the Nile
River and the ravages of time destroyed most of these ancient homes. Much
of what we know about ancient Egypt is based on great temples and tombs,
which were made with granite and limestone and decorated with
hieroglyphics, carvings, and brightly colored frescoes. The ancient Egyptians
didn't use mortar, so the stones were carefully cut to fit together.

The pyramid form was a marvel of engineering that allowed ancient Egyptians
to build enormous structures. The development of the pyramid form allowed
Egyptians to build enormous tombs for their kings. The sloping walls could
reach great heights because their weight was supported by the wide pyramid
base. An innovative Egyptian named Imhotep is said to have designed one of
the earliest of the massive stone monuments, the Step Pyramid of Djoser
(2,667 B.C. to 2,648 B.C.).

Builders in ancient Egypt didn't use load-bearing arches. Instead, columns

were placed close together to support the heavy stone entablature above.
Brightly painted and elaborately carved, the columns often mimicked palms,
papyrus plants, and other plant forms. Over the centuries, at least thirty
distinct column styles evolved. As the Roman Empire occupied these lands,
both Persian and Egyptian columns have influenced Western architecture.

Archaeological discoveries in Egypt reawakened an interest in the ancient

temples and monuments. Egyptian Revival architecture became fashionable
during the 1800s. In the early 1900s, the discovery of King Tut's tomb stirred a
fascination for Egyptian artifacts and the rise of Art Deco architecture.

850 B.C. to A.D. 476 — Classical

Classical architecture refers to the style and design of buildings in ancient
Greece and ancient Rome. Classical architecture shaped our approach to
building in Western colonies around the world.
From the rise of ancient Greece until the fall of the Roman empire, great
buildings were constructed according to precise rules. The Roman architect
Marcus Vitruvius, who lived during first century B.C., believed that builders
should use mathematical principles when constructing temples. "For without
symmetry and proportion no temple can have a regular plan," Vitruvius wrote
in his famous treatise De Architectura, or Ten Books on Architecture.

In his writings, Vitruvius introduced the Classical orders, which defined column

styles and entablature designs used in Classical architecture. The earliest
Classical orders were Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.

Although we combine this architectural era and call it "Classical," historians

have described these three Classical periods:

700 to 323 B.C. — Greek. The Doric column was first developed in Greece
and it was used for great temples, including the famous Parthenon in Athens.
Simple Ionic columns were used for smaller temples and building interiors.

323 to 146 B.C. — Hellenistic. When Greece was at the height of its power in
Europe and Asia, the empire built elaborate temples and secular buildings with
Ionic and Corinthian columns. The Hellenistic period ended with conquests by
the Roman Empire.

44 B.C. to A.D. 476 — Roman. The Romans borrowed heavily from the earlier
Greek and Hellenistic styles, but their buildings were more highly ornamented.
They used Corinthian and composite style columns along with decorative
brackets. The invention of concrete allowed the Romans to build arches,
vaults, and domes. Famous examples of Roman architecture include the
Roman Colosseum and the Pantheon in Rome.

527 to 565 — Byzantine

After Constantine moved the capital of the Roman empire to Byzantium (now
called Istanbul in Turkey) in A.D. 330, Roman architecture evolved into a
graceful, classically-inspired style that used brick instead of stone, domed
roofs, elaborate mosaics, and classical forms. Emperor Justinian (527 to 565)
led the way.
Eastern and Western traditions combined in the sacred buildings of the
Byzantine period. Buildings were designed with a central dome that eventually
rose to new heights by using engineering practices refined in the Middle East.
This era of architectural history was transitional and transformational.

800 to 1200 — Romanesque

As Rome spread across Europe, heavier, stocky Romanesque architecture with
rounded arches emerged. Churches and castles of the early medieval period
were constructed with thick walls and heavy piers.

Even as the Roman Empire faded, Roman ideas reached far across Europe.
Built between 1070 and 1120, the Basilica of St. Sernin in Toulouse, France is a
good example of this transitional architecture, with a Byzantine-domed apse
and an added Gothic-like steeple. The floor plan is that of the Latin cross,
Gothic-like again, with a high alter and tower at the cross intersection.
Constructed of stone and brick, St. Sernin is on the pilgrimage route to
Santiago de Compostela.

1100 to 1450 — Gothic

Early in the 12th century, new ways of building meant that cathedrals and
other large buildings could soar to new heights. Gothic architecture became
characterized by the elements that supported taller, more graceful architecture
— innovations such as pointed arch, flying buttresses, and ribbed vaulting. In
addition, elaborate stained glass could take the place of walls that no longer
were used to support high ceilings. Gargoyles and other sculpting enabled
practical and decorative functions.

Gothic architecture began mainly in France where builders began to adapt the
earlier Romanesque style. Builders were also influenced by the pointed arches
and elaborate stonework of Moorish architecture in Spain. One of the earliest
Gothic buildings was the ambulatory of the abbey of St. Denis in France, built
between 1140 and 1144.
Originally, Gothic architecture was known as the French Style. During the
Renaissance, after the French Style had fallen out of fashion, artisans mocked
it. They coined the word Gothic to suggest that French Style buildings were
the crude work of German (Goth) barbarians. Although the label wasn't
accurate, the name Gothic remained.

While builders were creating the great Gothic cathedrals of Europe, painters
and sculptors in northern Italy were breaking away from rigid medieval styles
and laying the foundation for the Renaissance. Art historians call the period
between 1200 to 1400 the Early Renaissance or the Proto-Renaissance of art
history.

Fascination for medieval Gothic architecture was reawakened in the 19th and
20th centuries. Architects in Europe and the United States designed great
buildings and private homes that imitated the cathedrals of medieval Europe.
If a building looks Gothic and has Gothic elements and characteristics, but it
was built in the 1800s or later, its style is Gothic Revival.

1400 to 1600 — Renaissance

A return to Classical ideas ushered an "age of awakening" in Italy, France, and
England. During the Renaissance era architects and builders were inspired by
the carefully proportioned buildings of ancient Greece and Rome. Italian
Renaissance master Andrea Palladio helped awaken a passion for classical
architecture when he designed beautiful, highly symmetrical villas such as Villa
Rotonda near Venice, Italy.

More than 1,500 years after the Roman architect Vitruvius wrote his important
book, the Renaissance architect Giacomo da Vignola outlined Vitruvius's ideas.
Published in 1563, Vignola's The Five Orders of Architecture became a guide
for builders throughout western Europe. In 1570 Andrea Palladio used the new
technology of movable type to publish I Quattro Libri dell' Architettura, or The
Four Books of Architecture. In this book, Palladio showed how Classical rules
could be used not just for grand temples but also for private villas.
1600 to 1830 — Baroque

Early in the 1600s, an elaborate new architectural style lavished buildings.

What became known as Baroque was characterized by complex shapes,
extravagant ornaments, opulent paintings, and bold contrasts.

Architecture was only one expression of the Baroque style. In music, famous
names included Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi. In the art world, Caravaggio,
Bernini, Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Velázquez are remembered.
Famous inventors and scientists of the day include Blaise Pascal and Isaac
Newton.

1650 to 1790 — Rococo

During the last phase of the Baroque period, builders constructed graceful
white buildings with sweeping curves. Rococo art and architecture is
characterized by elegant decorative designs with scrolls, vines, shell-shapes,
and delicate geometric patterns.

Rococo architects applied Baroque ideas with a lighter, more graceful touch. In
fact, some historians suggest that Rococo is simply a later phase of the
Baroque period. Architects of this period include the great Bavarian stucco
masters like Dominikus Zimmermann, whose 1750 Pilgrimage Church of Wies
is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

1730 to 1925 — Neoclassicism

By the 1700s, European architects were turning away from elaborate Baroque
and Rococo styles in favor of restrained Neoclassical approaches. Orderly,
symmetrical Neoclassical architecture reflected the intellectual awakening
among the middle and upper classes in Europe during the period historians
often call the Enlightenment. Ornate Baroque and Rococo styles fell out of
favor as architects for a growing middle class reacted to and rejected the
opulence of the ruling class. French and American revolutions returned design
to Classical ideals — including equality and democracy — emblematic of the
civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. A keen interest in ideas of
Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio inspired a return of Classical shapes in
Europe, Great Britain, and the United States. These buildings were
proportioned according to the classical orders with details borrowed from
ancient Greece and Rome.

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the newly-formed United States drew upon
Classical ideals to construct grand government buildings and an array of
smaller, private homes.

1890 to 1914 — Art Nouveau

Known as the New Style in France, Art Nouveau was first expressed in fabrics

and graphic design. The style spread to architecture and furniture in the 1890s
as a revolt against industrialization turned people's attention to the natural
forms and personal craftsmanship of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Art
Nouveau buildings often have asymmetrical shapes, arches, and decorative
Japanese-like surfaces with curved, plant-like designs and mosaics. The period
is often confused with Art Deco, which has an entirely different visual look and
philosophical origin.

Note that the name Art Nouveau is French, but the philosophy — to some
extent spread by the ideas of William Morris and the writings of John
Ruskin — gave rise to similar movements throughout Europe. In Germany it
was called Jugendstil; in Austria it was Sezessionsstil; in Spain it
was Modernismo, which predicts or event begins the modern era. The works of
Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) are said to be influenced by Art
Nouveau or Modernismo, and Gaudi is often called one of the first modernist
architects.
1895 to 1925 — Beaux Arts

Also known as Beaux Arts Classicism, Academic Classicism, or Classical Revival,

Beaux Arts architecture is characterized by order, symmetry, formal design,
grandiosity, and elaborate ornamentation. Combining classical Greek and
Roman architecture with Renaissance ideas, Beaux Arts architecture was a
favored style for grand public buildings and opulent mansions.

1925 to 1937 — Art Deco

With their sleek forms and ziggurat designs, Art Deco architecture embraced
both the machine age and ancient times. Zigzag patterns and vertical lines
create dramatic effect on jazz-age, Art Deco buildings. Interestingly, many Art
Deco motifs were inspired by the architecture of ancient Egypt.

The Art Deco style evolved from many sources. The austere shapes of the
modernist Bauhaus School and streamlined styling of modern technology
combined with patterns and icons taken from the Far East, classical Greece
and Rome, Africa, ancient Egypt and the Middle East, India, and Mayan and
Aztec cultures.

Art Deco buildings have many of these features: cubic forms; ziggurat,
terraced pyramid shapes with each story smaller than the one below it;
complex groupings of rectangles or trapezoids; bands of color; zigzag designs
like lightening bolts; strong sense of line; and the illusion of pillars.

By the 1930s, Art Deco evolved into a more simplified style known as
Streamlined Moderne, or Art Moderne. The emphasis was on sleek, curving
forms and long horizontal lines. These buildings did not feature zigzag or
colorful designs found on earlier Art Deco architecture.

Some of the most famous art deco buildings have become tourist destinations
in New York City — the Empire State Building and Radio City Music Hall may
be the most famous. The 1930 Chrysler Building in New York City was one of
the first buildings composed of stainless steel over a large exposed surface.
The architect, William Van Alen, drew inspiration from machine technology for
the ornamental details on the Chrysler Building: There are eagle hood
ornaments, hubcaps, and abstract images of cars.

1900 to Present — Modernist Styles

The 20th and 21st centuries have seen dramatic changes and astonishing
diversity. Modernist styles have come and gone — and continue to evolve.
Modern-day trends include Art Moderne and the Bauhaus school coined by
Walter Gropius, Deconstructivism, Formalism, Brutalism, and Structuralism.

Modernism is not just another style — it presents a new way of thinking.

Modernist architecture emphasizes function. It attempts to provide for specific
needs rather than imitate nature. The roots of Modernism may be found in the
work of Berthold Luberkin (1901-1990)

The expressionistic work of the Polish-born German architect Erich

Mendelsohn (1887-1953) also furthered the modernist movement.
Mendelsohn and Russian-born English architect Serge Chermayeff (1900-
1996) won the competition to design the De La Warr Pavilion in Britain. The
1935 seaside public hall has been called Streamline Moderne and
International, but it most certainly is one of the first modernist buildings to be
constructed and restored, maintaining its original beauty over the years.

Modernist architecture can express a number of stylistic ideas, including

Expressionism and Structuralism. In the later decades of the twentieth century,
designers rebelled against the rational Modernism and a variety of
Postmodern styles evolved.

Modernist architecture generally has little or no ornamentation and is

prefabricated or has factory-made parts. The design emphasizes function and
the man-made construction materials are usually glass, metal, and concrete.
Philosophically, modern architects rebel against traditional styles. For
examples of Modernism in architecture, see works by Rem Koolhaas, I.M.
Pei, Le Corbusier, Philip Johnson, and Mies van der Rohe.
 Early Developments in Building Design and Techniques Methods

The basic methods of building design and construction have been used for
thousands of years. Stacking stones, laying brick, or lashing wood together in
one form or another are still used today in all parts of the world. But over the
centuries, innovations in methods and materials have given new expression to
architecture and the human footprint on the landscape. We can look to
historical examples for clues that give context to different style periods.

In western culture, one of the earliest settlements with permanent structures

was discovered at Catalhoyuk in Turkey (pictured below). The rich soil that
surrounds the settlement indicates the inhabitants relied in part on farming.
Dated to about 7500 BCE, the dwellings are constructed from dried mud and
brick and show wooden support beams spanning the ceilings. The design of
the settlement incorporates a cell-like structure of small buildings either
sharing common walls or separated by a few feet. The roofs are flat and were
used as pathways between buildings.

A significant advance came with the development of the post and

lintel system. With this, a system of posts –either stone or wood – are placed
at intervals and spanned by beams at the tops. The load is distributed down
the posts to allow for areas of open space between them. Its earliest use is
seen at Stonehenge (below), a prehistoric monument in southern England
dating to about 3000 BCE.
 

A colonnade  continues the post and lintel method as a series of columns and

beams enveloping larger areas of space. Colonnades can be free standing or
part of a larger structure. Common in Egyptian, Greek and Roman architectural
design, their use creates visual rhythm and implies a sense of grandeur. Over
time columns became categorized by the capital style at their tops. The
smooth and unadorned Doric columns give way to more elaborate styles: the
scrolled Ionian and the high relief Corinthian.

Greek and Roman capitals: Top row:  Doric. Middle Row: Ionic. Bottom Row:
Corinthian and a composite Ionic Corinthian. Classical Orders, engraving from
the Encyclopédie vol. 18. Public domain.

The Parthenon, a Greek temple to the mythic goddess Athena, was built in the
fifth century BCE in Athens and is part of a larger community of structures in
the Acropolis. All are considered pinnacles of classic Greek architecture. Doric
colonnades march across all sides of the Parthenon, the outer boundary of a
very ordered interior floor plan.
The Parthenon, Athens, Greece. 447 BCE. Digital image by Kallistos and
licensed under Creative Commons

Floor plan of the Parthenon. Licensed through Creative Commons.

 
Another example is the colonnade surrounding St. Peter’s Square in the
Vatican, Rome.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Colonnade at St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican. 1656–67.

Photo by D.F. Malan. Licensed through Creative Commons.

The colonnade is part of our contemporary surroundings too. Parks and other
public spaces use them to the same effect: providing visual and material
stability in spanning areas of open space.

Contemporary colonnade. Image: Christopher Gildow. Used with permission.

The development of the arch gave architecture new alternatives to post and

lintel construction. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC
in Mesopotamian brick architecture. They supply strength and stability to walls
without massive posts and beams because their construction minimizes the
shear load imposed on them. This meant walls could go higher without
compromising their stability and at the same time create larger areas of open
space between arches. In addition, the arch gave buildings a more organic,
expressive visual element. The Colosseum in Rome (below), built in the first
century CE, uses repeated arches to define an imposing but decidedly airy
structure. The fact that most of it is still standing today is testament to the
inherent strength of the arch.

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. First century CE. Photo by David Iliff. Image
licensed through Creative Commons.

Roman aqueducts are another example of how effectively the arch was used.
Tall and graceful, the arches support themselves in a colonnade and were used
to transport a network of water channels throughout ancient Rome.
Roman aqueduct, c. First century CE. Image in the public domain.

From the arch came two more important developments: extending an arch in
a linear direction formed a vault, encapsulating tall, narrow spaces with
inverted “U” shaped ceilings. The compressive force of the vault required thick
walls on each side to keep it from collapsing. Because of this many vaults were
situated underground – essentially tunnels – connecting areas of a larger
building or providing covered transport of people, goods and materials
throughout the city.

An arch rotated on its vertical axis creates a dome, with its curving organic
scoop of space reserved for the tops of the most important buildings.
The Pantheon in Rome sports a dome with an oculus – a round or elliptical
opening at the top, that is the massive building’s only light source.

Dome of the Pantheon with oculus, Rome. 126 CE. Image in the public

domain.

These elements combined to revolutionize architectural design throughout

Europe and the Middle East in the form of bigger and stronger churches,
mosques and even sectarian government buildings. Styles changed with
technology. Romanesque architecture was popular for nearly three hundred
years (800 – 1100 CE). The style is characterized by barrel or groin vault
ceilings, thick walls with low exterior buttresses and squared off towers.
Buildings reached a point where they struggled to support their own weight.
The architectural solution to the problem was a  flying buttress, an exterior
load-bearing column connected to the main structure by a segmented arch or
“flyer.”

Diagram of a flying buttress from St. Denis basilica, Paris. From the Dictionary

of French Architecture from 11th to 16th Century (1856), licensed through
Creative Commons.

Flying buttresses became a kind of exoskeleton that transferred the heavy

weight of Romanesque stone roofs through their arches and into the ground,
away from the building. They became catalysts for the  Gothic style based on
higher, thinner walls, pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and spired towers. Also,
the thinner walls of the Gothic style allowed for more stained glass windows
and interior illumination.
Church of St. Denis, France. Seventh–twelfth centuries CE. Image in the public
domain

St. Denis basilica in France (above) is one of the first Gothic-style churches,
known for its high vaulted ceilings and extensive use of stained glass windows.
The architecture of the church became a symbol of spirituality itself: soaring
heights, magnificently embellished interiors and exteriors, elaborate lighting
and sheer grandeur on a massive scale.

The Doges Palace in Venice, Italy (pictured below) housed the political
aristocracy of the Republic of Venice for a thousand years. Built in 1309 CE, its
rhythmic levels of columns and pointed arches, divided by fractals as they rise,
give way to elaborate geometric patterns in the pink brick façade. The
ornamental additions at the top edge reinforce the patterns below.
The Doges Palace, 1309 CE, viewed from St. Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy. Image
by Martti Mustonen and licensed through Creative Commons.

IMPERIAL ARCHITECTURE IN CHINA

Chinese architecture refers to a style of architecture that has taken shape in

East Asia over many centuries. The structural principles of traditional Chinese
architecture have remained largely unchanged. Chinese architectural (and
aesthetic) design is based on symmetry, a general emphasis on the horizontal
and site layouts that reflect a hierarchy of importance. These considerations
result in formal and stylistic differences in comparison to the West, and display
alternatives in design.
Gate of Supreme Harmony, Forbidden City, Beijing, China. Photo Credit
Andrew and Annemarie, Image licensed through Creative Commons

CROSS-CULTURAL INFLUENCES

As overland and marine trade routes expanded between Eastern and Western
civilizations so did the influence of cultural styles in architecture, religion and
commerce. The most important of these passages was the Silk Road, a system
of routes that developed over hundreds of years across the European and
Asian continents. Along this route are buildings that show cross-cultural
influences in their design. 

The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem offers different cultural influences manifest
in one building: a classic Greek colonnade at the main entrance, the gold
dome and central turret supporting it, western style arches and colorful Islamic
surface embellishment.
The Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount, in the Old City of Jerusalem,
Photo Credit Andrew Shiva, Image licensed through Creative Commons
The Louvre Palace in Paris, once the official royal residence and now one of
the world’s biggest museums, had its beginnings in the 12th century but
didn’t achieve its present form until recently. The building’s style is French
Renaissance – marked by a formal symmetry, horizontal stability and
restrained ornamentation. The Louvre executive board chose architect I. M.
Pei’s glass pyramid design as the defining element for the new main entry in
1989. The choice was a great success: the pyramid further defines the public
space above ground and gives natural light and a sense of openness to the
underground lobby beneath it.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Beginning in the 18th century the Industrial Revolution made fundamental

changes in agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and housing.
Architecture changed in response to the new industrial landscape. Prior to the
late 19th century, the weight of a multistory building had to be supported
principally by the strength of its walls. The taller the building, the more strain
this placed on the lower sections. Since there were clear engineering limits to
the weight such load-bearing walls could sustain, large designs meant
massively thick walls on the ground floors, and definite limits on the building’s
height.

Eiffel Tower, Start of construction of second stage, May 1888. Image in the
public domain
Forged iron and milled steel began to replace wood, brick and stone as
primary materials for large buildings. This change is encapsulated in the Eiffel
Tower, built in 1889. Standing on four huge arched legs, the iron lattice tower
rises narrowly to just over 1000 feet high. The Eiffel Tower not only became an
icon for France but for industry itself – heralding a new age in materials,
design and construction methods.

In America, the development of cheap, versatile steel in the second half of the
19th century helped change the urban landscape. The country was in the
midst of rapid social and economic growth that made for great opportunities
in architectural design. A much more urbanized society was forming and the
society called out for new, larger buildings. By the middle of the 19th century
downtown areas in big cities began to transform themselves with new roads
and buildings to accommodate the growth. The mass production of steel was
the main driving force behind the ability to build skyscrapers during the mid
1880s.

Steel framing was set into foundations of reinforced concrete, concrete

poured around a grid of steel rods (re-bar) or other matrices to increase
tensile strength in foundations, columns and vertical slabs.

MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE

The move to modernism was introduced with the opening of the Bauhaus
school in Weimar Germany. Founded in 1919 by the German architect Walter
Gropius, Bauhaus (literal translation “house of construction”) was a teaching
and learning center for modern industrial and architectural design. Though
not a movement or style in itself, Bauhaus instructors and staff reflected
different artistic perspectives, all of them born from the modern aesthetic. It
was partly the product of a post- World War I search for new artistic
definitions in Europe. Gropius’s commitment to the principle of bringing all
the arts together with a focus on practical, utilitarian applications. This view
rejected the notion of “art for art’s sake”, putting a premium on the
knowledge of materials and their effective design. This idea shows the
influence of Constructivism, a similar philosophy developed concurrently in
Russia that used the arts for social purposes. Bauhaus existed for fourteen
years, relocating three times, and influencing a whole generation of architects,
artists, graphic and industrial designers and typographers.

In 1924 Gropius designed the Bauhaus main building in Dessau. Its modern
form includes bold lines, an asymmetric balance and curtain walls of glass. It’s
painted in neutral tones of white and gray accented by strong primary colors
on selected doors.

Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany, 1925-26, Image in public domain

Frank Lloyd Wright is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest architects.
Wright designed buildings, churches, homes and schools, but is best known
for his design of Falling Water, a home in the Pennsylvania countryside for
Chicago department store owner Edgar Kaufman. His design innovations
include unified open floor plans, a balance of traditional and modern materials
and the use of cantilevered forms that extends horizontal balance.

The Guggenheim Museum in New York City is an example of Wright’s concern

with organic forms and utilization of space. The main element in the design is
a spiral form rising from the middle of the cantilevered main structure.
Paintings are exhibited on its curved walls. Visitors take the elevator to the top
floor and view the works as they travel down the gently sloped hallway. This
spiral surrounds a large atrium in the middle of the building and a domed
skylight at the top.
Atrium, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Manhattan, New York, 1959, Image
in the public domain

POST MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

Postmodern architecture began as an international style whose first examples

are generally cited as being from the 1950s, but did not become a movement
until the late 1970s and continues to influence present-day architecture.
Postmodernity in architecture is generally thought to be heralded by the
return of “wit, ornament and reference” to architecture in response to the
formalism of the International Style.

Michael Graves’s Portland Building from 1982 personifies the idea behind

postmodernist thought. A reference to more traditional style is evident in the
patterned column-like sections. Overt large-scale decorative elements are built
into and onto the exterior walls, and contrasts between materials, colors and
forms give the building a graphic sense of visual wit.

We can see how architecture is actively evolving in the contemporary work of

Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid. Gehry’s work is famous for its rolling and bent
organic forms. His gestural, erratic sketches are transformed into buildings
through a computer aided design process (CAD). They have roots in
postmodernism but lean towards a completely new modern style. They have
as much to do with sculpture as they do with architecture. Seattle’s Museum
of Pop Culture is an example of the complexity that goes into his designs. Its
curves, ripples and folds roll across space and the multi-colored titanium
panels adorning the exterior accentuate the effect. 

GREEN ARCHITECTURE

In the last decade there has emerged a strong interest in developing “green”
architecture – designs that incorporate ecologically and environmentally
sustainable practices in site preparation, materials, energy use and waste
systems. Some are simple: buildings oriented to the south or west helps with
passive solar heating. Others are more complex: Solar voltaic cells on the roof
to generate power to the building. Green roofs are made of sod and other
organic material and act as a cooling agent and recycle rainwater too. In
addition, technological innovations in lighting, heating and cooling systems
have made them more efficient.

A branch of the Seattle Public Library uses green design. A glass curtain wall
on the north side makes use of natural lighting. Overhanging wooden roof
beams shades harsh light. The whole structure is nestled under a green roof of
sod and over 18,000 low water use plants. Seven skylights on the roof provide
more natural lighting.

DEFINITION OF ARCHITECTURE
What is architecture? The word architecture can have many meanings.
Architecture can be an art and a science, a process and a result, and both an
idea and a reality. People often use the words "architecture" and "design"
interchangeably, which naturally broadens the definition of architecture. If you
can "design" your own career goals, aren't you the architect of your own
life? It seems there are no easy answers, so let's explore and debate the many
definitions of architecture, design, and what architects and social scientists call
"the built environment."

From the Latin word architectura, the word we use describes the job of an

architect. The ancient Greek arkhitekton was the chief builder or master
technician of all craftsmen and artisans. So, what comes first, the architect or
the architecture? 

Depending on the context, the word "architecture" can refer to any man-made
building or structure, like a tower or monument; a man-made building or
structure that is important, large, or highly creative; a carefully designed
object, such as a chair, a spoon, or a tea kettle; a design for a large area such
as a city, town, park, or landscaped gardens; the art or science of designing
and building buildings, structures, objects, and outdoor spaces; a building
style, method, or process; a plan for organizing space; elegant engineering;
the planned design of any kind of system; a systematic arrangement of
information or ideas; and the flow of information on a web page.

 Architecture is a passion, a vocation, a calling – as well as a science and

a business. It has been described as a social art and also an artful
science. Architecture must be of the highest quality of design.
Architecture provides, in the words of Marcus Vitruvius, the great
Roman architect and historian, “firmness, commodity and delight.1”
 Architecture provides a sense of place and support of all types of human
activity. Architecture helps the man-made fit in harmony with the
environment while promoting health and well-being, enriching lives
aesthetically and spiritually, providing economic opportunities, and
creating a legacy that reflects and symbolizes culture and traditions.
 Architecture, the art and technique of designing and building, as
distinguished from the skills associated with construction. The practice
of architecture is employed to fulfill both practical and expressive
requirements, and thus it serves both utilitarian and aesthetic ends.
Although these two ends may be distinguished, they cannot be
separated, and the relative weight given to each can vary widely.
Because every society—whether highly developed or less so, settled or
nomadic—has a spatial relationship to the natural world and to other
societies, the structures they produce reveal much about
their environment (including climate and weather), history, ceremonies,
and artistic sensibility, as well as many aspects of daily life. 

Art, Architecture, and Design

In 2005, the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude implemented an idea, an art
installation in New York City called The Gates in Central Park. Thousands of
bright orange gates were placed throughout Central Park, the great landscape
architecture of Frederick Law Olmsted, erected as designed by the artistic
team. "Of course, 'The Gates' is art, because what else would it be?" wrote art
critic Peter Schjeldahl at the time. "Art used to mean paintings and statues.
Now it means practically anything human-made that is unclassifiable
otherwise." The New York Times was more pragmatic in their review called
"Enough About 'Gates' as Art; Let's Talk About That Price Tag." So, if a man-
made design can't be classified, it must be art. But if it's very, very expensive to
create, how can it be simply art?

Depending on your perspective, you might use the word architecture to

describe any number of things. Which of these items might be
called architecture—a circus tent; a sports stadium; an egg carton; a roller
coaster; a log cabin; a skyscraper; a computer program; a temporary summer
pavilion; a political campaign; a bonfire; a parking garage; an airport, bridge,
train station, or your house? All of them, and more—the list could go on
forever.

MAIN TYPES OF ARCHITECTURE

Landscape Architect

This type of architecture focuses on outdoor areas. If you go into this

specialized field, you might design parklands, gardens, and lawns surrounding
college campus buildings and other public destinations. Landscape architects
may also work with homeowners and other private parties to design
compelling outdoor areas. You might even be involved with the development
of golf courses or similar recreational spots.

Building structures can be a part of this job, even though you are working with
outdoor areas. For example, many landscaping jobs entail erecting gazebos
and other outdoor structures such as follies. Unlike residential architects and
public and industrial architects, however, you will be doing a lot of work
directly with trees, plants, and other living materials. As such, your body of
knowledge will have to go beyond simple construction. You will have to
understand aspects of horticulture, and know how you can integrate living
growth into your settings. A well-designed landscape will incorporate plants in
a system that is beneficial to them and allows them to thrive.

Interior Design

Although interior design is not actually a type of architecture, you should

consider looking into it all the same, because it is so closely connected to
architecture. Some building designers are also interior designers, while others
do not work on furnishing and other aspects of interior design. Frank Lloyd
Wright, discussed earlier in the section on residential architecture, also was an
interior designer. He saw his buildings as a single integrated whole, and
strived to create furniture that evoked the same elements as his buildings. He
worked on creating seamless living spaces which flowed throughout the
interiors of his buildings. Because he had knowledge of both interior design
and architecture, he was able to unite them fluidly to bring his entire vision to
life.

For this reason, it may be worthwhile for you also to cultivate study in both
fields, and learn interior design along with architecture. In fact, some architects
also learn to tie in landscaping with the rest of their design skills. By doing this,
you can create spaces which flow both indoors and outdoors for the best
possible effect. It is often the effect of the whole that leaves such an impact on
visitors.

How many different specializations you want to integrate into your work is
really up to you. Some architects do best if they are extremely specialized and
focused on one aspect of design, while others excel by learning how to
integrate different aspects of design. You may work well controlling all
elements that go into a building or you may work better in an environment
where you are sharing the responsibility of design with a number of other
architects.

You will also need to figure out where you fit best on a team. Do you work
better taking cues from a lead architect, or would you like to be the head
architect, calling the shots? You probably will not jump into that kind of
position straight off the top. You will need ample work experience first.
Architecture is a tough and competitive field. And the more radical your ideas
are, the more challenging your path is likely to be. It is usually the more
unusual ideas which capture or imaginations.

WHAT IS LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE?

 An environmental design profession and discipline,

encompasses the analysis, planning, design, management,
and stewardship of the natural and built environments. The
foundation of landscape architecture education and practice
is the application of ecological design in the consideration of
abiotic, biotic, and cultural features in conservation,
development and restoration projects. Types of projects
include: residential site design; parks and recreation; low
impact development, monuments; urban design;
streetscapes and public spaces; transportation corridors and
facilities; gardens and arboreta; security design; hospitality
and resorts; institutional; academic campuses; therapeutic
gardens; historic preservation; habitat restoration; green
infrastructure, reclamation; conservation planning; landscape
art and earth sculpture; interior landscapes; and more.
 One of the most diversified of the design professions.
Landscape architects design the built environment of
neighborhoods, towns and cities while also protecting and
managing the natural environment, from its forests and
fields to rivers and coasts. Members of the profession have a
special commitment to improving the quality of life through
the best design of places for people and other living things.
Specialty Areas in Landscape Architecture

Whether dealing with urban or home landscapes, there are

specific topics within the profession of landscape architecture that
both residential and commercial environmental development
services understand are important to all. These specialty areas are
first considered separately, then brought together as a final,
workable design to create an attractive, yet functional use of land
areas. Following are a few of those specialty areas that apply to
both urban development and home properties.

 Site Planning – This is the planning that goes into the most
efficient use of a specific land site for its intended purpose
and also considers its appearance through the services of
a company experienced in professional landscape
maintenance.

 Urban Design – This type of design involves planning for

cities and towns, placement of roads and buildings, and
where and how urban growth should be situated, while also
considering all natural, geographic features and limitations.

 Land Development – Similar to site planning but on a larger

scale such as suburban development, land development is
planning for the use of large areas of land based on
geography, need, and other factors.

 Parks and Recreation – This is the specialty area where a

suburban landscape architect plans for parks, open spaces,
and recreational areas for public use.

 Ecological and Environmental Planning – This is the

architectural design and landscape planning for public areas
 with regard to natural, existing space and landscape, and
how to modify it to be most useful and least intrusive.

 Heritage Conservation – This is the recognition, protection

and restoration of historic land areas.

What is important to remember that, even on a residential level,

basic home lots have undergone considerable planning in terms
of location, size, shape, and function. Depending on those
qualities, as well as things such as historical value, local
recreational space, urban and suburban development, and others,
homeowners can make their individual property a beautiful part
of the entire landscaped area around them. With the right plants,
visual features, and landscape lighting installed by an
experienced residential landscape design service, a single home
lot can make its mark in beautifying a neighborhood and bringing
life to the surrounding landscape architecture. Working with
a commercial landscape maintenance company that understands
these basics can help improve lot features and not let it become a
visual imperfection!

WHAT IS INTERIOR DESIGNING?

Interior design is a multi-faceted profession in which creative and

technical solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built
interior environment. These solutions are functional, enhance the
quality of life and culture of the occupants, and are aesthetically
attractive. Designs are created in response to and coordinated
with the building shell, and acknowledge the physical location and
social context of the project. Designs must adhere to code and
regulatory requirements, and encourage the principles of
environmental sustainability. The interior design process follows a
systematic and coordinated methodology, including research,
analysis and integration of knowledge into the creative process,
whereby the needs and resources of the client are satisfied to
produce an interior space that fulfills the project goals.

Interior design includes a scope of services performed by a

professional design practitioner, qualified by means of education,
experience, and examination, to protect and enhance the life,
health, safety and welfare of the public. These services may
include any or all of the following tasks:

 Research and analysis of the client's goals and requirements;

and development of documents, drawings and diagrams that
outline those needs;

 Formulation of preliminary space plans and two and three

dimensional design concept studies and sketches that
integrate the client's program needs and are based on
knowledge of the principles of interior design and theories of
human behavior;

 Confirmation that preliminary space plans and design

concepts are safe, functional, aesthetically appropriate, and
meet all public health, safety and welfare requirements,
including code, accessibility, environmental, and
sustainability guidelines.

 Selection of colors, materials and finishes to appropriately

convey the design concept, and to meet socio-psychological,
 functional, maintenance, life-cycle performance,
environmental, and safety requirements;

 Selection and specification of furniture, fixtures, equipment

and millwork, including layout drawings and detailed
product description; and provision of contract
documentation to facilitate pricing, procurement and
installation of furniture;

 Provision of project management services, including

preparation of project budgets and schedules;

 Preparation of construction documents, consisting of plans,

elevations, details and specifications, to illustrate non-
structural and/or non-seismic partition layouts; power and
communications locations; reflected ceiling plans and
lighting designs; materials and finishes; and furniture layouts;

 Preparation of construction documents to adhere to regional

building and fire codes, municipal codes, and any other
jurisdictional statutes, regulations and guidelines applicable
to the interior space;

 Coordination and collaboration with other allied design

professionals who may be retained to provide consulting
services, including but not limited to architects; structural,
mechanical and electrical engineers, and various specialty
consultants;

 Confirmation that construction documents for non-structural

and/or non-seismic construction are signed and sealed by
the responsible interior designer, as applicable to
 jurisdictional requirements for filing with code enforcement
officials;

 Administration of contract documents, bids and negotiations

as the client's agent;

 Observation and reporting on the implementation of

projects while in progress and upon completion, as a
representative of and on behalf of the client; and conducting
post-occupancy evaluation reports.