CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE ARTS FROM THE REGIONS

Lesson 1- An Introduction to Arts

Quarter 1-Week 1

I. Introduction

Many people are still struggling in deciding whether a particular creation is an art because arts are difficult to
define. However, everyone will also agree that arts enhance our daily experiences. Art is all around us being universal
because it can be found in all cultures. It covers many meanings including ability, process and product.
Hence, this lesson will help you define arts and appreciate its importance in our daily lives. It will also
strengthen your sense of nationalism and develop creativity. Furthermore, activities are provided for you, which aim to
develop creativity in expressing your ideas through arts.
At the end of the lesson, the learners are expected to:
1. Define arts, discuss the composition of arts, its elements and principles.
2. Explain the difference between contemporary arts and traditional arts.
3. Describe contemporary art works and its importance

II. Discussion
Understanding the Arts
According to Plato, “Art is that which brings life in harmony with the beauty of the world.” For John Dewey, “Art is an
attitude of spirit, a state of mind-one which demands for its own satisfaction and shaping of matter to a new form and more
significant meaning.” Moreover, for Marcos (2006), the word art supplies various meanings, including ability- human capacity to
create things of beauty and things that stir us; process- art encompasses acts, such as drawing, painting, sculpture, designing
buildings and using the camera to create and product -completed work or the final product (as cited in Dedal, 2017).
To understand better the meaning of art, the book entitled The Arts: An Introduction to the Humanities (Cerbo et al,
2010) provided the following definitions of art:
➢ Art as a skill or mastery.
➢ Art as process or a product of a creative skill
➢ Art as universal language.
➢ Art as representation of reality.
➢ Art reflects the characteristics of a period
➢ Art shows the manner of existence of the people of long ago.

Composition of Art
In order for us to appreciate art, we need to understand the basic concepts about art.

Subject Matter
➢ The subject or topic can be any person, animal, thong, or issue that can be described or depicted in an artwork
(Benavidez-Perez, 2016 as cited in Dedal, 2017). It could be anything that could ignite an artist's imagination that would result
in him to create. There are two types of subject matter:
❖ Representational art or objective art. They are those art we can easily see identifiable figures or objects. Possible
subjects are interesting person/s or animal/s, the human form, human activities, common objects and nature.
❖ Non-representational art or non-objective art. They are those art that does not depict recognizable objects. They art
without any reference to anything outside itself. It is abstract in the sense that it does not represent real objects in our world.
Form
➢ It is a specific quality of an artistic expression, which includes all the visual aspects of the work that can be isolated
and described. It is the surface feature of an artwork

Page 1 | 4 -Q1-Week1
 Content
➢ It contains the message that the artist is trying to express and communicate. It is what the artwork is about.
Medium
➢ It is the instrument of the artist in translating his feelings and thoughts into form. It could be the substance the
artwork is made from.
Technique
➢ It is how well an artist knows and uses his medium in achieving what he wants in his creation. It is how he selects
and arranges his materials to achieve a specific effect.
Elements of Art
To understand a particular work of art, you must have the knowledge of elements of arts for you to be able to examine
and appreciate it more. Hopefully, reviewing the elements of arts will make you more conscious that they are all around you all
the time.
Line
➢ It is the most fundamental of all the elements. It add to the quality of all visual stimuli. It makes object stand out
against a background, they challenge our perception, arouse emotions and enhance or lessen the aesthetic effects of our
surroundings.
➢ A line can be horizontal –suggests a feeling of rest, infinity and perfect stability because objects parallel to the earth
are at rest; vertical –gives an impression of dominance or power as they are pointing or extending towards the sky; diagonal
–convey a feeling of action, movement, unrest or uncertainty; curved –creates a sense of smoothness, softness and continuity;
and zigzag –result when two straight lines meet to form an angle which indicates chaos, conflict and confusion.
Shape and Form
➢ Shape is a two-dimensional figure (length and width) formed when the ends of a line meet enclosing an area and
separating it from its surroundings. There are many forms of shape such as geometric shapes, two-dimensional and
three-dimensional shape.
Value or Tone
➢ It refers to the relative lightness or darkness in anything that is visible. It has to do with the amount of light in an
artwork.
Color
➢ Colors play a vital role in arts. It refers to the product of light of different wavelengths reflected off objects. Color has
three properties: hue, which refers to the quality by which we distinguish colors such as red, orange, yellow, green, violet,
indigo and blue. Value refers to the lightness and darkness of a hue that pertains to the absence of white and black. While
intensity or saturation refers to how pure, the color is.
Space
➢ It refers to the relative lightness or darkness in anything that is visible. It has to do with the amount of light in an
artwork.
Texture
➢ It refers to the surface quality. It refers to the way things feel or look as though they might feel if touched. It is also
an important element both for two-dimensional and three-dimensional arts.
Principles of Design
The principles of design describe the ways that artists use the elements of arts in a work of art.
Balance
➢ It is the distribution of the visual weight of objects, colors, texture and space to make the design feel stable. There
are two types of balance: symmetrical or formal balance and asymmetrical or informal balance. In symmetrical balance, the
elements used on one side of the design are similar to those on the other side; in asymmetrical balance, the sides are different
but still look balanced.
Proportion
➢ It is the feeling of unity created when all parts relate well with each other. It is believed that a well-proportioned
shape is pleasing to the eye.
Rhythm
➢ It is when one or more elements of design are characterized by the repetition or alternation of elements in an
artwork to create a sense of movement, unite a composition and establish a pattern or texture.
Emphasis and Subordination
➢ Emphasis is the part of the design that catches the viewer’s attention by giving more attention to certain parts and
giving importance or dominance to the unit or area; subordination- giving less importance and purposely make other areas less
visually interesting.

Page 2 | 4 -Q1-Week1
 Unity and Variety
➢ Unity is the feeling of harmony between all parts of the work of art, which creates a sense of completeness. Variety
refers to the diversity of a work of art and when several elements of design are used to hold the viewer’s attention and guide
the viewer’s eye through and around the work of art.

III. Engagement

(WRITTEN WORK)
Written Work # 1: Facebook 360° (Activity 1)
ACTIVITY 1 OBSERVE AND ANALYZE
Observe and analyze the painting. Answer the given question below.

Joey Herrera, Fiesta, 2004, oil on canvas, 60 x 96

1. Identify the subject matter and its form.

2. What message is the painting trying to convey?
3. Identify the medium used and the technique of the artist

IV. APPLICATION
(PERFORMANCE TASK)
Create Your Work of Art

Draw the best feature of your face. Make sure to apply all the elements of art. Then, describe your work of

art.

Page 3 | 4 -Q1-Week1
REFLECTION:
Directions: Answer the given question in 3 to 5 sentences.

Everyone has an art. Art, as a creativity, is an activity we do by its very nature. Art helps us to express, communicate
and connect with the world.
A. Answer the following questions in the “Levels of Reflection”.
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________

B. Using the elements of arts and principles of design, create your own masterpiece of what you discovered about
yourself as a learner. Write on a clean sheet of paper.

Prepared by:

JASTINE L. ANDAL

JEAN ROSE Q. ANDAL

JAMIE LYN D. CANLAS

ROSE ANN L. DELA PEÑA

MARIA ELOISA O. ORENSE

Page 4 | 4 -Q1-Week1