CHAPTER 3

ARTISTS AND ARTISANS

Learning outcomes
By the end of this chapter, student should be able to:
1. Define an artists or artisan’s medium and technique;
2. Define the role of managers, curators, buyers, collectors, and art dealers in the art
world;
3. Differentiate artists and artisans approach/technique toward a particular medium;
4. Identify national and GAMABA artists notable works and their contributions to
society; and
5. Explain the three stages in the creative process.
This chapter focuses on the most important element and creator in any work of art,
which is the artist or the artisan. The artists or the artisan’s medium, technique and process in
their arts stem from their urge to create, which is universal and widespread. Artists and artisans
are driven by their sense of wonder and curiosity. The stage in the creative process would
reflect the notable works from the different artists and artisans who were given the highest
recognition from our country.
ARTIST
The word “Artist” is generally defined as an art practitioner, such as painter, sculpture,
choreographer, dancer, writer, poet, musicians, and the like, who produces or creates indirectly
functional arts with aesthetic value using imagination. Thus, artist provide us with paintings,
sculpture, dances, music, literary pieces, and so on, as a means of provoking our thoughts, ideas
and emotions that are necessary to discover ourselves and our being.
 Artists are creative individuals who use their imagination and skills to communicate in
an art form. They use the materials of an art to solve visual problems. Artists look to many
sources for inspirations. Some look forward to their natural and cultural environment for ideas;
other look within themselves for creative motivation.
Artists exhibit the courage to take risks. They are able to see their surroundings in new
and unusual ways. They are willing to work intensely for long periods of time to achieve their
goals. Some artists are self-taught and have been called folk-artists because they are not
educated in traditional artistic methods. Just like the artists, the artisans learn skills and
techniques from some other artists but eventually, both artists and artisans, develop their own
unique styles.
ARTISANS
An artisans is a craftsman, such as carpenter, carver, plumber, blacksmith, weaver,
embroiderer, and the like who produces directly functional and/ or decorative arts. Artisans
help us in meeting our basic needs, such as food, clothing, dwelling, furniture and kitchen
utensils; they craft everything that make our life easy. The artisan’s works are useful, relevant,
and essential in our everyday life. They serve us for a long time, supplying us directly functional
art. The artisans is basically a physical worker who makes object with his or her hands, and who
through skill, experience, and ability can produce things of great beauty, as well as usefulness,
the artist on the other hand, is someone devoted only to the creative part, making visually
pleasant work only for the gratification and appreciation of the viewer but with no practical
value.

KEY COMPONENTS OF THE ART MARKET

The art market is an economic ecosystem that relies not only on supplies and demand
but also on the fabrications of a works predicted future monetary and/or cultural value. The art
market can appear somewhat unclear since artists do not make art with the sole intention of
selling it, and buyers often have no idea of the value of their purchase.
The following are the important players in the art market:
Curator
A curator, who is a manager or overseer, and usually a curator or keeper of a cultural
heritage institution (e.g, gallery, museum, library, or archive), is a content specialist charged
with an institution’s collections, selecting art to be displayed in a museum, organizing art
exhibitions in galleries or public places, researching artists, and writing catalogue’s and involved
with the interpretation of heritage,
To be successful, a curator should be organized, passionate, knowledgeable, adept a
multitasking, and proficient at writing.
Art Buyer
An art buyer is a professional who is knowledgeable in art, who may scout talents for an
advertising agency seeking o employ an art director, or who may look for an art for a collector
or a company.
Art Dealer
An art dealer is a person or a company that buys and sells works of art. Art dealers often
study the story of art before starting their careers. They have o understand the business side of
the art world. They keep up with the trends in the market and are knowledgeable about the
style of art that people want to buy. They figure out how much they should pay for a piece and
then estimate the resale price. To determine the artworks’ value, dealers inspect the objects or
paintings closely and compare the fine details with similar pieces.
Private Collection
This is personal owned collection of works, usually a collection of art. In a museum or art
gallery environment, the terms signifies that a certain work is not owned by the institution, but
is no loan from an individual or organization, either for temporary exhibition or for the long
term. The source is usually from an art collector, although it could be from a school, church
organization, from bank, or from other private company or any institution.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Robert Fritz, based on his book, enumerated the steps in the creative process, and said
that creating is a skill that can be learned and developed. Like any other skill, we learn by
practice and hands-on experience – we can learn to create by creating. There are, however,
some steps we can follow, not as a formula to adopt, but as indications to guide our actions.
Fritz, likewise, presented three stages in the creative process as shown below.
1. Conceive the result you want to create. Creations starts at the end. We need to have
an idea of what we want to create, of what we want to have and manifest. We need a vision –
individual or collective – that we want to realize.
 2. Know what currently exists. It is difficult to create something novel and/or original in
any area of knowledge without being aware of what is being done in that area.
3. Take actions. Having a wonderful idea or vision is not enough: You have to do
something to make it real, to manifest it although sometimes you will have to do things that
might generate criticism, sometimes you will make serious mistakes and you will have to start
again.
4. Develop your creativity. Every new creation give you fresh thoughts and knowledge of
your own creative process. You will then increase your ability to picture what you want and
your capacity to bring those outcomes into real life situations.
5. Learn the rhythm of the creative process. There are three fundamental stages in
every creative process: germination, assimilation, and completion.
1. Germination (Idea)
It is the initial moment when you conceive a new project in your life. It is a moment with
a lot of energy coming out of the future you envision. It is a powerful time you will have to use
wisely for providing the right steps to move forward. In the germination stage, you are planting
the seeds of your creation. The most important and difficult things in this stage is choosing. You
need to be more specific about what you want to do. You have to give to your vision a first
shape, from which you decide your next steps. Being more specific means choosing some things
and leaving some other things out. It may be a painful process, but it is necessary in any case.
You have to learn to choose well, to make good decisions. It is also important to choose what
you want to do instead of avoiding what you do not want to do. You will have to take in your
own power and not to give it to circumstances. However, difficult it seems to be you should
always choose what you want.
2. Assimilation
It is the crucial steps in the creative process. During this phase you will internalize and
assimilate or incorporate the idea you want to create. Plan, analyse it, and cultivate it with all
the available resources.
In this stage, your project, which initially was something external to you or to your
group, comes into your own being, becomes one with you. In this way your creation grows from
inside and begins to manifest in everything you do, consciously or unconsciously. Every idea you
have, every new connection you establish acts in your vision, making it more tangible, making it
life.
The assimilation stage of the creative process follows an organic path, with its own
rhythms and needs. Sometimes it will look like everything is working, in order and harmony.
Sometimes it will look chaotic and difficult to manage. Do not try to intervene to change this
process or adopt it to your convenience. You will likely be unsuccessful and put the whole
project in danger.
3. Completion
Completion is the time to finish your project, to give it the final shape before you
present it to the audience. It is a difficult time because your energy will be small and likely
dispersed with a new vision. Put a deadline to your projects and do not get entangled in small
and never-ending details.
A beautiful way to conclude your project is by celebrating them. Celebrating is a great
opportunity to share with other people your happiness for what you have done, afterward you
will be ready to start again.
THREE STAGES IN ART MAKING
Art making can be associated with art exploration, concept development and art
production. In the creative process, the artist undergo three stages of experience, which are
popularly known as preproduction, production and postproduction.
1. Pre-production or subject development – this ends when the planning ends, and the
content start being produced.
2. Production or medium manipulation – this is a method of joining diverse material
inputs and unimportant inputs (plans, know-how) to make something for consumption (the
output). It is the act of creating output, a good or service that has significance and contributes
to the utility of individuals.
3. Post production (completion) or exhibition – once an artwork s finished, it will be
displayed, circulated, and performed for the audience and public to see or watch.

MEDIUM AND TECHIQUE

Medium
It refers to the materials that are used by an artist to create work of art. The plural of
medium is media. Without the medium, an idea remains a concept, or it would just dwell in the
walls of the artists’ imagination. It is challenging to manipulate medium and transform it from
its raw state.

Technique
 It refers to the artist’s ability and knowledge or technical know-how in manipulating the
medium. It is the manner by which the artist controls the medium to achieve the desired effect;
thus, it is in the technique that the artists differ from another.
Making an artwork requires technical competence. The ability to manipulate is the
driving force in the birthing of a new form or idea.