ACTIVITY 2: Answer the following:

Visual art and its formal, historical, and practical characteristics

1. Visual art formal Characteristics - The formal art elements form the basis of the

language of art; they consist of eight visual parts: line, color, form and shape, value,

texture, space, and movement.

a. Line - one dimensional path of a point through space.

 Descriptive lines (drawn): including outlines, contour lines, and hatching lines

 Implied lines including edges and lines of sight (the direction in which figures

in a composition are looking)

 Direction and movement: generally, verticals, horizontals, and diagonals are

directional lines, whereas zigzag and curved lines are movement lines.

b. Shape - a two-dimensional area defined by a clear border or outline and

possessing only height and width.

c. Form – is a three-dimensional shape or object and it has height, width, and depth,

it may be classified as organic, such as a cloud, or geometric, such as a pyramid

or cylinder. Organic forms suggest naturalism, while geometric.

 Organic - irregular forms suggesting natural contours like clouds and bushes.

 Geometric – forms that convey artificiality like the human constructions, such

as pure lines, curves, angles: pyramids, cones, cylinders, triangles, rectangles.

d. Texture - surface quality or appearance; how the surface feels or would feel if

touched.

 Simulated - making something look as though it is rough.

 Actual - for example the surface being textured either because of thickly applied

paint, or the addition of granular material to the paint, such as sand.

e. Movement - component of a composition that implies or gives the sensation of

activity or action and appear dynamic instead of static

 Optical movement - tricking the eye into seeing movement as used in op art.

 Repetition - using a repeated shape as seen in some cubist works; and

 Suggested movement - relying on the viewer’s knowledge of the subject matter

to communicate the idea of movement – for example, a viewer looking at a

painting of a car chase will expect the cars to be moving.

f. Value - the relationship between tones that are ranging from light to dark, and the

degree of lightness or darkness of a color; is a scale from white to black.

 Reflected light - light that bounces off an object making it visible

 Shading - a technique used to make a form look solid

 Chiaroscuro(Italian ‘light–dark’) - dramatic contrast of light and dark

 Value as mood or feeling, representing a certain frame of mind or state.

 g. Color - the quality or wavelength of light emitted or reflected from an object.

 Hue -the name of the color achieved by mixing pigments, adding colored

elements (as in a mosaic) or the like.

 Value - the lightness and darkness of a color.

 Saturation (color) or intensity - brightness or dullness of a color.

 Complementary colors - hues directly across from each other on the color

wheel.

 Warm colors - yellow, red, orange

 Cool colors - violet, green, blue

2. Historical Characteristics and types of Visual Arts

a. Religious history paintings - This speaks for itself. It involves any type of picture

with a religious narrative - including Christian (Catholic, Protestant), Islamic,

Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish or tribal religion.

b. Mythological - Myths are stories developed to explain unaccountable phenomena

in the world. Mythological painting includes any picture illustrating a mythical

story, fable or legend. Popular themes included legends surrounding Greek gods

(e.g. Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Dionysus, Hephaestus,

Hera, Hermes, Hestia, Poseidon, and Zeus), or mythical stories of Roman deities

like: Apollo, Diana, Juno, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune and Venus).

c. Allegorical - An allegory is a story containing a hidden meaning. Allegorical

pictures typically use people or objects that symbolize (or represent) other people

or things.
d. Literary - A narrower category (sometimes included within Mythological

category, above) consisting of narrative paintings based on themes taken from

literature (not involving mythological stories).

e. Historical -. The most straightforward category, it embraces all pictures depicting

an event or a moment in history, or a historical figure who embodies a clear

message.

f. Renaissance Era - the Italian Renaissance artist Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472)

identifies istoria with the representation of the exemplary deeds and struggles of

moral figures - such as saints or other Biblical figures, pagan divinities,

mythological heroes as well as those of historical events. According to

Renaissance traditions, history painting aimed to elevate the morals of the whole

community, and was ideally suited to the decoration of public spaces, churches,

town halls, or palaces. It was seen as an inspirational and educational art genre,

best portrayed on larger-than-life canvases.

g. 17th-Century - Among Baroque artists, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) stands out

as one of the great history painters, with works like Allegory of War and Peace,

Minerva Protecting Peace from Mars and The Rape of the Daughters of

Leucippus. In contrast, the unruly Italian painter Caravaggio (1571-1610)

achieved lasting fame for his highly realistic religious history paintings, like

Supper at Emmaus (1610, National Gallery, London), which gave the Roman

Catholic Counter-Reformation exactly the type of art it was looking for. The

Dutch genius Rembrandt (1606-69) also produced a wide range of history

paintings - religious, mythological and historical. However, in general, there was

 no market in Protestant Northern Europe for 'religious art', so artists were forced

to turn to non-religious forms of history painting.

h. 18th-Century - This period was a watershed in the development of history

painting, insignificant event. By the end, due to the dull prescriptions of the

academies and the semantic confusion between istoria and history, the genre

became devalued. The most important female history painter of the eighteenth

century was the Swiss artist Angelica Kauffmann (1741-1807). Adopting a

neoclassical style, Kauffmann painted numerous celebrated heroines from

classical history who symbolized important feminine virtue

i. 19th-Century - The decline of history painting quickened during the 19th century.

Artists strove more for dramatic art, rather than the high-minded or morally

uplifting variety. In addition, as education became more widespread and the

visual arts public increased in number, the acceptable range of subjects fit for

inclusion in history painting also increased. As a result, the great models which

history painters had previously looked up to began to lose their authority.

j. 20th-Century - Perhaps because the cataclysmic events of the early and mid-

twentieth century destroyed so many value systems, and blurred the difference

between good and evil, this period paid less attention to the difference between

the painting genres, and stopped giving special status to history painting. Even so,

the genre endured as a resource when artists wanted to demonstrate the gravity of

their work.
3. Practical characteristics of Visual Arts

a. Unity - the “wholeness” of composition, parts working together creating one total

picture – a seamless composition

b. Proximity - or putting objects close to one another in the composition. When objects

are placed close together the viewer’s eye is forced to move from one object to the

next inevitably taking in the entire composition.

c. Similarity - making things similar, also creates a sense of wholeness. Using similar

textures, colors, or shapes tends to visually connect the parts of a composition.

d. Continuation - when vision is directed by a line (actual or implied) that travels around

the composition.

e. Variety and harmony - variety pertains to differences and diversity. Harmony in art,

as in music, is the agreeable blending of elements in a perfect balance.

f. Emphasis - the focal point of a composition, highlighting an element in order to

control the viewer’s eye and stress significance of objects.

g. Lines of sight - eye lines of figures in the work drawing our eyes to a subject

h. Rhythm and movement - repeating an element creates a sense of movement, flow, or

activity. In art, rhythm can be felt as well as seen.

i. Balance - equal distribution of visual weight or the placement of elements evenly.

 Asymmetrical balance - balance of different elements, objects, or figures with

equal visual weights: e.g. large open space balancing heavy, perhaps dark zones

 Symmetrical balance - balance of the same elements on both sides of an implied

central vertical or horizontal axis

 The relationship between art, life, and its role in society

Art influences society by changing opinions, instilling values and translating

experiences across space and time. Research has shown art affects the fundamental sense of self.

Painting, sculpture, music, literature and the other arts are often considered to be the repository

of a society’s collective memory. Art preserves what fact-based historical records cannot: how it

felt to exist in a particular place at a particular time.

Art in this sense is communication; it allows people from different cultures and

different times to communicate with each other via images, sounds and stories. Art is often a

vehicle for social change. It can give voice to the politically or socially disenfranchised. A song,

film or novel can rouse emotions in those who encounter it, inspiring them to rally for change.

Researchers have long been interested in the relationship between art and the

human brain. For example, in 2013, researchers from Newcastle University found that viewing

contemporary visual art had positive effects on the personal lives of nursing home-bound elders.

Art also has utilitarian influences on society. There is a demonstrable, positive correlation

between schoolchildren’s grades in math and literacy, and their involvement with drama or

music activities. As the National Art Education Association points out, art is beneficial for the

artist as an outlet for work. Art not only fosters the human need for self-expression and

fulfillment; it is also economically viable. The creation, management and distribution of art

employ many.

Visual art as an important medium of expression or subject of the humanities

The word humanity comes from the Latin humanus, which means human,

cultured and refined. To be human is to have or show qualities like rationality, kindness and
tenderness. It has different connotations in different historical eras. Today, however, we know

of humanities as a loosely defined group of cultural subject areas. Unlike other subjects, it is not

a group of scientific or technical subjects. Thus, the term humanities refer to the arts – the visual

arts such as architecture, painting and sculpture; music, dance, the theater or drama and

literature. They are the branches of learning concerned with human thought, feelings and

relations. The importance of the human being and his feelings and how he expresses those

feelings have always been the concern of the humanities.

Art is very important in our lives. It constitutes one of the oldest and most important

means of expression developed by man. Wherever men have lived together, art has sprung up

among them as a language charged with feeling and significance. The desire to create this

language appears to be universal. As a cultural force, it is pervasive and potent. It shows itse lf

even in primitive societies.

Art, like love, is not easy to define. It concerns itself with the communication of certain

ideas and feelings by means of a sensuous medium – color, sound, bronze, marble, words and

film. This medium is fashioned into a symbolic language marked by beauty of design and

coherence of form, it appeals to our minds, arouses our emotions, kindles our imagination and

enchants our senses. (Machlis 1963).

In every age or country, there is always art. Wherever we go, whether it is a city or a

province, here or abroad, we surely have to pass buildings of various sorts – houses, schools,

churches, stores and others. Some of them appear attractive and inviting; some do not. We look

at some of them with awe or admiration. In viewing all these buildings, however, we are being
concerned with architecture which is one of the oldest and most important of the many areas of

art.

The art that we perceive through our eyes is called the visual art, and architecture is one

part of it. Visual arts involve not only painting and sculpture but include such things as clothes,

household appliances, and the furnishings of our homes, schools, churches and other buildings.

Through the ideas selected by painters and sculptors and the forms they create, they express the

ideals, the hopes, and the fears of the times in which they live.

Visual arts include much more than painting, sculpture and architecture. Out of the many

common things we use in our daily lives, we derive real pleasure. A chair, for example, can be

beautiful as well as comfortable. A great range of objects can be included in the visual arts, from

the purely useful products at one extreme to those that were designed only for their aesthetic

appeal on the other. A similar range exists in all other fields of art. Because of this range, we

are surrounded by art in all the things we see, hear, do or use. The aesthetic aspects of any work

– a painting, song, story, dance, or play – are what make it art. Aesthetic refers to the forms and

psychological forms of art.

Another form of the more important arts is music. This is the art of combining and

regulating sounds of varying pitch to produce compositions expressing various ideas and

emotions. Its primary function is to entertain. Thus, when sounds are not regulated or when a

piece of music is played improperly or in full blast, as in the case of unregulated stereo, it ceases

to give pleasure or it fails in its purpose. Music is one of the great arts of our civilization, along

with literature, painting, sculpture, architecture and dance. As an art, it bases is appeal on the

sensuous beauty of musical sounds.

 Like the other arts, music deals with emotions. It being a “pure art” enables it to convey

emotions with great intensity and can affect people directly. It is a broad and varied field,

serving various moods and occasions. Great music especially, radiates infectious joy. Many

who are receptive to great music find it exhilarating. If we tune into a musical program on the

radio, or sing a song with others, we are having contact with music. The radio or television

program may consist of a soloist or a singing group of musicians in a small band or a large

orchestra. The song we sing may be a tune which is popular now but may possibly be forgotten

later. It may be a selection which has been sung or played for several decades.

Dance is another form of art that is common to man even during the earliest

times. It is the most direct of the arts for it makes use of the human body as its medium. It

springs from man’s love for expressive gestures, his release of tension through rhythmic

movement. Dance heightens the pleasure of being, and at the same time mirrors the life of

society. Dance of the olden times is different from that of the present time; the dance of the

barrio folds is different from the dances in the city. Primitive and non-primitive dances: The

Ifugaos dance to celebrate the victory of the warriors after a fight with their enemies. Likewise,

the Bagobos, dance to show gratitude to the spirits “for success in war or domestic affair.” The

Indians dance to give thanks for a harvest; the Mexicans dance to celebrate a religious festival;

teenagers dance at parties; both young and old go to disco bars; and children everywhere dance

because it is pleasurable to express happiness through bodily movements. In its expressive

aspects, dance is uniquely able to intensify moods and emotions and to deepen and dignify the

feelings of us all (Compton’s Encyclopedia 1974).

 The area of the theater or drama is another of the important arts. Dramatic activities are

usually part of every school and community program. Classes dramatize the events they are

studying; clubs, organizations and institutions stage plays. Going to the theater to see a play is a

wonderful experience. The play may be a comedy, tragedy, mystery, musical or melodrama. In

any of them, a group of people act out the plot to get across to the audience the idea the author is

trying to express.

Essentially, the stage is a place for re-enacting the joys and problems of life, a place

where the playwright strips life of nonessentials and deals with basic and important issues. The

spectators get involved in these situations and thus gain greater insight into human motives and

passions. The motion picture is a popular addition to the various forms of the theater. Through

it, a great number of people are able to see dramatic performances every day. The radio makes

drama available for the auditory sense and the imagination. The television, too, brings the art of

the drama to many people. Theatrical productions, including motion pictures and television,

combine art forms.

The play itself is a form of literature. Scenery and costume provide the visual arts, and

music serve as a background to set the mood or to serve as part of the plot. The opera is a drama

set to music. Thus, it is a form of the theater. In many musical shows, dancers are also

important performers. The theater, therefore, combines several of the arts. It is also necessary

that we distinguish between art and nature for they are fundamentally different. We may be

impressed by the majesty of the perfect cone of Mayon Volcano, the awesome beauty of

Pagsanjan Falls or the sunset at Manila Bay and thus, react to the wonders of nature. No matter

how close art is to nature, however, art always shows that it is man-made. It is an interpretation

of nature and of life.

 Importance to the study of visual art as a worthwhile educational undertaking and to the

avenues that promote the arts in the country and elsewhere

Arts is hands-on, has immediate rewards, focuses on positive achievements,

develops concrete products and fosters collaboration. The arts provide many opportunities for

students to demonstrate their skills through authentic performance. The arts enable children to

grow in confidence and learn how to think positively about themselves and learning. Arts

education helps make learning matter to students by giving them a medium to connect new

knowledge to personal experiences and express what they have learned to others.

a. Children learn positive habits, behaviors and attitudes - Arts education helps foster a

positive culture and climate in schools. When schools integrate the arts across the

curriculum, disciplinary referrals decrease while effectiveness of instruction and teachers’

ability to meet the needs of all students increase. Learning a musical instrument, creating

a painting, learning to dance, or singing in a chorus teaches that taking small steps,

practicing to improve, being persistent, and being patient are important for children’s

growth and improvement. Students gain confidence as they try to accomplish things that

do not come easily. Learning an artistic discipline helps young people develop character.

Students learn habits, behaviors and attitudes that are necessary for success in any field of

endeavor.

b. Arts in classical education - Arts education develops creativity, one of the top five skills

employers prize for the 21st century. Students receiving an arts-rich education perform

better on assessments of creativity than do students receiving little or no arts education.

Performing arts students, for example, show greater flexibility and adaptability in
 thinking than their peers. Imagine classes in which students create original artwork filled

with color that displays a creative use of space, developing their own rhythms, or writing

and producing their own plays. These classes provide a wonderful environment for

fostering creativity, which is an important skill to have in a rapidly changing world.

c. Students sharpen critical intellectual skills - The arts foster higher levels of thinking that

carry over to learning other academic subjects as well as to life outside of school.

Through the arts, children learn to observe, interpret, see different perspectives, analyze,

and synthesize. In a world where students must frequently wade through a sea of

information to determine which facts are trustworthy and relevant to a particular topic,

critical thinking skills are key to college readiness and lifelong learning.

d. Arts teach methods for learning language skills - As students learn to read notes,

compose music, play an instrument, memorize dance steps, create a painting, and act in a

drama; they are also learning how to develop new concepts, build vocabulary and

understand a new language.

e. Arts help students learn mathematics - The arts require measurement, number

manipulation, and proportional thinking, all of which foster mathematical thinking.

Students also learn patterns (musical rhythms and dance patterns), spatial and geometric

relationships (visual art patterns) and three dimensional skills (making clay models).

Students who study the arts, especially music, outperform their non-arts peers on

mathematics assessments. Arts integrated math instruction also facilitates mastery of

computation and estimation skills, and challenging concepts like fractions.

f. Arts expand on and enrich learning in other subjects - Works of art provide a visual

context for learning about historical periods. Music, painting, drama, and dance help

literature come alive. Graphic designs and drawings, such as those made by inventors and

engineers, complement learning about scientific and technological principles and

innovations. A report by Americans for the Arts states that young people who participate

regularly in the arts (three hours a day for three days a week) are four times more likely

to be recognized for academic achievement, to participate in a math and science fair or to

win an award for writing an essay or poem than children who do not participate.

g. Aesthetic learning is its own reward - The arts teach young people about beauty,

proportion, and grace. Students can examine conflict, power, emotion, and life itself. The

power of the arts is in its wondrous ability to give us joy, help us understand tragedy,

promote empathy and make the written word come alive.

h. Students practice teamwork - Art-making allows students to experience what it feels like

to be active members of a community and to work as a team to determine and achieve

common goals. In developing a theatrical production, group performance, or any type of

collaborative artistic endeavor, students practice the fine art of teamwork. As they work

together, they learn to understand differences and diversity and realize the ways that

teamwork contributes to a great performance. By also teaching students how to live and

work together, the arts contribute to making schools safer and more peaceful learning

environments. In the arts, students learn to articulate their intentions, receive and offer

constructive criticism and listen actively to others’ ideas.

i. Arts education increases capacity for leadership - Students who participate in the arts

develop leadership skills, including decision-making, strategy building, planning and

reflection. They also prepare to use these skills effectively by developing a strong sense

of identity and confidence in their ability to affect the world around them in meaningful

ways.
 REFERENCES

 https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/encounterswiththeartsartc150/chapter/formal-

elements-art/

 http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/genres/history-painting.htm

 https://www.masterpiecemixers.com/art-affect-culture-society/

 http://christinevcubillo.weebly.com/

 https://libertyclassicalacademy.org/importance-arts-education/