The Medium of Visual Art

Two types of Visual Art

A. Graphic or Two-dimensional Art

B. Plastic or Three-dimensional Art

1. Drawing

2. Painting

3. Mosaic

4. Collage

5. Printmaking
 – the fundamental skill needed in the visual art

The Different Media for Drawing

1. Pencil – this is made of

graphite which comes in
different hardness or
thickness, making possible
a wide range of value
 Different Shading Techniques

• Hatching – is drawing a series of parallel lines that run in the same direction

• Cross–hatching – is drawing a series of thin parallel lines and criss-crossing it with another set of thin parallel lines.
• Stippling – is using the sharp point of the pencil to make dot patterns to create depth in some parts of the drawing.

• Blending – accomplished by using the finger or a paper stump to gradually change the tone from dark to light.
 The Different Media for Drawing

2. Ink – one of the oldest material for

drawing that is still in use. It allows
for a great variety of qualities,
depending on the tools and
technique used in application.
 The Different Media for Drawing

3. Pastel – composed of dry

pigment held together by a
gum binder and compressed
into sticks. There are 3 kinds
of pastel: soft pastel, hard
pastel and oil pastel.
 The Different Media for Drawing

4. Charcoal – this is an
organic medium that
comes from burnt wood.
There are 2 kinds of
charcoal: the
compressed or
manufactured charcoal
and the vine charcoal.
 The Different Media for Drawing
5. Paper – the most common
surface used in two-
dimensional art. Paper is an
organic material made from
wood, grass and linen rags.
There are generally 3 types of
paper: hot-pressed paper is
smooth, cold-pressed paper has
moderate texture, and the
rough paper has the most
texture.
 – described as the art of creating beautiful effects on a
flat surface. It is the process of applying paint onto a smooth
surface like paper, cloth, canvas, wood or plaster.
 The Different Media used for Painting

1. Watercolor – for watercolor

paints, the pigments are
mixed with water and applied
to paper.
 The Different Media used for Painting

2. Gouache – this is paint in

which the pigment has been
mixed with water and added
with a chalk-like material to
give it an opaque effect.
 The Different Media used for Painting

3. Oil Paints – the pigments are

mixed with oil as its binder. This
medium was discovered by a
Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck in
the 15th century.
 The Different Media used for Painting

4. Tempera – this is pigment

mixed with egg yolk as
binder. Sometimes gum or
glue is used in place of egg.
The ideal surface for
tempera is wood.
 The Different Media used for Painting

5. Fresco – this is pigment

mixed with water and
applied on a portion of the
wall with wet plaster. The
wet plaster allows the color
to stick to the surface and
thus, becomes a permanent
part of the wall.
 The Different Media used for Painting

6. Acrylic – this is the modern

medium of synthetic paint
using acrylic emulsion as
binder. It is widely used by
contemporary painters. It
has the quick drying
quality of watercolor and is
as flexible as oil paints.
 Mosaic – are wall or floor decorations made of small
tiles or irregularly cut pieces of colored stones or glass
called tesserae. These are meticulously fitted together
to form a pattern and glued with plaster or cement.

(For classroom arts and crafts, however, mosaic art can be done on paper or
cardboard using seeds, egg shells, punched art paper and beads glued or pasted
to a pattern or drawing)
 – derived from a French word “coller”
which means “to stick”. A collage is a
technique of making an artwork by gluing or
pasting on a firm support materials or found
objects
 – a process used for making reproductions of
graphic works. Printmaking allows for the repeated transfer
of a master image from a printing plate onto a surface.
 B. Plastic or Three-Dimensional Art

– the word sculpture has originated from the

Latin word “sculpere” which means “to carve”. It is defined
as the art or practice of creating three-dimensional forms
or figures.
 3 Kinds of Sculpture

1. Freestanding – these are

sculptures which can be
viewed from all sides.
 3 Kinds of Sculpture
2. Relief – These are sculptures in which the figures project from
a background.
• Low relief (bas relief) – the figures are
slightly raised from its background,
less shadows are created.

• High relief – almost half of the

figures project from its
background, more shadows are
created.
 3 Kinds of Sculpture
3. Kinetic (mobiles) – A sculpture that is capable of movement by
wind, water or other forms of energy.