VISUAL ARTS

- arts that meet the eye and evoke the emotion through an expression of skill and
imagination. They include the most ancient forms, such as painting and drawing,
and the arts that were born thanks to the development of technology, like
sculpture, printmaking, photography, and installation art.
- forms that create works primarily visual in nature such as ceramics, drawing,
painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, photography
- performing arts, conceptual art and textile arts involve aspects of the visual arts
- also included are the applied arts such as industrial design, graphic design,
fashion design, interior design and decorative art.
- in making an art or craft work, students learn to manipulate visual elements such
as line, shape, colour, texture and form.
Visual design/art is used to create and organize elements to:
 lead the user’s eye to an item’s functionality and
 make the aesthetic consistent

ELEMENTS OF VISUAL ART

 Line (straight/curved/geometric/organic)- use these to create divisions,
textures and shapes
 Shapes – use lines, different colors, to create enclosed/self-contained areas.
 Negative space/white space- use the blank area around a “positive” shape to
create a figure/ground effect or calm the design overall.
 Volume- use this to show the rich fullness of all three dimensions of elements
on two dimensional screens.
 Value- use this to set the relationship between lightness and darkness, typically
through a light source to create shadows and highlights.
 Color- use this to set the theme/tone to attract attention.
 Texture- use this to define an object’s surface.

PRINCIPLES OF VISUAL ART

 Unity- use this to establish harmony between page elements, so they appear to
belong together and users aren’t distracted by chaotic layouts.
 Gestalt- use these principles of how people perceive objects to guide how users
interpret your design.
 Hierarchy- use placement, font, to show importance.
 Balance- use this to distribute elements evenly.
 Contrast- use difference in colors to accentuate elements.
  Scale- use this to emphasize elements to establish importance or depth.
 Dominance- use an object’s size, color to make it stand out.

Mediums Used in Visual Art

Medium refers to the materials used by the artist. It may vary in different art
form. Painting uses oil, water color, acrylic, poster paint, fresco or tempera. Sculpture
uses wood, plaster, marble, clay and other tactile materials.
 Drawing. This two-dimensional art can be done using chalk, charcoal, pastel or
pencil and ink on paper. Chalk allows the artist to have a variety of tonal area.
Charcoal is burnt wood and therefore creates smudge easily on paper. Pastel
comes light and pale color chalks. The dust it creates on paper can remain in
place through the use of fixative spray.
 Painting in oil is the most popular medium in two dimensional for the reason
that it offers a wide variety of colors. This can be used in canvas and the
pigments are used with oil. Texture can also be created through a variety of
brush strokes and several layers of paint.
 Water color Painting. This enables the artist to do transparent painting on
paper. Although watercolor allows for such effect, the artist has to be skillful
enough to work fast and control the colors because it dries up easily and once
the colors overlap, they create other color tones.
 Print falls under 3 categories, (1) relief printing, such as wood cut, wood
engraving, collograph, and linoleum cut; (2) intaglio, which includes etching and
aquatint; and (3) Planographic process, which includes lithography and
serigraphy (silkscreen) and other forms of stenciling.
 Photography is done with camera. An image is captured through the lens of
camera and is printed on photographic paper through a chemical process
 Clay is a medium used in sculpture. It comes in 3 forms: earthenware, which
can be sunbaked or kiln-baked; stoneware, which goes through much higher
firing that vitrifies the clay so that it becomes close- grained and non-porous;
and porcelain, which imparts a smooth finish, color decorative effects.

Examples of Visual Arts

 Advertisements, commercial prints, labels

 Artificial flowers and plants
 Artwork applied to clothing or to other useful articles
 Bumper stickers, decals, stickers
 Cartographic works, such as maps, globes, relief models
 Cartoons, comic strips
 Collages
 Dolls, toys
 Drawings, paintings, murals
 Enamel works
 Fabric, floor, and wallcovering designs
 Games, puzzles
 Greeting cards, postcards, stationery
 Holograms, computer and laser artwork
 Jewelry designs
 Models
 Mosaics
 Needlework and craft kits
 Original prints, such as engravings, etchings, serigraphs, silk screen prints,
woodblock prints
 Patterns for sewing, knitting, crochet, needlework
 Photographs, photomontages
 Posters
 Record jacket artwork or photography
 Relief and intaglio prints
 Reproductions, such as lithographs, collotypes
 Sculpture, such as carvings, ceramics, figurines, maquettes, molds, relief
sculptures
 Stained glass designs
 Stencils, cut-outs
 Technical drawings, architectural drawings or plans, blueprints, diagrams,
mechanical drawings
 Weaving designs, lace designs, tapestries