UNIT

VISUAL ART PROCESSES

Warming up
Art is a visual language; I'm just perfecting my alphabet
Zachary A. Diaz

Exercise 1. Read the text, pay attention to the unknown words.

The visual arts are art forms that create works that are primarily visual in nature, such
as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, photography, video,
film making and architecture. These definitions should not be taken too strictly as many
artistic disciplines (performing arts, conceptual art, textile arts) involve aspects of the
visual arts as well as arts of other types. Also included within the visual arts are the
applied arts such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design and
decorative art.
Artists Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque invented a new method of making images
around 1921. They called it collage after a French word that means 'to paste', and that's
exactly what you do.
A collage is an image made from materials that are cut and pasted together to make a
new whole. What kind of material? Things like fabric scraps, newspaper articles and
pictures, images from magazines, wallpaper pieces, photographs, string, or even tin foil
and plastic wrappers.
Mosaics also use many small parts, but these are a bit more durable and permanent.
Mosaics are made by mounting pieces of stone, glass, or shell with mortar (a strong glue-
like substance made of cement, sand, and other binders) onto a surface. Making mosaics is
an old art form, dating back to the ancient Romans.
In printmaking, you create an image on a printing plate and transfer it to another
surface. All printmaking methods have several steps. First you prepare an image on the
printing plate. Then you ink the plate and use specific tools to transfer the image to
material like paper or fabric. Printmaking allows the artist to make more than one image,
each one considered an original work of art. There are four kinds of printmaking:
1. Relief printing uses a base material like wood or linoleum. You carve an image
into the material, removing any surface areas that you don't want to print. Then you brush
the resulting image with ink and print it.
2. Intaglio printing gets its name from an Italian word that means 'to cut into'. In
intaglio, images are incised, or drawn in a way that creates grooves, on a metal plate. If
you are making an 'etching', where acid will be used to remove unwanted print space, the
plate is covered with a substance that resists acid. The plate surface is drawn on with a
sharp point, exposing the material beneath. The plate is dipped in an acid solution that eats
into the exposed lines. When it's ready, it is removed, cleaned, inked, and run through a
press. The image is then printed on paper. If you are doing an 'engraving', you draw
directly on the plate with a sharp tool. You then ink the plate and print it. Engravings tend
to have softer, more delicate lines than etchings. In both cases, when you run your finger
over the resulting print, you can feel the raised surface where the lines and ink came into
contact.
 3. Lithography is a method of printing where an image is drawn on a surface, like
stone or metal. The tool used to do the drawing is made of a greasy substance that attracts
ink, and the plate is treated so that only those areas will print. Then the plate is rinsed,
inked, and pulled through a press.
4. Screenprinting uses a stencil that is attached to a fabric or nylon screen stretched
tight over a frame (usually wood). Ink is pressed over the screen, and it seeps through any
openings in the stencil, resulting in a print. If you want more than one color in your print,
each color must have its own screen.
You can also use stencils to create images on walls, signs, and posters. The stencil is a
thin sheet of paper or plastic that has an image cut out of it. You attach the stencil to the
surface you want to decorate and apply ink or paint over it. Stencils can be used more than
once and are a very cost effective way of decorating large areas or creating a more
distinctive result than using wallpaper or regular house paint.
In the mid-1800s, the invention of photography added another tool to the artist's
arsenal. Photography is the process of using a lens to capture optical images and then
process them onto light-sensitive surfaces, like paper or metal. For most of its history,
photography depended on cameras, film, developing chemicals, and special paper to get a
finished product, but today, with digital equipment, most of the work is done by computer,
although some artists still use a film camera and develop their images by hand.
Another way of making visual art is through digital imaging. This involves tiny
pixels, or small dots, that have specific locations, or addresses, within an image on the
digital screen. For digital images, the higher the pixel count, the clearer the image, and the
larger it can be. Some artists create images on computers using programs like Adobe
Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator. Other artists use graphics pads and styluses that allow you
to draw an image that appears digitally on your computer screen.
There are many ways to make visual art in addition to drawing and painting.
 Collage is an image made from materials that are cut and pasted together.
 Mosaics are stone, glass, or shell mounted with mortar.
 Printmaking is to create an image on a printing plate and transfer it to another
surface. It includes relief, intaglio, lithography, and screenprinting.
 Stencils are images cut out of paper or plastic that you can trace.
 Photography uses a lens to capture optical images and then processes them onto
light-sensitive surfaces.
 Digital imaging involves computers and manipulating pixels.

Exercise 2. Answer the following questions.

1. What do you mean by visual art?
2. What are the example of visual arts?
3. What are the art processes?
4. What is the example of art process?
5. What does collage mean in art?
6. What is photography?
7. What does the digital image involve?
8. What is mosaic in art?
9. What is the use of collage?
 10. How do you describe stencils?

Exercise 3. Match the definitions with explanations.

1 printmaking a is the art, application, and practice of creating
durable images by recording light, either electronically
by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of
a light-sensitive material
2 mosaic b is a process where ink is forced through a mesh screen
onto a surface.
3 photography c is a printing process that uses a flat stone or metal plate
on which the image areas are worked using a greasy
substance so that the ink will adhere to them by, while
the non-image areas are made ink-repellent
4 relief d is the process of printing motifs or patterns
onto a surface, with the help of ink and pressure
5 intaglio e a technique for reproducing designs by passing ink or
paint over holes cut in cardboard or metal onto the
surface to be decorated
6 screen f is a sculptural technique where the sculpted elements
printing remain attached to a solid background of the same
material.
7 collage g is the art of making digital images – photographs,
printed texts, or artwork - through the use of a digital
camera or image machine, or by scanning them as a
document.
8 lithography h
is a piece of art or image made from the assemblage
of small pieces of coloured glass, stone, or other
materials
9 digital i a piece of art made by sticking various different
imaging materials such as photographs and pieces of paper or
fabric on to a backing
1 stencil j is the family of printing and printmaking techniques in
0 which the image is incised into a surface and the incised
line or sunken area holds the in
Answers: 1) d; 2) h; 3) a; 4) f; 5) j; 6) b; 7) I; 8) c; 9) g; 10) e

Exercise 4. Read the text. Use the word in brackets to form a word that fits best in
the sentence.
What Types of Art Are Visual Arts?
The visual arts include mediums such as drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture,
photography, film, and printmaking. Many of these pieces of art are created to stimulate us
through a visual experience. When we look at them, they often provoke a feeling of some
sort.
 Within the visual arts is a category known as the 1) ____ (decorate) arts, or craft. This
is art that is more utilitarian and has a function but retains an artistic style and still requires
talent to create. The decorative arts include ceramics, furniture making, textiles, interior
design, jewelry making, metal crafting, and woodworking.
The arts, as a term, has an interesting history. During the Middle Ages, the arts were
scholarly, limited to seven categories, and did not involve creating anything for people to
look at. They were grammar, rhetoric, 2) ____ (dialect) logic, arithmetic, geometry,
astronomy, and music.
To further confuse matters, these seven arts were known as the fine arts, in order to
distinguish them from the 3) ____ (use) arts because only "fine" people - those who did
not do manual labor - studied them. Presumably, the useful arts people were too busy
being useful to require an education.
At some point in the 4) ___ (ensure) centuries, people realized there was a difference
between a science and an art. The phrase fine arts came to mean anything that had been
created to please the senses. After 5) ___ (lose) the sciences, the list then included music,
dance, opera, and literature, as well as what we think of as the visual arts: painting,
sculpture, architecture, and the decorative arts.
That list of fine arts got a little long for some. During the 20th century, the fine arts
were split up into further categories.
 Literature
 Visual arts (e.g., painting, sculpture)
 Auditory arts (e.g., music, radio drama)
 Performance arts (can combine the other categories of arts, but they are 6) ___
(perform) live, such as theater and dance. Note the plural to distinguish it from
performance art, which is performed art that is not theater.)
Visual arts can also be subdivided into graphic arts (those done on a flat surface) and
plastic arts (e.g., sculpture).
What Makes Art 'Fine'?
Within the world of the visual arts, people still make 7) ___ (distinct) between "fine"
art and everything else. It really does get confusing, and it can change, depending on who
you're speaking with.
For instance, painting and sculpture are almost automatically classified as fine arts.
The decorative arts, which are at times exhibit a finer nature and craftsmanship than some
fine arts, are not called "fine."
Additionally, visual artists sometimes refer to themselves (or are referred to by others)
as fine artists, as opposed to 8) ____ (commerce) artists. However, some commercial art is
really wonderful - even "fine," some would say.
Because an artist needs to sell art in order to remain a working artist, a strong
argument could be made that most art is commercial. Instead, the category of commercial
art is 9) ___ (type) reserved for art created to sell something else, such as for an
advertisement.
This is 10) ___ (exact) the kind of wording that puts many people off of art.
Answers: 1) decorative; 2) dialectic; 3) useful; 4) ensuing; 5) losing; 6) performed; 7)
distinctions; 8) commercial; 9) typically; 10) exactly
 Exercise 5. Choose the most suitable word/ phrase for each sentence. The explanation of the words is given.
Make the words grammatically correct where it is necessary.
visual discipline body status graphic
carver decorate category head assemblage
What Does Visual Art Include?
Definitions of visual art usually encompass the following:
1. Fine Arts All fine art belongs to the general 1) ___ (a type, or a group of things
having some features that are the same) of visual arts. These include activities such as:
Drawing, Painting, Printmaking and Sculpture, along with associated activities like
Graphic art, Manuscript Illumination, Book Illustration, Calligraphy and Architecture.
2. Contemporary Arts The visual arts also include a number of modern art forms,
such as: Assemblage, Collage, Mixed-media, Conceptual Art, Installation, Happenings
and Performance art, along with film-based 2) ___ (training that makes people more
willing to obey or more able to control themselves, often in the form of rules, and
punishments if these are broken, or the behaviour produced by this training) such as
Photography, Video Art and Animation, or any combination thereof. This group of
activities also includes high tech disciplines like computer 3) ___ (pictures shown on
a computer screen) and giclee prints. Another modern visual art, is the new environmental
or Land art, which also includes transitory forms like ice/snow sculpture, and
(presumably) graffiti art.
3. Decorative Arts & Crafts In addition, the general category of visual arts
encompasses a number of 4) ___ (made to look attractive) art disciplines and crafts,
including: ceramics and studio pottery, mosaic art, mobiles, tapestry, glass art (including
stained glass), and others.
4. Other Wider definitions of 5) ___ (relating to seeing)art sometimes include applied
art areas such as graphic design, fashion design, and interior design. In addition, new types
of Body art may also fall under the general 6) ___ (words written or printed at the top of
a text as a title) of visual arts. These include: tatto art, face painting, and body painting.
Although various forms of art have been practised for hundreds of millennia, it is only
comparatively recently that the role of the "artist" has emerged. During Classical
Antiquity, as well as the era of Byzantium, Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque and Gothic
art, painters and sculptors were treated as mere artisans - paint-applyers or 7) ____
(a knife with a blade that is moved very quickly by electricity). Then, during the
Renaissance, thanks to individuals such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, the
profession of "artist" was raised to a new higher level, reflecting the newly perceived
importance of the "design" element - or "disegno". Suddenly, painters and sculptors had a
new unique 8) ___ (an accepted or official position, especially in a social group) - on a par
with architects. For fine artists, this situation has remained largely unchanged to this day,
except that they have now been joined by visual artists involved in installation, video art,
conceptual works, 9) ____ (the process of joining or putting things together) and the like.
Some crafts are also included under the umbrella of visual art, although most continue to
be funded by "crafts" (rather than "arts" 10) ____ (a large amount of something) .
Answers: 1) category; 2) disciplines; 3) graphics; 4) decorative; 5) visual; 6) heading;
7) carvers; 8) status; 9) assemblage; 10) bodies
 Exercise 6. Find the synonyms to the following words in the text above Exercise 5.
1) publish 6) rank, position
2) mixture 7) skill
3) visible 8) discern
4) structure 9) scheme
5) cover 10) trifling
Answers: 1) print; 2) combination; 3) visual; 4) form; 5) encompass; 6) level; 7) craft;
8) perceive; 9) design; 10) mere

Exercise 6. Find the opposites of these words in Exercise 5.

1) restricted 6) abandon
2) content 7) ordinary
3) omit 8) ancient
4) disappear 9) absorb
5) separate 10) old
Answers: 1) general; 2) form; 3) include; 4) emerge; 5) join; 6) continue; 7) unique; 8)
modern; 9) reflect; 10) new

Listening. Exercise 7. Complete the sentences with the words and phrases from the
box. Listen to the extract and check your answers. (Understanding Visual Art)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01AaFm88Smk
consider; representation; focal point; representation; abstract; aesthetics;
appeals; abstract
1. ____ is the theory of perceiving and enjoying something for its beauty and
pleasurable qualities.
2. A(n) ____ a way to show emphasis in an artwork in which the artist sets an
element's apart from the others to create a visual center of interest immediately.
3. Any type of artwork that ____ primarily to the visual sense would be considered
visual art.
4. ____ art is a style of art that shows an easily identifiable realistic subject.
5. ____ art is a style of art that does not show a realistic subject.
6. Some people respond or consider some things to be beautiful while others ____
them not to be.
7. ____ art is mostly created with geometric shapes bold colors and lines.
8. ____ art can include human or animal figures, landscapes, cityscapes.
Answers: 1) aesthetics; 2) focal point; 3) appeals; 4) representation; 5) abstract; 6)
consider; 7) abstract; 8) representation

Exercise 8. Choose the best sentence below to fill each of the gaps. For each gap 1-
7 mark one letter (A-F). Do not use any letter more than once. One point is odd out.
A) on a flat, horizontal surface and then place larger sections
B) an impressive array of colors and patterns
C) found mosaics with colorful geometric patterns
D) a whole image or object
E) on different images
 F) up into small shapes and colors
G) small pieces of tile were found in a temple
A mosaic is a piece of art that is composed of many tiny pieces of glass or tile. To
make a decorative object into a mosaic, you can tile the surface, much like you would a
backsplash. From afar, mosaic art glistens with 1) ____. Up close, the intricacies involved
are unveiled, and you can see how much time and effort must have gone into creating the
artwork.
To be a prolific mosaic artist, you must exhibit patience and particular attention to
detail that allows you to see the whole broken 2) ____. However, you don’t need to be a
skilled artisan to try your hand at this ancient craft. Some basic knowledge will help you
lay the groundwork for your mosaic masterpiece.
A mosaic is an artistic technique that uses tiny parts to create 3) ____ . Mosaics are
usually assembled using small tiles that are made of glass, stone, or other materials.
Typically the tiles are square, but they can also be round or randomly shaped. The small
square tiles are known as tesserae, and the rounded tiles are known as pebbles.
There are two main methods for creating mosaics. The first is known as the direct
method. Using this technique, artists place the tiles directly on the final surface, whether
that be on a wall, table, or other objects.
The second method is known as the indirect method. This particular technique is ideal
for large scale pieces with a lot of intricate details. Here, artists place the tiles on a backing
paper that is later transferred to the final surface once the mosaic is complete. This
technique allows the artist to work 4) ____ at once on vertical surfaces like walls or
columns.
The term mosaic is likely derived from the Greek word “mousa,” meaning “muse.”
Mosaics as an art form have been around for thousands of years. Mosaics were first
discovered in ancient Mesopotamia, where 5) ____ from the third millennium BC. These
artifacts were random and straightforward. It wasn’t until the ancient Greeks and Romans
that mosaics began to depict real-life scenes, patterns, and symbols.
As years passed, mosaics became more intricate and realistic. Mosaic artwork became
culturally significant all over the world. Starting the fourth century, mosaics depicting
Christian scenes were immortalized in famous basilicas and churches all over Europe.
Archeologists have also 6) ____ in the Middle East and Asia.
Answers: 1) b; 2) f; 3) d; 4) a; 5) g; 6) c

Exercise 9. Choose the correct words a-d to complete the text.

What Is a Collage?
A collage is a form of visual arts in which visual elements are combined to 1) ___ a
new image that conveys a message or idea. Collage comes from the French word
“collér,” which means “to glue,” often the primary 2) ___ of combining images in
collage art. Collagers can draw these images from newspaper clippings or print
advertisements, or cull them from different materials, like photographs, fabric, wood,
and even ephemera. Collagers can apply the images to the 3) ___ of another work of art,
such as a canvas, to create a new single image.
There are several different subgenres of collage, including photomontage, fabric
collage, and découpage, each of which 4) ___ a variation of its basic form. Modern
technology has also led to the rise of digital collage art or eCollage created by computer
and photo-editing software programs.
4 Types of Collages
There are many different types of collages, all 5) ___ on the materials used,
including:
1. Papier collé. Taken from the French term meaning “pasted paper” or “paper
cut-out,” papier collé, or paper collage, is a collaging technique in which printed or
decorated paper is applied to a surface, such as canvas, to create a new 6) ___. The early
collage work of Picasso, Braque, and Spanish painter Juan Gris are examples of papier
collé.
2. Découpage. Initially used to describe a seventeenth-century form of furniture-
making and decoration, decoupage - taken from the French word “découper,” meaning
to “cut out” – 7) ___ the arranging and pasting of colored paper cutouts, often by
layering, to create an image. The image is then sealed with varnish. Henri Matisse
created many 8) ___ découpage artworks, such as Blue Nude II (1952), after illness
made painting more difficult for him to accomplish.
3. Photomontage. A collage created by cutting and gluing other photographs to
create a new image is known as photomontage or compositing. The new image is
frequently photographed to create a seamless 9) ___ to the photo collage. The
prominence of digital image-editing software has led to greater ease in creating
photomontage.
4. Assemblage. A technique by which three-dimensional images are created by
adding found objects to a flat surface, assemblage is a form of visual art related to
collage. Twentieth-century assemblage artists include Pablo Picasso, who used metal
scraps, and Robert Rauschenberg, whose mixed-media approach combined found 10)
___ and paint to create reliefs (a sculpture technique where the background appears
raised).

1 a generate b create c produce d construct

2 a methods b resources c ways d means
3 a outside b top c surface d land
4 a offers b provides c gives d proposes
5 a came b based c originated d involved
6 a picture b photo c reflection d image
7 a requires b contains c involves d concerns
8 a outstanding b notable c memorable d striking
9 a section b unit c element d component
10 a matter b substance c item d material
Answers: 1) b; 2) d; 3) c 4) a; 5) b; 6) d; 7) c; 8) b; 9) c; 10) d

Exercise 10. Choose the correct word or phrase to complete the sentences.
Sometimes more than one word is possible.
 1. Collages/ Stencils/ Relief can be created from a range of materials, though most are
made of paper or wood and often feature cut-and-pasted photographs, painted forms, or
even 3-dimensional objects.
2. A stencil/ mosaic/ intaglio is a piece of art or image made from the assemblage
of small pieces of coloured glass, stone, or other materials.
3. Photography/ Screen making/ Printmaking is an artistic process based on the
principle of transferring images from a matrix onto another surface, most often paper or
fabric.
4. Collage/ Printmaking/ Lithography - artistic practice transfers ink from a matrix
onto material - typically paper - making multiple impressions of the same image.
5. Photography/ Lithography/ Relief is the art of capturing light with a camera, usually
via a digital sensor or film, to create an image.
6. In intaglio/ collage/ relief printing, the artist draws a design on a smooth block of
material - usually wood or linoleum - and uses tools to carefully cut away the areas that
are not to be printed.
7. Relief/ Intaglio/ Stencil printing refers to a wide range of printmaking techniques
in which a plate surface is incised and the resulting lines are printed.
8. Printmaking/ Lithography/ Screen printing is the process of transferring a stenciled
design onto a flat surface using a mesh screen, ink and a squeegee.
9. Relief/ Lithography/ Photography is the process of printing from a plane surface
(such as a smooth stone or metal plate) on which the image to be printed is ink-receptive
and the blank area ink-repellent.
10. Photography/ Digital imaging/ Intaglio is the art of making digital images,
including printed text, artwork, and photographs via a digital scanner or
other imaging device.
Answers: 1) collage; 2) mosaic; 3) printmaking; 4) printmaking; 5) Photography; 6)
relief; 7) intaglio; 8) screen printing; 9) Lithography; 10) Digital imaging

Exercise 11. Project. Choose one of the Visual arts (collage, mosaic, photography
or other), make a short presentation (about 10-12 sentences) about it. Take the
image/ picture/ photo and explain what it belongs to.

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-are-the-visual-arts-182706
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/definitions/visual-art.htm
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/what-is-a-mosaic-4777181
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-a-collage#4-types-of-collages
https://mymodernmet.com/what-is-printmaking/