PART II

Subject and Content

Filipinos are not museum-going public. Most of us were only expose to museums during
educational tour in our elementary and high school days. This is the reason why a huge
number of the community find it difficult and challenging recognizing the message of a
certain artwork when they look at it. But every time we gaze on a certain work of art, there
are three things that we usually try to recognize and identify:
• One must be able to extract a specific image
• Isolate the artist or makers’ intention
• Unearth a particular meaning

Basic Components of a work of art

1. Subject – refers to the visual focus of the image that may be extracted from examining
the artwork /what
2. Content – the meaning that is communicated by the artist or the artwork /why
3. Form – the development and configuration of the artwork /how
- How the elements and the medium or material are put together

Types of Subject

• Representational art – refer to objects or events occurring in the real world

- Also called figurative art because the figures depicted are easy to make out and decipher
• Non-representational art - does not make a reference to the real world whether it is a
person, place, thing or even a particular event
- mainly visual elements such as shapes, lines and colors that are employed to translate
a particular feeling, emotion and even concept

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Representational Art Non-representational Art

Sources of Subject

1. Nature - in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe,
material world or material universe.
2. People - They are considered the most interesting subject of an artwork which may be
real or imagined. People as subjects may be presented as individuals or groups.
3. History - It is the depiction of factual events that occurred in the past whose purpose
is either to remember important events of long ago or to teach the learners about the
lessons of the past.
4. Legends - Artworks based on legends present to viewers of the art something tangible
even when unverified.
5. Religion - Artists used as inspiration the religious texts as the Bible, Quran and Torah
in conveying their ideas and beliefs through their art works.
6. Mythology - These are sources of subjects that come from the stories of gods and
goddesses of
Ancient Greece, Rome, Norse and Egyptians.
7. Dreams and Fantasy - The wonder of the unconscious is what is being expressed by
art works under this subject source.
8. Technology - The modernity of the present is also an inspiration being used by artists
as a source of subject.

Content in Art
(Why was the artwork created in the first place?)
To understand the meaning or message of a certain work of art, we must first identify the
different levels of meaning. One may ask the question “Why is my interpretation of a
certain artwork different from others?” or “Why is the lesson that I got from a movie or
from a certain song different from the lesson that they learned?”

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Different Levels of Meaning

• Factual meaning – the literal statement or the narrative content in the work which can
be directly apprehended because the objects presented are easily recognized.
Example:
If it is a drawing of a leaf, then the factual meaning is a leaf.
If it is a statement in a book that says “After a dreadful and dark night comes the dawn of
a new day” then the factual meaning is, it was an awful night then comes the morning
after.
• Conventional meaning – refers to the special meaning that a certain object or color
has for a particular culture or group of people. It also pertains to the acknowledged
interpretation of the artwork using motifs, signs, symbol and other cyphers as bases of its
meaning.
Example:
If it is a drawing of a leaf, but it is a maple leaf, then the conventional meaning is, it
represents the country Canada.
If it is a statement in a book that says “After a dreadful and dark night comes the dawn of
a new day” then the conventional meaning is, “after the time of difficulties and trials, there
is always hope”

Common symbols and signs to portray Conventional meaning

Love Peace Justice

Abusive person of authority Knowledge / Education Medicine

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 Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania

• Subjective meaning – these meanings stem from the viewer’s or audience’

circumstances that come into play when engaging with art. The meaning may not be
singular, rather, multiple and varied.

Factors affecting subjective meaning:

1. What we know
2. What we learned
3. What we experienced
4. The values we stand for

This is why if we listen to a song or watch a movie, the lesson that student 1 may learn
may be different from the lesson that student 2 may acquire.

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PART III
Elements of the Combined Arts

Elements of Music

1. Rhythm - is a movement or pattern with uniform recurrence of accented and

accented beat

2. Melody - is the succession of tones arranged in such a way as to give it a musical

sense. It may also refer to the rising and falling of the tune in time.

3. Harmony - is the sounding of a series of groups of tones in the same time. It may
also refer to the pleasing sound that is produced when two or more notes are played
together.

4. Timbre - is tonal quality or the character of the tone that is produced by an instrument
or by the human voice. Timbre allows the listener to distinguish the sound between a
guitar and a violin for example. In the same way, people can be identified by their
voices. A man’s voice sounds different from a woman’s voice and an old person’s voice
is different from that of a child.

5. Form - is the structure or the framework of a composition.

Vocal Forms

■ Opera is a drama set to music complete with actions, costumes and

scenery
■ Cantata is a religious story told in music without actions
■ Moro-moro is a Philippine drama set to music which depicts the conflict between the
Christians and the Muslims.

Instrumental Forms
■ Sonata is a long composition for solo instruments (piano, Violin)
■ Symphony is a sonata for the orchestra

6. Dynamics - is the loudness and softness of the sound in music indicated by symbols
to regulate the volume of the sound.

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Medium of Music

A. Vocal Medium- The oldest and most popular medium for music is the human
voice.

Classification of Human Voice (Komien, 2008):

∙ Soprano - Highest female singing voice.
∙ Contralto - Female singing voice that is low and rich in quality.
∙ Tenor - Highest adult male singing voice.
∙ Bass - Male singing voice that is low and rich in quality.
∙ Baritone - Male singing voice that is between tenor and bass.

B. Instrumental Medium- Materials that produce/create sound

Traditional Instruments of Music:

String Instruments- Provide basic orchestral sounds. Two kinds are: Bowed strings
that produce tones by means of a bow of horse hair and Plucked strings that produce
tones by plucking the strings with a finger or with a plectrum held in one’s hand.

Bowed Strings

Plucked strings

∙ Woodwind Instruments - Create sounds by blowing into them.

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 ∙ Brass Instruments - Have cup-shaped mouthpieces and expands into a bell
shaped end.

∙ Percussion Instruments- Makes sound by hitting them.

∙ Keyboard Instruments- Make sound by means of a keyboard which consist of a

series of black and white keys.

Cinema, Genres of Motion Pictures and People behind Motion Pictures

A. Cinema - Series of images that are projected onto a screen to create the
illusion of motion.

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B. Genres of Motion Pictures:

∙ Feature Films - Commonly shown in movie theaters.

∙ Animated movies - Use images created by artists/ animators.
∙ Documentary movies deal primarily with facts, not fiction.
∙ Experimental films - Sequence of images, literal or abstract, which do not
necessarily form a narrative.
∙ Educational Films - Specifically intended to facilitate learning at home or
classrooms.

C. People behind a Motion Picture

∙ Actors - Play the roles of the characters.

∙ Producer - handles finances.
∙ Screenwriter - develops stories and ideas for the screen or adapts interesting
written pieces of work as motion pictures.
∙ Director - Studies the script, plans and visualizes how the film should be portrayed
and guides the actors and the production crew as they carry out the project.

Elements of Cinema (Motion Picture)

∙ Acting and the Stars. Acting is the art of portraying or impersonating a character in
the story. A performer during filming should embody the character he is portraying.
The actor’s portrayal must be perfect and complete.

∙ Set and Directors should know the setting of the story and build artificial sets.

∙ Music and Musical Director. Music is indispensable in motion pictures. The

musical director is in charge of selecting, composing new songs, writing orchestration,
preparing background music, creating musical scores and supervising all recording.
∙ Color in the movies is an innovation in cinematography. It costs twice as much as the
black and white films. Most films are now shown in high definition (HD) color.
∙ Make-up, Hair and Costume Design. These people are responsible for applying
the specific type of make-up, hairstyle and costume to the actors before they face the
camera.
∙ Sound, Camera and Special Effects Technicians. Sound technicians are responsible
for making the dialogue clear and music of fine quality. They make sure that there is
no background noise. The use of cameras and the functions of the special effects
technician is indispensable in cinematography. They decide on the use of masking,
the choice of lens, the camera angle and the control of camera movements.

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Media of Architecture
Materials that are used for Creating Building and Infrastructures:
∙ Stones and Bricks - Stones are favored over other materials for its durability,
adaptability to sculptural treatment and its use for building simple structures in its natural
state.

∙ Lumber (wood) - All parts of a building can be constructed using wood except
the foundations.

∙ Iron and Steel - Provide stronger and taller structures with less use of material
when compared to stone or wood.

∙ Concrete - Mixture of cement and water, with aggregates of sand and gravel.

Types of Literature

∙ Poetry- It used to follow strict rules s to the number and length of lines and stanzas but
in recent years they have become more free-flowing

∙ Fiction- Written work that is not real and which uses elaborate figurative language.

∙ Non-fiction- Subject matter comes from real life.

∙ Drama- Includes all plays or any written works that are meant to be performed.

Lesson 1 - The Process of Art Production

Production is at the heart of making art. Artists and theorists have long acknowledged its
importance as both an artistic action and an idea to be explored. And as the role of
production has shifted in our lives, so have the ways in which artists have responded to
it. While some contemporary artists foreground production as a tool, others use their work
to explore ideas around production we might otherwise overlook. It can refer to the
making of something, or to a final product, like a theatrical performance.
It can be the process of bringing a song or musical to life or honing that work to perfection.
Production might bring out images of factory production lines, or even the theories of
scientists and philosophers after the mind has conceived it through a certain process.

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A. Medium
When an artist is ready to express himself in art and to give shape to his vision, his first
thought would be on what medium to use.

B. The Technique
The technique of the artwork shows the level of familiarity with the medium being
manipulated.

C. Curation
Derived from the word “curare” which means to take care. It is a process that involves
managing, overseeing and assembling or putting together a presentation or exhibit for
some type of artistic collection.

PART IV

Elements of Arts

1. Line
2. Color
3. Shape
4. Texture
5. Space
6. Movement

Line

• It is the path made by a moving point

• A series of dots
• A prolongation of points
• An intended mark made by the artist to convey meaning beyond its physical description

Kinds of Lines

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1. Straight Lines – are geometric and impersonal and differ in the direction they take.
They may move from left to right, start from top going down, slant or move up and down
forming angles. Whatever is the direction, each kind indicates a specific type of emotion.
a) Horizontal lines – move from left to right or vice versa. It is the line that appears to be
laying down

b) Vertical lines – start from the bottom going up or vice versa. It is the line that appears
to be standing

c) Diagonal lines – are slanting lines. In visual art it suggests two meanings, a positive
and negative one. On the positive, it indicates action and movement. On the negative, it
conveys a feeling of uncertainty, stress or defeat.

d) Zigzag line – are angular lines that resulted because of abrupt change in the direction
of a straight line thus forming angles.

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2. Curved lines – are technically curvilinear lines. These lines are found in nature
particularly in living organisms.

Color

• A property of light, so when the light goes out, color goes with it.
• It expresses moods, feelings and personality

Properties of Color

1. Hue – the name given to the color, for example: red, green, violet and blue
2. Value – refers to the lightness and darkness of a color.
3. Intensity – denotes the brightness and dullness of a color.

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Shape
• In visual arts, a shape is formed when two ends of a line meet to enclose an area.

Shape vs. Form

• Shape refers to 2 dimensions: height and width

• Form is refers to three dimensions: height, width and
depth.

Classification of Shapes

1. Natural or organic shapes – are those seen in nature like the shapes of leaves,
animals, mountains, flowers and seashells.

2. Abstract shapes – are those that have little or no resemblance to natural objects

3. Non-objective or biomorphic shapes – seldom have reference to recognizable

objects, but most often show a similarity to some organic forms

4. Geometric shapes – are the triangles, rectangles, squares, cylinders, cubes, etc.

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Texture

• Refers to the feel or tactile quality of the surface of an object.

Example:

• Rough or smooth
• Fine or coarse
• Polished or dull
• Plain or irregular

Space
• Space is an illusion in the graphic arts.

• Created by techniques that adds depth and distance to two-dimensional

art

• In sculpture and architecture, space is actually present

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 SPACE
• Positive and Negative Space – this is usually identified
with the white space is the negative space. The positive
space on the other hand is the space where shadow is
heavily used

Movement
• Portrays motion in artworks

2 ways to present motion or movement

1. Actual movement in art, specifically in sculptures results in

kinetic art. Actual movements may be achieved naturally using
wind and water or mechanically through some energy source
(Batteries or electricity).

2. Implied movement results when a variety of lines are used

together, repeated, changed in position, or decreased/increased
in size. This gives the impression of movement in a stationary
two- dimensional art.

Principles of Art

1. Balance
2. Scale and Proportion
3. Emphasis
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4. Contrast
5. Unity
6. Variety
7. Harmony
8. Movement
9. Rhythm
10. Repetition
11. Pattern

Principles of Art

1. Balance – refers to the distribution of the visual elements in view of their placement in
relation to each other. 3 forms of balance:

• Symmetrical – the elements used on one side are reflected on the other
• Asymmetrical – the elements are not the same on each side, putting the heaviness on
one side
• Radial – there is a central point in the composition, around which the elements and
objects are distributed.

Principles of Art

2. Scale and Proportion – the size of an object in relation to another or relative to a

whole composition.
• Natural – relates to the realistic size-relations of the visual elements in the artwork.
• Exaggerated – this refer to the unusual size-relation of visual elements
• Idealized – the size-relation of elements achieve the most ideal size-relation.

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Principles of Art

3. Emphasis – allows the attention of the viewer to a focal point, accentuating or drawing
attention to these elements or objects

Principles of Art

4. Contrast – the disparity between the elements that figure into the composition. One
object may be made stronger as compared to other objects

Principles of Art

5. Unity – a sense of accord or completeness from the artwork

6. Variety – the principle that aims to retain the interest by allowing patches or areas that
both excite and allow the eye to rest.

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Principles of Art

7. Harmony – elements or objects achieve a sense of flow and interconnectedness

Principles of Art

8. Movement – refers to the direction of the viewing eye as it goes through the artwork,
often guided by the areas or elements that are emphasized.

Principles of Art
9. Rhythm – this is created when an element is repeated, creating implied movement

10. Repetition – the elements may appear in the artwork in a recurring manner
11. Pattern – the image created out of repetition.

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