Visual Arts

Jonathan P. Espinosa
Instructor
WHAT IS VISUAL ARTS?

The visual arts are those creations that we can see

rather than something like the auditory arts, which we
hear. These art forms are extremely diverse, from the
artwork that hangs on your wall to the movie you
watched last night.
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.

Within the visual arts is a category known as the decorative

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.
History of ARTS

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, dialectic logic, arithmetic,
geometry, astronomy, and music.
 At some point in the ensuing 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 losing 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
• 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 performed 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 distinctions between "fine" art
and everything else. It really does get confusing, and it can change, depending on who
you're speaking with.

Additionally, visual artists sometimes refer to themselves (or are referred to by

others) as fine artists, as opposed to commercial artists. However, some commercial art
is wonderful — even "fine," some would say.

It would really simplify matters if we could all just stick with visual, auditory,
performance, or literary when we speak of the arts and eliminate fine altogether, but
that's now how the art world sees it.
What Is Visual Art?

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.
What is Public Art?

Public art is exactly that, art in public spaces. The

term “public art” may conjure images of historic
bronze statues of a soldier on horseback in a park.
Today, public art can take a wide range of forms,
sizes, and scales—and can be temporary or
permanent. Public art can include murals, sculpture,
memorials, integrated architectural or landscape
architectural work, community art, digital new media,
and even performances and festivals!
What is the difference between Arts and
Design?

Art is a wide range of human activities (or the products

thereof) that involve creative imagination and an aim to express
technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual 
ideas.
Design is a plan or specification for the construction of an
object or system or for the implementation of an activity or
process, or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a 
prototype, product or process. The verb to design expresses the
process of developing a design.
 The Difference Between Art And Design

1. Art is About Internal Constraints and Design is about External Constraints.

"One of the clear differences between art and design are where the constraints of a project are
derived. Art usually is generated by a set of self-imposed constraints. As in, ‘I'm really interested
in owls, Lithuanian mythology and woodwork, wonder what I can create?’ As opposed to a
designer asking, ‘So Italians have this way of making coffee and people seem to like sitting in
cafes to leisurely sip coffee, how can we create a cafe culture in North American and make tons of
money?’

2. Art is Experience - Driven and Design is Solution-Driven.

"Art is derived from our external and internal experiences. Art is a projection of what you
experience, how you view the world and what you want to vocalize. Design on the other hand, is
taking a problem and finding solution for it
 The Difference Between Art And Design

3. Art is Far Left and Design is Far Right.

"I've asked this problem a number of times and I can never make up my mind. I
agree though, that art leans toward, in some ways, no-compromise self-expression, and
design is generally about a universal attitude towards aesthetics and creative expression.
I have this habit of placing ideas in a spectrum, and in this case, art is far left and design
is far right, and somewhere in the middle incorporates both art and design aspects. One
creative piece, for example, can show both aspects of art and design, but may lean more
towards design, which in that case maybe seen as a design object rather than an art
object."—Jessie Altura
 Art vs Design – A Timeless Debate
Spend any amount of time working among professional designers and you learn that
equating art with design is a surefire way to stir the pot and hear bold statements like:

• “Design is not art. Design has to function.”

• “Art is meant to provoke thought and emotions, but it doesn’t solve problems.”

• “Artists primarily work off instinct, whereas designers employ a methodical, data-driven
process.”

Unfortunately, the designer vs. artist discussion often deteriorates into ranting and
raving. Lines are drawn, battle flags are raised, and productive dialogue becomes
impossible.
Is Design Art?
Design is art. Art is design. No exceptions.

Great design is first and foremost art. What is this belief rooted in? A
philosophical understanding of art.

Philosophers like Plato have debated the meaning of art and the definition
of design for centuries.

The quest to define art is steeped in centuries of debate. Greek

philosopher Plato believed that art is essentially a reflection of a reflection
of what is real. But his views are widely contested, and since we must
start somewhere, we must aim for an understanding that acknowledges
history and the diversity of global thought and culture.