The Principles of Art Creation

The Subject of Art

In any art form - be it painting, music, sculpture, architecture, or the
dance - there is always a subject that serves as the foundation of the
creation of the work of art. This subject is usually anything that is
represented in the art work. However, not all art forms have a subject.
Some types of art may have a subject and some may not. Those arts
that do not have a subject are called non-objective. They do not
represent anything and they are what they are without any reference to
anything in reality. Painting and Sculpture usually have subjects. Music
and the Dance may or may not have subjects but Architecture is the
only art form without a subject.

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 Sources of Subject. Types of art like Painting, Sculpture, Music and the Dance, together with
Literature, derive their subjects from the following sources:

1. The Christian Religion. From the Early Christian period up to the present, the Christian religion
has become the principal source of the subject of art. Scenes from the Old and the New
Testaments have been depicted in different ways by the different artists of the different ages.

2. Mythology and History. The Renaissance era up to the Neo-Classical period of the Modern Art
age abounds with Greek and Roman mythologies and historical events as the principal subjects of
the outstanding artists.

3. Legends and Lives of the Saints. Because of their exceptional piety and holiness, the saints have
become the popular subjects of Renaissance and Baroque artists.

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Means of Illustrating the Subject

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 Realism

-In Realism, the details are carefully

chosen and organized in such a way that
the work of art appears so real and
natural to us. Hence, the work of art is a
faithful reproduction of Nature.

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 Symbolism

- objective reality is used to

represent an idea or the artistic
conception of beliefs and events.

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 Abstraction

-In Abstraction, the artist either

presents only one aspect of objective
reality in the form of an idea or emotion
or he distorts objective reality in order
to portray his inner perception of it as
he sees it in his mind's eye.

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 “
The subject of the art may also
be presented to the viewer on the
basis of the artist's perception of
reality on an objective or
subjective response to it:
Conceptual or representational
manner of illustrating reality.

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❧ In the representational illustration of reality, the
artist presents the world, nature, people or objects
as they are perceived by his naked eye.

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❧ In the Conceptual illustration of reality, the artist
sees the world as a series of objects which exist only
in certain defined and static shapes and positions,
i.e., a tree is always a tree, a bird is the bird, a man is
the man, etc.

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Every art form has a definite function. Architecture primarily provides
shelter and allows man to express his yearnings for beauty. Music and the
Dance were used for rituals and worships of the gods and for social and folk
entertainments of the people as well as for military purposes. Painting and
Sculpture are used to narrate events, to portray people or events, to instruct
(as in the case of Christian art), to commemorate individuals or historical
events and to serve as vehicles of personal expression of a vision of nature
and its beauty.

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 The Medium of the Art

It is by the medium or the material that art

is classified into two different types: VISUAL
and AUDITORY.

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 The Elements of Art

The elements of art consist of the qualities or properties

inherent in each work of art. In general, the visual arts
have six main elements: lines, color, value, texture,
volume, and perspective while the auditory art has also
six main elements: rhythm, melody, harmony, tempo,
dynamics, and timbre.

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3d drawings

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2d art

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