ART

APPRECIATION
Prepared by:
VINCE GORDON W. ABIO, LPT
THE ARTIST’S MEDIUM
 MEDIUM AND TECHNIQUE
Medium
Comes from the Latin word medium, denotes the
means by which an artist communicates his ideas.
These are the materials which are used by an artist
to interpret his feelings or thoughts.
Very essential in arts.
Medium
Examples:
 Architect uses wood, bamboo, bricks, stone,
concrete, and various building materials.
- Painter uses pigments on wood or
canvas to recreate reality of nature.
 Sculptor uses steel, marble, bronze, metal, and wood.
 Musician uses instruments to produce and
communicate a message.
 Literary writer uses words.
Medium
On the basis of medium, the arts are primarily classified as
visual and auditory.
– Visual arts are those mediums that can be seen and which
occupy space.
■ Grouped into 2 classes
1. Dimensional or two-dimensional arts
– Painting, drawing, printmaking, and photography
2. Three-dimensional arts
– Sculpture, architecture, landscape, community
planning, industrial designs, and craft like
ceramics and furniture.
Medium
On the basis of medium, the arts are primarily classified as visual
and auditory.
- Auditory arts are those whose mediums can be heard and
which are expressed in time. These are music and literature.
- Combined arts are those whose mediums can be both seen
and heard and which exist in both space and time.
– Dance, opera, drama, and film.
– Along with the music, these are also known as the
performing arts, an art from which depict a
significant event and is presented before an
audience.
Technique
Is a manner in which the artist controls his medium
to achieve the desired effect.
It is the ability with which he fulfils the technical
requirements of his particular work of art.
It has something to do with the way he manipulates
his medium to express his ideas in the artwork.
 MEDIUMS OF THE VISUAL ARTS
Visual arts are those arts that can be perceived with
our eyes.
1. Painting
is the art of creating meaningful effects on a flat
surface by the use of pigments.
Watercolor
Watercolor pigments
invite brilliance and
variety of hues.
Fresco
 Is a painting method done on a moist plaster surface with
colors ground in water or a limewater mixture.
 Must be done quickly because it is an exacting medium –
the moment the paint is applied to the surface, the color
dry into plaster and the painting becomes integral part of
the wall. The image becomes permanently fixed and
almost impossible to remove.
Fresco
 Example: Michelagelo’s The Creation of Adam in the
Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Tempera
 Tempera paints are mineral pigments mixed with egg
yolk or egg white and ore.
 Characterized by its film-forming properties and rapid
drying rate.
 Tempera painting is usually done on wooden panel made
very smooth with plaster called “gesso”(chalk and gum).
 Egg tempera video link
https://youtu.be/tqTuG0h8SEg
Pastel
Is a stick of dried paste made of pigment ground
with chalk and compounded with gum water.
It is a very flexible medium whose colors are
luminous.
Pastel painting - https://youtu.be/Lu11ulea2ls
Encaustic
Used by Egyptians for painting portraits on
mummy cases.
This is done by applying wax colors fixed with
heat.
https://youtu.be/8O8_VdDv_B4
Oil
 One of the most expensive art activities today because of the
prohibitive cost of materials.
 It is the heaviest of painting mediums.
 One good quality of oil paint as a medium is its flexibility.
 It dries slowly and the painting may
be changed and worked over a
period of time.
 Painting done in oil appears
glossy and lasts long.
https://youtu.be/PMjZrkiPC9k
2. Mosaic
is the art of putting together small pieces of colored
stones or glass called “tesserae” to create an image.
Usually classified as painting, although, the
medium used is not strictly pigment.
3. Stained Glass
 is common in Gothic cathedrals
and churches.
 it is made by combining small
pieces of colored glass, held
together by bands of lead.
 The pictures in the stained glass
commonly depict the lives of
saints and effect.
 Serve as a means of religious
instruction among Christians.
4. Tapestry
is a fabric produced by hand-weaving colored
threads upon a warp.
the wooden designs often end up as pictorials, wall
hangings, and furniture covering.
they were hung on the walls of places and in
cathedrals on festive occasions to provide warmth.
https://youtu.be/-BLz7HCcwH4 – tapestry making
Example of Tapestry Weaving:
5. Drawing
usually done on paper using pencil, pen and ink, or
charcoal.
it is the most fundamental of all skills necessary in
arts.
world’s best known drawings are by the Italian
artist Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).
Pencil, pen and ink, and charcoal
■ Pencil leads (graphite), for linework, hard pencil is applied
while on granular surface, soft pencils are used.
■ Ink, one of the oldest mediums still in use. India ink,
which comes in liquid form, is the favourite medium of
comic strip illustrators and cartoonists. Chinese ink, comes
in solid sticks that are dissolved in water before they are
used.
■ Charcoal, it is used in representing broad masses of light
and shadow.
Bistre
Is a brown pigment extracted from the soot of
wood, and often used in pen and wash drawings.
Crayons
Pigments bound by wax and compressed into
painted sticks used for drawing.
Popular among children in elementary grades.
Silverpoint
To produce a silver point artwork, the artist uses a
silver stylus to produce a thin grayish on specially
prepared paper.
Were popular during the Renaissance period.
 https://youtu.be/V4tufYgLupc
6. Printmaking
a print is anything printed on a surface that is a
direct result from the duplication process.
Examples: calendar pictures and Christmas cards
7. Lithography
known as planographic process.
is a surface printing done from an almost smooth
surface which has been treated chemically or
mechanically so that some surface areas will print
and others will not.

Video link on lithography printing.

https://youtu.be/S6Qqov0CdU
8. Sculpture - in choosing a subject for sculpture, the
most important thing to consider is the material.
Stone
Normally used for gravestones in cemeteries.
Sandstone, granite, basalt, marble, and limestone.
 Granite – Egyptian sculptures of Pharaohs.
 Marbles (varieties: Breciated marble and
Serpentine marble), easier to carve.
 Basalt is hard and black.
 Limestone has a fine and even texture.
Jade
 Usually colored green, and widely used in Ancient China.
 For fashion jewelry.
 Believed to symbolize virtues such as faithfulness,
wisdom, and charity.
Ivory
 Comes from the main parts of tusks of elephants.
 Hard white substance used to make carvings and billiard
balls.
 Metals
 Gold, silver, and copper.
 Being ductile, metals can be transformed into fine wires or
threads.
 They can be shaped or deformed under great pressure without
breaking.
 Others are: brass, bronze, lead and aluminium.
Plaster
 Is composed of line, sand, and water.
 Used extensively in making manikins, models, molds,
architectural decorations, and other indoor sculpture.
Clay
 Is a natural early material that is plastic when wet.
 Used for making bricks and ceramics.
 Generally fragile
Glass
 Is a medium that is hard, brittle, non-crystalline, more or
less transparent substances.
 It can be molded in various colors and shapes.
 It is used to make beautiful but fragile figurines.
Wood
Easier to carve than any other mediums available.
It is softer to carve.
Common wood used for sculpture are dapdap, white
lauan, oak, walnut, mahogany, narra, and dao.
9. Architecture
 it is the art of designing a building and supervising
its construction.
 one of the primary purposes of architecture is to
fulfil man’s needs.
1. Physical needs
 Shelter (for self-preservation and reproduction)
which must have the necessities (kitchen,
bedroom, bathroom) and comfort (heat,
ventilation, furnishing)
2. Emotional needs
 Endowed with rich beauty and interest.

3. Intellectual needs
 A building for science, education, government,
etc.
4. Psychosocial needs
a. for recognition, prestige, civic, and personal –
(palaces, skycrapers, cathedrals, public buildings,
monuments etc.)
b. for response – due to love, friendship, and
sociability (fraternal buildings, city clubs,
banquet halls, ballrooms, living rooms.)
 Factors in the Choice and Use of Architectural Materials
1. Structural property – workability with tools
when used as construction materials
a. compressive strength e. durability
b. tensile strength f. rigidity
c. porosity g. gracefulness
d. lightness h. flexibility
2. Physical property – use of the material for
aesthetic purposes.
a. texture b. tonal quality c. color
3. Weakness of the material
a. rotting
b. corrosion due to moisture
c. susceptibility to infection by wood-
boring weevils, termites, and other pests
d. discoloration
e. solar radiation
f. fungus growth
4. Longevity of the material – lifespan of the material
a. 10 yrs c. half a century
b. 20 yrs d. more than a century
5. Other inherent properties
a. weight d. acoustic values
b. water resistance e. availability
c. heat resistance f. economy
 Classification of Architectural Materials (Salvan, 1999)
1. Materials in Nature
 Stone
 One of the oldest and perhaps the most permanent building
material.
 Has high compressive strength.
 It does not rot or corrode and is fire resistant.
 Limestone, granite, marble, and sandstone
 Wood
 Is not permanent material but with proper care, it can last for a
century.
 It is the common building material before the 90’s.
2. Materials Manufactured by Man
 Ceramic materials
 Bricks, roofing tiles, toilet tiles, clay pot, and glass.
 Metals
 Bronze – used for banking screens, doors and grills,
and hardware and lighting features.
 Wrought iron – elastic and fibrous. Used for brackets,
grills, hinges, locks, gates and balconies.
 Copper – ductile and is adaptable for cornices,
spandrels, and roofing.
Chrome-nickel steel – it is hard, non-corrosive
metal which can lend itself to welding, stamping,
and forging. It is used in interiors for doors, panels,
grills or railings.
Aluminium – it is a white metal noted for its
lightness. It is used for shop fronts, doors, grills,
hardware, and exterior covering.
Monel Metal – generally used for doors and grills,
balustrades, and screens.
Nickel silvers – ideal for interior work.
Concrete Materials
These materials are becoming more and more favoured
among architectural building materials because of their
availability, durability, and flexibility.
Concrete has high strength, and a surface texture
capable of contributing to the aesthetic quality of a
building.
These materials are smooth, hard, permanent, light,
transparent or opaque, and durable.
 Plastics
 May be sowed, cut, bent, drilled, and treaded.
 They can also be molded, cast, extruded, and
laminated depending upon their composition or
use.
3. Indigenous Materials
Sawali – comes from the outer covering of bamboo poles. It is
woven into mats and ideal for cement backing.
Coco coir – by-product of coconut is used to minimize the use
of cement and as sandwich panels for insulation.
Bagasse – sugar cane waste used for insulation or cement
backing.
Abaca – is a fiber material obtained from the leafstalk of a
banana plant. Most of these materials are found in the Bicol
region.
Bamboo – has low degree of elasticity, low concrete adhesion,
and wide variable moisture content. Are mostly found in
Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela.
Palm frond stems – often used for non-structural panels,
walls, screens, and bases of houses. It is susceptible to termites
and have to be replaced every 4-5 years.
Mud bricks – is brittle, has less strength, and cannot stand up
well to tension. It is a choice of building material in places
with hot, dry climates due to its low thermal conductivity.