MEDIUMS OF

THE
VISUAL ARTS
MEDIUMS OF THE VISUAL ARTS

 REFERS TO THE MATERIALS WHICH ARE USED BY

AN ARTIST

 MEANS BY WHICH HE COMMUNICATES HIS IDEAS

 MANY MEDIUMS HAVE BEEN USED IN CREATING

DIFFERENT WORKS OF ART

 MEDIUMS IS VERY ESSENTIAL TO ARTS.

 PIGMENTS
 OIL
 TEMPERA
 WATERCOLOR
 PASTEL
 FRESCO
 ACRYLIC
 PAINTING

 The art of creating of meaningful effect on a flat

surface by the use of pigments.

 It is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color

or other medium to a solid surface ( support base ).
The medium is commonly applied to the base with
a brush, but other implements such as knives,
sponges, and airbrushes, can be used. The final
work is also called a painting.
OIL PAINTING
 Pigments are mixed in oil

 The most familiar type of painting is

done with oil on canvass.

 The surface to be suitable must receive

oil paint freely and yet not absorb it,
can withstand temperature changes and
not crack the pigments on it.

 Pigments can come from many sources:

minerals, vegetable matter, coal tars,
and other chemical combinations.
o OIL COLOR is the
best method for
convincing
representation where
exact reproduction of
a color tone is
neccesary.
TEMPERA

 Mixture of ground pigments

and an albuminous or colloidal
vehicle, either egg, gum, or
glue, used by Egyptian,
Medieval, and Renaissance
painters.

SPECIAL
CHARACTERISTIC :
› EMULSION
-Watery, milk-like
texture of oily and watery
consistency.
 Advantages of Tempera
 Rapid drying
 Great luminosity of the stone
 Colors are clear and beautiful

3 PRINCIPLE DIMENSIONS

 Unvarnished of GOUACHE like tempera

 Varnished tempera
 Tempera as under painting for oil
 
WATERCOLOR

 Pigments are mixed with water and

applied to fine white paper.

 Require a high degree of technical

dexterity.

 A paper Is the most commonly used

for ground.

 Opaque water is also called

GOUACHE.
PASTEL

 The most recent medium.

 Possesses only surfaces of light, gives

no glazed effect, and most closely
resembles dry pigment.

 Pigment is bound so as to form a

crayon which is applied directly to the
surface, usually, paper.

 As support for pastel painting paper,

pasteboard or canvas is used.
 As far as the technique is concerned, the painter is
free to handle the material to suit himself.

 It is a very flexible medium.

 Varied effects maybe produced.

 Not a very popular medium because no one has yet to

discovered the way to preserved its original freshness.

 The chalk tends to rub off and the picture loses its
brilliance.
The most popular type
of painting.

Colors are mixed with

water and applied to
fresh plaster which
absorbs the color.

Since the pigment has

been incorporated with
the plaster, it lasts until
the wall is destroyed.

Flourished during the

15th and 16th century.

Fresco means “
FRESH”
ACRYLIC

 The newest medium and one that is used

widely by painters today.

 Synthetic paints using acrylic emulsions as

binder.

 Combine transparency and quick-drying

qualities of watercolor and are as flexible as
oil.

 They are completely insoluble when dry and

can be used almost on any surface.

 They do not tend to crack, and tun yellow

with age.
 SUBJECT
AND
CONTENT IN
ART
 What is the subject and content in art?

 We often identify a work by its subject: A landscape

painting, a sculpture of a young woman, a
lithograph of a cat. Form ( or design ), is the visual
organization of the art work how the artist has used
line, shape, value, color. Etc. Content is the impact or
meaning of this work.
 
FORM AND CONTENT
IN ART AND ART CRITICISM, FORM AND CONTENT ARE CONSIDERED DISTINCT ASPECTS OF A WORK OF ART. THE TERM FORM REFERS TO THE
WORKS STYLE , TECHNIQUES AND MEDIA USED, AND HOW THE ELEMENTS OF DESIGN ARE IMPLEMENTED. CONTENT, ON THE OTHER HAND,
REFERS TO A WORKS SUBJECT MATTER, OR WHAT IS BEING DEPICTED.INCONGRUITY BETWEEN FORM AND CONTENT CAN BE HUMOROUS.
 Excluding the understanding that art is often up to
the individual, the 3 terms mentioned are generally
considered as below:

 SUBJECT - The thing or object, often centered and generally

and typically the most recognizable visual object (group of
objects).

 FORM - Typically the “ style” or “technique” used to create

the subject.

 CONTENT - The meaning behind the overall work.

 THE CONTENT OF ART
• Content is the SUBJECT MATTER of the art.
• Content is also the style of the art, which, however, is a by-product of its
FORMAL ELEMENTS.
• Style changes overtime, but some familiar examples include:

o - Gothic as in Gothic Cathedrals

o - Impressionism, as in French Impressionism
- Realism
- Romanticism
- Baroque & Rococo
- Mannerism
- Classical, and so on

- So, style is a function of both the content and the form of the work, as well
as the artist or era’s own unique character as engendered in the art.
 EXAMPLES OF
SUBJECT AND
CONTENT IN ART
 PAINTI
ENCAUST
Encaustic Painting, also
Known as HOT WAX
PAINTING, involves
using heated beeswax
to which colored
pigments are added.
The liquid or paste
Is then applied to a
surface- usually
prepared wood, though
canvas and other
materials are often
used.
 EXAMPLE
OF
WATERCOLOR
ART
D
ACRYLIC
ART
LANDSCAPE A

Landscape painting, also known as Landscape Art, is the

depiction of landscape in art- natural scenery such as
mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially
where the main subject is a wide view- with its elements
arranges into a coherent composition.
SE

A seascape is a photograph, painting, or other work of art which depicts the

sea, in other words an example of marine art. By a similar development, “
seascape” has also come to mean actual views of the sea itself, and to be
applied in planning contexts to geographical locations possessing a good
view of the sea.
CITYSC

CITYSCAPE, within
the context of art, a
cityscape is a work
that showcases
aspects of cities. It is
often known as the
urban equivalent of a
landscape. Cityscapes
are reflected by such
mediums as
paintings, etchings,
drawings, or even
photographs.
ANIM

Animals in art
includes the use of
non human living
things in the
making of artistic
and graphic
compositions .
PORTR

A portrait is a painting,
photograph, sculpture, or
other artistic
representation of a
person, in which the face
and its expression is
predominant. The intent
is to display the likeness,
personality, and even the
mood of the person.
FIGUR
HUMA
In aesthetics, the human figure or
human form in art, sculpture and other
art forms involves a study and
appreciation of the beauty of the
human body in its depiction or
presentation. The study involves an
appreciation of the shape, including
body postures- sitting, standing or
even sleeping, and movements-
walking, running, dancing and etc.
Human figure as the ideal of beauty,
conforms very well to the law that
states that form follows function,
which is believed to be a result of
evolution over thousands of
generations.
 UT
COUPLE
EVERYDAY LIFE

Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes

or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings,
interiors parties, inn scenes, and street scenes. Such representations
maybe realistic, imagined, or romanticized by the artist.
 IMAGE OF DIVINITY

Many artists interpreted the term differently, not

through church doctrine a society did but through the
interiorized beliefs of mystics.
 LEGEND
HISTORY AND

History painting is a
genre in painting
defined by its subject
matter rather than
artistic style. The genre
includes depictions of
moments in religious
narratives, above all the
life of Christ, as well as
narrative scenes from
mythology, and also
allegorical scenes.
 MYTH
RELIGION A
Mythology is the main
component of religion. It
refers to system of
concepts that are of high
importance to a certain
community, making
statements concerning
the supernatural or
sacred.
DREAMS AND FANTASIES

“ Visions” wheather from dreams or intoxication, served as raw

material and were taken to represent the artist’s highest creative
potential. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, symbolism and
expressionism introduced dream imagery into visual art.