Creating Art: Media and Processes

Chapter 3Art In Focus

Drawing

• Drawing: a process of portraying an object, scene, or form of decorative or symbolic meaning through lines, shapes, values, and textures in one or more colors.

M.C. Escher

Dry or Wet Media• The drawing process involves two types of media: Dry Media and Wet

Media.• Dry Media: those media that are applied dry. Examples: pencil, crayon,

charcoal, and pastels.• Wet Media: those media in which the coloring agent is suspended in a

liquid. Examples: pen, and ink.

Madame Palmyre With Her Dog, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec

Painting

• An artist creates a painting by arranging the art elements on a flat surface in ways that are sometimes visually appealing, sometimes shocking or thought provoking.

Janet Fish, Honey Jars, 1975

Media and Tools in Painting

• There are many different types of paint: oil, watercolor, acrylic, and tempera to name a few. Paint is made up of three ingredients: pigment, binder, and solvent.

• Pigment: finely ground powder that gives a paint its color.

• Binder: a liquid that holds together the grains of pigment in a form that can be spread over a surface.

• Solvent: the material used to thin the binder.

Printmaking• Printmaking is an art process that involves making prints. There are four

main processes of printmaking discussed in this chapter: Relief printing, Intaglio, Lithography, and Screen Printing.

• Relief Printing: the image to be printed is raised from the background. This process involves using wood, or another material that can be carved into. Ink is then placed on the wood and the image is printed onto paper. Page 60 gives an example of a relief print. Hokusai was an artist who worked in this process often.

• This link will take you to another example of Hokusai’s work.

• Intaglio: a process in which ink is forced to fill lines cut into a metal surface.

• Artist working in this process use metal plates that are treated with a material which allows marks to be made on the surface.

• This plate is then placed in a chemical bath that allows these lines to be etched deeper.

• Ink is then forced into these lines and the plate is printed onto paper.

• This image is an example of this process. The artist to the left is placing ink on the plate. The artist on the right is placing the plate on the printing press in order to print the plate onto paper.

Printmaking • Lithography: printmaking method in which the image to be printed is

drawn on limestone, zinc, or aluminum with a special greasy crayon. There is an example of this process on page 62 in your book.

• Kathe Kollwitz is an artist who worked in this process. This is an example of her work.

Kathy Kollwitz, The Propeller Song

Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, 1960

• Screen Printing: paint is forced through a screen onto paper or fabric.

• Serigraph: a screen print that has been handmade by an artist.

• This link will take you to a video that will better help you understand the processes involved in printmaking.

Photography

• A technique of capturing optical images on light-sensitive surfaces.

White Fence, 1916

Photography

• The first camera was called a Camera Obscura. This means dark room. This camera was a large room that used a small hole in front in order to project an image on the back of the room. This image is an example of what the projection would look like. What do you notice about this projected image?

The image below is an exampleof the inside of a modern camera obscura.The objects in front of the hole is what would be projected on the wall.

As the camera was developed over time a mirror was added and the the camera got smaller and smaller.Now we use digital cameras, but manyphotographers still use film cameras.

Video and Digital Media

• Any kind of material that can be used, processed, and transformed by a computer system.

Sculpture

• Sculpture can be two dimensional, or three dimensional. There are many processes that fall under the sculpture process.

• These include: Bas Relief, High Relief, and Sculpture in the Round.

Sculpture

• Bas Relief: the sculptured forms project only slightly from the background. Figure 3.23 on page 66 gives a good example of this type of sculpture. This link will take you to another example of bas relief sculpture.

• High Relief: the sculptured forms extend boldly out into space. Figure 3.24 on page 66 in your book gives a good example of high relief sculpture. This link will take you to another example of high relief sculpture.

Sculpture• Sculpture in the round is any freestanding work surrounded

on all sides by space. • This sculpture of MLK is and example of this type sculpture.

Lisa Reinertson, MLK

Processes of Sculpture• Within sculpture there are other processes including: modeling, carving,

casting and assembly.• Modeling is a process in which a soft pliable material is built up and

shaped into a sculptural form.• This is an additive process. • Materials (Media) used in this process include: clay, wax, or plaster.

Processes of Sculpture

• Carving: cutting or chipping a form from a given mass of material to create a sculpture.

• This is a subtractive process.• Materials (media) used in this process include:

wood, clay, and stone.

Processes of Sculpture

• Casting: a melted-down metal or liquid substance is poured into a mold to harden.

• Materials used in this process include: wax, bronze, and other metals.

• This image is an example of a bronze sculpture.

Lisa Reinertson, Mother and Child, 1997

Processes of Sculpture

• Assembly: the artist gathers and joins together a variety of different materials to construct a three-dimensional work of art.

• Materials could include: wood, metal, plaster, or any found object.

Processes of Sculpture

• Kinetic Art: a sculptural form that actually moves in space. (Calder)

• Explore sculpture more using this link.

Architecture

• The art and science of designing and constructing structures that enclose space for a variety of human needs.

• Involves the organization and manipulation of three-dimensional forms in space.

• We will first look at architecture over time.

Architecture

The Chrysler Building, 1930

Methods of Construction

• Post and Lintel: one of the earliest methods. Placing a horizontal beam or lintel across the open space between two posts or other vertical supports. Stonehenge is an example of post and lintel. You will find another example on in figure 3.40 on page 75 of your book.

• Arch and Vault. Later the arch was developed and used instead of the post and lintel. Using this construction allowed buildings to be built taller as the arch could hold more weight than the lintel.

• This was developed by the Romans and used in construction including the aqueducts. Read about this on page 199 in your book.

• Barrel Vault: several arches placed front to back to enclose space.

Methods of Construction

• Groin Vault: two barrel vaults placed at right angles.

• Dome: a hemisphere placed on walls that enclose a circular or square space.

• The first dome was developed by the Romans and was used to build the Pantheon. Read about this building on pages 204-205 in your book.

Modern Construction

• Wood Framing: this was found to be faster, lighter, and factory cut. This is used today to build many homes.

• Iron and Steel Frame: has been used since the 19th Century to construct the framework for larger buildings.

• Reinforced Concrete Construction: is where embedding metal rods are placed into concrete.

• Lightweight Structural Systems: is an intricate network of metal rods. This is the type of construction people use today.

Modern Construction

Sidney Opera House