Lesson 1- Understanding the Visual Arts
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this unit, you will be able to:
1.View works of art dynamically, that is to appreciate and communicate
simultaneously individual viewer response, the uniqueness of the work, its
origin and precedent, its potential as an inspiration and influence on late art,
and its relationship to a particular cultural movement.
2. Recognize formal qualities in two and three dimensional arts and read visual
elements, artistic and cultural styles and symbols.
What are considered Visual Arts?
The Visual arts are those creations that we can see rather than something like
auditory arts, which we hear. These art forms are extremely diverse, from the
artworks 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 print making.
Types of Visual Arts
Decorative Arts
- Refers to the work of art s that do not fall readily into the categories of
painting, sculpture and architecture.
The decorative arts comprise of objects that possess artistic qualities and were
created by skilled makers, but do not belong to the general categories of
painting, sculpture and architecture. They include, but are not limited to, the
decoration and furnishing interiors, personal adornment (costumes and
jewelry), and later with the rise of industrialization, product design.
Types and Materials used for Decorative Arts
1. Gold
Served as status symbol in the renaissance. Often decorated with precious
stones, they reflected the wealth and prestige of their owners. Rulers displayed
their impressive collection of gold items and presented them as gifts to
important visitors.
2. Silver, Bronze and Lead
Portrait medals made of gold, silver, bronze, or led were popular in the
renaissance particularly in Italy. Metal works also produced arms and armor
for individuals participating in tournaments or preparing for war.
3. Textiles
Tapestry, one of the most splendid art forms of the period, required hundreds
of hours of skilled labor to produce. People hung them in palaces, churches
and even military tents to create elegant and impressive settings.
4. Woodwork and Enamel
The art of creating images with pieces of inlaid wood reached Europe in the
mid-1300s from the Islamic world. Italian woodworks produce benches,
cabinets, and wall paneling featuring intricate inlaid pictures. Inlay, pattern,
motif, panel designs.
5. Ceramics
During renaissance, ceramics developed into a high art form. Artists were
inspired by glazed pottery from China and Muslim regions in the middle-east
and Spain. In Italy, potters developed a technique known as majolica, which
involved glazing a clay object, painting design on it and firing it.
Mediums of Visual Arts
1. Painting
Painting is often called the most important form of visual art. It is about
putting colors on a canvas or a wall. Painters express their idea through a
mixture of colors and different brush strokes.
2. Drawings
-is creating a picture with a variety of tools, in most cases pencils, crayons,
pens or markers. An Artist draw on different types of surfaces like paper
and or Canvas.
3. Photography
-is making pictures by letting the light through the lenses of a camera onto
a film. In an analog photography, light is recorded on film which had to be
chemically developed. Images could then be printed on special paper.
4. Filmmaking
Filmmaking is a process of making a film of moving images. It is a very
expensive and complicated form of art, involving many tasks.
Example:
Script writing, casting, and editing film sequences before they can be shown
to an audience.
5. Printmaking
It is an art that is made by covering a plate with ink and pressing it on the
surface of another object.
6. Sculpture
Sculptures are three-dimensional pieces of art that are created by shaping
various kinds of material. Among the most popular are stone, steel, plastic,
ceramic, and wood.
7. Architecture
Is a process and the product planning, designing and constructing of
buildings or any structure. Architectural works, in the material form of
buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as work of art.
Assignment 1- Introduction to Visual Arts
Answer each of the following questions in 3-5 sentences.
1. How does Visual Art affect your chosen college course?
2. In what medium of Visual Art are you likely to be engaged and why?
Lesson 2- The Language of Visual Arts
Visual arts is widely recognized in predominantly visual, such as ceramics,
drawings, sculpture, sculpture paintings, prints, designs, craft work,
photography, videos and films and of course architecture. It takes years of
continuous practice for a person to learn visual arts, so that they can bring
their imagination and creativity on point.
According to studies, visual arts help students explore their creative side as
well as it helps them in their academics for it allows interaction between the
elements and concepts of art that enable artists to coordinate sensory works
of art, as well as provide context in which aesthetics ideas can be explored
and addressed.
In this unit, you will learn about the nature, scope, functions, and mediums
of visual arts, and the subject, ways of presenting the subject and its levels
of meaning.
Nature and Scope of Visual Arts
Visual arts includes all the fine arts as well as new media and contemporary
forms of expressions such as assemblage, collage, conceptual, installation
and performance arts as well as photography and film-based forms like
video art and animation or any combination thereof. Another type, often
created on a monumental scale is the new environmental art (Ex.
Landscaping)
Functions of Art
Compared to other activities of man, art is generally regarded as impractical,
not meant to meet the requirements of day-to-day living. Architecture,
weaving, furniture making, and a few other crafts have obvious purposes
and are therefore classified as functional. But painting, sculpture, literature,
music, and the theater arts seem to serve no other end than to amuse or
provide a pleasant escape from life’s daily problems. Thus, they are
classified as non-functional. However, all arts have a function, for man, the
maker, creates things because he has a particular need for them (Ortiz et
al., 1976).
We may consider art as having the general function of satisfying:
1. Our individual needs for personal expression
2. Our social needs for display, celebration, and communication
3. Our physical needs for utilitarian objects and structures
To know the function of a particular work of art, you must be able to answer
the question, “WHAT IS IT FOR?” (Ortiz et al., 1976).
When it comes to function, different art forms come with distinctive
functions. There is no one-to-one correspondence between an artwork and
its function. Some art forms are more functional than others. Architecture,
for example, as an art, is highly functional, just like most applied arts.
Roughly and broadly, the functions of art are classified into three: personal
(public display or expression), social (celebration or to affect collective
behavior), and physical (utilitarian).
Art and the Individual (The Personal Function)
The personal functions of art are varied and highly subjective. This means
that its functions depend on the person- the artist who created the art. An
artist may create artwork out of the need for self-expression. This is the case
for an artist who needs to communicate an idea to his audience. It can also
be mere entertainment for his intended audience. Often, the artist may not
even intend to mean anything in his work.
Arts are vehicles for the artists’ expression of their feelings and ideas.
Likewise, for us, layman or non-artists, the arts also serve as a means of
expression for us. Art helps to educate our senses and sharpens our
perception of colors, forms, textures, designs, sounds, rhythms, and
harmonies in our environment. Art makes us more aware and appreciative
of the things around us. Visual and auditory “literacy” through contact with
the arts can lead us to an intensified awareness of the beautiful in life. It
can thus make our existence less humdrum; it can refine and elevate our
aesthetic taste.
Works of art make us aware of other ways of thinking, feeling, and
imagining that have never occurred to us before. They offer us fresh insights
into nature and human nature so that we gain a better understanding of
ourselves and the world around us. They help us improve our lives. This is
especially true of literature, drama, and cinema, which capture and vivify
human experience (Ortiz et al., 1976).
Art, Culture, and Society (The Social Function)
One cannot conceive of a society without art, for art is closely related to
every aspect of social life (Ortiz et al., 1976).
Art performs a social function when:
It seeks or tends to influence the collective behavior of a people.
(Influencing Social Behavior)
•Many works of art influence the way we think, feel, or act.
•They can bring about in us decisions to collectively change, correct, or
improve upon the human condition.
•Paintings, photographs, posters, and cartoons have been used to express
humanitarian concerns as well as ideological or political comment.
It is created to be seen or used primarily in public situations
(Display and Celebration)
• One function of sculpture and painting is a commemoration of important
personages in society.
•Often they serve to record important historical events or reveal the ideals
of heroism and leadership that the community would want the young to
emulate.
•The arts are also linked to rituals. Rituals have played an important role in
people’s lives and have influenced the growth of certain arts as well.
•Public celebrations, such as festivals, involve rituals of some kind, and
these, in turn, employ the arts.
It expresses or describes the social or collective aspect of existence as
opposed to individual and personal kinds of experiences.
(Social Description)
• Artworks are vital historical documents. They describe aspects of existence
at certain periods. Because many of them focus on facets of daily life, they
tell us what the societies that produced them were like.
Art is considered to have a social function if and when it addresses a
particular collective interest as opposed to a personal interest. Political art is
a very common example of art with a social function. Art may convey
messages of protest, contestation, or whatever message the artist intends
his work to carry.
Art and the Physical World (The Physical Function)
The physical functions of art are the easiest to spot and understand. The
physical functions of art can be found in artworks that are crafted to serve
some physical purpose. The best examples are the kitchen utensils we have
at home since they were not just displayed but also serve a physical
function.
The Subject of Art: Meanings, Kinds and Functions of Subject
To a majority of people, the appeal of most works of art lies in the
representation of familiar objects. Their enjoyment of painting, sculpture
and literature comes not from their perception of the meaning but from the
satisfaction they get out of recognizing the subject or understanding the
narrative content.
The subject of art refers to any person, object or scene or event described or
represented in a work of art.
Three Basic Types of Visual Arts
There are three basic types of visual arts. Sub-categories exist in each of
these types. Often these types are misrepresented or more often,
misunderstood. Whether the work of art is three dimensional, it will still fall
under one of these three main types. These three main types are:
representational, abstract and non-objective/ non-representational.
1. Representational Art
Representational artwork aims to represent actual objects or subjects
from reality. They are the types of art that have subject.
Example: paintings, sculpture, graphic arts, literature, theater arts
2. Abstract Art
Many people have difficulty in understanding the differences between
abstract art and non-objective or non-representational art. Abstract
art is often a misunderstood type of art as it aims to take subjects
from reality but presents them in a way that is different from the way
they are viewed in reality. They may take the form of emphasizing
lines, shapes, or colors that transform the subject. Abstract art aims
to represent real subjects in a different way from reality, for example,
impressionism.
3. Non-objective or non-representational art
Is a type of art that does not depict anything from reality — often
mistaken for abstract art. These are arts that do not have any subject.