Types of Art

FORMS OF ART means the type of artwork such as drawing, painting, sculpture (carving, modelling, assemblage and construction) architecture, printmaking, electronic media such as computer and digital graphics, ceramics, Visual Design, Graphic Design, collage, photography and Post Modern appropriation and recontextualisation. There is a LANGUAGE which is used to describe the Arts. This language is explained by using examples of student work and brief summaries. Extra information is available in the many texts and reference books available. This in not comprehensive but a student research tool for beginners in Art.

VISUAL ARTS is where an artist uses MEDIA (materials, images, signs and symbols) and the available TECHNOLOGY to communicate about the self as expression, or the world as narrative or propaganda, promotion, illusion, imagination, teaching or prediction. The Visual Arts are about art for society, art for the self, art for religion, art for profit and art for arts sake. Types of art are as varied as media, subject matter and technology allow. Art can be painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, computer and digital graphics, architecture, ceramics and Visual Design which covers the more functional works of art.

Subject Matter
What the art work is about. The title usually gives a clue. Subject Matter is divided into ....

Objects
OBJECTS Functional or useful objects, Still life, found objects and objects used as symbols of ownership, culture or value. Objects venerated (sacred) as religious symbols or used to represent strong feelings or fantasy. REPRESENTATIONAL looks like something, represents something even if it is not realistic.

Still Life FORM - Collage

People
PEOPLE Portraits of specific people or the Human Figure used in stories of heroes or gods, or used for religion or self-discovery or personality. The Human Figure has been used in art as expression of feelings, as objects of reverence, as symbols of fertility or death, strength or weakness, humorous or didactic (teaching).

FORM - Painting

Other living things

OTHER LIVING THINGS Plants and animals from land, air and sea, used to decorate, as part of story or as a study in themselves. Many animals and plants have been use as symbols or motifs for design or expression of feelings, humour or themes and issues.

FORM - Silk Screen Print

Places and Spaces

PLACES and SPACES Landscapes, Seascapes, Cityscapes, Interiors, maps or keys to location. Places in fantasy or personal experiences.

Landscape FORM - Painting

Events

EVENTS Important Events in Life birth, death, sickness or work. Historical, Public or Social Events- wars, coronations, ship-wrecks, executions, festivals or plagues. Spiritual or Religious Events within religious teachings.

FORM - Ink Drawing and washes

Issues and Themes

ISSUES and THEMES where art deals with issues or topics, which cause debate such as feminism, multiculturalism, pollution or animal rights. Some are controversial others universal. Art which deals with themes such as abstraction, colour, love, hate, technology, cruelty, confrontation etc.

FORM - Collage

Other Words or concepts used in the Visual Arts ... Media

Material or substance used to make an ArtWork

Pastel

Collage MEDIA means the materials or substance the artist uses to make art works. For example oil paint on canvas, acrylic, tempera or water paints. Drawing media includes pencil, pens and ink, charcoal and pastels. Sculptural media includes clay, wax and bronze, wood, metals, which are welded, junk or found or ready made media assembled by Acrylic Paint sculptors, plastics and wires, stone especially marble and even earth works. MEDIA can also mean the images, signs and symbols that artists use in their artworks.

Technique
How the Artwork is made, the methods used:

TECHNIQUE means the manner of making or method used in achieving an artwork. The manner of artistic execution or performance or the skills used in making artworks. For example, traditional western oil painting on canvas or the Impressionists dab technique. The coiling technique in pottery or the photographic silk screen print making technique.

Ink and brush - Post Modern

Print Making
PRINT MAKING is where the artist uses TECHNOLOGY that allows more than one work to be produced. This is done using the traditional method of wood block/ lino printing or etching where a groove is carved or etched into the surface and ink is applied then transferred to paper using a press. In Modern times silk screen printing and Lithography have been developed. Silk screen uses stencils where holes are cut and the ink is squeezed through using a screen and squeegee. Photographic silkscreen print making is used now, especially for fabric and "T" shirts. Lithography is where a moist ink resistant block is painted with ink Silk Screen Printmaking attractive emulsion and then inked and transferred to paper.

Sculpture
SCULPTURE is the word used to describe an artwork which has three dimensions, height, width and depth. most sculpture is free standing but can be in RELIEF where the form stands out from a flat background. Relief sculpture decorates the walls of many buildings. Sculpture is traditionally made by carving wood or stone, or by modelling clay and then casting the form in bronze. Modern sculptors have made use of the new technology and materials to construct artworks in many different media using techniques of gluing and welding, nailing or wiring.

Architecture Visual Design

The art of building.

DESIGN - is the deliberate choice and layout of elements in a work of painting, drawing, photograph, collage, computer graphics or three dimensional form such as furniture, appliances or furnishings, which acts as a prototype for production and commercial release. Visual Design is a Process

Style

STYLE means the manner of an artwork, the way it looks which can be recognised as characteristic of a person, school or culture eg the styles of Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Cubism, the Aztecs or Egyptians, the style of Dali or Picasso which can be identified by its characteristic elements.

Punk Rock Assemblage

Process

PROCESS means the sequence of action, the steps taken when making an art work usually involving developing ideas by experimentation, exploring different ways of solving problems, manipulating these ideas and appropriate media by evaluating success and resolving the work for presentation.

Practice
PRACTICE the way that an artwork is made and studied that is the practice of Art Making, Art Criticism and Art History. Practice of making art works involves ideas, beliefs, interpretations, intentions, skills, technology and actions. Art Criticism involves personal judgment, evaluation and interpretation. Art History involves looking at how the artwork fits into history, into a sequence of events and into the surrounding culture.

Function

FUNCTION- the task, the job, the purpose of an artwork such as telling stories or narrative, to inspire magic, to celebrate an event, to decorate, art for religious instruction and worship, to imitate nature, for personal pleasure or art for arts sake such as exploring the emotional effects of the elements or developing visual effects with media or technology.

Abstract
ABSTRACT ART means it is non representational, it does not look like anything, it does not represent anything seen. It may cause the viewer to think of ideas but it does not copy the seen world or contain images.

Abstracted

ABSTRACTED means to be made less realistic by distortion or exaggeration of images as the Cubists or German Expressionists do. An image is changed, made less obvious.

Conceptual

CONCEPTUAL ART means art where the idea or concept is more important than the seen image. Conceptual art is usually abstracted or performance art. Conceptual Art uses elements to suggest deeper thoughts to trigger thoughts in the viewer rather than appreciation of skilled imagery. Most artworks have a conceptual side to it as most art works make the audience think about a concept. Tribal Art is strongly conceptual so is most modern and Post Modern art.

Representational
REPRESENTATIONAL looks like something, represents something even if it is not realistic.

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Realistic

REALISTIC looks like a seen subject.

Naturalistic

NATURALISTIC Looks as though it is from nature. Natural in pose, gesture, setting and imagery.