Paintings, Style, and Medium

• Painting


  The practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface (support base)
• Painting medium


  • Commonly applied to the base with a brush
  • Can also be applied with other implements such as knives, sponges, and airbrushes
• Painting supports

  • Walls
  • Paper
  • Canvas
  • Wood
  • Glass
  • Lacquer
  • Clay
  • Leaf
  • Copper
  • Concrete
• Materials that can be incorporated into paintings


  • Sand
  • Clay
  • Paper
  • Gold leaf
  • Objects
• Painting (in art)

  Describes both the act and the result of the action
• Painting (outside of art)


  A common trade among craftsmen and builders
• Intensity


  • Every point in space has different intensity, which can be represented in painting by black and white and all the gray shades between
  • Painters can articulate shapes by juxtaposing surfaces of different intensity
  • Using just color (of the same intensity) can only represent symbolic shapes
• Color and tone


  • The essence of painting as pitch and rhythm are of music
  • Color is highly subjective, but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ from one culture to the next
  • The use of language is only an abstraction for a color equivalent
• Non-traditional elements in modern painting

  • Collage
  • Incorporation of different materials such as sand, cement, straw or wood for their texture
  • Use of computers to paint color onto a digital canvas using programs
• Rhythm in painting


  • Rhythm is important in painting as well as in music
  • Pauses allow creative force to intervene and add new creations-form, melody, coloration
  • The distribution of form, or any kind of information is of crucial importance in the given work of art and it directly affects the esthetical value of that work
  • The freedom (of movement) of perception is perceived as beauty
  • Free flow of energy, in art as well as in other forms of "techne," directly contributes to the esthetical value
• Oldest known paintings at the Grotte Chauvet in France


  32,000 years ago
• Oil painting


  The process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil, especially linseed oil
• Pastel


  A painting medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder
• Acrylic paint


  • Fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion
  • Can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry
  • Can resemble a watercolor or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics
• Watercolor


  • A painting method in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water soluble vehicle
  • The traditional and most common support is paper, but other supports can be used
• Ink painting


  Done with a liquid that contains pigments and/or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design
• Encaustic painting

  Involves using heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added, then applied to a surface
• Fresco


  Any of several related mural painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings
• Gouache


  A water based paint consisting of pigment and other materials designed to be used in an opaque painting method
• Enamel


  Made by painting a substrate, typically metal, with frit, a type of powdered glass, and firing at high temperature
• Spray paint


  A type of paint that comes in a sealed pressurized container and is released in a fine spray mist when depressing a valve button
• Tempera


  A permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually egg yolk
• Abstract art


  • Does not use figurative reality as a reference, instead alludes to the subject and reduces it to a simplified form
  • Colors and shapes are used to portray emotions and the landscape of one's inner world
• Wassily Kandinsky


  Pioneer in abstract art, known for his "Biography"
• Surrealism


  • Juxtaposes various images together to give a startling effect
  • The images are often illogical and have a dream-like quality
  • Emphasizes the subconscious
• Conceptual art


  • The concept is more important than the artwork itself
  • Often only a set of instructions
  • Incorporates elements of sculpture and installation
• Pop art

  • Revolves around mundane subjects like comic books, advertising, celebrities, and other objects found in the everyday
  • A return to realism and representation in art
• Photorealism


  • Paintings that look as realistic as a photograph, done by taking a picture of the subject and then painting it
• Minimalism


  • Characterized by simplicity, painting only what the artist believes is necessary
  • Paints the subject down to its very essence
• Futurism

  • Concerns itself with subjects like technology, speed, violence, and the future
  • Rejects the establishment and praises originality
  • Deconstructs subjects into geometric figures to show movement
• Impressionism

  • Characterized by thin brushstrokes and an emphasis on the depiction of light
  • Impressionist artists often painted outdoors to capture sunlight and color
• Famous paintings

  • Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci
  • The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
  • The Creation of Adam by MichaelAngelo
  • Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh
  • Girl With a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer
• Famous Filipino paintings

  • Planting Rice by Fernando Amorsolo
  • Juan Luna's Spolarium
  • Philippines Mother and Child by Vicente Manansala