MEDIUMS OF VISUAL ARTS

 Painting
 Watercolor
 Fresco
 Tempera
 Pastel
 Encaustic
 Oil
 Acrylic
 Mosaic
 Stained glass
 Tapestry
 Drawing
 Pencil, pen and ink, and charcoal
 Bistre
 Crayonsq
 Silverpoint
 Printmaking
 Lithography
 Sculpture
 Stone
 Jade
 Ivory
 Metals
 Plaster
 Clay
 Glass
 Wood
 Architecture
 Medium 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

EXAMPLES:

Oil
- Carlos ‘Botong’ Francisco
“Maria Makiling” the woodland nymph of Mt. Makiling in the province of Laguna
- Norma Belleza
“Sari-Sari” was produced in 1979
- Jose Joya”
“Red Talisman” painted in 1975

Tempera
- Bernardo Fungai (“Ressurection with two angels” and “Majesty”)
Dimensions of Tempera:
- Unvarnished Tempera – one paints with water or thinned emulsion on a
dampened or dried ground.
- Varnished Tempera – some colors may appear glaring and other may stand
out in a very unpleasant way.
- Gouache-Like Tempera – opaque colors mixed with water and gum.

Fresco (disadvantage)
- Impossible to move a Fresco
- The painting is subject to the disasters that may happen to the wall of which
it has become a part

Acrylic
- Mario Parial (“Sisa”)
- Rodolfo Paras Perez (“Anting-Anting”)
- Jose Joya (“Blue Odyssey”)
Pencil, Pen and Ink, & Charcoal

Pencil leads (graphite)

- Are graded in different degrees of hardness or softness.
- For linework, hard pencil lead is applied.
- Granular surface, soft pencils are used.
Ink
- One of the oldest mediums still in use, offers a great variety of qualities,
depending on the tools and techniques used in application.
- India ink, which come in liquid form, is the favorite medium of comic strip
illustrators and cartoonists.
- Chinese ink, comes in solid sticks that are dissolved in water before they are
used.
Charcoal
- It is a carbonaceous material obtained by heating wood or other organic
substances in the absence of oxygen.
- It is used in representing broad masses of light and shadow.
- Soft charcoal produces the darkest value, while the hardest produces the
lightest tone.

Bistre
- It is a brown pigment extracted from the soot of wood, and often used in pen
and wash drawings.
Crayons
- Pigments bound by wax and compressed into painted sticks used for drawing.
- It is especially popular among children in their elementary grades.
- Crayons adhere better on paper surface.
Silverpoint
- To produce a silverpoint artwork, the artist uses a silver stylus to produce a
thin grayish on specially prepared paper.
- It is popular during the Renaissance period.

PRINTMAKING
- A print is anything printed on a surface that is a direct result from the
duplication process.
 - The painting or graphic image, usually done in black ink on white paper,
becomes the artist’s plate.
- Some calendar pictures and Christmas cards are reproduced through printing.
- One of the advantages of printmaking is the ease with which one can make
multiple copies of the original drawing.

LITHOGRAPHY
- It is a surface printing done from an almost smooth surface which has been
treated chemically or mechanically so that some surface areas will print and
other will not.
- It is known as planographic process

SCULPTURE
- In choosing a subject for sculpture, the most important thing to consider is
the material.
- Substances available for sculpture are limitless.
- Different materials require different methods of handling.
- Soft medium: will lend itself to a modeling technique that uses squeezing and
shaping and continuously adding itself to it as the work goes on.
- Allows for the expansion of gesture.
- Hard medium: requires the process of cutting and taking away from the
block.
- Confined to the limits of the piece of wood or stone.

Stone
- Hard and brittle substance formed from mineral and earth material.
- The finished product is granular and dull in appearance.
- Normally used for gravestones in cemeteries.
- Sandstone, granite, basalt, marble, and limestone
Granite
- Granular igneous rock composed of feldspar and quartz, usually combined
with other minerals.
- Good for large works with only few designs.
- Egyptian sculptures of Pharaohs were mostly done in granite.
Marble
- Limestone in a more or less crystalline state sufficiently close in texture.
- Capable of taking a high polish
- It occurs in many varieties.
 - Breciated marble: composed of angular fragments
- Serpentine marble: prized for its variegated patterns and is often used in
large flat planes
- Marble is easier to carve than granite
Basalt
- Hard and black
Limestone
- Has a fine and even texture.
- Color ranges from light cream to buff, and from light gray to a darker, bluish
gray.
- It lends itself very well to carving.

Jade
- A fine stone, usually colored green, and used widely in Ancient China.
- Ornamental stone for carving and fashion jewelry.
- Symbolize virtues such as faithfulness, wisdom, and charity.
- Ex. Jade Buddha

Ivory
- Comes from the main parts of tusks of elephants
- Hard white substance used to make carving and billiard balls
- Ex. Ivory sculpture

Metals
- Class of elementary substances such as gold, silver, or copper
- Metals can be transformed into fine wires or threads.
- They can be shaped or deformed under great pressure without breaking.
- Traditionally, the metals used as mediums for sculpture are copper, brass,
bronze, gold, silver and lead. Aluminum is a recent addition to the list.
- Bronze: oldest alloys of metal composed chiefly of copper and tin with color.
- Most popular metals
- Strong, durable, and resistant
- Brass: alloy of copper and zinc
- Not popularly used by contemporary artists
- As brass does not rust and takes a brilliant polish
- Copper: has a peculiar brilliance
- Used as a costing medium
- Reddish color
 - Gold and Silver: used as casting materials for small objects like medals coins,
and pieces of jewelry.
- Lead: a bluish-gray metal, used to casting and forging
- Flexible and permanent material

Plaster
- Composed of lime, sand, and water.
- Applied on walls and ceilings and allowed to harden and dry.
- Used extensively in making manikins, models, molds, architectural
decorations, and other indoor sculpture.

Clay
- Natural earthy material that is plastic when wet
- Consists essentially of hydrated silicates of aluminum
- Used for making bricks and ceramics
- Fragile
- Terra cotta or “baked earth”, is cheap compared with stone or bronze
- Brilliant cloves are made possible by glazing
- Like all pottery, it is easily broken

Glass
- Hard, brittle, non-crystalline, more or less transparent substances produced
by fusion
- Usually consisting of mutually dissolved silica and silicates and contains soda
and lime
- It can be molded in various colors and shapes
- It is used to make beautiful but fragile figurines.

Wood
- Easier to carve
- Lighter and softer to carve despite having greater tensile strength than stone
- It should be treated to preserve its quality
- Common wood used for sculpture are dapdap, white lauan, oak, walnut,
mahogany, narra, and dao. They are selected for aesthetic purposed and
permanence.

ACHITECTURE
- Art of designing and constructing building
 - It is producing shelter to serve as protection of men in carrying out his
activities – work, creation, and sleep.
- One of the primary purposes of architecture is to fulfill man’s needs.
These needs include:
1. Physical needs – shelter (for self-preservation and reproduction) which must
have the necessities (kitchen bedroom, bathroom) and comfort (heat,
ventilation, furnishing).
2. Emotional needs – endowed with rich beauty and interest
3. Intellectual needs – a building for science, education, government, etc.
4. Psychosocial needs
a. For recognition, prestige, civic, and personal – palaces, skyscrapers,
cathedrals, public buildings, monuments etc.
b. For response – due to love, friendship, and sociability (fraternal buildings, city
clubs, banquet halls, ballrooms, living rooms)