Chapter Three Art media and Processes.

1. Creating Art: Media and
Processes
Chapter 3
Art In Focus

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. • 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.

8. 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

9. 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.

10. Photography
• A technique of capturing optical images on
light-sensitive surfaces.
White Fence,
1916

11. 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?

12. The image below is an example
of 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 many
photographers still use film cameras.

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

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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

20. 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.

21. Processes of Sculpture
• Kinetic Art: a sculptural form that actually
moves in space. (Calder)
• Explore sculpture more using this link.

22. 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.

23. Architecture
The Chrysler Building, 1930

24. 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.

25. • 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. Modern Construction
Sidney Opera House