Chapter 2.2: MediaTools and Materials Artists Use

Drawing Media•PENCIL- A versatile dry drawing medium because it can be used for quick sketches or for detailed drawings.

- Made from GRAPHITE and CLAY, wrapped in wood.- There is NO LEAD in a pencil.

- The more GRAPHITE in a pencil than CLAY, the darker the shade is. It is also SOFTER.

- The more CLAY in a pencil than GRAPHITE, the lighter the shade is. It is also HARDER.

- Pencils are marked with a LETTER and a NUMBER to indicate its HARDNESS or SOFTNESS.

- Hard pencils range from 2H, 4H, ....9H, etc.

- Soft pencils range from HB, 2B, .....9B, etc.

• A dry medium made of burnt wood

• Used mainly as a preliminary drawing medium that will become part of a larger work of art

• Appeals to artists for its soft grainy quality and because it smudges easily

• Hardness or softness is determined by the type of wood used

CHARCOAL

Georges Seurat, Seated Woman, c. 1885 (Study in Charcoal on paper)

Georges Seurat, Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grand Jatte, 1884-1886 http://youtu.be/ubpRcZNJAnE

INDIA INK

• A wet drawing medium used with a nib or a brush

• Hard lines are produced with a pen and nib.

• Cross-hatching technique is used to produce various shades of tone with lines

• Diluting ink with water produces various shades of grey - more water, lighter the shade of grey.

• Applying diluted shades with a brush is called a “wash”

PASTEL• A dry drawing medium in either chalk or

oil form

• Oil pastels are half-way between drawing and painting.

• A finished oil pastel is called a painting

Painting MediaFRESCO

- One of the oldest painting media & the most difficult to master

- Used to paint walls and ceilings primarily in churches

The Fresco Process:1. The surface is covered with a rough coat of plaster2. Fresh, smooth plaster is applied only to the area to be painted that day.3. While the plaster is wet, pigment (coloured powder), mixed with a slurry of plaster and water, is brushed on. The pigment makes a permanent bond with the lime in the plaster.- No changes can be made once it is dried. Mistakes must be scraped off.- A plaster slurry is used as the binding agent- Paint applied to a dry wall/ceiling, is fresco secco, and is not permanent. It will peel off over time.

Michelangelo, The Sistine Chapel, 1536-1541http://youtu.be/Cej4Ggq5nQI

http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

Leonardo Da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1495-1498, oil and tempera fresco

Egg Tempera

• An early painting medium that uses egg yolk as the binding agent.

• Egg Tempera dries very quickly, so, artists had to use small brushes and work quickly. http://youtu.be/gUmzLewk5dk

Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1482

Oil Paint• Colour pigments are bound to the surface of

wood or canvas with either Linseed or Poppy seed Oil

• Oil paints are diluted or thinned with Turpentine, Mineral Spirits, or Varsol.

• Oil paints take much longer to dry than tempera or fresco. This allows an artist to achieve richer colours, and higher realism because shades could be blended more gradually.

• When dry, oil paints are very durable. They are less affected by humidity and light.

• Oil paints can be applied in thick layers, called impasto, or in thin washes -glazes.

Impasto technique Glazing technique

Binding Agents

Watercolour

• A water soluble paint that uses Gum Arabic as the binding agent.

• Often used to produce coloured sketches on site that becomes the basis of a larger painting completed in the studio.

• Colours are transparent / translucent

• Another kind of water soluble paint similar to watercolour is Gouache. It’s colours, however, are opaque

watercolour

gouache

Acrylic Paint

• A water soluble painting medium that has been used since the invention of plastics.

• Acrylics use polymer emulsion (plastic gelatine) as the binding agent for coloured pigments.

• It has become the most popular with painters because it cleans up with water, non-toxic, the paints stick to most surfaces, and they dry quickly.

• Painters like working with acrylics because they can apply the paint heavily (impasto) like oil paints, or in washes like watercolours.

Printmaking Media• The invention of printmaking technique

came about from a desire of the general public for affordable art.

• Through printmaking, many copies could be made and signed by the artist.

• The number of prints produced could be limited, called Editions, to maintain a high value on the prints.

Woodcut

Linocut

INTAGLIO

LITHOGRAPH

SERIGRAPH

Woodcut• Called Relief Printing because the image on the

wood projects (sticks up) from the rest of the surface - like a stamp.

• The design on the flat piece of wood remains raised, while the non-printing areas are carved away.

• The raised areas will receive ink.

• The design will print as a mirror image of the original.

• Each colour of a design will need a separate carved wood plate and they all will need to be aligned when printing.

Linocut

• Also called Relief Printmaking. It is similar to woodcut.

• Instead of wood, Linoleum is used. It is soft and rubbery, so, it is easier to carve than wood.

http://youtu.be/O0skLwaFpn0

Intaglio• Printmakers use either a zinc or

copper metal plate to print an image.

• The image is etched by acid (zinc) or scratched or engraved into the surface (copper). The image, then, has lines and crevices below the surface of the plate.

• Ink is forced into the grooves. The top surface is wiped clean. Under great pressure, paper placed on top, absorbs the ink like a sponge from the grooves of the image.

• Finished prints look like pen drawings, or even photographs.

http://youtu.be/SNKn4PORGBI

Lithograph• A printmaker using this method draws

an image on a flat smooth stone slab with a greasy crayon or with oily ink.

• When water is spread onto the stone slab, the oil in the crayon resists the water and puddles everywhere else.

• He then rolls oily ink across the stone slab. The water on the slab resists the ink, and the drawn design accepts the ink from the roller.

• Paper is placed over the slab and passed through a press, transferring the design onto the paper.

http://youtu.be/JHw5_1Hopsc

Serigraph• The newest printmaking media, also

known as silk-screen printing, is used in making t-shirts, signs, artwork, etc,

• A stencil is attached to a mesh that has been stretched over a frame.

• Ink is forced through the openings of the stencil by a squeegee.

http://youtu.be/wogKeYH2wEE

Sculpture MediaFour-Method Categories of Scupture:

• Subtractive: Cutting away or removing material to create a sculpture

• Additive: Adding parts together to create a sculpture

• Modeling: Shaping or forming a sculpture with the hands

• Casting: Pouring a liquid material that hardens into a mold to form a sculpture

Traditional Sculpture Materials:Wood

• An example of the additive process when pieces of wood are glued, nailed, screwed or fastened with any other material to create a sculpture.

• An example of the subtractive process when the wood is carved, chiseled, sanded or cut to remove material to create a sculpture

• An example of the modeling process when sheets of wet wood are shaped with forming equipment and allowed to dry-maintaining the shape of the form.

Subtractive process

Additive processModeling process

Steel• An example of the additive process when

pieces of steel are welded, riveted, or fastened with any other device to create a sculpture.

• An example of the subtractive process when part of the steel is cut away to create a sculpture.

• An example of the modeling process when sheets of steel are shaped with forming equipment maintaining the shape of the form.

• An example of the casting process when molten steel is poured into a mold to create a sculpture.

• Surfaces can be allowed to rust, they can be painted, or textured with a grinder.

Marble• An example of the

subtractive process when the marble stone is carved, chiseled, sanded or cut to remove material to create a sculpture.

• The surface can be polished to a mirror finish, or left with a rough texture.

Bronze• An example of the casting process when

molten bronze is poured into a mold to create a sculpture.

• Uses the lost wax technique.

• http://youtu.be/uPgEIM-NbhQ

Boccioni, Unique forms of continuity in space, 1913

Non-Traditional Sculpture MediaPlastics & Fibreglass

• With the invention of plastics and fibreglass, sculptors were able to produce sculptures more cheaply and that weighed much less while using similar casting techniques used during classical times.

• Sculptors in the modern era began using new materials such as glass, neon lights, mirrors, and found objects to make sculpture.

• Installations often include, sound and video making them multimedia.

Mirror Room

This installation is of a large room with 4 walls, a floor and ceiling covered with mirror. The furniture: a table and chair is also made of mirror. The viewer walks into the room to experience the mirror room. The reflections are overwhelming!

Installations are about an experience during a moment. They are about ideas or concepts. They appeal to all your senses. They can be in an art gallery, in any space indoor or outdoor.

http://youtu.be/auDxn_i9Jkc