ArtApp Lesson 6 Medium and Technique in The Art

Lesson 6 Medium and Technique in the Art

Medium and Technique

The term medium refers to the materials used to create a work of art. Common media
(plural of medium) in art are oil and acrylic for painting and stone and bronze for sculpture. The
medium also pertains to the means used to convey the artist’s message. The means are the
various methods of creativity or the categorization of art like sculpture, painting and drawing.

An artist gives life to his or her vision in terms of medium. Since there are various
materials and means of creativity, an artist chooses the medium that will best reflect his or
moods and concept. Not all media are suitable for each type of expressive goals and the use of
medium has a significant impact on the artist and his or her audience. Thus, understanding the
choice of medium is essential for appreciating the work of an artist.
On the other hand, the term technique pertains to the artist method of employing skills
and materials to achieve his or her desired goal. The technique is how the artist manipulates the
medium to meet the specifications of a certain piece of art. It has to do with how he works with
his medium to convey his visions through the work of art.
Art technique is evident in Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Liza” wherein the artist used
sfumato, (from Italian sfumare, “to tone down” or “to evaporate like smoke”) for a highly
illusionistic rendering of facial features and for atmospheric effects. In Vincent van Gogh’s
“Starry Night,” he utilized the impasto (an Italian word for “mixture”) technique to paint thickly on
a surface, so that brushstrokes or palette knife marks are visible. Pop artist like Andy Warhol
used the appropriation technique (to borrow or copy preexisting images and objects) in
“Campbell’s Soup Cans” for a new perspective in the works of art.
Figure 1
Oil Painting (Impression, Sunrise (1872) by Claude Monet

https://www.claude-monet.com/impression-sunrise.jsp
Media Used in Painting and Sculpture
In painting, the term "media" refers to both the kind of paint used and the surface on
which it is placed. A painter can mix a medium with solvents, pigments, and other substances to
produce paint and manage consistency or evenness. A paint's medium, also called a “vehicle”
or a “base,” is what carries a paint's pigments. For example, in watercolor, the vehicle is water.
Among the most common paint media are acrylic, encaustic, fresco, gouache, oil, pastel,
tempera and watercolor.
In sculpture, the artists use hard materials, sound and light to produce art works.
1. Hard Materials
The oldest and the most popular forms of sculpture that are produced are made with
hard materials. Statues, kinetic sculptures (produced with movement as an integral part of the
design), and environmental sculpture (created using natural materials such as stones, wood,
and plants) are all examples of sculptures that use hard materials as medium. Some of the
hard materials used in sculpture are stone, bronze, marble, granite, wood, glass, stainless steel,
aluminum, copper, gold, iron, lead, nickel, silver, tin, diamond, jade, ivory and ceramics
(Solmerano, 2018). Modern artists use ice, sand, plastic and found objects to produce unique
sculptures. The sculptures produced by artists may be representational that imitated forms in
life, most often human figures like Michelangelo's David, or may be created in abstract forms
that does not represent or imitate a person, an animal or a place like Henry Moore's Locking
Piece.
Figure 2
Henry Moore’s Locking Piece
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/henry-moore/henry-moore-om-ch-
locking-piece-r1172243
2. Sound
Some experimental artists create sound sculptures which are modern versions of three-
dimensional structures that produce sound. Because the sculptures are regularly installed in art
galleries, this type of sculpture is also known as sound installation. Sound sculptures are
contrasted from musical instruments based on the works’ ability to make sound. Due to their
design, sound sculptures make a sound on their own without the manipulation of human player
or artist. (Solmerano, 2018), Some notable artists in the field of sound sculpture are Alexander
Calder and Harry Bertoia.
3. Light
As a unique type of art, light sculpture uses light or lighting as primary medium to
produce an artistic effect. Fractal manipulations or gaseous forms of light (electricity) are used
to create an image. Some light sculptures produce light because of the inclusion of hard
materials in a sculpture while the other art types are structured only of light (Solmerano, 2018).
Among the renowned light sculptors are James Turrel, Olafur Eliasson, and Dan Flavin (the
creator of light sculptures using fluorescent lighting tubes in geometric arrays).
Figure 3
Monument 1 for V. Tatlin (1964) by Flavin
https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/dan-flavin-monument-1-for-v-tatlin-1964/
ACTIVITY
Section: __________ SCORE: ______
Last Name, First Name, M.I. _________________________________
On the table below, write the meaning, description and three notable works (with artist’s
name) using the given paint media.
Painting Medium Meaning Description Notable

Works/Artists
Acrylic
Encaustic
Fresco
Gouache
Magna Paint
Oil Paint
Pastel
Tempera
Watercolor

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Lesson 6 Medium and Technique in the Art

Medium and Technique

Oil Painting (Impression, Sunrise (1872) by Claude Monet

Media Used in Painting and Sculpture

Monument 1 for V. Tatlin (1964) by Flavin

Painting Medium Meaning Description Notable

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