Lesson 4: Painting

CHAPTER 2: MEDIA AND PROCESSES IN VISUAL ARTS

The main media and processes of art are:
Drawing
Painting
Printmaking
Sculpture
Architecture
Photography
Visual Communication Design
Film/Video and
Digital Art
What We'll Discuss Today
Painting
Introduction
Components of Paint
Tools in Painting
Binding Techniques in Painting
INTRODUCTION TO PAINTING

When most of us think of art,

painting is the medium that
most often comes to mind.
Components of
Painting
Pigment & Binder
Paint in its most basic form is composed
of pigment suspended in a liquid binder.
Pigment gives paint its color.
Binder is a liquid that dries after it has
been applied and holds pigment in place.
PIGMENTS
Traditionally, pigments have been extracted
from minerals, soils, vegetable matter, and
animal by-products.

LIQUID BINDER
Just as there are many kinds of pigments, there
are many binders, traditionally beeswax, egg
yolk, vegetable oils and gums, and water.
In modern times, art-supply manufacturers have
developed such complex chemical substances
as polymers.
Tools of Painting
Brushes
Round: sketching and thinned paint
application, can be rolled in hand for
special effect.
Filbert: for applying color, short bristles
for more control and softened edges.
Flat: for long, fluid strokes and sharp Traditionally made from animal
edges.
hair like hog bristle or sable fur,
Bright: for controlled detailing and
it is now common to see brushes
applying areas of color.
Fan: for blending slow-drying paint and made of vinyl and polyester.
softening edges.
Palette Knife
This is a tool that can be used by
the painter for mixing and
applying paint.
Painters spread paint around with
a palette knife as if they were
buttering toast.
Air Spray
Air spray is a painting
technique where paint is
applied to a surface via a
spray gun, which is air
pressurized.
With this method, coating
products like paint, varnish
or even ink can be sprayed
onto the surface via the
action of air.
Literally Anything
Sometimes artists have poured it from buckets,
or have ridden across the canvas on a bicycle
the wheels of which were covered in it; others
have dipped their fingers, hands, or entire body
in it so they can make their marks.
Binding Techniques
FIRST PAINTINGS
Researchers have discovered that some
images on the cave walls of Pech Merle
near Cabrerets, France, were made of a
saliva and pigment solution that was
applied with a small tube.
There have been many discoveries of
cave paintings in southern France and
Spain, and in each example, the same
medium, saliva, has been used as the
binding agent.
ENCAUSTIC
Encaustic is a relatively semi-transparent paint
medium that was used by the ancient Greeks
and Romans.
To use encaustic, an artist must mix pigments
with hot wax and then apply the mixture
quickly.
A stiff b acked support, such as a wooden panel
or metal plate, is necessary because
encaustic, when cool, is not very flexible and
may crack.
EXAMPLES OF ENCAUSTIC PAINTING
FRESCO
Fresco is a painting technique in
which the artist paints onto
freshly applied plaster.
The pigment is not mixed into a
binder, as it is in other painting
techniques. Instead, pigment is
mixed with water is applied to a
lime-plaster surface.
EXAMPLES OF FRESCO PAINTING
TEMPERA
Tempera uses egg as binder.
Despite its rich yellow color, egg yolk
does not greatly affect the color of
pigment; instead, it gives a transparent
soft glow.
Tempera is best mixed fresh for each
painting session.
Tempera is usually applied with a
brush and dries almost immediately.
EXAMPLES OF TEMPERA PAINTING
OIL
Painting with oil is a relatively
recent invention compared to
encaustic, tempera, and fresco.
The oil used as a binder there
was usually linseed oil, a by-
product of the flax plant from
which linen cloth is made.
Painters like oil paint because its
transparency allows the use of
thin layers of color called glazes.
EXAMPLES OF OIL PAINTING
ACRYLIC
Acrylic paints are composed of
pigments suspended in an acrylic
polymer resin.
Unlike oil paints, which dissolve only
in turpentine or mineral spirits,
acrylics can be cleaned up with water.
When dry, however, they have similar
characteristics to those of oil paint.
Acrylic also set easily on a variety of
different artistic supports, from paper
through to canvas and wood.
EXAMPLES OF ACRYLIC PAINTING
MURAL & SPRAY
The Mexican Muralists, who
espoused ideas about social
justice and freedom in their
works, believed that a painting
should belong to all the people
of a community.
Spray paint can be applied using
a spray gun or spray can, a
favorite of tag and graffiti artists.
Graffiti artists prefer to use spray
enamel packaged in an aerosol
can.
Questions?
References
·Barrett, T. (n.d.). Criticizing Art: Understanding the Contemporary.
Retrieved from
http://www1.udel.edu/art/rmarquez/416/barrett_criticizing_art.p
df
The Art of Seeing Art. (n.d.). Toledo Museum of Art. Retrieved from
https://www.toledomuseum.org/education/visual-literacy/art-
seeing-art
·DeWitte, D., Larmann, R., & Shields, M. (2018). Gateways to Art:
Understanding the Visual Arts. United States of America: Thames
& Hudson