CAA MIDTERM NOTES
FOUR COMMON ESSENTIALS OF ART
• ART HAS TO BE MAN MADE
• ART SHOULD BE CREATIVE, NOT
IMITATIVE.
• ART MUST BENEFIT AND SATISFY MAN.
• ART IS EXPRESSED THROUGH A CERTAIN
MEDIUM.
SUBJECT OF ART
• The subject of art is the matter to be
described or to be portrayed by the
artist. The subject of art is varied. In this
context it refers to any person, objects,
scene or event.
SUBJECT MAY VARY THROUGH THE
FOLLOWING;
• Dream and Fantasy
• Event (Everyday life, History and
Legend)
• Nature (Animals, Plants, Mountains,
Seas and Rivers, Forests)
• Object (Things, Gadgets, Entity, Figures,
Still Life)
• Person (Portrait)
• Scene (Landscapes, Topography,
Terrain, Panorama)
TWO KINDS ART AS TO SUBJECT:
Objective Art (Representational) represents
description, stories, or references to identifiable
objects or symbol.
Non-Objective Art (Non- Representational)
does not represent any concrete object or
symbol.
WAYS OF PRESENTING THE SUBJECT
Realism - refers to the movement or style of
representing familiar things as they replicate
reality. The term is also generally used to
describe artworks painted in a realistic almost
photographic way
Abstraction - refers to art that does not
attempt to represent external reality, but seeks
to achieve its effect using shapes, forms, colors,
and textures.
Distortion - refers to the art of twisting,
stretching, or deforming the natural shape of
the object.
ELEMENTS OF ART
Color- gives quality to the pictorial field and has
the ability to elevate sensation of pleasure. It
creates mood and symbolizes ideas as well as
expression of personal emotion.
Lines- are used by the artist to imitate or to
represent objects and figure on the flat surface.
Likewise, line depicts the feelings and thoughts
of the artist.
Shapes- are used by the artist to represent the
subjects of the art. The subject can be
represented through a natural, abstract, and
non-objective shape.
Texture- defines the tactile quality of the
surface of an object. It expresses a sensuous
and decorative quality and creates a spatial
depth.
Value- depicts the tonal relationship between
light and dark areas of painting.
MEDIUM OF ART: VISUAL ART
Acrylic- is a medium in painting which uses
paints.
Drawing- refers to the initial or fundamental
sketch of painting.
Encaustic- refers to the application of a mixture
of hot bee wax, resin, and ground pigment to
any porous surface followed by heat
application.
Engraving- refers to process of decorating metal
artwork with the use of burin.
Etching- is the process of using strong acid or
mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a
metal surface to create a design in intaglio in
the metal
Fresco- refers to the application of earth
pigments mixing with water in a plaster wall.
Intaglio- refers to scratch, engrave, or etch into
metal plate.
Mosaic- refers to a wall or floor decoration
made of small cubes or irregular cut pieces of
colored stone or glass.
Painting- refers to the process of applying
pigments (colors) on the smooth surface (paper,
cloth, canvas, wood or plaster.
Printmaking- refers to graphic image that
results from duplicating process.
Stained glass- refers to window decoration
made of irregular cut pieces of colored glass
Tempera- refers to the application of a mixture
of egg yolk and white, and earth and mineral
pigment.
Watercolor- refers to a tempered paint made of
pure ground pigment with gum Arabic.
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN:
Balance- is the gravitational equilibrium in
visual arts which depicts the feeling of equality
in weight, attention (attraction) of the various
elements.
• Symmetrical (Formal Balance) means,
identical (one half of a work mirror the
image of the other half).
• Asymmetrical (Occult or Felt Balance)
means no formal balance on either side
of the artwork but the subjects are
place in parallel position.
Emphasis and Subordination reflects between
the more important and less important in
artworks. It is concerned in stressing the proper
importance to the parts and to whole artworks.
Harmony means that all parts of visual image
are related and complement with each other.
There is an agreement between the parts of a
composition which result in unity.
Proportion means the ratio of the one part to
another and of the whole that can be expressed
in size, number, and position. It is the
comparative harmonious relationship between
two or more elements in a composition with
respect to size, color, quantity, degree, setting,
etc.
Rhythm in visual arts means repetition or
continuance flow of regular visual units. This
refers to the feeling of movement achieve
through the repetition of the regular visual unit.
Variation means, elements and subjects of
artworks contrast with or slightly different from
others which prevent monotony or uniformity.
PREHISTORIC ART TO MODERN AND
CONTEMPORARY ART
PREHISTORIC ART
• A term that refers to Stone Age,
Paleolithic, and Neolithic art and
artifacts, literally referring to the time
before recorded history.
ANCIENT GREEK ARTS
Archaic Period
• Arts were influenced by the earlier
civilization of Mesopotamia and Egypt
like the use of geometric art in pottery.
• This period stresses the nude sculpture
such as the kouros (nude male figure of
athlete) and the kore (fully clad female
figure).
Classical Period
• This period is considered as the
remarkable civilization of ancient
Greek, the “Golden age of Athens”.
• In this period, arts achieve the
aesthetic ideals (emphasize forms and
follow the principles of design) and
sculpture evolve from the frontal and
rigid of kouros (plural, kouroi).
Hellenistic Period
• This is the end of the golden age of
Athens, the time of Alexander the Great
(338 BC) who conquered the Greek
cities.
• Sculptures in this period are influenced
by the Oriental and the political
instability which brings new set of
aesthetic ideals particularly in paintings
and sculptures.
ROMAN ARTS
• The Roman Visual Arts such as
sculptures and architectures imitated
the Greek forms and techniques.
However, in visual arts the Romans
developed new artistic subjects like Still
Life, Landscape, and Architectural
motifs.
Still life is a work of art depicting mostly
inanimate subject matter, typically
commonplace objects which may be either
natural or man-made
Landscape comprises the visible features of an
area of land, including the physical elements of
landforms such as mountains, hills, water
bodies, living elements of land cover including
indigenous vegetation, human elements
including different forms of land use, buildings
and structures, and transitory elements such as
lighting and weather conditions.
MEDIEVAL ARTS
• Medieval Arts were classified into Early
Christian Arts; Byzantine Arts;
Romanesque Arts; and Gothic Arts.
Early Christian Arts were produced by
Christians or under Christian patronage. Arts
were influenced by the early Christian symbols
like cross, fish, lamb, Alpha, Omega, wreath,
grapes, doves, and peacocks. Arts introduced a
new sense of values which emphasized spiritual
and the life after death.
Byzantine Arts referred to the terms commonly
used to describe the artistic products of the
Byzantine Empire from about 5th century until
the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Byzantine
Arts were merged with Classical and Asian
artistic tradition which underscored the clarity
of line and sharpness of outline. Byzantine arts
were known for using icons like Crucifixion, and
Mary (Mother of God), Our Lady of Perpetual
Help.
Romanesque Arts referred to the arts of Europe
from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the
Gothic style in the 13th century. Romanesque
architectural styles prevailed in Europe around
900-1200 and it spread its fullest development
in central and northern France. Romanesque
period underscored the crafts like metal work,
geometric design, and stylized animal from.
Gothic Arts developed out of the Romanesque
arts in mid-12th century. It emphasized religion
as the subject of arts and it was renowned for
the use of stained glass (mosaic stained glass).
Sculpture, panel painting, stained glass, fresco
and illuminated manuscripts were the primary
media in Gothic period.
RENAISSANCE ARTS
Renaissance Arts underscored the dominance
of man (homocentric), “Man as the measure of
all things”. Arts centered on person’s thoughts,
feelings and imaginations. Its artistic standards
derived from the ideals of classicism. The
subjects of art in this period remained religious
by nature and the ideal man, “jack-of-all-trade”
was the center of attraction.
• The prevalent artists in this period were
the like of Leonardo da Vinci,
Michelangelo Buonarroti, Filippo
Brunelleschi, Giotto di Bondone,
Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donato di Niccolo
(Donatello), Alessandro di Vanni
(Sandro Botticelli), Leon Battista Alberti,
Fra Filippo Lippi, and Albrecht Durer.
MANNERISM ARTS
Mannerism Arts refers to the period of
European arts that emerged from the later
years of the Italian High Renaissance around
1520 and lasted until about 1580 specifically in
Italy. This 16th century period of arts was
characterized by unusual effects of scale,
lighting, perspective, and the use of bright,
often lurid colors.
• Andrea del Sarto, Jacopo da Pontormo,
and Rosso Fiorentino were
acknowledged as the Early Florencian
Mannerists and Michelangelo
Buonarotti was one of the great
creative exponents of Mannerism.
BAROQUE ARTS
Baroque Arts refers to the period of European
arts of the 17th and 18th centuries that follows
mannerism and it is distinct with ornate detail.
• Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Versailles are
the leading figure and renowned
architects in the emergence of Roman
Baroque architecture. Michelangelo
Caravaggio and Sir Peter Paul Rubens
are considered important baroque
artists.
ROMANTICISM ARTS
Romanticism Arts was an art movement
originated in the late 18th century that
emphasized inspiration, subjectivity, and the
primacy of individual. It was a reaction against
the order and restraint of classicism and
neoclassicism, and a rejection of the
rationalism. Romanticism incorporates the
struggles for freedom and equality and the
promotion of justice as spurred by the idealism
of French Revolution.
• Likewise, it embraced individuality and
subjectivity to counteract the excessive
insistence on logical thought. Henry
Fuseli, Francisco Goya, Caspar David
Friedrich, JMW Turner, John Constable,
Theodore Gericault, and Eugene
Delacroix were among the greatest
Romantic painters.
MODERN ART
Impressionism – a style or movement in
painting originating in France in the 1860s,
characterized by a concern with depicting the
visual impression of the moment, especially in
term of the shifting effect of light and color.
• Woman with a Parasol - Madame
Monet and Her Son painting by Claude
Monet
Pointillism – developed by George Seurat
pointillism a technique of neo-impressionist
painting using tiny dots of various pure colors,
which become blended in the viewer’s eye.
• The English Channel at Grandcamp -
painting by Georges Seurat
Fauvism – from French fauvism (fauve) refers to
a wild beast a style of painting with vivid
expressionistic and non-naturalistic use of color
that flourished in Paris from 1905.
• Starry night -Van Gogh
Expressionism – a style of painting, music, or
drama in which the artist or writer seeks to
express emotional experience rather
impressions of the external world.
• Evening on Karl Johan Street Painting
by Edvard Munch.
Cubism – an early 20th century style and
movement in the field of visual arts, especially
in painting. Cubism emphasizes the use of
simple geometric shapes, interlocking planes,
and later, collage.
• Pablo Picasso, "Three Musicians", 1921
Futurism – an artistic movement begun in Italy
in 1909 that violently rejected traditional forms
which emphasized and incorporated into art
like energy and the dynamism of modern
technology.
• The City Rises - Umberto Boccioni
Surrealism – a 20th century avant-garde
movement in art and literature that sought to
release the creative potential of the
unconscious mind (like the irrational
juxtaposition of images)
• The Son of Man, Rene Magritte
CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Pop Art is both modernist and contemporary
art which is based on modern popular culture
and mass media, especially as a critic or ironic
comment on traditional fine arts values
• It started out by depicting a more up-
to-date reality, using images of film-
stars and other celebrities, as well as
mass-made consumer goods.
• Word Art is brand new form of painting or
sculpture which used text-based imagery.
• Conceptual art is postmodernist art
movement founded on the principle that art is a
concept rather than a material object (Dada
arts/ Marcel Duchamp)
• Art in which the idea presented by the
artist is considered more important
than the finished product (essential
component)
Performance art emerges from America and
Europe, an experimental art form inspired by
conceptual art as well as dada, futurism, the
Bauhaus, and Black Mountain College (America)
• It is an art form that combines visual art
with dramatic performance. It includes
events and happenings by visual artist,
poets, musicians, film makers, video
artist, and others

Dadaism – from French Dada, literally means

hobbyhorse (rocking horse), an early 20th
century international movement in art,
literature, music, and film, repudiating and
mocking artistic and social conventions and
emphasizing the illogical and absurd and
favored montage, collage, and the ready-made.

• L.H.O.O.Q by Marcel Duchamp, (1919)