Art Appreciation

Prepared by:
Nelia S. Alterado
 Art Analysis

● Semiotic Planes
● Iconic Planes
● Contextual Planes
● Evaluative Planes
How will you interpret this painting?
 Semiotic Planes
➔ Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Sanders Peirce are the
founders of semiotic.
➔ Study of signs, elements, technical and physical aspects of
work.
➔ Is the study of “signs”. It consists of “signifier” or its
material/physical aspect and its “signified” or non-material
aspect as concept and value.
➔
What is Sign?

❖ Signs can take many forms. They

can be words, numbers, sounds,
photographs, paintings, and road
signs and more.
❖ A sign is anything that creates
meaning
❖ It’s anything that can be used to
represent something else.
 Signs consist of:

a.) “signifier” or its material/

physical or aspect

b.) “signified” or
non-material aspects as
concept and value
 3 types of signifier:

1. Signifier as Icon An icon directly resembles the object; it

shares tangible qualities with the object.

2. Signifier as An index has implied association with

object. An index is a sign that shows
Index evidence of the concept or object that is

3. Signifier as being presented.

A symbol is not inherently connected to

Symbol the object, instead the connection is a
matter of convention within particular
society.
 Visual Artwork
➔ 2D or 3D, is an embodiment of signs in which all physical or
material marks and traces, elements, figures, notations are
signifiers which bear a semantic or meaning-conveying
potential and which in relation to each other convey concepts
and values which are their signifies. Their semantic potential
is realized in the analysis or reading of the integral work.
 Visual Elements
★ Line
★ Color
★ Shape
★ Form
★ Space
★ Texture
★ Movement
 Choice of Medium and Techniques
➔ A medium refers to the materials that are used to create a work of
art. Techniques - means a process, or a method of using the medium
in a manner that he wishes to finish an art work.

➔ In contemporary art, medium enters more and more into the

meaning of work. A choice determined less by its availability as by
semantic potentia.l
 The Medium of Visual Arts in 2D
Tempera Quick drying and long-lasting paint
Oil Paint Slow drying and can be layered
Acrylic Paint Quick-drying and can be layered
Watercolors Has a large and luminous color palette
Charcoal Readily available and easily fixable
Pastels Great for outlines and shading
Chalk Easily available and easy to use
Graphic Pencils Great for shading and outlining
Color Pencils Great for detailed and colorful art
Ink and Pens Perfect for solid outlines and details
Tempera
A mineral
pigment Oil Paint
mixed with Is a pigment
mixed with
egg yolk or linseed oil and
applied in
egg white canvass
and ore Expensive,
Flexible,
Glossy, Dries
slowly but last
long
 Watercolors
Acrylic Paint
A simple coloring
A medium most widely used by the
painters these days because of
medium has less
the characteristics of transparency luminous effect
and quick drying. when applied but
easy to use.
 Charcoal Pastel
Pastels use pigments
Charcoal sticks can be made by binding that are quite similar
to those used in oil
organic powder with a waxy substance.
paints, and are
Charcoal is a rare medium in art materials
created by mixing
as it can easily be erased.
these pigments with a
binding material.
 Graphite
Chalk
Due to its
Pencils
organic They are great
content, chalk is for outlining
another of the compositions,
different art creating
mediums that sketches, or
have been used even for
since the applying
earliest days of shading to your
human art artwork.
Color Ink and Pen
Pencils Ink and pen have
been used to create
can be used to intricate graphic art
create very as well as text-based
simple line art forms such as
drawings or they calligraphy for
can be used to centuries. Depending
create highly on what you intend
detailed and to use your pen for,
expressive works you can find a
of art that can
multitude of suitable
even look
drawing tools such
photorealistic if
applied properly. as drafting pens,
fountain pens, and
graphic pens.
 Three-Dimensional Art Mediums

Medium Technique

● Carving ● Carve the desired shape

● Pour a liquid into a
● Casting prefabricated mold
● Modeling ● Use clay to model shapes as
Construction desired
●
● Build structures out of new
materials
Carving
You can take a raw object such as
a stone or piece of wood and can
carve pieces out. You can also
choose to smoothen them with
various techniques to create the
desired shape you are after.
Casting
It involves pouring a liquid into
some kind of pre-made mold of
the shape you wish to create.
Once the liquid has hardened, the
mold can be removed and the
remaining artistic medium is
then polished off.
Modeling
This medium is great to work with as
it stays soft and malleable, allowing
you to create the shape you want
before letting it dry. You can easily
add some water to your clay if it is
drying too quickly, and other tools
can be used to scrape and cut at the
clay to add textures and designs to
the surface.
 Construction
The construction phase of many
contemporary artworks is
similar to modeling but
incorporates other elements
such as wire mesh, glue, and
other building materials that
assist in the framework and
design of the art piece.
 Mixed Art Mediums and Unconventional Media
Photography Style Subject Matter

● Documentary ● Real- life candid moments

● Landscape ● Scenes of urban and rural life

● Portrait ●● Capturing unique characterExploring the beauty of the nude

form

● Nude ● Endless possibilities of subject

● Digital manipulation
● Video Art ● Interactive three-dimensional
modern art
Collages
Collage art is created by combining
bits of everyday objects such as
newspaper cuttings and cloth and
combining them in a way that
portrays a unique idea out of existing
visual materials. With the wide
accessibility to royalty-free images
and intuitive software, it is easier to
make digital collage art today than
ever before.
Assemblage

Assemblage art is almost a kind of

three-dimensional collage, consisting
of apparently random bits of material
and objects that have been placed on a
flat surface to create something
creative out of nothing. This style was
made popular by artists such as Robert
Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns in the
1950 s and 1960s.
 Found Objects
Similar to assemblage, these mixed
medium artworks consist of everyday
objects re-assembled on a canvas to
create something beautiful and
meaningful out of repurposed junk.
Many street artists in South Africa
use found objects to recreate scenes
of township life, with soda cans and
pieces of wire used to create
imaginative art.
Digital Photography
ArtVideo
Documentary
Landscape
Portrait
Nude Journaling
Art
Photography
Photography
Photography
Photography
Video
This art of
form
Landscape isphotography
another
photography popular
is is form
thealmost
modern of
as Similar
Portrait
With
Art the to
photography
journaling photojournalism,
advances is another
serves in
as amodern
visualone of of
diary
digital
version
old media
as the the oldused
of invention by modern-day
tradition
of the of landscape
camera itself. those past events,
that such
technology,
styles it isas
have a scrapbook
now
roots in olderwith
possible toseeks
documentary photography
artists.
painting.
The naked Made
Artistic
humanpopular
formby hasprominent
photographs longof been a various objects that have a special
traditions
create
to such
art as
capture outportrait
of real
the most
painting.
basicTheof
art figures
landscapes
symbol such as the
capture
of beautiful Andy
form Warhol
flowing
and formswith
and connection to the
a specific historical
time or event,
actualcolors
videotape, today’s artistsoneare art mediums
visual resources,
may havelayering
changedand over the
vivid
proportion, so of nature. Although
it is no surprise that itmight moments,
such emphasizing
as bus tickets the
from a holiday,
no longer
think that arestricted
photographerto thewould
tape be years,manipulating
but the concepts
postcards, them have
in whichever
remained the
has been
medium, a form of photographic art for zeitgeist feathers, concert
of the moment armbands,
by
limited in and withinput
creative modernwithdigital
a realistic same.creative
Although
and so on.manner
portraits
The youcapture
concept wish. The
behind thespeed
art real
imageframing the situation through
many
tools, years.
they Many
can artists also use the
scenario such as create fascinating
a landscape, yet just as and
of people,
capacity
journaling is depending
toof modern
create onhome
how the
a multi-medium
human
visual form out
stories of impart
that the normal context
graphic the correct angle and lens.
with landscape painting, a photographer photographic
computers
experience artist
make
that positions
has photographic
been the camera
artistically
ideas,
to paintconcepts,
and position andthem
reflections
in variousof the
can use perspective, color filters, and created
and uses
editing as a constant
lighting,
one ofone
thecan source
most
bring of out
good
popular
modern
ways world through a modern
to visually
framing of uniquerepresent something
subject matter to tell a memories.
medium.
else entirely. certain
modern
characterizations
types of art of mediums.
the subject in
story and impart an artistic idea.
very creative and artistic ways.
ART ANALYSIS
Semiotic
Iconic

Contextual
Evaluative
ICONIC PLANE OR THE IMAGE ITSELF

- examines signifiers as unique signs with particular and

highly nuanced meanings .

- deals with questions like "What is the subject -viewer

relationship?" "What is the meaning of the gaze, facial
expression, body language, costume, accessories,
background, positioning of figures, etc .

- includes the choice of the subject which may bear social

and political implications .
Ic onic
Plane or
Image
• Signifier –Signified Relationship
The artwork was a representation
of socio -cultural.

• Style and positioning of the figure

String central focusing and poised
figured body of the girl.

• Position
The woman is firmly standing as if
she’s looking at someone from a distance.
She raised her left forearm as if she has
basket with her for the malong not come
off from her body. A big vessel is being
displayed next to the woman.
•CONTEXTUAL PLANE

• After you have mastered visual analysis, the next major approach
to art history is cultural context. This is the placement of a work
of art in its context for creation and reception. The various
details help us to understand what a work might have meant in
its original. This context might include the following:
EDSA POWER PEOPLE
MONUMENT

BY: EDUARDO CASTRILLO

 THE AXIOLOGICAL OR
EVALUATIVE PLANE

- is the study of artwork based on how it interacts on

the viewer and providing dialogic relations towards
the art. Towards this perspective, values is the main
viewpoint to understand the art.
- the analysis of these values will link the artwork
towards reality where the viewer can somewhat
relate, for example social issues.
 ACTIVITY: ART ANALYSIS
Instructions: Study the artwork and answer the following questions in a paragraph form:

1. Who is the artist? Where did he come from?

The artist of the painting above is named Michael Bacol. He is a mechanical engineer and became a self-taught visual artist later on. He is from an art
group called CDO Arts Guild which is based in Cagayan de Oro City. He is one of Cagayan de Oro City rising artists as he joined several competitions
and garnered achievement both local and national, he even went to California for a six-month residency.
2. In the year 2012, what significant historical event happened that could have contributed to the
message of the painting?
 Upon my research, the significant events that may have contributed to the painting are the Zamboanga Siege
and Typhoons that hit the Philippines. First, the Zamboanga Siege 2012-2014 killed and wounded hundreds of
citizens that traumatized the area. Second, several typhoons hit the Philippines during 2012 that also killed
hundreds of people and damaged their homes. Both may have contributed to the message of the painting as it
portrays that a child is left alone without his parents that should be guiding him into adulthood
3. Based on your prior knowledge what elements were used in the
painting?
The elements used in the painting are colors, texture, form, line, and value. The artist made use of different
elements and combined them to create a visually pleasing artwork that gave emphasis to the main subject of his
art. The art shows unity as the colors and other elements don’t go against each other because he properly
divided “ONDOY,” by Bacol andfeel andusedgivesdifferentemphasiscolorstoofthethesubjectsame palette. .
Also, the texture of the background gives the artwork a more natural (2012)
4. How does the painting reflect our community?
Our community has a lot of children which the painting reflects that most
children are happily living their life despite what they have been through.
Most communities still have areas in which lower class families gather just
to have a shelter to live on. Even though they have the least or just enough
materials to live their life, they are still living positively and working hard to
provide their family’s daily needs.
5. What value(s) is/ are portrayed in the painting? How were you able to identify the values?
The values that I’ve learned from the painting is to always be grateful for what I have and to help our neighbors. First, to be grateful because I'm living
comfortably in my own home and I shouldn’t waste that opportunity, because there are people who suffer way worse but are still striving to live and
sustain their needs. Second, to help my neighbors because we, Filipinos, are known to help one another, even strangers, because we want to
contribute even the littlest thing to others so that they would have a better life. I identified these values through interpreting what the painting is all about
and the child’s appearance.
Rice Planting (1951) –
Fernando Amorsolo
Spoliarium (1884) – Juan
Luna
Fruit Gatherer (1950) – Fernando
Amorsolo
The Bird Seller (1976) –
Vicente Manansala
La Laguna Estigia (1887) –
Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo