LECTURE 6.

1 – THE DARWINIAN THEORY OF BEAUTY AND MEDIA OF PAINTING

ART • SURFACE MEDIA
- Canvas
- Wood panel
DENNIS DUTTON (1944-2010)
- Wall (mural)
“Art is a need built into human biological system through a complex, subtle
- Paper
evolutionary adaptation.”

• PIGMENT MEDIA
THE OLDEST WORKS OF ART
- Paints (oil, acrylic)
• ACHEULUAN HAND AXES – found in Olduvai Gorge East Africa,
- Tempera
dating back to 2 million years ago. After million and thousand of
- Fresco
years of human evolution, the acheulean hand axes have gradually
- Encaustic
developed into much more complex and finer works of art. In short,
- Ink
artist makes art to get laid.
- Pastel
- Watercolor
• The peacocks show its TAIL to attract peahens. It functioned as - Charcoal
“fitness signal” that the makers used to attract mates, hence giving - Mixed Media
the makers more chance of survival.
EXAMPLES:
PICASSO’S AFFAIRS WITH WOMEN → Oil in Wood Panel – Mona Lisa
• Had an insatiable sexual appetite, he started went to brothel at age → Oil on Canvas – Arnolfini Marriage (first painting that used this
13, and was a playboy all his life. medium)
• Over the course of his life, Picasso had two wives, six significant → Oil Paint on Canvas – Amorsolo’s Woman with a Jar (creates luminous
mistresses and hundreds of lovers. effect)
• He left his first wife OLGA KHOKHLOVA for his pregnant mistress → Enamel or House Paint on Canvas – Lavender Mist
MARIE THERESE WALTER. He refused to divorce his wife to prevent → Fresco
her from receiving half of his wealth. Olga died by drinking herself to - Painting in the Ceiling of Sistine Chapel – colored cement on
death. concrete wall.
• At 62, Picasso has an affair with a 23-year-old art student FRANCIOS - Adoration of the Magi
GILOT, who deserted him after ten years because of Picasso’s → Encaustic
cheating and abusiveness. Francois is said to be the only woman - Egyptian Paintings
who left Picasso. → Watercolor on paper
• At 79, he married JACQUELINE, 35, who committed suicide 15 years - Final Project of a Humanities Student
after Picasso died. → Ink
• Woman Reading, 1923 – the model was Picasso’s first wife, Olga. - Scientific Drawing, Design of War Chariot
• Green Leaves and Bust, 1932 – the model was Picasso’s mistress - Sanitary Napkin Art
Marie Therese. It is the most expensive painting in the world sold for → Coffee Painting
106.5 million dollars in 2010. - Landscape, Alexander Dart
• Portrait Francois Gilot, 1946 – the model was Picasso’s mistress. → Sand Painting
• Jacqueline with Flowers, 1954 – the model was Picasso’s second - Joseph the Artist, Talentadong Pinoy
wife.

INSTALLATION ART
LECTURE 6.2 – MEDIA AND ELEMENTS OF VISUAL ARTS - It utilizes multiple objects, often from various mediums, and takes up
entire space.
MEDIA OF ART - Iron Curtain – consists of a barricade of oil barrels in a narrow Paris
- substance or materials out of which the work of art is made. Street which caused a large traffic jam. The artwork was not the
➢ Painting barricade itself but the resulting traffic jam.
- Surface (canvas) - Other examples: Etant Donnes, The Dinner Party
- Pigment (oil paint)
➢ Sculpture/Architecture CONCEPTUAL ART
- Stone, wood, metal, glass - intended as an art of the mind in which it prioritize the ideas rather
➢ Music than the artwork.
- Human voice, musical instruments - title is in reference to the attempt of Soviet Union and its allies to
➢ Dance block itself from contact with non-communist countries.
- Motion of the human body - Other examples: Painting to Hammer a Nail, Yoko Ono Yes!
➢ Literature
- Written or oral language
➢ Drama ARTIST’S SHIT by Manzoni, (1961)
- Theater: Action and Spoken language - The artwork is made up of 90 tin cans, each filled with 30 grams of
- Motion Picture/Cinema/Movie: Film human feces.
- As CONCEPTUAL ART, this is interpreted in relation to Karl Marx idea
of commodity fetishism in highly consumerist society. One tin can be
sold for 124,000 pounds in 2007.
 ELEMENTS OF ART ➢ VERTICAL LINE
➢ Sculpture - Suggest activity, life.
- art of carving or otherwise forming a three-dimensional work of art. - It creates an illusion of narrowness and tallness.
- Media of Sculpture: STONE, WOOD, METAL, and GLASS - Oriental landscape paintings usually have vertical orientation
➢ Architecture showing the height of the world. (Island of the Immortals)
- art and science of designing structures and spaces for human use.
➢ Music ➢ SLIDING LINE ABOVE THE HORIZON
- deals with sounds, it can be in human voice or musical instruments. - Suggest rising up, pride, arrogance, attack, upward movement.
➢ Dance - Example: Bonifacio by Francisco, Napoleon Crossing the Alps,
- motion of the human body Spoliarium
➢ Literature
- written or oral language ➢ SLIDING LINE BELOW THE HORIZON
➢ Drama - Suggest falling down, shyness, humility, surrender.
- theater and film
➢ INTERSECTING DIAGONALS
- It produces radial balance which implies movement.
VISUAL ELEMENTS OF PAINTING - Example: Bacchus and Ariadne by Titian

➢ THICK LINE
1. POINT
- Strength and Stability
- The most basic visual element.
- It has no dimension.
➢ THIN LINE
➢ POINTILLISM (DIVISIONISM)
- Weakness and Flexibility
- By George Seurat
- A style of painting that uses point as the fundamental structural
➢ STRAIGHT LINE
element.
- Order and Reason
- Example: Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue
➢ SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN THE ISLAND OF LA GRANDE JATTE, 1888
- The pointillist masterpiece of Seurat.
➢ CURVE LINE
- Made up of four million dots in 77 square feet.
- Motion and Emotion
- It took Seurat four years to compose.
- Example: Starry Night, Waves by Riley (OP ART), The Scream
- It also heightens the movement of the waves. (The Great Wave Off
➢ PRINCIPLE OF VISUAL MIXING
Kanagawa)
- a phenomenon that occurs when two or more colors placed next
to or close to one another which allows a viewer to see color in a
➢ BROKEN LINE
picture.
- Chaos, War and Passion
- PIXEL – picture + element
- Example: Guernica by Picasso
- It also expresses the feeling of sensuality. (Woman in a Bicycle)
2. LINE
- One dimensional
3. SHAPE
- Structurally, it is a path of moving point, or points in a series.
- Boundary or the edges of an object.
- According to Cezanne, “drawing is taking a line for a walk.”

WAYS OF MAKING SHAPE

THREE WAYS OF PRODUCING LINES
1. By the boundary of a line that closes into itself (polygon), in
1. By actually drawing a line. (drawing, calligraphy, drafting)
drawing.
2. By the intersection of colors, as in painting.
2. By the boundary of color, in painting.
3. By the intersection of contours, as in sculpture and architecture.
3. By the boundary of contour, in sculpture and architecture.
LINEAR PAINTING
- The basis of linear painting is line and boundaries; the artist
KINDS OF SHAPE
perceives distinct forms and their outlines. ➢ RECTILINEAR
- Example: The Birth of Venus – Botticelli known for the way he - Shapes of objects
outlines in dark tones, notice how even the hairs on the head of - Example: Suprematist Composition, The Three Musicians
Venus are individually depicted. There is a movement in the breeze
through her hair. ➢ CURVILINEAR (Biomorphic)
- Shapes of living things
- Example: Girl in a Mirror, Women in an Interior
KINDS OF LINES AND THEIR SUGGESTIVE EXPRESSIONISMS AND
MEANING ➢ IRREGULAR
- Any possible shape
➢ HORIZONTAL LINE
- Suggest peace, rest, death.
- It produces an illusion of wideness and shortness.
- Western landscape paintings usually have horizontal orientation
showing the wideness of the world. (Wivenhoe Park, Essex)
4. VALUE • Colors are used naturalistically in realistic landscape paintings. (The
- It refers to the application of light and dark in the painting. Hay Wain by Constable)
• The use of blur colors in impressionism indicates movement and
WAYS OF PRODUCING VALUE passage of time. (Impression Sunrise by Monet)
1. SHADING • The dominant use of earth colors in Renaissance paintings relates with
- Dark area on the surface of the object. the view of humanism which emphasizes the material world over the
2. SHADOWING spiritual.
- Dark area on a receiving surface. • The curving, swerving lines of orange, red and yellow suggests the
emotion of terror in expressionist painting.
Examples: • The dominance of blue heightens the feeling of sadness and suffering
➢ The Cook expressed by the painting. (The Old Guitarist by Picasso)
➢ The Music Lesson
➢ The Scientist LECTURE 6.3 – PRINCPLES OF DESIGN AND COMPOSITION
➢ Fruit Pickers under the Mango Tree
➢ The Market Scene DESIGN
- In the context of art, "design" refers to the process of planning
CHIAROSCURO and arranging visual elements to create a work of art.
- Application of light and dark. - It encompasses the deliberate organization of various visual
- Enhances the shapes of the figure. elements such as lines, shapes, colors, textures, and forms to
- Example: Lady with an Ermine, Nightwatch achieve a specific artistic or aesthetic outcome.
- Design is a fundamental aspect of visual art and plays a crucial role
SFUMATO in how an artwork is perceived and understood.
- Smoky effect which creates a sense of mystery.
BALANCE
5. TEXTURE
- Sense of touch
- Example: Sunflower
- IMPASTO – thick paint applied on the canvas.

6. COLOR
- May be considered as the most beautiful visual element.
- Produced by light striking a surface.
FOCUSING
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
➢ HUE
- Distinguishes one color from another: Primary, Secondary,
Tertiary (COLOR WHEEL)

➢ VALUE
- The lightness and darkness of color.
- Adding white to a color is TINT.
- Adding black to a color is SHADE. Artistic form, organization or design is about answering the question:
“HOW ARE THE ELEMENTS PUT TOGETHER?”
➢ SATURATION
- Light, Dark, Medium
- Dark color tends to ADVANCE.
- Light color tends to RECEDE. TO ACHIEVE FORMAL DESIGN, THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLES ARE APPLIED:
• HARMONY
PAINTINGS WITH COLORS - having all parts of the visual imagery relate and complete each
➢ Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue other. harmony pulls the pieces of a visual image together and
➢ Blue 1 (Miro) it can be achieved through repetition and rhythm.
➢ White on White (Malevich) - Harmony by unity is having a unified design which has a
consistency of style or is just one idea.
MINIMALIST ART - Harmony by variety is using multiple elements and different
- Monochrome Blue (Klein) materials as long as they are compatible with each other.
- Monochrome Rose (Klein)
• VARIETY
COLOR-FIELD PAINTING
- In the principles of art, it refers to the use of different elements,
- Painting style that uses huge masses of colors on the surface.
shapes, forms, colors, textures, and other visual elements to
- Untitled by Mark Rothko
create interest, diversity, and contrast in an artwork.
- It adds excitement and avoids monotony by utilizing a range of
FAUVISM
elements and techniques. Variety can be achieved through
- Style of painting by Matisse that uses artificial colors for stimulating
differences in size, shape, color intensity, texture, value, or any
effect.
other visual characteristic.
- The Blue Window by Matisse
- It helps to create visual interest, evoke different emotions, and
- The Deposition by Van Der Wayden
keep the viewer engaged with the artwork.
➢ Ultramarine Blue – most expensive color.
SOME EXAMPLES OF HOW VARIETY CAN BE EXPRESSED IN DIFFERENT ART • DOMINANCE
FORMS: - In the context of art, refers to the visual emphasis placed on
➢ Painting certain elements or areas within a composition. It involves
➢ Sculpture creating a focal point that captures the viewer’s attention and
➢ Photography guides their gaze throughout the artwork. Dominance is essential
➢ Collage in art as it allows artists to control the viewer’s perception and
➢ Graphic Design convey their intended message effectively.
- It is a way of emphasizing a particular element over the others.

➢ Harmony and variety are achieved by MODERATION. Having just
enough; Not much nor less.
➢ Monotony and redundancy are the result of either LACK OR EXCESS.
Having too much or too less.
MONOTONOUS
- Because all the nine squares have the same color.
- There is too much similarity and no difference.
REDUNDANT
- Because all the nine squares have different colors.
- There are too many differences and no similarities.
HARMONY & VARIETY
- Because the nine squares have three different colors which are not
more nor less.
• BALANCE
- When establishing balance consider visual weight created by
size, color, texture, and number of objects. It is a reconciliation
of opposing forces in a composition that results in visual
stability.
- It is the EQUALITY in attention or attraction of visual elements in
the picture-plane.
TWO WAYS OF BALANCE
1. SYMMETRICAL
- When the elements are arranged equally on either side of a
central axis the result is a bilateral symmetry.
- Same elements on both sides.
2. ASYMMETRICAL
- is also called informal balance which is more complex and
difficult to achieve which involves placement of objects in a
way that will allow objects of varying visual way to balance
another around a central point.
- Different elements on both sides.
KINDS OF BALANCE
➢ VERTICAL – suggests life.
- Arnolfini Marriage – vertical balance indicated by the
downward line of the chandelier.
➢ HORIZONTAL – suggest peace and rest.
- Apparition of face and Fruit Disk on a Beaach
➢ RADIAL – suggest movement.
- Radial balance is building formal balance by arranging
elements equally around a central point resulting in radial
symmetry.
- Example: Interior of the rose at Strasbourg Cathedral, France
➢ TRIANGULAR COMPOSITON
- Suggests stability and eternity like the Egyptian pyramids.
- typical in Florentine paintings of the High Renaissance period
FOCIAL POINTS
- are also elements or areas of dominance, just not to the same
degree as your one dominant element, which could be defined as
your most dominant focal point. Focal points are areas of interest,
emphasis or difference within a composition that capture and hold
the viewer’s attention.
- The focal points in your design should stand out but should be
noticed after the element with the most dominance.
THREE WAYS OF PRODUCING DOMINANCE
1. CENTRALIZING
- Placing at the center of the picture plane the part to be emphasized.
- a technique that involves placing the main subject or focal point of
the artwork at the center of the composition. This method is often
used to create a sense of balance and harmony, drawing the viewer’s
attention directly to the intended subject. By positioning the focal
point centrally, artists can establish a visual hierarchy, emphasizing
the importance of the subject matter.
- Example: MONA LISA
2. HIGHLIGHTING
- Use of standing size or color on the part to be emphasized.
- involves the use of contrasting colors, lighting, or other visual
elements to draw attention to specific areas within the artwork. By
employing this technique, artists can create a focal point that stands
out from the rest of the composition, effectively dominating the
viewer’s perception.
- Highlighting by SIZE & COLOR.
- Example: STARRY NIGHT
3. FOCUSING
- Using elements to create movement directed towards the part to be
emphasized.
- Indicates the act of movement in the painting.
LECTURE 6.4 – THE APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY TO ART
PRODUCTION
“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Benjamin
- Influence to art of the invention of camera in photography and
motion pictures.
- Reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of
tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of
copies for a unique existence. Art has lost its authenticity by being
mass reproduced.
“Art in the Information Age: Technology and Conceptual Art” by Shanken
- Influence to art of the invention of computers and information
technology.
- Advances in electronics, computing and telecommunications, and
especially the advent of the Internet, have provided tools that
enable artists to interrogate the conventional materiality and
semiotic complexity of art objects. Information processing
technology influences our notions about creativity, perception and
the limits of art.
REPRODUCTION BY SECONDARY ARTIST LECTURE 6.5 – THE ART OF SELFIE AND GROUPIE
- reproduction is a copy of another
work of art. It could be a copy of a SELF-PORTRAIT
painting, drawing or of an original - Painting of the artist made by himself or herself.
print. - Example: Triple Self-Portrait by Rockwell, Durer, Sandro Botticelli,
Vincent Van Gough, Juan Luna

CUBISM STYLE
- Picasso, Magritte

MECHANICAL REPRODUCTION SURREALISM STYLE

- It is the mass production of identical copies of a text using - The Pilgrim by Magritte
technological means (i.e., printing). - Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird by Frida Kalo
- Reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of
tradition. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of POP ART STYLE
copies for a unique existence. - Warhol
- Lichtenstein
MECHANICAL METHODS OF ART REPRODUCTION: - Nine Self-Portrait by John Lenon
• FOUNDING & STAMPING
- Ancient Greek sculptures (600-100 BC) were mass produced by
founding and stamping. CAMERA OBSCURA
- First used in 1031 AD
• ENGRAVING and WOODCUT - Camera obscura, ancestor of the photographic camera. The Latin
- A form of engraving, woodcut is a technique in printmaking where name means “dark chamber,” and the earliest versions, dating to
the artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood, antiquity, consisted of small, darkened rooms with light admitted
leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the through a single tiny hole.
non-printing parts.
- Example: The Four Horsemen from the Apocalypse Series

• ETCHING
- The process of using strong acid to cut into the unprotected parts of
a metal surface to create a design.
- Example: Abraham Entertaining the Angels
OTHER CAMERAS:
• LITOGRAPHY
➢ Box Camera, 1878
- Printing technique where the image is drawn with oil, fat, or wax
➢ Compact Camera, 1939
onto the surface of a limestone plate.
➢ Reflex camera, 1959
- Example: Ruins with Farm Building
➢ Polaroid Camera, 1961
➢ Analog Electronic Camera, 1986
• PHOTOGRAPHY
➢ Digital Camera
- the process of recording an image – a photograph – on light sensitive
➢ Cellphone Digital Camera, 2004
film or, in the case of digital photography, via a digital electronic or
➢ Cellphone with Digital Camera with Self-fronting Lens, 2009
magnetic memory.

PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTION OF ART

SELFIE
DAGUERREOTYPE CAMERA
- A self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or
- invented by Maison Susse Frères in 1839
camera phone with self-fronting lens held in the hand or supported
by a selfie stick (especially for posting it on a social media website).
• PHONOGRAPHY
- The word “selfie” first appeared in an Australian Internet Forum in
- Phonograph – an instrument that reproduces sound recorded on a
September 2, 2002.
grooved disk.
- Proclaimed as the Word of the Year in 2013 by the editors of Oxford
English Dictionary.
• SOFTWARE “Easy, Instant and Mass Reproduction of Art by Modern
Technology”
GROUPIE
- Work of art where the creation of software, or concepts from
- A groupie is when a person takes a photo of oneself with other
software, play an important role.
people using a camera or a phone (especially for posting it on a
social media website).

CREATION OF SELF-IDENTITY
- Selfie tells other people how we want to be seen.
- A selfie is an expression of an active online identity, something you
have some control over. You might take lots, but you'll publish the
ones you like - even if they are silly or unflattering.
TYPES OF PEOPLE WHO TEND TO HAVE A LOT OF SELFIES POSTED IN
THE SOCIAL MEDIA

➢ WITH VERY LOW SELF-ESTEEM

- For SELF-AFFIRMATION
- Seek to gain more recognition in public.

➢ WITH VERY HIGH SELF-ESTEEM

- NARCISSISM AND VANITY
- Want to brag about their self-perceived beauty.

WHY HAVE A LOT OF SELFIES?

➢ LACK OF A PERMANENT AND FIXED SELF-DENTITY
- To create images of oneself for other people to see, but
these images are perceived to be fleeting and constantly
changing, so that they need to be modified and revised at
all times.
➢ SELFIES FOR VANITY AND NARCISSISM
➢ SELFIES FOR SELF-AFFIRMATION
- No or very little followers in social media.
- Not well recognized by relatives and close friends.
- Seek recognition from the unknown others in the social
media.