03 the language of art

 Medium and Technique
 Elements
 Subject Matter
 Style
 Principles of Design

 Medium: materials used by the artists by
which they create their works
 Technique: refers to how artists use their
medium
 The choice of material and technique is
always a deliberate act of the artist; it is
neither neutral nor incidental
 Important consideration is in the
availability and accessibility of materials

 Two-dimensional expressions: pigments
and techniques on surfaces
: it has height and width (flat work)
: wall-based and viewed from the
front
: composed of a surface or ground
and a coloring or marking substance
that is applied to surface or ground

 Pintados – early inhabitants of the
Visayan region who covered their bodies
with tattoos
 Barks of trees, flattened bamboo reeds,
leaves
 Oil on canvas – most traditional of
painting materials and techniques

Spoliarium, Juan Luna, 1884, oil on canvas, 425cm x 775cm, National
Museum collection

Virgenes Christianas Expuestas al Populacho, Felix Resureccion HIdalgo

 Acrylic – acrylic vinyl polymer emulsion,
a water-based and quick-drying paint;
can be used on canvas or on paper
 Paper – widely used painting surface;
made from papyrus or plant fibers such
as rice, bamboo and cogon
 Watercolor – commonly used by Filipino
painters on paper

Invisible Forest, Wire Tuazon, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 244cm x 244cm

Letras y Figuras, Jose Honorato Lozano, 19th Century, watercolor on
paper, Lopez Museum

 Printmaking – another technique that
uses paper; printmaking techniques
includes relief printing, serigraphy,
lithography and intaglio
 Woven Mat – use plant materials that are
abundant in the area; banig
 Embroidery – widespread in the
Philippines

Lichonan (detail), Manuel Rodriguez, 2011, etching, 40.64cm x 50.80cm

Woven by widowed B’laan women of Cagayan de Sulu, Mindanao
(pandan and buri leaves)

Gemma Perez, Lumban, Laguna, jusi (banana fibers) and piña
(pineapple fibers)

 Stained Glass – employs small pieces of
colored glass to form an image;
popularly used in churches
 Mosaic – uses small pieces of colored
stone (tesserae) combined to form an
image, usually on floors or walls
 Photography – uses technical process to
create images on highly sensitive paper

The Call to Arms, The Supreme Sacrifice, and Peace, Cenon Rivera, Mt.
Samat Three-Paneled Stained Glass

River of Life, Arturo Luz, Church of the Holy Sacrifice, University of the
Philippines, Diliman

Beautiful Lady, Cedric Cruz, 2012

 Three-dimensional expression: has
height, width and depth
: sculpture is the most prominent form
 Wood – common sculptural material
 Taka – intricately painted paper mache
figures
 Stone – popular sculptural material;
marble, granite, alabaster

Allegorical Harpoon, Napoleon Abueva

Bonifacio Monument, Guillermo Tolentiino, Ambrosio Morales, et.al., 1931

 Metal – includes bronze, brass-casting,
lead, copper
 Glass – can also be made by assembling
colored bottles together
 Clay – commonly used for pottery;
terracotta is baked clay used for
sculpture

Checkmate, Daniel Dela Cruz, 2011, copper, and lead

Passive Multiplayer Online, Ramon Orlina, 2011, glass

Maranao, Julie Lluch, 2004, terracotta, 68.1cm x 71.1cm x 80cm

 Basketry – common traditional art form
found all over the Philippine
 Mixed Media – combination of different
materials
 Installation Art – uses mostly found
objects and recycled materials

Pasiking (backpacks) made of rattan and/or bamboo

Musmos, Imelda Cajipe Endaya, 1991,, Mixed Media (oil on canvas and
assemblage mounted on plywood,), 122.5cm x 122.5cm

Sandata Indi Magua Dona, Lirio Salvador, Stainless Scrap Metal Bass
Guitar Sculpture

 Architectural materials: considers the
availability of the materials
: considers the suitability of the
material for the locale’s climate and
weather conditions
 Rock – often used for architecture;
includes corals, clay, bricks, sandstone
and adobe

The façade of the Baclayon Church in Bohol is made of white coral
stones collected from the sea, cut into square blocks, and piled on top
of one another

 Organic Materials – such as wood and
grass are also used for architecture
 Metals – of different kinds were
commonly used to build bridges and
skyscrapers
 Synthetic Material – such as glass
 Concrete – considered a hybrid material
made of cement, sand, gravel and
water

The San Sebastian Church in Manila is known as the only fully-steel
church in Asia. It was built in 1893.

San Miguel Corporation Building, Jose Manuel and Francisco Mañosa,
Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City

 Architectural Technique: the five basic
methods of architectural construction
includes lashed, post and lintel, arch and
vault, skeleton, and cantilever
construction
 Lashed – different parts are manually
tied together wit the use of ropes made
from rattan (e.g. Bahay Kubo)

 Post and Lintel – consists of one horizontal
lintel on top of two vertical posts forming
a right angle
 Arch and Vault – usually made of cut
stone; keystone, a wedge-shaped piece
at the topmost portion of the arch, holds
the stone parts of the arch together;
arches of the same size placed together
form a vault

Parish of the Holy Sacrifice, UP Diliman, Arch. Leandro Locsin, 1955

Church of the Risen Lord, UP Diliman, Arch. Cesar H. Concio, 1950s

 Skeleton Construction – dependent on
structural steel and reinforced concrete
(i.e. high rise buildings)
 Cantilever Construction – characterized
by a part of the architecture projecting
beyond its support

Cultural Center of the Philippines, Leandro Locsin

 These are the basic parts of an art work
 They are the building blocks of visual arts
and architecture
 Basic Elements: line, color, value, texture,
shape and space (all are used to
convey meaning in art)

 Line – is a mark drawn or carved on a
surface; can be a row of similar things
that can indicate direction; can hint at
movement and direction
 Horizontal Lines – can suggest rest, sleep,
stability and death; connotes horizons in
landscapes

Reclining Mother and Child by Vicente Manansala

 Vertical Lines – can suggest alertness,
equilibrium, strength, formality and
firmness
 Diagonal Lines – connote movement

Bonifacio Monument, Guillermo Tolentino, 1933, Kalookan

 Color – best element to use for the
expression of emotions
 Culture is very influential in determining
how people use color
i.e. “bluer that blue” = sad
we “see red” = mad
yellow = jealousy / cowards
“green with envy” = envious

 Properties of Color:
(1) Hue – is a particular kind of color;
primary colors are red, yellow and blue;
white, gray and black are considered
neutrals
(2) Value – the lightness or darkness of a
hue; color can be made lighter by
adding white (tints) and darker by
adding black (shades)

 Properties of Color:
(3) Temperature – the warmth and
coolness of a hue; cool colors tend to
recede while warm colors appear to be
closer and bigger
(4) Intensity – also known as saturation or
chroma; the dullness or brightness of a
hue; intensity can be made duller or
brighter by adding neutrals

Kahapon, Ngayon at Pangarap, Edgar Talusan Fernandez, 1990

 The visual element of value is the
interplay of light and dark in an image
 It refers to the lighting effect on the
entire surface area of the work
 It is the element that creates mood,
atmosphere, temperature, climate, and
time of day in an artwork

Photograph by Eduardo Masferre in “A Tribute to Sagada” album

 Value indicates what the focus or center
of attention of the artwork is
 It is almost synonymous with
chiarouscuro, a combination of chiaro
meaning “clear” and oscuro meaning
“dark”.
 Value in architecture can be seen in the
material used for construction

Café Juanita in Pasig (Fine dinning restaurants usually have lowlight or
low value to approximate a mood of romance.)

 Texture is how things feel to the touch.
 It appeals to one’s sense of approach or
avoidance
 Texture in architecture is also very
important

Lualhati, Guillermo Tolentino, marble

Manila Hotel Lobby (The very smooth surface of marble flooring gives a
feeling of formality and opulence)

 Shape are areas formed by boundaries
of line or differences in color, texture and
value
 Closed Shapes – those that are self-
contained and without any protrusions or
projections
 Open Shapes – shapes with protrusions
and projections

Oblation, Guillermo Tolentino,

 Space is concerned with the dimension
of height, width and depth
 It is the most important element in
architecture
 Visual artists try to represent space in a
2D format. To do this, they use
perspective, a system of spatial clues,
visual clues that give an illusion of depth

Philippine Revolution, Carlos “Botong” Francisco (used overlapping
shapes and vertical placement to connote space)

Jeepney, Vicente Manansala (creates an illusion of depth by reducing
clarity, contrast, size and color intensity of objects)

 This is what the image is about
 Examples of image subject matter are
portraits (people), landscape, historical
events, religious (scenes), literary
accounts, myths, surreal images
(dreams), nudes, still lives, and scenes of
objects from everyday life

 Portrait is a representation of an
individual or a group of people.
 It is usually posed.
 Portraits are very good indicators of
class, social status, race and nationality.
 Miniaturismo portraits are paintings of
the ilustrados showing the minute details
and intricate designs of their clothes,
jewelry, furniture and accessories

 Genre paintings show people doing
everyday activities
 Different from portraits because people
are depicted as actively doing everyday
activities, so that they do not appear to
be posing

Planting Rica, Fernando Amorsolo

 Landscape paintings show the
panorama of nature
 They are representations of space,
whether urban or rural
 Most landscapes are meant to show the
beauty of nature

Fishpond in Malabon, Fernando Amorsolo

 Historical paintings are representations
of important historical events
 They constitute history from the point of
view of artists

The Assassination of Governor Bustamante, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo

 Mythology abounds in the visual arts
 Religious subject matter is based on
stories and legends from the holy texts of
different religions

Maria Makiling, Carlos “Botong” Francisco

 Still Life is a popular subject matter. It
consists of objects, furniture, interior
domestic settings, utensils, flowers, food,
etc.
 The nude is a study of anatomy. The
human body is often idealized in the
nude.

Chair with Table and Lamp, Arturo Luz

 How the artists manipulate materials, use
technique, and the manner in which
subject matter is depicted
 Representational or figurative style –
subject matter is recognizable
 Non-representational or abstract art –
made up primarily of visual elements
such as line, color, texture and shapes

 Naturalism is a kind of representational
art
 It involves the representation of nature
the way it looks
 Naturalism is a style that adheres to
Plato’s concept of mimesis, or the
copying of nature
 Other artists aim to represent an ideal
nature (idealized or stylized)

 Expressionism is a kind of
representational art that does not
concern itself with the observation,
copying, or idealizing of nature
 The expression of emotion is the primary
consideration of expressionism
 Colors as vehicle for expression
 Concerned with the subjective reality

 Cubism is another kind of
representational art, using multiple
perspective, or a view painted from
different angles or vantage points
 Transparent Cubism – human figure is not
broken down into cubes, cones and
cylinders

 Impressionism is concerned with
capturing the impression of light on
objects.
 Impressionist do not paint the actual
objects; they paint the effect of light on
the objects

 Surrealism is concerned with the
depiction of the subconscious reality of
the artist
 In surrealist paintings, images look
dreamlike, sometimes nightmarish and
weird

Invitation to the Feast, Ronald Ventura, 2011

 Abstract art are nonrepresentational art
 Geometric abstraction is limited to the
use of geometric shapes in building
abstract forms
 Abstract expressionism or action
painting upholds the notion that it is the
act of painting that is art, not the
painting itself

 Baroque is the dominant style in
Philippine church architecture
 It is characterized by extensive use of
decoration and ornamentation
 As a style, it generally appeals more to
the emotions, rather than to the intellect

 Neo-classical style is usually used in
government buildings
 Simplicity, order, balance and symmetry
are the general characteristics of neo-
classical architecture
 They abide by the Greek and Roman
ideas about architecture
 Greek column orders: Doric, Ionic and
Corinthian

 Rhythm is created
when there is
repetition, alternation,
progression or
reduction.

 Movement is seen in the placement on
space of certain elements

 Balance needs to be
achieved to create a
work of art or it will not be
comfortable to look at or
experience
 Symmetrical Balance

 Proportion refers to how one shape
relates to the other

 Variety is also
important to
works of art or
these could
become
boring

 Emphasis
means that
there is an area
that is stressed,
given
importance, or
accented so
that it becomes
the focus of the
work of art

 Contrast is when you use light colors in an
area of a painting, one can darken one
side to “bring out the light”
 Harmony is when all the elements in an
artwork go together in a pleasing
manner
 Unity is when all parts of the artwork
contribute to the “unified whole” or have
unity and oneness

 Contrast,
Harmony
and Unity

03 the language of art

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