| SECTION 6
Materials and Techniques There are several types of materials and techniques
that an artist may use to communicate ideas or emotions when creating of
a work of art. For our discussion we will consider them in two main
sections: two-dimentional materials and techniques and three-dimentional
materials and techniques.
Two-Dimentional Materials and Techniques The term medium refers to the type of material used for artistic expression. The term media is the plural of medium and refers to two or more materials. Painters may use the media of watercolor, oil, acrylic, encaustic, pastel, egg tempera or a suitable combination. Sculptors may use the media of clay, stone, metal, fabrics, and / or plastics. When drawing artists may employ the media of graphite, crayon (wax, oil, conte, or water-soluble), charcoal and ink. In printmaking artists use the media of oil base or water base screen ink, litho ink, intaglio ink, relief printing ink, and a variety and combination of pigments for monotype. A specific medium is neither more or less artistic than any other medium. The key issue is how the medium is used and how well suited are the properties of the medium to the ideas and emotions inherent to the work of art. The challenge for the artist is to come to terms
with what medium, or media, best sets into motion his or her strengths
and insights. Many artists become associated with a single medium
but most likely is experienced in several.
Drawing Drawing is the basis on which most other art forms are founded. In a traditional and academic sense artists are well educated the media of drawing before they experience any of the other media. Drawing traditionally refers to a series of marks on a two-dimentional surface. Drawing can encompass a simple sketch to a more formalized endeavor. Artists use drawing for several reasons:
Pencil Pencil is the simplest and most economical drawing tool. Drawing pencils are made of lead or graphite and have a hardness scale. H pencils are hard and produce a light mark. B pencils are soft and produce a darker mark. HB pencils are a medium grade pencil and produce a mid-gray mark. 4H pencil will be harder than a 2H and a 4B will be softer and darker than a 2B. Pencil can be used in a wide variety of techniques
from a precise rendering to a quick expressive drawing.
Charcoal Charcoal is produced by burning sticks of wood. Charcoal was most likely one of humankind's first drawing tools. Early artist would have noticed that the charcoal left from the fire pit made a mark when rubbed across a surface. Modern day charcoal is produced in a kiln by burning a special type if wood. Some of the charcoal is left in the vine form, other charcoal is compressed. Charcoal is also graded from hard to soft. Charcoal lends itself to covering large areas
with expressive lines.
Pastel Pastels (both oil and chalk) are used in both the drawing and painting studios. Many pastel artists consider themselves painters. Since painting can be considered drawing with pigment and a brush and pastels mimic other drawing tools they can be considered in both arenas. Chalk pastels are composed of dry colored pigments and a non-waxy binder (such as gum arabic). Chalk pastes are similar to charcoal in that they can cover a broad area quickly. They can also lend themselves to expressiveness. Oil pastels are composed of dry colored pigments
and an oil binder. They can be used like a crayon and manipulated
with oils or thinners and a brush. They are usually very intense
in color.
Ink Ink can be used as a drawing medium with either
a pen or a brush. The brush can allow the ink to be more expressive
and visually fluid. The pen allows for more control.
Painting Almost all types of paints are composed of the following components: pigment (color), a binding agent, and a solvent or a thinner. The pigment may stay the same from one type of paint to another but it is the choice of binding agent and the solvent or thinner will make the mixture either oil, acrylic, watercolor, or other type of paint. Most painting processes involve fixing or suspending colored pigments in a liquid or emulsion that includes a binder in a solvent or thinner. Adding solvent or thinner liquefies the paint, gives it more or less viscosity and allows the paint to be moved across a surface. Artists have used various types of painting surfaces throughout the history of painting, including paper, canvas (cotton and linen), silk, wood panel, animal hide, and plaster. Each type of paint has a certain surface that works better than other choices. Oil works well on canvas but not on silk. Watercolor works best on paper but is poorly suited for painting on plaster or wood panel. Each type of paint has its own properties and characteristics. The artist will need to explore the paint types to understand which is best suited to produce the desired results. There is one other time honored painting technique
that has not been mentioned, Sandpainting.
Traditional sandpainting is done by Navajo
singers (medicine men) and by Tibetan monks. It involves creating
a system of images in a ceremony or ritual.
Fresco in Italian means "fresh". It is a
term that the Romans gave to a type of wall painting that involves working
a mixture of pigment and lime water (the solvent) into a wet,
freshly plastered wall (the binder). Working in fresco is very demanding
of the artist. The pigment must be applied while the plaster is at
a proper stage, it cannot be too wet or too dry. If the plaster is
too wet it will not accept the pigment. If it is too dry the pigment
will not bind properly and once dry the paint will flake off of the wall.
Once the plaster and pigment is dry no correction can be made unless the
plaster is removed and reapplied. Fresco painters work is small areas.
Before a painting session begins the fresco artist is involved in preplanning,
sketching, and drawing to work out all composition details.
Tempera The term tempera paints might bring back memories of that bottle of
gooey paint we used as finger-paints when we were in pre-school.
Historically tempera painting is an old technique that has been in use
since before the development of oil paint. It was popular during
the Medieval and early Renaissance periods. Tempera consists of pigments
suspended in binders such as egg yolk, gelatin, cheese, or gum arabic.
Once dry tempera tends to be long lasting if on a rigid surface.
The dried paint is brittle and a flexible painting surface (such as paper
or canvas) can cause the paint to crackle. Traditionally tempera
is applied to a gesso (mixture of chalk and glue) prepared board or to
a prepared canvas that has been mounted on a board. Tempera is fast
drying paint and it does not allow the artist much time to manipulate the
pigment. Tempera is not as popular as it once was, as many newer
paint mediums offer the artist more flexibility.
Oil Paint Oil paint was perfected by Flemish artist Jan van Eyck in the fifteenth century. Oil is the binder and turpentine is the solvent of choice for oil paint. Oil paint can be applied to many types of supports if they are prepared with gesso (a mixture of glue and chalk). Oil paint has a relatively slow drying time which gives the artist time to manipulate the pigment and be subtle in terms blending large masses or small areas of the painting. To paint in oil artists need a well ventilated studio. Oil paint lends itself to a wide range of techniques from glazing to
impasto painting. Glazing is a technique that uses thin, transparent
layers of paint that are placed on top of one another to create luminescent
colors. The glazed painting surface is very smooth and flat.
The impasto technique uses thickly applied paint. The impastoed painting
surface is very physically interesting.
Watercolor Watercolor paint consists of finely ground transparent pigments and a binder of gum arabic. Water is the thinning agent and can be added in various amounts from very little to large amounts without destroying the integrity of the paint. Watercolor pigment causes a transparent stain on the paper support. This staining is inherent to the medium. Watercolor is a non-toxic medium that can be easily
moved and used almost anywhere. The surface of preference is a sheet
of linen rag paper that has been produce specifically for the traits of
the watercolor pigment.
Gouache Gouache is watercolor pigment with the addition
of white. Adding the white pigment removes the staining quality and
the transparency of the watercolor paint making it naturally opaque.
Gouache paint (like tempera, oil and other pigments) forms a layer of paint
on the support surface. Gouache is non-toxic and portable.
Encaustic Encaustic is a technique that suspends pigment
in wax. It was developed and used in Rome and Egypt during the Roman
period. It was used to paint portraits. The encaustic technique
requires specialized "hot-brushes", that heat the pigment and wax and allow
the artist to apply it to a ridged surface, and warm burnishers, that allow
the artist to manipulate the wax once it is applied. Once accomplished
the encaustic painting is infused with brilliant light that is reflected
throughout the wax layers.
Acrylic Acrylic came into prominence during the late 1950's and the 1960's. Acrylic is made by suspending pigment in acrylic emulsion. It can be thinned with water or with a polymer medium. When dry the acrylic resin particles unit to form an elastic film that is waterproof. Acrylic, like oil paint, can be made relatively flexible. Because it is not an oil medium and does not require petroleum based solvents it is less toxic than oil paint. Acrylic dries faster than oil paint but the drying
time can be slowed by the addition of a retarder. Acrylic paint can
be applied to many surfaces as long as they are prepared with gesso.
It can be used directly on both canvas and paper without the gesso.
Acrylic paint can be thinned and used in all of the glazing techniques.
It can be used directly from the tube or the jar without being thinned.
It can be combined with a variety of gel mediums to created an impastoed
effect.
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