Examples of Visual Art

Visual arts are forms of arts that we perceive visually. Contrary to musical arts, where we use our sense of hearing, visual arts are appreciated by sight. Visual arts are broad and have several forms that have developed throughout the years.

What are the 7 Visual Arts?

There are seven main types of visual arts. This includes drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, photography, film, and printmaking.

Drawing

Drawing is a form of visual art where an artist uses a range of tracing instruments and techniques to create an image. It is not only limited to physically drawing on a piece of paper, or a two-dimensional surface, but also includes drawing digitally.

This method is fundamental to other arts such as painting and sculpting as it is an essential skill for artists to learn to create these arts. However, drawing itself is recognized as an art in its own right.

Painting

Painting, in general, is the process of applying pigment to a two-dimensional surface. In terms of art, painting is a combination of several elements such as drawing, composition, and the emotion that the artist wants to express. The pigment used is based on the artist’s decision such as oil, acrylic, water-based paint, or ink.

Yoel Benharrouche is an example of a contemporary painter. His work is described as a bond between “Heaven and Earth.” Benharrouche’s works are inspired both spiritually and religiously. His gallery includes paintings of acrylic on canvas, lacquer on metal, acrylic on wood, mixed media on paper, and even painted musical instruments.

Sculpture

Sculpture is a form of three-dimensional visual art that involves carving objects to form an image that an artist wants to portray. Artists mostly make use of wood, clay, marble, and steel to make sculptures. Nowadays, more materials are being used for sculpting. Even ice and perishable materials such as vegetables are being sculpted and shown in art exhibitions.

Like painting and drawing, sculptures are one of the oldest forms of visual arts. Some of the sculptures are even dated from the prehistoric period. Most of the famous sculptures were also made during the ancient Greek period.

Architecture

Architecture is the art of designing and constructing a structure. The art of architecture is expressed through its firmness, commodity, and delight. This means that a structure must be durable and can stand for ages preserving its condition, can function for its intended use, and should be attractive or pleasing.

Most architectural wonders that are famous around the world envoy historical, cultural, and artistic expressions. Some ancient civilizations are also distinguished because of their architectural styles which also matched the climate, culture, and traditions.

Some structures also depict engagement with the supernatural and the divine. In some cultures, architecture is also used as a symbol of political power.

These symbolisms using architecture are also evident now in modern times. For example, political structures such as The White House depicts power. Churches and other religious temples are easily distinguished from other structures because of their designs.

Photography

Photography is the art of capturing light to produce an image. The main tool used is a camera, and an image is processed electronically or chemically.

Like the other visual arts such as paintings and drawings, photography also revolves around similar elements such as lines, texture, balance, color, depth, and composition. It is also a medium of expression for artists’ messages, emotions, and ideas while incorporating art’s fundamental elements.

Film Making

Film-making in terms of art is the process of creating a motion picture. The process involves all stages starting from the idea, research, script-writing, casting, shooting, music production, sound recording, editing, and post-production, until the release of the final product. The incorporation of all these processes along with the proper fundamentals makes a film a work of art.

Print Making

Printmaking is the process of printing an image from a matrix to a paper or other material such as fabric or canvas. In this process, the artist creates the image on the matrix using different techniques such as carving, etching, or cutting a stencil. The matrices can be linoleum, wood, copper, or metal, depending on the technique the artist will use.

Some examples of techniques in printmaking are as follows: Relief printing is where the ink is placed on the surface of the matrix and the image is printed directly from the surface. Woodcutting is a form of printmaking where the artist uses the long grain of the wood as a matrix.

Wood engraving, on the other hand, is where the end grain of the wood is used as a matrix onto which the artist cuts the image. Screen printing is the process of blocking out a stencil with a fine screen mesh and the ink is squeegeed onto the canvas. In this process, only one stencil must be used for one color.

Conclusion

Visual art is one of the most prominent art forms that can be found. It is so broad that aside from the seven types of visual arts indicated above, other types are also incorporated with it such as applied arts and decorative arts. Its fundamentals are also sometimes applied in other artistic genres such as performing arts, theatre arts, and conceptual arts.

In modern times, visual arts are continuing to develop along with technology. For example, graphic illustrations are now being considered art, such as NFTs or non-fungible tokens. They are gaining more value, getting collected, and being considered digital assets.

In conclusion, visual art continues to evolve and develop. However, the fundamentals are still the same. Visual art is everywhere. It is for people to see and appreciate its very beauty.