Art is omnipresent, in various forms of music, the written word or painted pictures. Shaped beautifully out of an ugly rock or coloured on a blank canvas, there are various ways in which art is seen. In this article, we cover the prominent forms of visual arts that the world has been witnessing since many ages. From the age-old primitive arts to the contemporary forms of it, art has travelled and transformed many worlds. The aim of this article is also to help you better identify or associate with a style of art, the next time you see something.
The Types
o Traditional Plastic visual Arts
Drawing – This genre, aging back to Paleolithic Caves (16,000 years ago), refers to making an image using any techniques and tools both, manual (graphite pencils, crayons, charcoals, & pastels), and digital (line drawing, cross drawing, scribbling, blending, hatching, random drawing, and stippling). The professional is called drafter.
Painting – This most important pillar of visual Arts involves the application of colored pigments (mixed in a suitable medium), on a surface, such as paper, cloth, body, metal, plastic, or canvas, with the help of a binder. Originated in France around 32,000 years back, in the Lascaux caves & rocks, first paintings of human figures were found in Egypt, in the temple of Ramses 2, with Greece being an immense contributor to the field. The expert is called a painter. Western Painting world saw the following key phases:
European Renaissance (13th-16th century) – Painters: Giotto di Bondone (Italian-1267-1337), Jan Van Eyck (Belgian Dutch – 1395-1441),Leonardo Da Vinci (Italian-1452-1519), Hans Holbein the Younger (German – 1497-1543), and Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Dutch – 1525-69.Dutch Golden Age (17th century) – Painters: Rembrandt (1606-69) and Vermeer (1632-75).French Impressionism (19th century) – Painters: Claude Monet (1840-1926), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), and Paul Cezanne (1839-1906).French Post-Impressionism (late 19th century) – Painters: Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch – 1853-90), and Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901).European Symbolism (late 19th century) – Painter: Edward Munch (Norwegian – 1863-1944).German Expressionism (early 20th century) – Painters: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) and Erich Heckel (1883-1970).French Cubism (early 20th century) – Painters: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Georges Braque (1882-1963).Surrealism (1920s) – Painters: Salvador Dali (Spanish – 1904-89) and Magritte (Belgian – 1898-1967)
Printmaking – In art, it involves making a picture on a matrix and transferring it to a two-dimensional (flat) surface through any form of pigmentation. Key techniques include line engraving, lithography, woodcut, etching, and screen-printing, including some digital methods.
Sculpture – It is a three-dimensional artwork, requiring shaping, or combining hard or light material, commonly stone, wood, glass, or metal. The expert is called sculptor.
Miscellaneous – Ceramics and Architecture are the other important genre here.
o Modern Visual Arts
Photography – This involves creating images with the help of time controlled light alterations. Mechanical, chemical or digital cameras are used for the purpose. The expert is called the photographer.
Filmmaking – It is the process of making a motion picture through scriptwriting, shooting, animation, editing, music work, and market distribution. The expert is called filmmaker.
Computer Arts – This is an art form entailing the digital processing of art elements (image, sound, video, CD-ROM, illustration, algorithm, or performance) for finally desired output and display. The expert is called a computer or digital artist.
o Design & Crafts visual arts
o Applied visual Arts
Industrial Designing
Graphic Designing
Interior Designing
Fashion Designing
Decorative Arts