Aviva Directory » Arts & Literature » Visual Arts

Visual art is a reference to art forms that convey their message or emotion through visual means.

The visual arts may be decorative, commercial, or fine art, such as paintings, sculptures, or photography. Since art is subjective, it can be interpreted in many ways. Nevertheless, the characteristic shared by each of the visual arts is that they communicate visually, without the need for the other senses.

Common characteristics of the visual arts include line (the boundaries for shape), shape (the forms made from these lines, such as circles), color (the visual spectrum of light), tone (the lightness or darkness of colors), size (smallness or largeness), perspective (the illusion of distance, such as near or far), pattern (visual repetition, such as polka dots, stripes, or paisleys), and texture (the appearance of flat, smooth, bumpy, or rough, without requiring touch). Some works of visual arts may require only a few of these to achieve an intended impact, while others may include several or all of these. The result may be described as simple, complex, realistic, or abstract.

Visual arts might include architecture, ceramics, crafts, design, drawing, filmmaking, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and video. It is important to acknowledge that many artistic disciplines, such as the performing arts, involve aspects of the visual arts as well as other types of art forms. The applied arts, which include decorative art, fashion design, graphic design, industrial design, and interior design, may also be included as forms of visual arts, although, under the premise that art is in the eye of the beholder, not every specific example will be considered art by everyone.

Prior to the Arts and Crafts movement in the early 1900s, the term "artist" was generally restricted to those who were working in the fine arts, and there is still a distinction between fine arts and the crafts, although both may be considered visual arts when they otherwise meet the definition.

Drawing describes the creation of an image, illustration, or graphic using any of a variety of tools and techniques. Traditionally, it involves making marks on a surface by applying pressure from a tool (pencil, pen, brush) across a surface, although digital tools are also used today to simulate the effects of the earlier tools.

Painting is the practice of using paint to create an artwork known as a painting, for the purpose of expressing ideas and emotions on a two-dimensional surface.

Printmaking involves the artistic creation of an image on a matrix that is then transferred to a two-dimensional surface by means of ink or another form of pigmentation. Other techniques include woodcuts, line engraving, etching, lithography, and screen printing.

Photography is the process of making pictures using the action of light by way of a camera, digital sensor, or film, to create an art image.

Architecture is the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings or other structures. Architectural works are often viewed as cultural symbols and works of art.

Filmmaking is the process of making a motion picture, and involves the initial conception and research, scriptwriting, shooting and recording, animation and other special effects, editing, sound and music, and distribution to an artist. However, we have sorted filmmaking and the performing arts within the Entertainment category.

Computers are a common tool in the visual arts today, which has blurred the lines between traditional works of art and new media works created through the use of computers and computer software. The progression of artificial technology promises to further blur these lines.

Plastic arts are art forms involving the manipulation of a plastic medium by molding or modeling such as sculpture or ceramics. Materials that can be carved or shaped, such as stone, wood, concrete, or steel, have also been included in the definition.

Sculpture describes three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard or plastic materials, commonly stone, but may also include marble, clay, metal, glass, or wood. Most public works of art are in the form of sculpture. a sculpture may also be created with 3-D printing technology.

Various countries may have established wider or narrower definitions as to what would qualify as visual art.

Categories

Animation

Architecture

Artists

Body Art

Design

Digital

Graphic Design

Illustration

Media Conglomerates

Media Production

Models

Native & Tribal

Photography

Resources

 

 

Recommended Resources


Search for Visual Arts on Google or Bing