MODULE 1 WHAT IS ART: The Role of Creativity in Art Making: Philosophical Perspectives on Art:

INTRODUCTION AND ASSUMPTIONS

• In art, creativity is what sets apart 1. Art as an Imitation.
What Is Art? one artwork from another.
- For Plato, when one ascribes
“craft or specialized form of skill, like • An artist embraces originality, puts beauty to another person, he refers
carpentry or smithying or surgery” his own flavor into his work, and calls
to an imperfect beauty that
(Collingwood, 1938) it his own creative piece.
participates only in the form of
Art then suggested the capacity to Art as a Product of Imagination, beauty in the World of Forms.
produce an intended result from Imagination as a Product of Art:
2. Art as a Representation
carefully planned steps or method
• Imagination is not constrained by the
Arts in Medieval Latin came to mean walls of the norm, but goes beyond - Aristotle considered art as an aid
something different. It meant “any that. to philosophy in revealing truth. It
special form of book-learning, such as allows for the experience of
• An artwork does not need to be a real
grammar or logic, magic or astrology” pleasure. art also has an ability to
thing, but can be something that is
(Collingwood, 1938). The fine arts imaginary (Collingwood, 1938). be instructive and teach its
would come to mean “not delicate or audience things
highly skilled arts, but ‘beautiful’ arts” • Artists use their imagination that
(Collingwood, 1938). This is something gives birth to reality through creation. III. Art as a Disinterested Judgment
more akin to what is now considered
art. • In the same way that imagination - Kant considered the judgment of
produces art, art also inspires beauty, the cornerstone of art, as
Assumptions of Art: imagination. something that can be universal
1. Art is Universal – Art has always Art as Expression:
despite its subjectivity. Kant
been timeless and universal, spanning mentioned that judgment of
generations and continents through • Robin George Collingwood, an beauty, and therefore, art, is
and through. English philosopher who is best known innately autonomous from specific
for his work in aesthetics, explicated in interests.
2. Art is not nature – Art is man’s his publication The Principles of Art
expression of his reception of nature. (1938) that what an artist does to an IV. Art as a Communication of
Art is man’s way of interpreting nature. emotion is not to induce it, but express Emotion
it.
3. Art involves experience – Unlike - According to Leo Tolstoy, art plays
fields of knowledge that involve data, • Some forms of art expression a huge role in communication to its
art is known by experiencing. A work of include visual arts, lm, performance
audience’s emotions that the artist
art then cannot be abstracted from art, poetry performance, architecture,
actual doing. In order to know what an dance, literary arts, theater arts, and
previously experienced about life;
artwork is, we have to sense it, see or applied arts. thus, it is cognitive as well .
hear it, and see AND hear it.
Functions of Art: The primary stage of engaging with
MODULE 2 ART APPRECIATION: art is its perception.
• Roughly and broadly, the functions of
CREATIVITY, IMAGINATION, AND
art are classified into three: personal Subjectivity is illustrated in the way
EXPRESSION
(public display or expression), social that selective perception renders
Art Appreciation as a Way of Life: (celebration or to affect collective one or two details more prominent
behavior), and physical (utilitarian). than others, prompting the viewer
• Art as a creative work that depicts to focus on some details as
the world in a completely different Does Art Always Have to Be
Functional? essential or as standouts.
light and perspective, and the source
is due to human freedom (Jean Paul • The value of a work of art does not In the arts, there are also
Sartre as cited in Greene, 1995) depend on function but on the work observable qualities that the
• Hence, refining one’s ability to itself. artwork holds that will point to its
appreciate art allows him to deeply • Despite these, efficiency cannot be
subject, and sometimes even to its
understand the purpose of an artwork mistaken as beauty. While it certainly content
and recognize the beauty it possesses determines beauty in some works of
(Collins & Riley, 1931). Types of Subject:
art, an efficient functional object is not
necessarily beautiful. • Representational art – have
subjects that refer to objects or
events occurring in the real world.
• Non-representational art – does 3. Legends and Life of the Saints – • The different functions of art may
not make a reference to the real many stories about them have be classified as either personal,
world, whether it is a person, been told w/c have found their way social, or physical.
place, thing, or even a particular into the arts.
event. It is stripped down to visual • Art may serve either as imitation,
elements such as shapes, lines, 4. Church Rituals & Religious representation, a disinterested
Activities – have great influence on judgment, or simply a
and colors that are employed to
translate a particular feeling, language and speech patterns. communication of emotion.
emotion, and even concept. Art Content is the meaning of a work MODULE 3 FUNCTIONS OF ART
Appreciation (HUMN02G) 16 of art. The content of a work of art
not only refers its subject matter Early on, artists were embedded in
Sources and Kinds of Subject: the development of culture, and in
and its underlining meanings or
• Often, even a singular source of themes turn, art was nurtured by the
inspiration can yield multiple varying cultures in which it existed
translations. Content in Art:
The Artisan and the Guilds:
Content in Art: • To recognize and grasp the
message of the artwork, the viewer * The practice of artists was not
• To recognize and grasp the may sometimes need to go beyond grounded on the idea of individual
message of the artwork, the viewer what is visible. capacities or success; rather, in
may sometimes need to go beyond the commitment to work together
what is visible. • There are various levels of as a collective. Guilds were a type
meaning – factual, conventional, of social fellowship, an association
• There are various levels of and the possibility of a variety of structured with rules, customs,
meaning – factual, conventional, meanings. rights, and responsibilities. With a
and the possibility of a variety of lifetime commitment to a
meanings. Summary
particular trade, an artisan
• Art is a product of a man’s develops immense skill and
Ways of presenting the Subject
creativity, imagination, and expertise in his craft.
1. Realism – the manner or expression. Refining one’s ability to
The Artist and His Studio:
presenting the subject depends to appreciate art allows him to deeply
a large extent on the interest, understand the purpose of an • The site that saw the shift from a
imagination, creativity, and artwork and recognize the beauty it craftsman to an independent artist
purpose of the artist. possesses. was a very personal space for the
artist himself, which is the studio.
2. Abstraction – is a technique of • Creativity is what sets apart one
simplifying and reorganizing artwork from another. A creative Other Players in the World of Art:
objects and elements according to artist does not simply copy or
the artist’s creative expressions. imitate another artist’s work. • In the last century, some of the
roles that have been existent since
3. Distortion – is a technique • While through imagination, an the beginning of art history have
employed by the artist to dramatize artist is able to craft something been properly dealt with—ascribed
the shape of a figure to create an bold, something new, and with a name—and legitimized into
emotional effect. something better in the hopes of a sophisticated network of
creating something that will relationships and exchanges. This
Sources of Art Subjects : stimulate change network is what we call the art
1. Landscapes – observing the world.
• Through expression, an artist is
beauty of physical environment. able to explore his own emotions • What must be recognized is that,
2. Still-life – to illustrate their while at the same time, create as Becker contended, there are
beauty when touched by the something beautiful out of it. numerous people who either work
painters. Animals – the vigor and in consent or dissension, and in
• Art has remained relevant in our
grace of animals in motion have doing so, continuously (re)-define,
daily lives because most of it has
captured painters’ imagination and (in)validate, maintain (or abolish),
played some form of function for
sculptors’ imagination, too. reproduce, and circulate the
man.
“cultural category of art, and to
produce the consent of the entire
society in the legitimacy of the art MODULE 4 ELEMENTS AND 4. Broken or jagged lines – it
world’s authority to do so” (Irvine, PRINCIPLES OF ART connotes chaos, confusion,
2013). tension, disturbance,
Elements of Arts violence or war
Production Process: 5. Curved lines – whether
“Elements of Arts are the
• The process of creating an concave or convex, it indicate
components or part which can be
artwork does not necessarily movements that are smooth
isolated & defined in any visual
follow a linear progression. design or work of art. They 3. Shape
• The process is essentially structure and carry the work.”
Shape is defined as an area that
tripartite: (1) preproduction, (2) Following are the seven basic stands out from the space next to
production, and (3) elements of arts which are or around it due to a defined or
postproduction. common throughout the field of implied boundary, or because of
Medium and Technique: designing. differences of value, color, or
texture.
• Medium is the mode of 1.Point / Mark
expression in which the concept, A shape is formed when a line
A point or mark is the smallest and
idea, or message is conveyed. encloses an area.
most basic element . It can vary in
• The technique of the artwork size, value, regularity or irregularity, Shapes have two dimensions,
shows the level of familiarity with and can be used alone as a unit in length and width and can be
the medium being manipulated. a group. geometric or free-form.

Engagement with Art: Marks can be used to form a value 4. Forms

or pattern ( placed close together
• The defining roles and nature of forms a darker value, further apart Forms describes volumes and
exhibitions have had an interesting forms a lighter value), or to mass, or the 3D aspects of objects
evolution, changing alongside the delineate space ( larger means that take up space.
demands of the society that closer,etc.) Forms can and should be viewed
purports to partake in its display. from any angles.
2.Line
• The art exhibition, by its nature, For example: When you hold a
holds a mirror up to society, A line is a form with width and
length, but no depth. baseball, or a small sculpture, you
reflecting its interests and are aware of their curves, angles,
concerns while at the same time Artist use lines to create edges, the indentations, & edges i.e. their
challenging its ideologies and outlines of objects. The direction of forms
preconceptions. a line can convey mood.
5.Space
Awards and Citations: Broadly lines can be categorized
into three types Space is a 3D volume that can be
*After an artist has spent empty or filled with objects. It has
considerable time in honing his 1. Horizontal lines - are calm width, height, and depth.
skills, establishing the relevance of and quiet. It indicate width,
the body of his works, and even rest, response, quietness, Space that appears three-
gaining respect from his calmness, serenity, infinity, dimensional in a 2D painting is an
colleagues in the art world, he may contemplation and inaction. illusion that creates a feeling of
be considered or nominated for 2. Vertical lines - suggest more actual depth.
awards and citations. of a potential for movement. Several techniques can be used to
Summary It shows height or stature, show such visual depth or space,
poise, balance, force, for example, overlapping, linear
The evolution of the artist strength, dignity and perspective, etc..
throughout history is one of the dynamism
most interesting progressions in 3. Diagonal strongly suggest 6.Color
the affairs of man movements and give more of
Color has three properties. The
a feeling of vitality to a
first is hue, which is the name of
picture.
the colors.
 - the primary hue are Yellow, 1.Balance 4. Pattern
Red, and Blue.
- secondary colors are made Balance refers to the appropriate Pattern in a design simply refers to
by mixing two primaries. arrangement of objects in a keeping your design in a certain
- intermediate colors are design/art to create the impression format.
mixtures of a primary & of equality in weight or importance.
Balance provides stability and It is often described as a regular
adjacent secondary color. arrangement of alternated or
structure to a design. Balance may
The second property is Value, be symmetrical and asymmetrical, repeated elements (shapes, lines,
which refers to the lightness or but the goal should be to achieve colors) or motifs.
darkness of hue. equilibrium. For example: One could plan to
The third property is Intensity, 1) Symmetrical Balance can be have curved lines all around a
which refers to the purity of the hue described as having equal design as a pattern.
also known as “Chroma”. “weight” on equal sides of a 5.Rhythm/Movement
centrally placed fulcrum. It is
Color (Hue) - gives meaning, value, also known as formal balance. Rhythm or movement is regarded
intensity and saturation to an as a visual temp or beat. It refers to
object. It has series of wave 2) Asymmetrical Balance is a regular repetition of elements to
lengths which strikes our retina. more complex and difficult top produce the look and feel of a
picture. It involves placement movement.
Example of Color and its meaning of objects in a way that will
allow objects of varying visual Rhythm can be achieved through
weight to balance one another the careful placement of repeated
around a fulcrum point. It is components. It can be directed for
also known as informal example, along edges & by means
balance. of shape and color.

2. Contrast Rhythm can be categorized

Random, Regular, Alternating,
Contrast refers to the combination Progressive, and Flowing.
of different elements of design (for
example: rough & smooth textures, 6.Unity
7.Texture
dark & light values)in order to Unity refers to the arrangement of
It is the element of the visual arts highlight their differences or create elements to give the viewer the
associated with the sense of visual interest , or a focal point. feeling that all the parts of the
touch. design or piece form a coherent
Contrast allows us to emphasize or
Texture refers to the surface highlight key elements in your whole i.e. designs must be in
quality, both simulated and actual, design. harmony in which all sections of
of artwork. the pattern make other sections
3. Emphasis feel complete.
Principles of design
The term emphasis literally means It enables the design to be seen as
“The Principles of Arts are the to give importance. one complete piece of art or
artistic guidelines used to organize design.
Emphasis in designing refers to
or arrange the structural elements
give special attention to one part of Summary
of art.”
a work of art.
Following are the six basic The elements and principles of art
It can be achieved through are essential to any artwork. Some
principles of effective design/art
placement, contrast, colour, size, of them will be more obvious than
which are common throughout the
repetition, etc. others, becoming the anchors in
field of designing (i.e. from print
design to lithography, typography, For example: A dark shape in a which the viewer may latch on to
& industrial design). light composition engage with the artwork.