The Art Dictionary : Every Kind of Art Form That Exists

Ever wondered how the famous Mona Lisa was painted or even formed? What kind of paint would’ve been used or what kind of brush would’ve been present at that time to create that masterpiece?

Well, even if you don’t know the answer to those questions, you will certainly know a lot about different art forms present around the world after reading this piece. And trust us, you will come back here to refer. We won’t bet that, but yeah, quite sure about it.

So yeah, let’s begin your art class.

A

1. ABSTRACT PAINTING

Abstract art has been with us in one form or another for almost a century now and has proved to be not only a long-standing crux of cultural debate but a self-renewing, vital tradition of creativity. We know that it works, even if we’re still not sure why that’s so, or exactly what to make of that fact. Stylistically, abstract painting included the movements of Surrealism, Dadaism, Cubism, and Fauvism.

Abstract art seeks to break away from the traditional representation of physical objects. It explores the relationships of forms and colors, whereas more traditional art represents the world in recognizable images.

2. ACRYLIC PAINTING

Acrylic Paints are preferred by artists due to their ability to provide the transparent brilliance of water paints and also the density of oil paints. Acrylic Paints were favored by the artists who were concerned about the health hazards of oil paints and wanted a better alternative. Acrylic Painting gained popularity in the 1960s after being promoted commercially.

3. ACTION PAINTING

Action Painting is an art form that involves spontaneous and sweeping brushstrokes and also some spilling of paint throughout the canvas. It started to shape up during the 1950s in the USA. It is usually considered as something out of the social barriers and traditional chains. Many artists used this form of painting for their emotional expressiveness.

4. AERIAL PERSPECTIVE PAINTING

Aerial perspective or atmospheric perspective is a method of painting in which the artist creates an illusion in the painting or the drawing by regulating the color to simulate changes effected by the atmosphere on the colors of the things seen at a distance.

Leonardo da Vinci was the first one to use the term ‘aerial perspective’ in one of his artworks. Although many were fascinated by this painting technique there is a bit of physics involved in it. It was later known that the presence of moisture in the atmosphere and of tiny particles of dust and similar material causes a scattering of light as it passes through them. The degree of scattering of colors depended upon the color chosen in the painting.

The color blue which has the shortest wavelength is scattered the most; for example, in painting the mountains usually have a bluish shade. Colors of long-wavelength like red - is scattered the least; thus, distant objects appear to have a reddish shade because some of the blues is scattered and the red color is scattered the least. .

5. ANAMORPHOSIS PAINTING

Derived from the Greek word which translates to “To transform”, anamorphosis is a technique in which the art is presented in a specific manner. In a manner that makes the viewer view the art from a particular angle or using a particular device.

Artists have been using the anamorphosis technique for ages and to date, it’s quite popular among the artist fraternity. In 2014 artist Felice Varini created an anamorphosis inspired installation in the city of Hasselt, Belgium.

6. ART DECO PAINTING

Originating in the 1920s, art deco made its place in the countries of Western Europe and the USA as a major and popular art form.

The main characteristics of Art Deco art form are the presence of bold lines and geometric shapes used to design an art piece or even bigger structures such as luxury apartments, hotel buildings, etc. The key to art deco is simplicity and minimalism.

B

1. BALLPOINT PEN ART

The reasons for using a ballpoint pen for making an art piece are quite obvious. Cheap, easily available, and profitable are some of them. Moreover, to create an art piece using a ballpoint pen does not require a whole room or even some good clean practice before even holding a pen. It helps artists who have a creative urge to draw anytime and anywhere.

Although there surely is a drawback. Once you do it, you did it. A line once drawn cannot be erased but some artists take this as a challenge rather than a pain.

C

1.CAMAIEU PAINTING

Camaieu is a technique in which there are shades of a single color to create a monochromatic effect with no regard to the original color of the image or the painting.

2. CASEIN PAINTING

Casein painting is a painting made out of casein. Now, casein is a material made out of milk. The use of casein in art dates back to an era when there used to be cave paintings that were made from using milk (human milk).

There are several lesser-known benefits of casein that should be known by the world. Firstly, it can be easier to correct than oils plus it gives your paintings an even better textural effect. If you wish to paint using casein there are two types available - True Casein and simple casein. Choose one and get on with it already!

3. CAVE ART

Cave art or cave paintings have their origins in the prehistoric era and the artist behind these are our own ancestors. The most common subjects in cave paintings are wild animals, tracings of human hands as well as many abstract patterns.

The historians have termed prehistoric cave arts as a gateway to the history of mankind. There have been numerous interpretations regarding these paintings and the reasons behind these structures.

There are such cave arts present all around the world. Bhimbetka in India, Cave of El Castillo in Spain, the Padah-Lin Caves of Burma, the Blombos Cave in South Africa, and cave paintings in Kakadu, Australia are some great examples of the cave art present all around the world.

4. CHARCOAL DRAWING

Charcoal drawing is an art form in which the artist uses a charred stick of woods to make finished drawings. Artists use charcoal for their art pieces due to its versatile properties such as amazing texture and it does not leave a permanent mark. Charcoal can produce lines that are very thin and intensely black while being easily removable yet leaving a few stains on paper.

The only drawback with charcoal is that it can be easily removed or smudged. Hence, fixatives are used to make sure that the art remains permanent.

Vine charcoal, willow charcoal, charcoal pencils, charcoal crayons, compressed charcoal, or even charcoal powder can be used in preparing a beautiful charcoal art.

5. CHIAROSCURO PAINTING

Chiaroscuro as the name suggests represents an Italian art form (Chiaro: “light” and scuro : “dark”). As the name’s the literal meaning, the art form uses light and dark contrasts to make an art form. The contrast between the light and the dark is used to give rise to a three-dimensional object or figure.

The art form chiaroscuro was first brought to life by Leonardo da Vinci in his painting Adoration of the Magi (1481).

Chiaroscuro art form was also used in several black and white films in order to create distinct areas of light and darkness in the film.

6. COLLAGE PAINTING

College (French: “pasting”) is an art technique that involves a lot of cut and paste. In this technique manufactured pieces of newspapers, wallpapers, fabrics are taken and pasted on a panel or a canvas.

The origins of collage can be traced back to a long ago but it came back as a popular art form in the 20th century.

7. COLORED PENCIL ART

Colored Pencils which used to be associated with kids have now made their mark in the art world. With the artists looking to add more colors in their paintings rather than just graphite, colored pencils have come a long way.

There are many types of colored pencils classified based upon their users or uses. There are professional artist-quality colored pencils that contain a higher amount of wax and pigment which give out a rich, deep and smooth end painting.

Artist quality Colored Pencils are the ones that are light-resistant and can be used to bring out the fine colors in a drawing. The better part is that you can mix and match the various colors and voila! You have your art ready.

D

1.DIGITAL PAINTING

Digital painting is an art form process that is performed on a tablet or a computer. Digital painting is being preferred by several new-age upcoming artists due to its lower costs, efficiency, and easy availability of materials than traditional painting.

The two essentials to start with digital painting are: a drawing tablet and painting software and you are ready to go.

All of this started with Sketchpad in the year 1963 which further led to the development of RAD tablet and then several software such as MacPaint and Adobe came up. With computers becoming faster and more efficient than ever digital painting is surely an arena to enter once.

2. DIVISIONISM PAINTING

Divisionism is a technique in which the painting was defined by the division of the colors into several color pigments. Georges Seurat, a French post-Impressionist artist, gave birth to divisionism and the other technique known as pointillism which is usually defined by the use of dots in the painting.

Divisionism was formed after the artists were made a bit aware of the science behind optical illusions and how to combine the colors rather than mixing them physically optically. Although divisionism gained some amount of popularity, it went on to be criticized later on for ‘not having any soul but just a few pigments mixed.

E

1. EASEL PAINTING

Painting Easel is something that is used as upright support for displaying art or work, which is usually at an angle of about 20 degrees. An easel painting is one that is performed on physical, portable support such as a panel or a canvas.

Easels have been in use since the time of ancient Egyptians and well, it’s still there.

2. ENCAUSTIC PAINTING

Encaustic Painting or ‘hot wax painting’ includes some beeswax which is heated and then color pigments are added to it. The consistency and the thickness of the obtained color can be changed by adding some amount of resin or oil into it as per the requirement.
Encaustic is derived from the Greek word ‘enkaustikos’ which means to burn in. The burning in of the colors is necessary to obtain the true element of the encaustic technique.

The encaustic paint or the encaustic wax has a great texture and can give an expressive brushwork to the painting. Invented by the ancient Greeks, the encaustic technique was brought to perfection by the genre painter Pausanias in somewhere around the 4th century.

Although encaustic painting comes with its own very obvious difficulties such as continuous heating of the paint or the wax to keep its texture and also handling it has its advantages and gives a very different texture to the painting which makes it an obvious choice of many painters.

3. EXPRESSIONISM PAINTING

Expressionism is an artistic movement rather than a technique. It involves the artist not just bringing out the objective reality in the art but also the emotions that are being expressed through it. Expressionism was not just limited to painting though and later on went on to be associated with different kinds of art forms such as literature, art, theatre, dance, film, etc.

The style of Expressionism primarily associated in Germany and Austria, went on to be spread all across Europe and ultimately all over the world. The artist used various methods such as exaggeration, distortion, fantasy, primitivism, etc. to complete his aim of expressionism in his or her artwork.

F

1.FANTASTIC REALISM PAINTING

The term refers to the work of a group of painters who came along to work in the 1950s together in Vienna to combine the traditional artistic styles and modern art techniques.

Johann Muschik was the first person to coin the term ‘Phantastischer Realismus’ ( Fantastic Realism ) in the 1950s to describe the group of painters who met after World War 2 and were working in Vienna at that time.

The artwork of these artists were dreamlike visions from the subconscious painted realistically. The Vienna School Of Fantastic Realism was the place where it all got started. Artists like Ernst Fuchs, Arik Brauer, Wolfgang Hutter, and Anton Lehmden came together to bring up their vision and form a community or a group of artists with similar art techniques or preferences.

2. FIGURATIVE ART

Figurative art is a piece of work that is inspired and derived completely from a real artwork and hence can also be known as representational.

The term is popularly used since the arrival of abstract art to refer to the artists who keep in touch with the real world in their artwork. Now, keeping this in mind, the paintings are usually divided into three categories - figurative, abstract, and representational.

Pablo Picasso, a name very well known in the artist’s circuit is one of the artists who bought out the figurative art technique.

The elements of figurative art are - lines, shape, color, light and dark, mass, volume, texture, and perspective.

3. FRESCO PAINTING

It is the method of painting water-based pigments on fresh and wet plaster. The word fresco is derived from the Italian word ‘alfresco’ which means fresh.

The colors for Fresco are made by grinding dry-powder pigments in water, dry, and set with plaster, which makes it permanent on the wall. The Fresco painting technique is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting.

The Fresco pigment is mixed with water and is used on a thin layer of fresh wet plaster called intonaco. As the pigment is mixed with the water, the taco will sink into the water due to the chemical reaction between the participating elements.

Another type of Fresco painting is known as a secco or Fresco-secco painting, which is done on dry plaster. In this technique there arises a requirement for a binder such as egg, glue, or oil to attach the pigment to the wall. Another type of fresco called a mezzo-fresco is painted on nearly dry intonaco—firm enough not to take a thumbprint so that the pigment only penetrates slightly into the plaster.

G

1.GLASS PAINTING

Painting on Glass is usually done with oil and hard resin or with watercolor and gum on a glass surface.

Colours are applied from the back in reverse order. The unpainted areas are then coated with mercury, providing a mirror-like finish to the finished artwork. The colors on a glass surface seem very much shiny, translucent, and jewel-like.

Artists like Klee, Oscar Schlemmer, Willi Dirx, Ida Kerkovius have played a major role in bringing up the popularity of glass painting once again.

2. GOND ART

The Gond Art is an art form which is performed by one of the largest indigenous tribes of India - ‘Gonds’. What is very much evident in the Gond art is the process of storytelling, which is deeply rooted in the Gond culture, and they try to portray it through their artworks.

The Gond tribe believes that everything around them has a spirit and thus is sacred. The Gond tribe and their artwork have a deep inclination towards nature and take inspiration from them.

Gond paintings can also be easily called ‘line work’. The artwork is usually created starting with drawing carefully drawn lines. Lines are used in such a way to bring out liveliness to the picture or the scene being portrayed in the picture, a sense of movement to still images. Dots and dashes are added to inculcate a greater sense of movement and motion in the picture and increase the amount of detail.

Another very striking characteristic of Gond paintings is the use of bright colors like white, red, blue, and yellow.

3. GOUACHE PAINTING

Gouache is a painting technique in which gum or an opaque substance is added to watercolors to provide an effect of opacity to the picture. It is very much similar in nature to watercolors as it can be rewetted and mixed together to give a new shade or to reuse it again and again.

Gouache might differ from watercolor in some aspects like - pigment to binder ratio, an increased amount of filler, etc. which makes Gouache more opaque and paint with better reflective qualities.

Gouache was initially used by Egyptian artists and was also quite popular with several Rococo artists of the time. Many painters use gouache alone or in combination with watercolors and other mediums.

A comparatively new method that has come up is Acrylic Gouache. The difference between the two is that- the latter is bonded with a binder, unlike traditional gouache, which uses gum to bind itself.

4. GRAFFITI PAINTING

Graffiti is an art form that involves writing or drawings made on walls, usually without prior permission and within public view. Graffiti is a highly evolving art form and keeps on modifying.

It doesn’t seem so but Graffiti has been in place since ancient times, with findings dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, as well as the Roman Empire. In ancient times graffiti were made using a sharp object such as chalk or charcoal and was engraved on the wall.

In modern times, spray paints or sharpies have become the raw materials that are usually required to make a painting. Graffiti and its use have diversified in the past few years. It has been associated with hip-hop with gang culture and even for advertising a product due to its wide stream popularity.

Although there have been numerous controversies regarding graffiti and the image surrounding it. Graffiti is used by vandals often to damage public property which has surely brought out the art form of Graffiti in a rather negative light.

5. GRISAILLE PAINTING

Grisaille painting is a technique in which the entire painting is executed in shades of grey. Paintings done in brown are called braille and in green are called Versailles.

Grisaille was often used in imitating already built sculptures in the form of a painting or a sketch. Grisaille painting was used to give drawings of a monochrome effect.

In the grisaille enamel painting technique, crushed white enamel is turned into a paste by mixing the powder with some water, turpentine, oil of lavender, or petroleum oil and is then applied to a dark shaded enamel backdrop, mostly black or blue. Lighter areas are consistently painted, while the gray areas are obtained by painting with thinner coats to allow the dark background color to come in line with the white enamel pigment. This gives the whole artwork a dramatic effect all in all and also a three-dimensional feel to the entire image.

The Grisaille technique has been there since the 16th century and was originated in France. Although not so popular at the time of the 20th century, it was still used as an art form by some painters, such as in paintings like Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, in which it is evident.

H

1.HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL

Hudson River School was an American Art movement initiated by a group of American landscape painters who worked between the years 1825 -1870.

The name of the movement was not completely derived out of a physical location but some of the painters did take inspiration from the picturesque Catskill region of NYC through which the Hudson used to flow.

Most of the artists of the movement were influenced by Romanticism. The founding members were Thomas Cole, Asher Durand, and Thomas Doughty. The Hudson River School paintings usually reflected three themes of 19th century America: discovery, exploration, and settlement. Moreover, it focused on showing the pastoral lifestyle of the country.

I

1.IMPRESSIONISM

A major art movement which initiated in France and was characterized by open composition, thin yet visible brush strokes, open composition, and including the movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience.

The principal Impressionist painters were Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Berthe Morisot, Armand Guillaumin, and Frédéric Bazille, who worked together, influenced each other, and exhibited together.

These artists came above the traditional techniques of shades of muted greens, browns, and grays and instead adopted a more colorful and bright shade. The artists started by painting the stroke of light upon water and the reflected colors of its ripples and tides trying to create a manifold and animated effect of sunlight and shadow and of direct and reflected light that they observed.

In their efforts to give a treat to the retina the Impressionist painters avoided customary colors like greys and blacks and went for bright shades like green, red, etc.

Up on that the artists learned to build up objects out of discrete strokes or flecks of colors that were harmonizing thus provoking the brilliance and the variations of hue produced by sunlight and its reflections.

2. INK WASH PAINTING

Ink painting or ink wash painting is an East Asian painting technique that uses black ink in varied consistency and concentrations. China, India, Japan, and Korea are some of the nations where the art of ink painting is quite prominent.

The ink wash painting emerged in the Tang dynasty China and was flourished by the Song dynasty, which kept on spreading to Japan where it was brought in by the Zen Buddhist monks.

Ink wash painting uses shading, which is achieved by varying the ink density. Ink wash painting artists spend years practicing basic brush strokes to refine their brush movement and ink flow. If done by a mastered artist, a single stroke can produce some amazing variations in tonality, from black to light gray. Thus, in its meant to be context, shading means more than just dark-light arrangement.

K

1.KALAMKARI PAINTING

Now if you’ve visited the southern states of India, we bet you’d have been mesmerized by these prints.

Kalamkari is a hand-painted or block-printed cotton cloth material, and the whole process of Kalamkari consists of 23 predetermined steps. Now, even in this technique, there are two sub techniques known as the Srikalahasti style and the Machilipatnam style.

Since its origin, the Kalamkari art has focused on the theme of Hindu mythological epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. Although, that has been changing and the themes have incorporated several Buddhist-inspired styles.

Kalamkari art is being practiced by many families in Andhra Pradesh, some villages in Tamil Nadu, and by some Telugu-speaking families whose families have been practicing this art form for many generations. Kalamkari had a certain downfall and could’ve become a lost art form, but was revived in the country and was promoted abroad for its craftsmanship, accuracy, and artistic effects.

M

1.MADHUBANI PAINTING

Madhubani painting is an art form which was originated in India, and it still is in practice in the Mithila region of the country.

Madhubani paintings are often identified by their complicated geometrical designs and patterns. These paintings are used by the artists to visualize or imagine the rituals or the scenes of some particular occasions, including festivals, religious rituals, births or marriages, etc. The colors used in Madhubani paintings are usually obtained from plants and other natural sources. Instead of using a traditional human-made paintbrush, natural objects like twigs, sticks, pebbles, etc. are used to create the magic.

The paintings were earlier used as a source to decorate the freshly plastered mud walls of homes in rural India, but today they have expanded their feasibility and can be prepared on cloth, handmade paper, and canvas. Madhubani paintings are usually prepared by powdering and crushing the rice. The technique of the Madhubani painting has been confined to a geographical area and the skills have been passed on through centuries from one generation to the other. Madhubani paintings also use two-dimensional imagery, and the colors used are derived from plants and other natural sources.

Bharni, Tantrik, Godna, etc. are five distinctive styles of Madhubani painting that are being practiced even to this date.

2. MINIATURE ART

Miniature painting or miniature art is a painting that is quite colorful and, as the name suggests, is very small in size. Now, the term ‘Miniature Paintings’ can be used for both Western as well as Indian or Islamic paintings of the same nature.

Miniature paintings were originally done with watercolors with body color on vellum and cards. A proper definition is that a piece of miniature art can be held in the palm, or that it covers less than 25 square inches of area. Subjects are depicted in 1/6 actual size, and in all paintings, the accuracy and the realism of the painting or the artwork should be maintained.

The Palas of Bengal were considered to be the masters of miniature painting in India. The U.S. White House, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Astolat Dollhouse Castle, and museums around the world have collections of miniature paintings, drawings, original prints and etchings, and sculpture.

3. MURAL PAINTING

A mural is a painting that is directly executed on a permanent surface like a ceiling or a wall etc. The mural involves considering the permanent structures a canvas for artwork. It involves painting the walls to express ideas, beliefs and emotions.

Murals have been there since the Upper Paleolithic times when there used to be cave paintings. Fresco is the most commonly used technique of painting or creating murals on a wall along with fresco-secco, marouflage method, trompe- l’oeil method, etc.

N

1.NATURALISM PAINTING

Naturalism or realism is an artistic style that tries to portray as real of a picture as possible and tries to avoid the unrealistic, illusionistic, and supernatural elements of a painting.

Naturalism or realism was a result of the Realist Movement of 1840s France. The Realist movement was like a breeze of fresh air for the French artists who were until now influenced by romanticism in art, literature, etc.

O

1.ORIENTALISM PAINTING

As the numerous arts and fine arts subjects state, Orientalism referred to the artworks of Western artists who had a specialization in oriental subjects from their journeys in Asia during the 19th century.

Jean-Léon Gérôme, a French artist, went on to find the French Society of Orientalist Painters in the year 1893 to support the artistic style of orientalism.

Art historians have divided Orientalist artists into two broad categories: the realists who carefully painted what they observed and the others who used to imagine Orientalist scenes without leaving their studios ever.

The Ottoman Empire, the French, the British were the flag holders of this art movement as the style of orientalism quickly invaded their country and influenced their artistic styles.

2. OIL PAINTING

Oil painting is the most popular art technique in the world of painting. Painting in oil colors usually means painting in the shades or colors which are suspended in drying oils... The outstanding precision and technique with which fusion of tones or color is achieved make it unique among fluid painting mediums while giving a crisp effect to the picture and also a linear structure. Each transparent, opaque, and translucent painting are accounted in this same category, and it is unbeaten for its textural variation.

Oil colors are created by mixing dry powder pigments and linseed oil to form a thick paste consistency and by grinding it off by enormous friction in steel roller mills. The consistency of the color is important. When the artist requires a more flowing or not so thick consistency, a liquid painting medium must be mixed with it.

The oil painting’s origin can be traced back to 7 C.E. Afghanistan when the artists might have used oil extracted from walnuts or poppies to decorate the caves over there. But in Europe, oil as a painting medium can be found as early as the 11th century. The practice of easel painting with oil colors, however, comes directly from the tempera painting technique of the 15th century.

Some basic yet imperative improvements like refining linseed oil took place in and around 1400 which coincided with a need for some other medium than pure egg-yolk tempera to meet the changing requirements of the Renaissance. At first, oil paints and varnishes were used to glaze off these tempera panels, painted with their traditional craftsmanship. The artwork which is considered to be technically brilliant to date - the portraits dating back to 15th-century painter Jan van Eyck - were done in this way.

P

1.PANEL PAINTING

A panel painting is the technique of painting on panels made of wood. It can be a single panel or numerous panels made up of wood. Panel painting was used as the most popular form of art support before canvas came into play around the 16th century.

Once the panel construction was complete, the design was prepared and laid out, usually in charcoal. The usual ancient painting technique was encaustic, which we have mentioned above. This uses heated wax as the medium for the pigments.

The technique got replaced by tempera before the end of the first millennium, which incorporates an egg-yolk medium. Using small brushes that were dipped in a mixture of pigment and egg yolk, the paint was applied in very small and transparent brushstrokes. Thin layers of paint would be used to create volumetric forms.

By the commencement of the 15th century, oil painting came into the picture. This was more tolerant and allowed the exceptional details of the art to stand out vividly. This used a multi-layered technique, where the painting, or a particular part of it, had to be left for a couple of days for one layer to dry before the next layer was applied to the painting.

2. PASTEL PAINTING

Pastel painting is an artwork that is designed and made using pastel crayons or pastel colors. These crayons, called pastels or oil pastels, are made out of powdered pigments combined with a binder, which usually tends to be gum or methylcellulose from the mid 20th century.

Made in a wide range of color shades, the darkest in each hue consists of pure pigment and binder, while the others have various shades of whites. Once the colors are put on paper, they appear fresh and bright. Since the color shades do not change their values, the final shades and effect of the paint can be seen immediately.

Pastel remains on the surface of the canvas or paper and can be damaged. Hence it is covered by a protective layer like glass.

Fixatives, however, have a disadvantage. They usually change the tone and flatten the grain of pastel drawings. When pastel is applied in short strokes, it is usually classed as drawing; when it is rubbed, smeared, and blended to achieve painterly effects, it is often regarded as a painting medium.

3. PENCIL SKETCH

The pencil used by artists all over, is the most immediate and sensitive drawing media, which is capable of producing a quick sketch or a finely worked drawing. Pencil marks vary according to the hardness and thickness of the graphite lead in the pencil itself. The harder the lead (and the sharper the tip), the finer the line. Pencils are a dry medium and hence are less complicated and easy to use.

The graphite pencil, because of its usefulness in easily producing linear strokes, became the successor of the older, metallic drawing stylus, which the artists and tradespeople used to sketch with on paper or any other feasible medium.

The major drawback of artworks in pure pencil is their impermanence and monochrome character. As a result, most artists commonly execute works in more permanent media (or with a fixative), and add pigment through the use of watercolors or gouache (mentioned above) or pastels. However, the easy erasability of pencil lines makes the medium convenient for preparatory sketches, which is why the majority of modern painters, using oils, watercolors, or acrylics, prepare their designs in pencil.

4. PHAD PAINTING

Phad Paintings are one of the folk arts which is indigenous to the Indian state of Rajasthan. In earlier times, Phad paintings were used to depict the folk culture of Rajasthan and how people moved from one place to another. These paintings depict the folk tale of the regional people that travel from village to village performing folk epics. The paintings provide a source to the folk tales of the state and give a background to the performances which brighten up the atmosphere by their beats.

There are still many prominent families who work on Phad paintings across the country of India. In the Bhilwara district of Shahpura, Rajasthan consists of the Joshi families who are widely known as the traditional artists of the Phad painting technique. Presently, Shree Lal Joshi, Pradip Mukherjee, Prakash Joshi, Nand Kishor Joshi, and Shanti Lal Joshi are some renowned artists in the field of Phad painting and have been working to make this painting go places.

5. PLEIN AIR PAINTING

Plein Air is a French art form that refers to the act of painting outdoors. It is in contrast to the traditional art of painting and working in the studio.

Artists have long painted outdoors, but in the mid-19th century, working in natural light became particularly important to the Hudson River School, and Impressionists.

Challenges to the technique of Plein Air painting are quite a few- animals, bugs, onlookers, and environmental conditions such as weather. Acrylic paint, which is usually used in the Plein Air technique, may harden and dry quickly in warm, sunny weather, and it cannot be reused. On the opposite side of the spectrum is the challenge of painting in moist or damp conditions with humidity and moisture. The advent of Plein air painting might have led to the invention of acrylics. The traditional and well-established method of painting en Plein air includes using oil paint.

R

1.RENAISSANCE PAINTING

Renaissance art refers to every form of painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and literature produced during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries in Europe under the combined influences of increased awareness of nature, a revival of classical learning, and a more individualistic view of the human being.

Renaissance art, was taken as the noblest of ancient traditions, took as its initial movement the art of Classical antiquity, but transformed that tradition by absorbing recent developments in the art of Northern Europe and by applying some extent of scientific knowledge.

Renaissance art, with Renaissance Humanist philosophy, spread throughout Europe, affecting both artists and their patrons with the development of new techniques and new artistic sensibilities. Renaissance art marks the transition of Europe from the medieval period to the Early Modern age.

The themes of the Renaissance artists varied quite widely. Religious artworks, fresco cycles, and small works for devotion soon gained popularity. The rebirth of classical antiquity and Renaissance humanism also resulted in many Mythological and history paintings. Decorative ornament, often used in painted architectural elements, was especially influenced by classical Roman culture.

2. ROCOCO PAINTING

Rococo, is an art form that originated in 18th century France and later on extended to the countries of Germany and Austria. The art form of Rococo was derived as a style in interior design, decorative arts, sculpture design, and architecture.

The primary and prominent characteristics of Rococo is lightness, elegance, and exuberant use of curving natural forms in ornamentation.

Originated in France, the word rococo is derived from the French word ‘rocaille’ which is used to describe shell-covered rock work that was used to decorate artificial grottoes.

S

1.SAND ART

Sand art has gained popularity in recent years. Sand art is the technique of molding sand into different sculptures, statues, figures, and artistic textures.

Sand paintings are pictures prepared by flowing the sand in small quantities of colored sandstone or colored ones, charcoal, pollen, or other dry materials in white, blue, yellow, black, and red hues on a background of clean, smooth sand. While healing, the choice of the particular painting is left to the artist itself.

Sand animation is the manipulation of sand to create animation. In performance art, an artist creates a series of images using sand, a process which is achieved by applying sand to a surface and then creating images, illustrations, graphics, etc. from one’s own hands and fingers.

A sand animation performer will often use the aid of an overhead projector or lightbox. To make an animated film, sand is moved on a backlit or front-lit piece of glass to create each frame.

2. SFUMATO PAINTING

Sfumato is a word derived from the Italian language, meaning “to tone down” or to “evaporate like smoke” in artworks, the fine shading that produces soft variations and distinctions between colors and tones. It is used as a reference to the work of Da Vinci and his followers, who used to transition using scales from lighter areas to darker ones. The technique was used to bring out the illusionistic features in a painting to an extent that was believable.

The technique is a shading between the colors of the pictures and the tones present in the picture itself, which gives out a more believable and realistic texture. It is often used by making subtle degrees of colors and tones that do not include lines or borders, and transitions from areas of lighter shades to areas of darker shades. The technique had two-point benefits - it gave an illusionistic effect to the picture and moreover, a more vivid, rich, and realistic texture.

Leonardo da Vinci described the technique as blending colors, without the use of lines or borders "in the manner of smoke."

3. SGRAFFITO PAINTING

Sgraffito is derived from the Italian word graffiti which roughly translates to - "to scratch". It is a technique used in painting, pottery, and glass, which consists of putting down a primary-colored surface, covering it with another, and then scratching the superficial layer in such a way that the pattern or shape that emerges is of the lower color and in a predetermined shape, size, and manner.

Initially originated by Islamic potters, Sgraffito gained popularity in the Middle East and then move on to the world.

4. SOTTO-IN-SU PAINTING

Sotto in su, which in Italian translates to “from below, upward” in drawing and painting, extreme foreshortening of figures painted on a ceiling or other high surface so as to give the illusion that the figures are suspended in the air above the person who is viewing it. It is an approach that was formulated during the Renaissance period, and it was especially favored by Baroque and Rococo painters, especially in Italy.

5. SPRAY PAINTING

Spray painting has been a quite popular technique of painting when it comes to graffiti art, and the use of spray paints also has some industrial evidence. Spray painting is a painting style in which a device sprays a coat of paint, ink, varnish, etc. through the air onto a solid surface.

The most common types of sprays around make use of compressed gas-like air to atomize and direct the paint particles in a direction and onto a surface. Airbrushes are hand-held and used in place of a paintbrush for detailed works such as photo retouching, painting nails, or even fine art.

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1.TACHISME PAINTING

Tachisme or Tachism is a French style of abstract painting that was popular in the France in 1940s and 50s. The term tachisme is derived from the French word tache, which means a stain.

The term was first used with regards to the movement in the year 1951, and it is also considered as a European equivalent to abstract expressionism.

Some notable Tachism artists were Jean-Paul Riopelle, Wols, Jean Dubuffet, Pierre Soulages, Nicolas de Staël, Hans Hartung, Gérard Schneider, Serge Poliakoff, Georges Mathieu.

2. TEMPERA PAINTING

Tempera is an ancient medium that is being constantly used in most of the world’s cultures until it was gradually succeeded by oil paints in Europe during the Renaissance. Tempera was the first and most abundantly used medium in ancient dynasties of Babylonia, Egypt, China, and Mycenaean Greece and was used to decorate the important structures of that era.

The original technique to prepare tempera is by mixing the yolk of fresh eggs, but manuscript illuminators often used white, and some easel painters mixed the whole egg into the preparation of tempera. Other materials—such as casein glue mixed with linseed oil, egg yolk mixed with gum and linseed oil, and egg white mixed with linseed oil or even poppy oil in some cases have also been used in the past.

3. TENEBRISM PAINTING

The Tenebrism art form uses the contrast of light and dark shades of colors in the artwork. This high degree of contrast in colors is used to heighten the dramatic effect of the painting.

The Tenebrism art technique was introduced by the Italian painter Caravaggio and was taken up in the early 17th century by painters influenced by him, like the French painter Georges de La Tour.

In tenebrism paintings, the figures are set in a dark black background but the subject itself is set in a bright and light-filled setting, a light that creates a three-dimensional form by a harsh yet controlled chiaroscuro.

4. TROMPE L’OEIL PAINTING

The literal translation of Trompe-l'œil is to “deceive the eye”. It is an art technique that uses realistic imagery techniques to create an optical illusion that the object that is being depicted in the artwork is in three-dimensional form.

This idea seemed interesting to the ancient Greeks who got newly free from the conventional styles of art forms they were familiar with. The technique was also popular with Roman artists.

Although trompe l’oeil was never considered to be an art form that acquired a major status, the European painters, since the beginning of the Renaissance onward occasionally made use of illusionism by painting in their ways and creating an illusion which seemed like as if the picture was breaking the barriers and the boundaries to come out in real life.

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1.WARLI PAINTING

Warli art is a folk art of India which originates from the Indian state of Maharashtra. The warli art form was traditionally created by the tribal women of the Warli tribe. The art form is indigenous to the Warli tribe and is their identity in a way.

This art was first explored in the early seventies & from then on it has been named as “Warli art”. Their wall paintings use a very basic artistic and geometric vocabulary: a circle, a triangle, and a square. The circle drawn from nature represents the sun and the moon, while the triangle is a symbol of the mountains and pointed trees. The square is a symbol of a sacred enclosure, mother goddess, indicating fertility. Scenes showing farming and hunting, festivals and dances, trees and animals surround the basic portrayal in these rituals.

The beautiful thing about Warli art form is its earthy and soothing touch and feel. It takes you back to the painting’s place of origin where you could almost smell the wet soil, and the realism of the painting makes you admire the definition and precision of the brush strokes of the rural artist who created the masterpiece.

Warli paintings have always succeeded in contributing to the charm of a place through its elegance and a solid presence, which makes it an apt decoration for any structure, whether it is a hotel lobby or even a rural hut.

CONCLUSION

We at www.Mavenart.com are of the opinion that art should never be forgotten. We strive to build memories through art and try to make sure they never fade away.

Get your photographs and get them converted into beautifully artistic works like a pencil sketch, or a caricature or a charcoal drawing and whatnot.

Keep making memories, and we’ll keep them intact. :)

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