Today, I will be explaining some of the formal qualities of two-dimensional art. Formal qualities can be divided into media and composition. I will be focusing on media which entails drawing, painting, mixed media, printmaking and photography.

Drawing:
Now lets start with drawing! Dennis J. Sporre author of Reality Through the Arts, says "Drawing can be considered the foundation of two dimensional art."(pg.39) Drawing has been around since the prehistoric caveman days, when drawing consisted of drawing on cave walls.

Fighting Rhino & Four Horses

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/chauvet/chauvet_cave_art.php

This picture of a cave drawing is from the Chauvet cave in France. It is said to be dated back to 30,000 years ago. This show how old drawing can be. This picture also shows charcoal, which is a dry media of art. Some other dry medias are, pastel, chalk and graphite.

Charcoal: Is essentially heated wood that requires a hard surface for proper use. I think cave walls qualify as a hard surface.

Pastel: Its tricky to describe but they are pale colors with a made of powdered pigments mixed with gum.

Chalk: Is usually white comes from a sedimentary rock called limestone.

Graphite: as Sporre describes it is a form of carbon, like coal and it is most commonly found in pencil lead.

These are some of my favorite medias because they are very up front and blunt. The space is very intentional showing that the animals are fighting. Dry media seems to hide very little and in many cases people use black or grey to illustrate drawing. There is also unity show with the horses facing the left. I particularly like the cave drawing above because it is simple yet clear on what is being presented.

The other aspect of drawing is wet media which consist of pen and ink. Pen and ink seems simple enough but amazing things are still created from them. For example using a wash and brush technique gives the piece below the look of a water color painting.

http://mychristinesart.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Foal-xmas.jpg

This image above is a great example of using wash and brush to give the drawing texture. I particular like this piece because its hard to tell were the lines start and the brush begin. The brush makes the painting softer were as in the Van Gogh drawing of the Postman Joseph Roulin, the lines are much more obvious

Its is said that wash and brush is much harder to work with but observing Van Gogh piece it is interesting to note that the piece as many lines that are hard to see looking from afar but as you get closer, all the lines appear. Seems like more work went into it than the drawing of the horse.






http://www.vangoghgallery.com/catalog/Drawing/1399/Portrait-of-the-Postman-Joseph-Roulin.html

Painting:
Generally have much more color and contrast. Paintings can vary from oils, watercolor, tempera, acrylic and fresco. Lets just jump into some paintings and I will describe what media the artist used.

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/night-resting-original-oil-painting-leonid-afremov.jpg

Oil: Oil painting are very popular. Painting made of oil can have linseed oil or vegetable oil among others. Oil painting are vivid and pop with color like this piece. Oil creates a very smooth surface and is easy to work with if you know what you want.

Watercolor:  are very hard to control. They can be loosely defined as watering down colors. Water colors are difficult to control and colors often seep together, if not handled carefully.
The picture below shows two taxes driving next to each other and as mentioned colors are hard to control and the picture is not as clear as the oil painting.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/taxi-cabs-nyc-watercolor-painting-beverly-brown-prints.html

Tempera: Is a opaque watercolor medium. It looks similar to the oil paint but is different because it uses egg and gives a sharper vibe.

http://mysite.cherokee.k12.ga.us/personal/chris_lambert/site/Subject%201%20Photos/Forms/DispForm.aspx?ID=47

http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/wangguoyi/product-detailVowJjsCTSmhd/China-Acrylic-Painting.html

Acrylics: Is a fast drying paint that has many dimensions. It can me diluted or dense in texture. I like acrylic pictures because the lines are very direct and in this picture of this women it almost looks like a comic strip.

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Sri_Lanka/South/Central/Sigiriya/photo1095407.htm

Fresco: are color pigments used on a wall with water. They are permanent once admitted to the wall and artist must be certain about what they want.

http://shiborigirl.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/more-indigo-and-gyotaku-too/

Printmaking:  Is defined by Sporre as "a hand-produced picture transferred from a printing surface to a piece of paper."(pg.44) Printmaking is different from other art form because it allows the artist to create multiple pictures.



Photography: Is very controversial because some don't consider it art. They feel as though taking a picture with a camera  is not the same as working with your hands. However, I would argue that there is art in photography.

This one in particular is interesting because of the circle shaped lights. The colors are over lapping over the cup which gives it texture and space perspective. The light is also interesting because it give emphasis on the cup. The cup looks like it has something coming out of it but in reality the cup and the lights are not connected.

http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/30-breathtaking-examples-of-bokeh-photography

All in all art is what you make it, there are some many ways to create the world and the people in it. Maybe trying some of these techniques will help you seek the look you desire. ;)

Cite:
Sporre, Dennis. Reality Through The Arts. 8. New Saddle, New Jersey: Pearson Education , 2007. Print. 

 http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/chauvet/