1

What I Need to Know

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. apply artistic skills and techniques in the process of creation (CAR11/12AP- 0f-h-
15);

Artistic Skills and Techniques

What’s In
The previous lesson scanned the arts and crafts in Mindanao. We were able to study the attire,
textiles, and tapestries created by B’laan, Bagobos, T’boli, Maranaos and Yakan groups. We also
recognized some Mindananoan contemporary artists and their masterpieces. These artists shared some
of their techniques in making contemporary artworks. These artistic skills and techniques will be
elaborated in this lesson.
Many contemporary artists do not have formal studies in the fine arts. Many of them are self-
taught. Concerned with the development of their talent and skills in artmaking, they study on their own,
interact with artists and read a lot about lives of artists and their artworks. They also explore the materials
in hardware stores, experiment with chemical reactions on their base material. Some hire resin makers,
house painters and materials fabricators to help them in constructing artworks.
In this lesson, we will learn the meaning of “artistic skill” and “technique” through actual
and hands-on activities. We will also learn that artists’ choice of material and how they use these
materials are at the heart of making art, and that these involves process and transformation.

What’s New
ACTIVITY 1: OBSERVE
Observe the photo below. Write five (5) sentences on what you have observed.

2
 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

What Is It

ARTISTIC SKILLS

With the broadening of the art world, many people are getting confused about what qualifies as
an artistic skill. Artistic skills are abilities that are possessed by artists who operate within a fine art
capacity.
Each artist uses different mediums to develop their artistic skills. A medium is defined as the
material, or the substance out of which a work is made. Through these materials, the artists express and
communicate feelings and ideas.
The medium also defines the nature of the art form as follows:

1. The sculptor uses metal, wood, stone, clay, and glass. Sculptures fall within the category of “three-
dimensional” arts because they occupy space and have volume.
Pottery is a form of sculpture. Other examples are nudes or figures such as Guillermo
Tolentino’s Oblation, ritual objects such as bulul wood carvings in the cordillera, or the santos
or carvings of saints in Christian churches.

2. The architect uses wood, bamboo, bricks, stone, concrete and various building materials. Buildings are also
called “three-dimensional”. However, architecture has the added element of time since we move into
structures.

3. The painter uses pigments (e. g. watercolor, oil, tempera, textile paint, acrylic, ink, etc.) on a usually flat
ground (wood, canvas, paper, stone wall such as cave paintings.)

4. The printmaker uses ink printed or transferred on a surface (wood, metal plates, or silk screen) that is
keeping with a duplicating or reproducing process. Prints and paintings are further classified as “two-
3
 dimensional” arts, because they include the surface or ground on which coloring substances are applied.
However, while paintings are unique and one-of-a kind, prints can be reproduced in several pre-determined
editions.

5. The musician uses sound and instruments (including human voice), while the dancers use the body. A
T’boli chanter sings creation stories in a way that is different from a classical singer or pop music influenced
by the Western music scale.

6. The dancer uses he body and its movement. Dance is often accompanied by music, but there are dances
that do not rely on musical accompaniment to be realized. Dance can tell stories, but the other times, they
convey abstract ideas that do not rely on a narrative.

7. The theater artist integrates all the arts and uses the stage, production design, performance elements, and
script to enable the visual, musical, dance and other aspects to come together as a whole work.

8. The photographer and filmmaker use the camera to record the outside world. The filmmaker uses the
cinematographic camera to record and put together production design, sound engineering, performance, and
screenplay. In digital photography and film, the images can be assimilated into the computer, thus eliminating
the need for celluloid or negatives, processing chemicals, or print.

9. The writer of a novel, poetry, nonfiction, and fiction uses words. The designer, the performance artist
and installation artist combine use of the range or materials above.

TECHNIQUE

Technique is the way artists use and manipulate materials to achieve the desired formal effect,
and communicate the desired concept, or meaning, according to his or her personal style (modern,
Neoclassic, etc.). The distinctive character or nature of the medium determines the technique.
Technique involves tools and technology, ranging from most traditional (for example carving, silkscreen,
analog photography, and filmmaking) to the most contemporary (digital photography, digital filmmaking,
music production, industrial design, and robotics).
Here are some of art techniques used by artists.
1. Collage – is the technique of an art production used in the visual arts where the artwork is made
from on assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. Collage may sometimes
include magazines and newspaper clippings, ribbons, paints, bits of colored or handmade
papers, portions of other artwork or texts, photographs, and other found objects, glued to a piece
of paper or canvas.
2. Decollage – is the opposite of collage; instead of an image is being built up all or parts of existing
images, it is created by cutting, treating away or otherwise removing pieces of an original image.
The French word “Decollage” in English means “Take-off” or “To become Unglued” or “To
become unstuck”. Example of decollage include cut-up technique. Similar technique is the
lacerated poster, a poster in which one has been over another.
3. Graffiti – are writing or drawings that have been scribed, scratched, or painted illicitly on a wall
or other surface, often in a public space. Graffiti range from simple written words to elaborate
wall paintings. Graffiti may express underlying social and political messages, and a whole genre
of artistic expression is based spray paint graffiti styles.
4. Land Art – earth works, or earth arts is an art movement in which landscape and the work of art
are inextricably linked. It is also an art form that is created in nature, using natural materials such
as soil, rock (bed rock, bolders, stones), organic media (logs, branches, leaves), and water which
introduced materials such as concrete, metal asphalt, or mineral pigments.
5. Digital Arts – is an artistic work or practice that uses digital technology as an essential part of
the creative or presentation process. Digital art is work made with digital technology or presented
4
 on digital technology. This includes images done completely on computer or hand-drawn images
scanned into a computer and finished using a software program like Adobe Illustrator. Digital art
can also involve animation and 3D virtual sculpture renderings as well as projects that combine
several technologies. Some digital art involves manipulation of video images. After some
resistance, the impact of digital technology has transformed activities such as paintings, drawing,
sculpture, and music/sound art, while new form such as net art.
6. Mixed Media – It refers to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct visual
art. For example, work on canvas that combines paint, ink and collage. When creating a painted
or photograph work using mixed media, it is important to choose the layers carefully and allow
enough dying time between the layers to ensure the final work will have structural integrity, if
many different layers are imposed. Many effects can be achieved by using mixed media. Found
objects can be used in conjunction with the traditional artist to attain a wide range of self-
expression.
7. Print Making – is the process of making artworks by painting, normally in the paper. Prints are
created by transforming ink from a matrix ink from a matrix or through a prepared screen to a
sheet of paper or other material. Common types of matrices include metal plates, usually copper
or zinc, or polymer plates for engraving or etching; stone aluminum of polymer for lithography;
blocks of wood crafts and wood graving; and linoleum for linocuts. Screen made of silk or
synthetic fabrics are used for the screen-printing process.
8. Frottage – is the technique of rubbing with crayon on a piece of paper which has been placed
over an object or an image. The impression of the image can be created using leaves, woods,
wire screen, or metal with embossed image or words.
9. Decalcomania – is the process of applying gouache to paper or glass then transferring a reversal
of the image onto canvas or other flat materials.
10. Decoupage – is done by adhering cut-outs of paper and then coating these with one or
transparent coating of varnish.
11. Eggshell mosaic - is an artistic technique that uses tiny parts of eggshell to create a whole
image or object. Mosaics are usually assembled using small tiles that are square, but they can
also be round or randomly shaped.
12. Trapunto painting – is the technique used by Pacita Abad where her canvases are padded,
sewn, and often filled with sequins, beads, shell, buttons, tiny mirrors, bits of glass, rickrack,
swatches of precious textiles and other things that she picks up from her travels and journey.

Art is considered an “artifact’ when it is directly experienced and perceived. It can be spatial and
static or unmoving (e.g., a painting or building, or a novel) or time based and in motion (e.g., a live
theater production, mobile sculpture).
To know the full meaning of a work, it is also necessary to study the material from which it is made
and how it is made.

5
 What’s More
ACTIVITY 2: MULTIPLE CHOICE

Read the sentence carefully, select the letter of your choice and place it on
your answer sheet.
1. An artwork made with digital technology or presented on digital technology. This includes
images done completely on computer.
a. Collage c. Print Making
b. Land art d. Digital Art
2. Earth work or Earth art movement in which created in using natural materials such as rock,
soil, organic media, and water.
a. Collage c. Print Making
b. Land art d. Digital Art
3. It is the art process of making artworks by painting normally in the paper.
a. Collage c. Print Making
b. Land art d. Digital Art
4. Instead of an image is being built up, all parts of existing images, it is created by cutting or
treating away from its original image.
a. Decollage c. Print Making
b. Land art d. Digital Art
5. These are writings or drawing that have been scribe, scratched, or painted illicitly on a wall
or other surface often in a public space.
a. Land Arts c. Digital Arts
b. Collage d. Graffiti

6
7
 Assessment: (Post-Test)
Post – test

Multiple Choice. Select the letter of the best answer from among the
given choices.

1. It is considered as a pre – triumph era.

A. Japanese era C. Modern era
B. Pre – Colonial era D. Contemporary era

2. It is anything printed from raised or sunken reliefs and plane surfaces

A. Civic art C. Practical art
B. Commercial art D. Graphic Art

3. It is the changing of raw materials into some significant products

A. Industrial art C. Graphic Art
B. Practical art D. Commercial Art

4. Pis siyabit is an example of .

A. ornamentation C. weaving
B. tatooo D. Carving

5. A period in which focuses on idyllic sceneries and secular forms of arts

A. Modern era C. Contemporary era
B. American era D. Pre – colonial era

6. He is one of the abstractionist artists.

A. Fernando Amorsolo C. Juan Luna
B. Romeo Tabuena D. Arturo Luz

7. It is an art of today produced by artists living of today.

A. Modern era C. Contemporary era
B. American era D. Pre – colonial era

8. This art use for or utility, changing of raw materials for utilitarian purposes.
A. Industrial art C. Graphic Art
B. Practical art D. Commercial Art

9. He wrote the national anthem during the Japanese period entitled Awit sa
Paglikha ng Bagong Pilipinas
A. Julian Felipe C. Marcelo Adonay
B. Felipe de Leon D. Ryan Cayabyab

10. An era focuses on geometric and design.

A. Islamic era C. Modern era
B. American era D. Pre – colonial era