Art Basics
Types of Visual Art Forms: General Questions
Q. What are genres? The term “genres” is a fancy name for “types/subjects of paintings”. The main genres are: history painting, portraiture, everyday scenes (confusingly called genre-paintings), landscape and still life. Q. What is the meaning of “aesthetics”? Aesthetics (or esthetics) – a term derived from the Greek word aisthesis, meaning “perception” – is the branch... »
Art Basics: Paintings
Q. What is Figurative Painting? This term is commonly used to describe a general category of paintings in which the human form is a dominant feature. The category includes: portraiture, subject-paintings, “conversation pieces”, and genre-pictures. Q. What are the advantages of using oil paints? Oil paint (typically a mixture of pigments and vegetable oils like linseed,... »
Art Basics:Drawings
Types of Visual Art Forms: Drawing Q. What are the main types of drawing media? Which artists were best at sketching? In ancient Greece, artists used a metal stylus to draw on papyrus. During the Renaissance period, the stylus was used with a variety of different metallic alloys to create other dry media like metalpoint and... »
