Art Expanding Beyond Traditional and Classical Techniques.

Over the eras, art has developed and expanded into a variety of conceptual attitudes by different artists, resulting in great movements in the art world. According to Anton Ehrenzweig, “Psychoanalysis teaches that artistic creativeness is fed from very deep unconscious levels of the mind…in a great work of art we continually discover new formal ideas which have escaped the attention on previous occasions.” This allows us to recognize that even simple art will have complexities, and this complexity according to Gestalt psychology consists of selectiveness, compactness and precision of focus in the brain. This similar pattern has seen to have traversed over the numerous art periods up until today, the main difference being the broad range of techniques utilized to create the visual effects.

A few of the main movements in art include Classical Arts such as the Romanticism Realism and Renaissance by traditional artists including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Modernism was of periods of Impressionism, Surrealism, Abstract and Pop Art, including famous artists such as Monet, Dali, Picasso and Andy Warhol. More recently Contemporary Art and Post Modernism have evolved up to the present day, bringing along with it huge variations in the representations and methodology of art. Traditionally, art painting techniques were most common normally consisting of oil pastels since the sixteenth century, allowing the artist to achieve a textured rich coloured canvas. Also used for painting are watercolours and more recently developed in the twentieth century are the acrylic paints. Other mediums of art include sculptures made by carving into stone and modelling clay to form three-dimensional form. Casting and assemblage also allow metal to be shaped and moulded, first seen during the first quarter of the twentieth century in the revolutionary art movement.

Printmaking utilizes an array of methods including lithography, which consists of drawing or painting with crayons and inks on limestone, and paper pressed onto the ink. Other variations of this are monoprints, monotypes and intaglio process prints. Etching involves a metal plate coated with a wax that is drawn into, first popularized by Rembrant van Rijn. Other forms of printmaking include drypoint, aquatint, mezzotint and collagraphy, collages whereby an image is built up with glue and other materials. The oldest printing technique is relief painting, and this cuts away the surface of a block material so the image area to be printed stands out. A twentieth century multicolour printmaking technique is screen-printing, involving a stencil process placing designs on a mesh screen frame, pouring colour and placed in contact with the surface to be printed on. As well as these intricate forms of artistic techniques, the apparent means used are pencils, charcoal and chalk for drawing and sketching. Soft pastels are universally used and ink has been used for many centuries, modern ink being sold in liquid form. Collage has been recognized as a serious art form in the early twentieth century, in which a variety of mediums such as fabric, newspapers and cardboard are adhered to a flat surface.

Modern Art developed with photography as previously painters followed conventional rules in order to create lifelike scenes and portraits, therefore camera photography allowed realism become practical. There are many forms of photography as a modern technique including C-type photography, generically known as a modern colour print. There is also editions, a more common method for contemporary photographers and gives an implication of authenticity. Gelatin silver printing is known as the most common form of black and white printing. Inkjet prints are produced from a digital image file by a computer driven printer that sprays minute droplets of ink onto paper. Other forms of prints include Iris print, Lith print, Platinum print, and R-type print. A Polaroid is film that develops straight after exposure which artists are able to experiment with creatively, as well as modern prints that is produced a significant amount of time after the photograph was taken. For example a 1950’s print reprinted in 2000. Similarly a vintage print is produced within 5 years of making the negative, valuable to collectors.

Modern Age art, from around 751 A.D to the present day is abundant with vast art techniques, which include some of the continuing art forms of previous eras. The main benefit is that the modern era offers many visual display options to show the artworks. Televisions, magazines, computers, and technology forums have provided a huge platform for present day artists. Some of the most popular art techniques of Modern Age include animation, printing techniques, New Age architectures, performance art, video art, multi-media art, photography, and abstract art. These techniques are now most commonly known at Digital art in the computer age. As we now live in a century dominated by technology innovation, art itself has the opportunity to find new creative horizons. There are some artists who believe that are techniques outside the traditional means of art such as pens, oils, watercolours, etc cannot be considered true art as many are attached to the belief of the sentiment associated with traditional art, which may not be gained in front of a monitor. However the benefits of digital technology cannot be ignored and many advantageous uses have also come about through the digital age for artist.

Digital art can be considered pioneering also for the classical approach as computer programs like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effect along with three-dimensional programs such as 3D Studio Max and Maya, offer the artist electronic tools as brushes, pen tools, endless colours and combinations, illustrations and images that seemed impossible to create in the past, are possible with the help of new technologies. Another benefit is the ability to mass produce as a piece of art can be printed or sold in various forms in an infinite number of identical copies. Advancing to New Media, this art genre embraces artwork created with new media technology such as digital art, computer graphics, computer animation, interactive art technologies, computer robotics, art as biotechnology and Internet art. Importantly, the art market has discovered the Internet for the distribution of art. It is used to promote art just like ordinary.

Companies and galleries, museums and other art brokers can simply provide information about their artists, exhibitions and events. With a medium like Internet, a direct form of art intervention is made possible at the same time on different levels of communication using text, sound, picture, motion picture and real time. Methods are obtained from the telecommunications, mass media and digital means of delivery that the artworks involve, ranging from conceptual to virtual art. New Media is distinguished by it resulting cultural objects, seen in opposition to those gained from old media arts as the traditional painting, drawing and sculpture. This importance of technique is a key feature of much contemporary art.
New Media and Digital art is considered the art of the future. It provides infinite opportunities for the artist to expand their imagination and show the vastly diverse ways art can be expressed through merely using a mouse, a drawing tablet and an artist’s talent.

References:
Acton, Mary. Learning to Look at Modern Art. 2004. Routledge, London.
Britt, David. Modern Art: Impressionism to Post-Modernism. 1999. Thames and Hudson Ltd, London.
The British Journal of Aesthetics 1961 1(3):121-133. The Hidden Order of Art. Ehrenzweig, Anton
http://www.affordableartfair.com/Buying_Art_~_Gift_Vouchers/Art_movements/default.aspx?id/848
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http://www.artmovements.co.uk/moremovements.htm