LESSON 3

Task 1. Hand in your reports about book design written as a home assignment after the last class on Unit 7 to your teacher for checking and grading.

Your teacher will hand out the reports written by you as a home assignment on the next lesson, checked and commented on. After you look through the comments made by the teacher, ask him/her questions if you do not quite understand or have doubts about some comments.

 

Task 2. Your last home assignment was to design a book cover for your friend and bring it to the class. Now it is time for you to present your covers and give comments.

Task 3. Look at 3 paintings below. For all of them different types of paint were used. These three types were (You have 5 minutes for this task):

· oil painting;

· watercolour painting;

· acrylic painting.

Define which type of paint was used in these paintings.

A B

C

A. oil painting

B. acrylic painting

C. watercolour painting

Task 4. Acrylic, oil, and watercolour paints are the three main types that most artists use. Read a passage about their difference. After reading answer the following question:

What paint do you consider to be the most optimal? (You have 10 minutes for this task).

 

Oil paint is thick, and almost gives off a glow. Often times it has a shiny finish. It allows for the best demonstration of detail as well as light/dark contrast in your paintings because it is a very rich type of paint. This kind of paint also stands the test of time very well and will stay solid through the passing of time better than the other two types of paint. Another downside to oil paint is that it is necessary to use turpentine or the turpentine substitute in order to clean your brushes off. This substance produces fumes that are not pleasant and not necessarily safe.

Acrylic paint isn't as thick as oil, but it is so much easier to clean. Acrylic paint provides a solid compromise between detail and ease of use so it might be the best one to experiment with for novices.

Watercolour is hard to use. When painting you must start with the light colours and shades and layer the darker ones, rather than highlighting areas later like you would with acrylic. The main difficulty that use watercolour presents is the fact that it's much more difficult to cover up a mistake in watercolour. In order to do that you need to let it dry for a long time first. On top of that, it's easy to make mistakes because one errant drop of water can ruin a bunch of details that took a very long time to paint. The advantage to watercolour in terms of ease of use is that it's easy to paint large areas, especially if you're painting something light like the sky or the water and don't need it to be completely filled in with paint.

Overall, these different paints each bring something different to the table. They can even be combined to create different looks in each of your paintings.

 

Task 5. Below you can see definitions of words and phrases used in Task 4. Read the definitions and find the appropriate words (You have 5 minutes for this task).

1. a soft steady light;

2. an act of showing how to do something or how something works;

3. a difference between things that are being compared;

4. strong and well made

5. a particular type of solid, liquid, or gas;

6. strong-smelling gas or smoke that is unpleasant to breathe in;

 

Task 6. Do you think there is any difference between painting and drawing? Many people consider both things similar, but they are not the same. It is a fact that the same painting tools could be used to draw or paint but still there remain a few dissimilarities. Read the two texts below that describe difference between painting and drawing. After reading, answer the following questions (You have 20 minutes for this task):

a) Which passage uncovers the difference in most clear and easy-to-understand way?

b) In which text is the language more sophisticated?

c) In which text does the author uncover the topic to a greater extend?

Text A

A complex relationship exists between drawings and paintings. They share many fundamental similarities, but have developed along very different lines, especially with regards to realism versus abstraction. However, the rise of digital media has once again blurred the boundaries between them.

They both involve using an instrument to make marks on flat surfaces. However, in the case of drawings, the marking instrument is the stylus/pencil/etc. itself. In the case of paintings, the mark comes from the pigment which is applied via the brush/fingers/etc. Therefore, it is no wonder that some techniques and criteria are common to both art forms.

In Chinese art, the distinction between drawings and paintings can be said to be even blurrier than in Western art due to the particular circumstances under which Chinese painting developed. This is because, in China, the same brush, ink and paper used in writing and sketching are also the basic tools of a painter. It is true that the painter has many different kinds of brushes at his disposal. However, the Western distinction that separates painting and drawing by virtue of the tools used in each art form does not exist.

A good painter and a good draughtsman will have much in common. Both must be able to break the desired image they wish to convey into component marks, and then have sufficient control of their tools in order to translate those marks onto a flat medium. They both benefit from understanding principles of composition, light and balance—even if their personal vision is based on the deliberate violation of these principles.

However, we may say that paintings and drawings have developed along starkly different lines, especially over the past two centuries. Paintings appear to have drawn further and further away from representation or portrayal of concrete objects and figures, while drawings (or their kindred art forms like engravings and cartoons) remain firmly grounded in realism. In other words, there are many famous abstract paintings, but it is very difficult to name an abstract drawing, or even picture how one might look like.

So far, we have talked of drawing and painting as separable art forms. However, the emergence of digital art is making it more difficult to draw strict distinctions between drawings and paintings, or even drawings and (virtual) sculptures. An artist with 3-D software can scan drawings into his/her computer—or draw directly into the computer using a mouse or tablet—then turn the drawing into a virtual two-or-three-dimensional object or figure. These ever-shifting boundaries introduce exciting new possibilities for categorizing, exhibiting and appreciating art.

(The text is borrowed and modified from http://painting-drawing.factoidz.com/the-difference-between-drawings-and-paintings/: as of 27 February 2012)

 

Text B

Drawing and Painting are two types of fine arts with many differences between them. Drawing is the basis of painting and the converse is not true. You should be a good at drawing if you want to excel as a painter. This is the main difference between the two.

It is important to know that drawing is characterized by lines and shades. On the other hand painting is characterized by colours and designs. Hence drawing is of different types such as line drawing, shade drawing and object drawing.

On the other hand painting is of different types such as painting on canvas, oil painting on canvas, water colour painting, acrylic painting and the like. You make use of turpentine oil in the case of painting whereas drawing needs no turpentine oil.

You need to have a palette while painting on a canvas using oil colours. On the other hand you need not use a palette while drawing an object or a human figure. Pencil, crayons and charcoal can be used in the art of drawing. On the other hand oil colours, acrylic and types of pigments are used in the art of painting.

Drawing needs no time to dry whereas painting needs sufficient time to dry. Pencil drawings can be rubbed and redone quite easily because graphite can be easily erased. On the other hand oil painting and acrylic cannot be very easily erased or altered.

You need to have different kinds of brushes with different bristles in the case of painting. On the other hand you need not use brushes in the case of drawing. As a matter of fact scale and other measuring equipment are used in the case of drawing.

The terminology also differs in the case of drawing and painting. A person who draws is called an artist whereas a person who paints is called either an artist or a painter. It is also interesting to note that there is a market value for both drawing and painting works.

Works of painting generally have a greater market value than the works of pencil and charcoal drawing. This is one of the reasons why painting is considered a very expensive hobby. The painting equipment is generally expensive to buy when compared to drawing equipment.

It is interesting to note that any art exhibition would hold both the types of art works, namely drawings and paintings.

(The text is borrowed and modified from http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-drawing-and-vs-painting/: as of 27 February 2012)

 

Task 6. Decide whether the statements are true or false according to the text (You have 5 minutes for this task).

1. Drawings and paintings share many fundamental similarities, but have developed along very different periods of time.

2. Drawings and paintings both involve using an instrument to make marks on flat surfaces.

3. Some techniques are common to both art forms.

4. It is important to know that drawing is characterized by lines and circles.

5. On the other hand painting is characterized by forms and designs.

 

Task 6. People draw not only for pleasure and entertainment. There is also technical drawing. Read the text below about technical drawing and explain the underlined words (You have 10 minutes for this task).