Arts media is the material and tools used by an

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

or designer to

create To create is to make a new person, place, thing, or phenomenon. The term and its variants may also refer to: * Creativity, phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is created Art, entertainment, and media * Create (TV network), an America ...

a work of art, for example, "pen and ink" where the pen is the tool and the ink is the material. Here is a list of types of art and the media used within those types.

Architecture

* Cement, concrete, mortar * Cob * Glass * Metal * Stone,

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

* Wood

Carpentry

* Adhesives * Wood ( timber)

Ceramics

* Bone china * Clay * Glaze * Porcelain * Pottery * Terracotta

Drawing

Common drawing materials

* Acrylic paint * Chalk *

Charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

* Conté * Crayon * Gouache * Graphite * Ink * Oil paint * Glass paint *

Pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

* Pixel * Sketch * Tempera * Watercolor * Glitter

Common supports (surfaces) for drawing

Canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...

* Card stock * Concrete * Fabric * Glass *

Human body The human body is the structure of a Human, human being. It is composed of many different types of Cell (biology), cells that together create Tissue (biology), tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the life, viabi ...

* Metal * Paper * Plaster * Scratchboard * Stone * Vellum * Wood

Common drawing tools and methods

Brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped durin ...

* Finger * Pen * Ballpoint pen * Fountain pen * Gel pen * Technical pen *

Marker The term Marker may refer to: Common uses * Marker (linguistics), a morpheme that indicates some grammatical function * Marker (telecommunications), a special-purpose computer * Boundary marker, an object that identifies a land boundary * Marke ...

* Pencil * Mechanical pencil (clutch, screw, and ratchet) * Colored pencil *

Stylus A stylus (plural styli or styluses) is a writing utensil or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example, in pottery. It can also be a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more precision w ...

Electronic

* Graphic art software and

3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for th ...

* Word processors and desktop publishing software * Digital photography and digital cinematography *Specialized input devices (e.g. variable pressure sensing tablets and touchscreens) * Digital printing * Programming languages

Film

Animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

** Cel animation **

Computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

** Cutout animation ** Drawn-on-film animation ** Stop motion * Live action **

Puppet film Puppet film develops on the basis of traditional puppetry. It is in the form of a film that the main characters are puppets. Puppets’ limbs are controlled by people and their mouths usually does not move frequently. The height of a puppet is ap ...

* Video art **

Single-channel video Single-channel video is a video art work using a single electronic source, presented and exhibited from one playback device. Electronic sources can be any format of video tape, DVDs or computer-generated moving images utilizing the applicable playba ...

** Video installation Film, as a form of

mass communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large segments of the population. It is usually understood for relating to various forms of media, as its technologies are used for the dissemination o ...

, is itself also considered a medium in the sense used by fields such as sociology and

communication theory Communication theory is a proposed description of communication phenomena, the relationships among them, a storyline describing these relationships, and an argument for these three elements. Communication theory provides a way of talking about a ...

(see also mass media). These two definitions of medium, while they often overlap, are different from one another: television, for example, utilizes the same types of artistic media as film, but may be considered a different medium from film within communication theory.

Food

A chef's tools and equipment, including ovens, stoves, grills, and griddles. Specialty equipment may be used, including salamanders,

French top A flattop grill is a cooking appliance that resembles a griddle but performs differently because the heating element is circular rather than straight (side to side). This heating technology creates an extremely hot and even cooking surface, as h ...

s, woks, tandoors, and

induction burner Induction cooking is performed using direct induction heating of cooking vessels, rather than relying on indirect radiation, convection, or thermal conduction. Induction cooking allows high power and very rapid increases in temperature to be achie ...

Glass

Glassblowing, Glass fusing, colouring and marking methods.

Installation

Installation art is a site-specific form of sculpture that can be created with any material. An installation can occupy a large amount of space, create an ambience, transform/disrupt the space, exist in the space. One way to distinguish an installation from a sculpture (this may not apply to every installation) is to try to imagine it in a different space. If the objects present difficulties in a different space than the original, it is probably an installation.

Literature

Traditional writing media

Digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

word processor * Internet websites * Letterpress printing * Computer printers *

* Pen and ink or * quill * Pencil

Common bases for writing

* Card stock * Paper, perhaps

ruled ''Ruled'' is the fifth full-length LP by The Giraffes. Drums, bass and principal guitar tracks recorded at The Bunker in Brooklyn, NY. Vocals and additional guitars recorded at Strangeweather in Brooklyn, NY. Mixed at Studio G in Brooklyn, NY ...

* Vellum

Natural world

* Floral design * Rock * Soil * Vegetation * Water

Painting

Common paint media

* Acrylic paint * Blacklight paint * Encaustic paint *

Fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

* Gesso * Glaze * Gouache * Ink * Latex paint * Oil paint *

Primer Primer may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Primer'' (film), a 2004 feature film written and directed by Shane Carruth * ''Primer'' (video), a documentary about the funk band Living Colour Literature * Primer (textbook), a t ...

* Ink wash (sumi-e) * Tempera or

poster paint Poster paint (also known as tempera paint in the US) is a distemper paint that usually uses Starch, Cornstarch, cellulose, gum-water or another glue size as its binder. It either comes in large bottles or jars or in a powdered form. It is normally ...

* Vinyl paint (toxic/poisonous) * Vitreous enamel * Watercolor

Uncommon paint media

*Various bodily fluids and excrement including elephant dung *

Solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essenti ...

Garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

* Rust * Coffee * Onion *

Coconut juice Coconut water (also coconut juice) is the clear liquid inside coconuts (fruits of the coconut palm). In early development, it serves as a suspension for the endosperm of the coconut during the Cell cycle#Mitotic phase (chromosome separation), ...

Mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

Black palm Black palm is a common name for several species of plants in the family Arecaceae, including: *''Astrocaryum standleyanum'', native to Central and South America *''Borassus flabellifer ''Borassus flabellifer'', commonly known as doub palm, palm ...

* Tomato *

Soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...

* Staple wire * Ochre (Yellow, red, white or charcoal)

Supports for painting

* Architectural structures *

* Ceramics * Cloth * Glass *

(typically for tattoos) * Metal * Paper *

Paperboard Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker (usually over 0.30 mm, 0.012 in, or 12 Inch#equivalences, points) than paper and has certain ...

* Vellum * Wall * Wood

Common tools and methods

* Action painting * Aerosol paint * Airbrush * Batik *

* Cloth *

Paint roller A paint roller is a paint application tool used for painting large flat surfaces rapidly and efficiently. The paint roller typically consists of two parts: a "roller frame," and a "roller cover." The roller cover absorbs the paint and transfers ...

paint pad Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...

* Palette knife * Sponge * Pencil * Finger

Mural techniques

Muralists use many of the same media as panel painters, but due to the scale of their works, use different techniques. Some such techniques include: * Aerosol paint * Digital painting *

* Image projector * Mosaic * Pouncing

Graphic narrative media

Comics creators use many of the same media as traditional painters.

Performing arts

The

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

is a form of entertainment that is created by the artist's own body, face and presence as a medium. There are many skills and genres of

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

;

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

, theatre and re-enactment being examples. Performance art is a performance that may not present a conventional formal linear narrative.

Photography

In photography a photosensitive surface is used to capture an optical still image, usually utilizing a lens to focus light. Some media include: *Digital image sensor *

Photographic film Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent film base coated on one side with a gelatin photographic emulsion, emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of th ...

* Potassium dichromate * Potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate * Silver nitrate

Printmaking

In the art of

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed techniq ...

, "media" tends to refer to the technique used to create a print. Common media include: * Aquatint * Collotype * Computer printing ** Dye-sublimation printer ** Inkjet printer (sometimes called giclée printing) ** Laser printer ** Solid ink printer ** Thermal printer *

Embossing Emboss or Embossing may refer to: Materials The term usually refers to several techniques for creating a raised pattern on a material: *Paper embossing, the raising of paper and other non-metal products using specific tools to accomplish the task ...

* Engraving * Etching * Intaglio (printmaking) * Letterpress (literature) * Linocut * Lithography * Mezzotint * Moku hanga * Monotype *

Offset printing Offset printing is a common printing technique in which the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on t ...

* Photographic printing * Planographic printing * Printing press * Relief printing ** Linocut ** Metalcut **

Relief etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

** Wood engraving ** Woodcut * Screen-printing * Woodblock printing

Sculpture

In sculpting, a solid

structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

and textured surface is shaped or combined using

substance Substance may refer to: * Matter, anything that has mass and takes up space Chemistry * Chemical substance, a material with a definite chemical composition * Drug substance ** Substance abuse, drug-related healthcare and social policy diagnosis ...

s and components, to form a three-dimensional object. The size of a sculptured work can be built very big and could be considered as architecture, although more commonly a large

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...

or bust, and can be crafted very small and intricate as jewellery,

ornament An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration * Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts * Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve ...

s and decorative reliefs.

Materials

Carving media

* Bone carving *

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

Gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

s * Glass * Granite * Ice * Ivory * Marble * Plaster * Stone * Wax * Wood

Casting media

* Cement * Ceramics * Metal * Plaster * Plastic * Synthetic resin * Wax

Modeling media

* Clay * Papier-mâché * Plaster *

polystyrene Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a ...

* Sand * Styrofoam

Assembled media

* Beads *

Corrugated fiberboard Corrugated fiberboard or corrugated cardboard is a type of packaging material consisting of a fluted corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is made on "flute lamination machines" or "corrugators" and is used for making corrugated ...

(cardboard) * Edible material * Foil * Found objects *

Glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

and other

adhesive Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

s *

* Textile * Wire * Wood

Finishing materials

Acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...

s to create a

patina Patina ( or ) is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, brass, bronze and similar metals and metal alloys (tarnish produced by oxidation or other chemical processes) or certain stones and wooden furniture (sheen produced b ...

( corrosive) * Glaze * Polychrome * Wax

Tools

* Bristle

brush A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped durin ...

Chisel A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge (such that wood chisels have lent part of their name to a particular grind) of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal by hand, stru ...

and

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

(modern

pneumatic Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in Industrial sector, industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A central ...

) * Clamp or vise *

Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...

(modern pneumatic) * Kiln for heating ceramics and metals * Knife * Pliers * Potter's wheel * Power tools * Sandpaper * Saw *

Scraper Scrape, scraper or scraping may refer to: Biology and medicine * Abrasion (medical), a type of injury * Scraper (biology), grazer-scraper, a water animal that feeds on stones and other substrates by grazing algae, microorganism and other matter ...

* Snips * Welding and cutting torch *

Wirecutter Diagonal pliers (also known as wire cutters, diagonal cutting pliers, diagonal cutters, side cutters, dikes or Nippy cutters) are pliers intended for the cutting of wire (they are generally not used to grab or turn anything). The plane define ...

Sound

The art of sound can be singular or a combination of

speech Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...

or objects and crafted instruments, to create sounds, rhythms and music for a range of sonic hearing purposes. See also music and sound art.

Technical products

The use of technical products as an art medium is a merging of applied art and science, that may involve aesthetics,

efficiency Efficiency is the often measurable ability to avoid wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time in doing something or in producing a desired result. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without ...

and ergonomics using various materials.

Textiles

In the art of textiles a soft and flexible material of fibers or yarn is formed by spinning wool,

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel and

crochet Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', meaning 'hook'. Hooks can be made from ...

ing,

knitting Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...

, macramé ( knotting), weaving, or pressing fibres together ( felt) to create a work.

References

External links

Media (artists' materials)
— ''definition from the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus''.
Artistic Medium
''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Artistic Media *01 *Media *Media Ceramic materials Painting materials Sculpture materials