Types of Arts: Photography

A photograph is an image created by the exposure of light on a light-sensitive material at some stage during its making.  It can be either a positive or negative image and made using one of many processes.

As with prints, photographic prints are often produced in a limited edition and each photographic print is signed and numbered.

Types of Art: Drawings

As with paintings, drawings are one of the oldest art forms around and can be traced back to prehistoric times. Before the advent of paper in the 14th century, drawings were made on parchment and silver was also used to make under-drawings.

Drawing was and still is a popular method for artists to create preparatory studies. Examples of preparatory work are often a good way to see the artist's initial observations and ideas before they commit to the final markings in their work.

Types of Art: Print

A print is a two-dimensional art form created by an impression by a method involving a transfer from one surface to another.

All types of print come in multiples (except monotypes) to form an edition. Since the late 19th century, artist tend to identify each print with a number of signature. It common practice for the marker to produce a limited edition of the image, which means there a fixed quantity. The tools used to create the print are often destroyed once the edition is completed.

Types of Art: Painting

Paintings were first discovered in South West France in the Lascaux caves from the Upper Paleolithic Age, around 40,000 to 100,000 years ago, which shows that painting is one of the oldest types of art form that exist.

Technically, a painting is two-dimensional art from which is made up of layers of pigment applied onto a surface. The surface on which the pigment is applied varies from stone (used in Paleolithic Age) to paper, wood, cloth and canvas.

As the surface of painting differs, so do the materials used to create the pigments. During the Paleolithic Age colored earth was used, followed by plants extract and more recently synthetic clothing . There are many types of paintings, but amongst the well-known are oil, acrylic, pastel, spray painting and water color.