About Art 101 Mini-Course

Lesson 1

Understanding the basics of art

In this lesson you will learn:

  • Art - where did it begin
  • What is an original
  • What is a medium
Mona Lisa - Seminars - About Art 101
Starry Night - Van Gogh - Seminars

Art - in the beginning

The history of visual art dates back to prehistoric times, approximately 32,000 years ago, with the earliest human artistic workmanship showing evidence as cave paintings in Lascaux, France. Exact time has always been in question as prehistoric means before recorded time and carbon dating, which is not an exact science, is used to determine the time. The fact is that man creating art has been around for a very long time!

What is an original

Original (art) means preceding all others in time. Any work considered to be an authentic creation by an artist, rather than a copy or reproduction. Original comes from the word Origin meaning where something begins. The original is what the artist started with first. There are different types of original art that an artist can create. These types are called the medium.

What is a medium

The term medium as applied to art is used to describe a category of painting or simply a type of paint, such as oil painting, acrylics, or watercolors and the surface material it is created on such as canvas, paper and board. There are many different types of media (plural for medium) you will learn about the more popular ones in future lessons.

That's it for this lesson. In your next lesson you will learn:

  • What is an oil painting
  • What is a watercolor painting

You may interested in...