Comparison of Painting and Sculptures

Last week I learned that there really is no limitations to art. What is considered to be art is a personal opinion. Art can range all the way from drawing and painting to styles of breathing and baking. Visual art is well known and consists of many traditional styles of art such as painting and sculpting (Sachant pg. 31). Painting is known to be a two dimensional art whereas sculpting is known to be a three dimensional art. Over the years these different art techniques have become harder to differentiate because so many artists are incorporating both styles of art into their masterpiece (Sachant pg.

32).

A two dimensional piece of art, like painting, is created on a flat surface such as a canvas or piece of paper. When painting, the artist typically uses a brush as their applicator and creates their masterpiece with different colored liquids. Just like there is not only one way to create art, there is not only one way to paint.

Get quality help now

KarrieWrites

Verified writer

Proficient in: Art

5 (339)

“ KarrieWrites did such a phenomenal job on this assignment! He completed it prior to its deadline and was thorough and informative. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Painting techniques include using watercolor, oil, acrylic, along with many other approaches (Sachant pg. 35). The binder of the painting is what allows us to individually categorize the different styles of painting (Sachant pg. 36).

Sculpting is known to be three dimensional art because it incorporates height, width, and depth. Incorporating height, width, and depth allows viewers to see ones masterpiece from all different angles (Sachant pg. 40). There are two different styles of sculpture, freestanding and relief. Freestanding sculptures are said to be “in the round” whereas relief sculptures create an image through background surface (Sachant pg.

40). There are also two different styles within relief sculpture. They are known as low and high relief. The difference between low and high relief sculptures is the amount of projection that is seen. In low relief sculptures, less projection is seen, whereas in high relief sculptures, more projection is seen (Sachant pg. 40-41).

The sculptures David Smith and Louise Nevelson created incorporated both traditional and modern sculpture techniques. David Smith’s sculpture Australia and Louise Nevelson’s sculpture Sky Cathedral both can be seen as a three dimensional pieces of art simply because they have height, width, and depth. Neither one of Smith’s or Nevelson’s pieces of art were created on a flat surface. Smith’s piece, however, can be seen as a two dimensional piece of art. Australia may be viewed as a two dimensional piece of art because it can not be viewed from all sides, it can only fully be seen from one angle. This is an example of how David Smith’s sculpture Australia differentiates from a traditional sculpture - able to be viewed from different sides. Louise Nevelson’s sculpture Sky Cathedral was created with objects that were not considered to be standard art supplies because she was unable to afford the typical art materials. Instead, Nevelson used materials such as boxes and scraps she found throughout her neighborhood. Nevelson’s placement of her masterpiece also differentiated from traditional sculpture. Nevelson placed her finished product against a wall, which is uncommon in traditional sculpture.

After learning more about the differences between painting and sculptures I believe what Smith meant by his statement “I do not recognize the limits where painting ends and sculpture begins” was that in order to be a true artist one should not place limits on themselves. I believe that Smith felt that in order to reach his full potential in creating art he was not going to set boundaries for himself, because that would only minimize his abilities. I believe that Smith believed that the moment an artist allowed themselves to think outside the box or “traditional” standards is the moment when they became successful.