Art could not exist without a medium to represent it.  Painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, writing are just a few of these mediums.  And each in itself requires its own mastery.  While volumes have been written on creating all types of art, knowing the basics is half the battle towards confidence in making an art purchase or enjoying a museum art show.  A brief understanding of the common mediums will help in a journey that is very rewarding.

Original art (one of a kind art), is a unique work hand-crafted by the artist.  It is the only piece of its kind.  No other art piece that is replicated from an original can also be called an original.  Such copies as lithographs, serigraphs, limited editions, or giclee prints are all copies made from the one true original.  An original piece of art is simply that, original.  Paintings, sculptures, original photographs, drawings, and hand-crafted art glass and pottery pieces are some of the types of original works most commonly represented at museums and sold at retail and internet art galleries.

There are several types of paintings; oils, acrylics, mixed medias, caseins, temperas, and others. Oil and acrylic paintings are certainly the most widely available.  Oil paint was the first common type of paint easily formulated, and thus widely available.  These oil paints were often hand created by the artist him or herself from local flora, minerals and other materials.  Oil paint was traditionally used and valued by artists because of its unique properties.  Oil paints allow an artist to work on a painting over several weeks because of its long drying period.  This allows for the subtle blending of colors and vibrant hues and chroma.  Many of the world’s great historic paintings are oil paintings.

Acrylic is the other widely used paint for original art paintings.  It is comprised of acrylic emulsion and lends to the artist that wishes to create in quick, multiple layers.  Because acrylic paint is synthetic and water based, the drying time is quicker, allowing for the artist to layer his paint in hours instead of days. Rather than waiting for the paint to dry slowly like oils, the acrylic painter can create his work more rapidly and spontaneously.  Acrylic paintings are often more contemporary than oil paintings, and offer a much broader range that is perfect for the mixed media artist.

Mixed media, as its name indicates, is art created with a mixture of several different kinds of media, or materials.  Multiple paint types (like oils and acrylics), inks, pastel crayons, pencils, sand, newspaper, wax, and found objects can be used to create a mixed media original art work.

Oils, acrylics, and mixed media can all be painted onto many types of support materials, such as a stretched canvas, boards of different materials, many types of paper, and metal or canvas panels.

Watercolor painting is another very unique and demanding style of painting. Unlike oil or acrylic painting, where the paint is applied and it dries essentially in place, water plays an active role in the watercolor painting process. Several types of paper can be used to exhibit the different styles and techniques of watercolor painting.  The papers come in different weights, are made from different pulps, and are created in different processes.  As with all painting types, there are a wide variety of brush materials and sizes that create different stroke patterns.

Photography is the capturing of an image on a light sensitive medium, mostly film.  The light is exposed into the silver based chemical and stored for development.  Once the film is developed, a negative of the image is produced.  The artist will then expose the negative, through controlled lighting and time exposure, onto a chemical paper.  Once the paper is placed into a bath of developer, the latent image that was created on the paper is visible, and several steps later a final original photograph is created and fixed for viewing.  Additional copies (prints) can also be created from the original negative.  It wasn’t until the mid twenty century that photography became widely accepted as an art form.  Through the efforts of many great photographic artists, most notably the f/64 group, galleries began to exhibit photography as a true art form.  With the popularity of today’s digital cameras, the medium has grown larger in its appreciation as art.

Sculpture is the process of creating art works from materials like marble, clay, wood, metal, and non-traditional types of stone.  By carving, chiseling and molding, an artist is able to create a three dimensional work of art.  Original sculptures are typically much more expensive than paintings because they often require very physical time-consuming processes using costly materials.  Like hanging art, there are sculpture originals and there can be sculpture copies.  Throughout ancient art history, sculpture has served as a cornerstone of political, social, and cultural permanence.

When shopping for art, understanding the basic types and materials used in original art, should put a buyer at ease.  Acquiring an original piece of art for the first time should not be intimidating, but instead should be exhilarating.  Taking the time to understand the common art types, should make a buyer confident in their purchase and satisfied with their investment.