Architectural Elements, Sculpting Techniques, and Painting Styles
Architectural Elements
Beams and Roof Structures
Two waters: A pair of wooden beams or rafters arranged obliquely, whose upper ends meet at a horizontal beam (row), and whose bottom ends rest on sill beams.
Alfarjes: Wooden roof lintel beams forming master girders.
Arch: A curved roof structure that can cover wide spans with small materials. It consists of segments, with sides called skew that receive the weight. The arch is supported by two horizontal pieces (fascia, top jamb) and a center key. The outer surface is the extrados, and the inner surface is the soffit.
Types of Arches
- Single center: Half-point (lowered, canted), horseshoe (Visigothic, Caliphate, tumid).
- Two centers: Targeted.
- More than two centers: Lobed, polylobulated, carpanel or segmental, ogee, rampant.
- Straight lines and curves: Mixtilineal.
Vaults
Types of Vaults
- Barrel vault: Generated by the horizontal projection of an arch.
- Quarter-sphere (oven) vault: Comes from the cylindrical projection of the arch.
- Arista vault: Arises from the intersection of two barrel vaults.
- Ribbed vault: Arising from the intersection of two arches.
Other Elements
Elevation: Shows the facades without distortion of perspective.
Column: Circular section, possibly originating from tree trunks. Half-columns also exist.
Lintel: A horizontal piece (stone, wood, iron) resting on supports (jambs) covering an opening. Produces vertical pressures.
Dome: Lantern, dome, canyon. Can be on scallops or horns.
Bulk Round: Free-standing sculpture, independent of architectural support.
Pillar: Square or rectangular wall piece, influenced by the column in its decor. Pilaster (base wood quadrangular).
Building Plans
Floor Plan: A building footprint cut at one meter high.
- Types: Greek Cross, Latin Cross, Basilica, Traverse, Circular, Oval, Mixtilinear.
Section: A vertical cut into the building, showing height. Can be longitudinal or transverse.
Sculpting
Materials and Techniques
Stone: Sizing and chiseling with hammer and chisel, removing material from a block. Preliminary sketches and point bags may be used.
Wood: Carving with gouges. Monumental carpentry elements often have an intrinsic relation with architecture.
Clay or Wax:
- Modeling: Material is added and shaped with spatulas or hands. Often used for sketches for stone or bronze sculptures.
- Casting: Lost wax (solid parts) or hollow casting. Small parts are usually made at once, while large parts are split and later joined.
Terrain: Three-dimensional sculpture attached to a plane: high, medium, low relief, crushed relief, and sunk relief.
Sculptural Concepts
Movement: Some contemporary sculpture is kinetic (e.g., Calder mobiles, Tanguy). Rest is an illusion, represented by composition and rhythm.
Light: Sculpture interacts with natural light. The sculptor guides light with flat surfaces, enhancing or diminishing volumes for expressiveness. Light contributes to the final effect and is incorporated into the work.
Color: Polychromy may represent the figure’s local color with a natural tendency.
Composition: Guidelines for fitting and distributing forms and volumes. Can be open or closed.
Treatment of Forms: Naturalist or unnatural.
Support: Wall, table, panel, canvas (easel).
Types of Statues (if representing people): Standing, sitting, praying, lying (escultórico). Head group, bust, torso, full body.
Incarnate: Color applied directly to a coating of oil on plaster on wood carvings. Can be matte or polished.
Stew: Representation of golden brocade fabrics. Gold leaf is applied to plaster, covered with solid colors, then scratched with a stylus to reveal the gold.
Painting
Materials and Techniques
Pigments: Historically made with natural elements (plants, minerals, bonded carbons). Currently, chemical acrylics are used.
New Materials: Paper, sand, fabrics, rags, organic materials.
Fresco: Colors dissolved in lime water, applied on a wet, whitewashed wall. A drawing on cardboard is transferred to the wall by tracing. Can last millennia.
Lime Paint: Differs from fresco in that plaster is applied dry, and lime is the color binder.
Encaustic: Developed in Greece and Rome. Colors dissolved in beeswax and applied hot on a prepared wall (similar to fresco). Also used on wood.
Oil: Pigments dissolved in walnut or linseed oil, turpentine, and resins. Widespread from the 15th century. Support is wood, fabric (linen or hemp) on a primed frame. Applied “alla prima” or layered. Can be repainted (“pentimento”). Has a durability of 300 years with varnish.
Tempera: Albumin (egg) used as a binder. Historically used in medieval times before oil. Lasts about 500 years.
Perspective and Depth
Knight’s Perspective: Background elements are placed higher, foreground elements lower, as if seen from horseback. Increases the visual field and sense of depth.
Linear Perspective: Developed in the 15th century by Brunelleschi. Assumes a unique, motionless viewpoint: lines converge at a vanishing point, and figures decrease in size accordingly.
Aerial Perspective: Created by Leonardo da Vinci in the late 15th century. Subtle gradation of colors frames figures to match the surrounding landscape, creating the illusion of air. Distant figures are blurred, and colors fade. Alternating light and dim planes, unlimited depth, and decreasing object size enhance the effect.
Forehand Perspective: Figures are represented as if receding into the space. Uses anatomical disproportion to create perceived depth.
Light and Structure in Painting
Light: Representation is an illusion. Can mimic natural or artificial light, or be stylized. May not be represented, resulting in flat colors without nuances. Can have symbolic content.
Structure: Management of all plastic media in painting. Based on forms, geometric patterns are created:
- Symmetric: The work is divided into two halves by a central axis.
- Pyramid: Figures are arranged in a triangle.
- Diagonal: (Baroque).
Structure Based on Light: Light surrounding forms (Renaissance), light fused with color (Rembrandt), or based on color (Van Gogh). Also develops in non-figurative painting.