An art MEDIUM refers to the materials, tools, and processes an artist is using or has used to create his or her artwork. For instance is the artwork a painting? If so is it painted with water color, oil, or acrylic paints, and what techniques are being applied? Are you going to create a drawing? Will you use pencil, colored pencil, charcoal, marker, chalk pastels? Mediums are ever changing and evolving with societies, cultures, and time. This is on area in which art, science, and history will forever be connected in that what artisans are able to create is always in direct relation to available materials, new technologies, and materials being produced, harvested, mined, or created.  For example prehistoric peoples could not have produced photographic or digital artworks, likewise there are many artistic mediums and techniques that are no longer practiced as those processes may have been lost or forgotten from one generation to the next, or simply become outdated. 

The type of work an artist is creating might depend on the medium he or she has available to them, or the medium an artist chooses might be specific for the type of art being created. Many novice and folk artists might use items that are inexpensive and readily available to them such as found objects, drawing utensils, paper mache, etc. Trained artisans might choose their medium based on their vision for the finished project taking into account many factors such as previous experience, proven methods, where the artwork is to be displayed, etc. 

For example when painting on large walls and ceilings during the Renaissance artists often used a technique called "Fresco" in which painters would paint into freshly laid plaster, with paints dissolved in water so that the pigments would penetrate into the plaster walls. Renaissance artists also often used "Oil Painting" as their medium, when painting on wood panels or canvas. At the time artists were known to make their own paints from raw materials such as minerals and other organic or plant based materials. Some of these minerals such as Lapis Lazuli imported from Afghanistan were precious and could be quite expensive, so their use in a painting might be limited and also depend on the wealth of the artist or the patron.

Scroll down to view & link to resources on some of common media that artist currently use or have used in the past to create amazing art!  You will have the opportunity to work with some of these materials within your visual arts classes! 

As well as creating art from different media, an artist might also make artwork that is either 2-Dimensional (2D = height & length / width), 3-Dimensional (3-D = height, length/width, & depth), Digital Art (Generally a form of 2D Art, however can be incorporated into 3D art),  Mixed Media (Various media in one one work of art, which could incorporate both 2D, 3D, and/or Digital Media.   

2D Art - Includes media in which the artist is working on a flat 2-Dimensional surface. 2D artwork includes both wet & dry media media, including, but not limited to: graphite, charcoal, colored pencil, markers/pens, inks, collage, photo montage, paint (watercolor, tempera, acrylic, oil), print (relief, gravure, silk screen,), and any combinations such materials 

3D ART - Refers to art that is not created on a flat plane meaning the final artwork has depth, as well as height & length/width. When we think of 3-Dimensional artwork we generally imagine sculpture, but there are many other forms of 3-D art including installations, performance or action art, high and low relief, and more all of which you can learn about in classes such as 3D Art, Skilled Arts & Ceramics. Common 3D art media may include, but are not limited to: metal, wood, ceramics/clay, polymers, plastics and other synthetic materials (silicone, rubber, foam, etc.), natural materials & fabrics such as leather, found objects, papers & boards, and more.

DIGITAL ART - Describes artwork that includes a wide range of types of artwork and images that are created using digital media such as a camera, computer, tablet, drawing tablet or a combination of one or more of these digital tools. Generally digital art requires free or purchased software. Sometimes the final result is "printed", animated, or remains as a digital image. 

MIXED MEDIA - This term is broadly used to describe any artwork that uses more than one media. At times it is barely regognizable that there are more than one media being applied in an artwork such as in  the case of using water color & ink. Often the term is used to describe work that uses a variety of one media in one artwork such as clay, acrylic pain, fabric, wire, & found objects.