Digitizing

Machine embroidery

2009-07-02T23:52:00.000-07:00

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Commercial machine embroidery in chain stitch on a voile curtain, China, early 21st century.

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Machine embroidery is a term that can be used to describe two different actions. The first is using a sewing machine to "manually" create (either freehand or with built-in stitches) a design on a piece of fabric or other similar item. The second is to use a specially designed embroidery or sewing-embroidery machine to automatically create a design from a pre-made pattern that is input into the machine. Most embroidery machines used by professionals and hobbyists today are driven by computers that read digitized embroidery files created by special software.

With the advent of computerized machine embroidery, the main use of manual machine embroidery is in fiber art and quilting projects. While some still use this type of embroidery to embellish garments, with the ease and decreasing cost of computerized embroidery machine, it is rapidly falling out of favor. Many quilters and fabric artists now use a free machine embroidery process often called "thread drawing" (or thread painting) to create embellishments on items, or to create examples of textile art.

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[edit] History

Before computers were affordable, most embroidery was completed by "punching" designs on paper tape that then ran through a mechanical embroidery machine. One error could ruin an entire design, forcing the creator to start over. This is how the term "punching" came to be used in relation to digitizing embroidery designs.

In 1980, Wilcom is thought by many to have introduced the first computer graphics embroidery design system running on a mini-computer. However, old timers often debate this. Melco Industries has been delivering embroidery solutions since 1972. Melco created the first embroidery sample head for use with large Schiffli looms. This sample head became the first computerized embroidery machine marketed to home sewers. The sample head was needed to avoid sewing out the sample for the Schiffli loom and taking up valuable production time. Schiffli looms spanned several feet across and produced, lace, patches and large embroidery patterns. The economic conditions of the Reagan Years, coupled with tax incentives of the day for in-home business, helped propel Melco to the top of the market. At the Show of the America's in 1980 Melco showed the Digitrac. The original digitized design was produced at 6 times the size it would eventually be sewn out. The Digitrac consisted of a small computer, similar in size to today's Blackberry Devices, mounted on an X and Y axis on a large white board. It sold for $30,000. The original sample head with one needle sold for $10,000 with a 1" paper-tape reader, and 2 fonts. The digitizer would mark common points of the design to create elaborate fill and satin stitch combinations. Melco is the result of an international distribution network formed by Randal Melton and His partner Bill Childs. Melco patented the ability to sew circles with a satin stitch, arched lettering generated from a keyboard. An operator would "digitize" the design into the computer using similar techniques to "punching", to create a 1" paper tape, or later to a floppy disk. This design would then be run on the machine. The machine would stitch out the digitized design. Wilcom enhanced this technology in 1982 with the introduction of the first multi-user system that allowed more than one person to be working on a different part of the embroidery process, streamlining production times.

Brother International got into the embroidery business as a result of being contracted by several computerized embroidery companies to provide sewing heads. Their sewing heads were mounted and branded on several different brands of computerized embroidery machines. Adler was also a common choice. Later Tajima, from Japan, provided sewing heads that were capable of using multiple threads. Singer failed to remain competitive during this time. Melco was acquired by Saurer in 1989.

Recently Singer was acquired by Affiliates of Kohlberg & Co., L.L.C. ("Kohlberg"), a leading U.S. private equity firm specializing in middle-market investing, they also acquired VSM is a leading supplier of high-end consumer sewing machines and accessories under the Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff brands.

Saurer and Wilcom, Tajima, Brother, began to innovate. The early functionality of the computerized commercial systems were adapted and marketed to compaines such as Janome for home use.

As costs have fallen for computers, software, and embroidery machines, computerized machine embroidery has grown in popularity since the late 1990s. Many machine manufacturers sell their own lines of embroidery patterns. In addition, many individuals and independent companies also sell embroidery designs, and there are free designs available on the internet.

[edit] The computerized machine embroidery process

Machine embroidery in progress.

These are the basic steps for creating embroidery with a computerized embroidery machine.

purchase or create a digitized embroidery design file
edit the design and/or combine with other designs (optional)
load the final design file into the embroidery machine
stabilize the fabric and place it in the machine
start and monitor the embroidery machine

[edit] Design files

Digitized embroidery design files can be either purchased or created. Many machine embroidery designs can be downloaded from web sites and one can be sewing them out within minutes. Please note that there are many different brands of machines, and each may use a different format. When purchasing or downloading free designs, you need to make sure you get the format used by your machine. If your format is not available, you can get a conversion program to convert from one stitch file format to another stitch file format - from PES to HUS or from DST to PCS, for example. Different conversion software programs are available.

A person who creates a design is known as an "embroidery digitizer" or "puncher". The digitizer, or puncher, users digitizing software to create their embroidery design. The digitizer creates the design in the native file format for the digitizing software. These are 'Object Based' design and allow the digitizer to easily reshape and edit the design later.

The native file formats retain important information such as:

Object outlines
Thread colors
Original artwork used to punch the designs

As a digitizer it is critical to maintain and keep the original digitized design file. Converting the design to a stitch file such as DST, PES and DSB will lose many of the valuable information, and make editing and changing the design very difficult or impossible.

Software vendors often advertise "auto-punching" or "auto-digitizing" capabilities. However, if high quality embroidery is essential, then industry experts highly recommend either purchasing solid designs from reputable digitizers or obtaining training on solid digitization techniques.

[edit] Editing designs

Once a design has been digitized, it can be edited or combined with other designs by software. With most embroidery software the user can rotate, scale, move, stretch, distort, split, crop, or duplicate the design in an endless pattern. Most software allows the user to add text quickly and easily. Often the colors of the design can be changed, made monochrome, or re-sorted. More sophisticated packages will allow the user to edit, add or remove individual stitches. For those without editing software, some embroidery machines have rudimentary design editing features built in.

[edit] Loading the design

After editing the final design, the design file is loaded into the embroidery machine. Different machines expect different files formats. The most common home design format is PES. Common design file formats for the home and hobby market include: ART, PES, VIP, JEF, SEW, and HUS. Embroidery patterns can be transferred to the computerized embroidery machines in a variety of ways, either through cables, CDs, floppy disks, USB interfaces, or special cards that resemble flash and compact cards.

[edit] Stabilizing the fabric

To prevent wrinkles and other problems, the fabric must be stabilized. The method of stabilizing depends to a large degree on the type of machine, the fabric type, and the design density. For example, knits and large designs typically require firm stabilization. There are many methods for stabilizing fabric, but most often one or more additional pieces of material called "stabilizers" or "interfacing" are added beneath and/or on top of the fabric. Many types of stabilizers exist, including cut-away, tear-away, vinyl, nylon, water-soluble, heat-n-gone, adhesive, open mesh, and combinations of these.

For smaller embroidered items, the item to be embroidered is hooped, and the hoop is attached to the machine. There is a mechanism on the machine (usually called an arm) that then moves the hoop under the needle.

For large commercially embroidered items, a bolt of fabric can be worked by a long row of embroidery "heads", producing a continuous pattern of embroidery. Each embroidery head is a sewing machine with multiple needles for different colors, and is usually capable of producing many special fabric effects including satin-stitch embroidery, chain-stitch embroidery, sequins, appliqué, cutwork, and other effects.

[edit] Embroidering the design

Finally, the embroidery machine is started and monitored. For commercial machines, this process is a lot more automated than for the home embroiderer. For most designs, there is more than one color, and often additional processing for appliqués, foam, and other special effects. Since home machines only have one needle, every color change requires the user to cut the thread and change the color manually. In addition, most designs will have a few or many jumps that need to be cut. Depending on the quality and size of the design, stitching out a design file can require a few minutes or an hour or more.

[edit] Embroidery machines

Not all machines are for embroidery only. Some are a combination of embroidery and sewing. Some of the more advanced features becoming available include a large color touchscreen, a USB interface, design editing software on the machine, embroidery adviser software, and design file storage systems. Commercial embroidery machines can be purchased as 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 15, and 18 head machines. Industrial embroidery machines are available from 12 to 56 head models.

[edit] Commercial and contract embroidery factories

Factories can have a few small machines or many large machines, or any combination of machines. Contract embroidery is a term used to describe embroidery being done on goods that are supplied by the customer to the embroidery house. Contract embroidery is limited to the trade. A company offering "Contract Embroidery" is embroidering wearable items for brokers, other embroiderers, ad specialty firms and screen printers at a wholesale rate. The customer of a contract embroiderer usually supplies the items to the factory and only pays the factory for the embroidery service. Commercial Embroiderers offer their services to the public and supply the wearable items.

[edit] Other supplies

Just about any type of fabric can be embroidered, given the proper stabilizer. For example, open lace and embroidering items are being developed. Anything from paper to fabric to lightweight balsa wood and more can be embroidered.

Machine embroidery commonly uses polyester, Rayon, or metallic embroidery thread, though other thread types are available. 40wt thread is the most commonly used embroidery thread weight. Bobbin thread is usually either 60wt or 90wt thread. The quality of thread used can greatly affect the number of thread breaks and other embroidery problems. Polyester thread is generally more color safe and durable. Madeira is just one of the many companies that sell high quality embroidery thread.

Other associated costs are thread, stabilizer, purchased designs, needles, bobbins, and other miscellaneous tools and supplies.

[edit] Embroidery glossary

Appliqué: French term meaning applying, usually by sewing, one piece of fabric to the surface of another. A cut piece of material stitched to another adding dimension, texture and reducing stitch count.

Backer/Stabilizer: Materials, generally non-woven textiles, which are placed inside or under the item to be embroidered. The backing provides support and stability to the garment which will allow better results to the finished embroidered product. Backings come primarily in two types: cutaway and tear-away. With cutaway, the excess backing is cut with a pair of scissors. With tear-away, the excess is simply torn away after the item is embroidered. Additional types which are dissolved either by water or heat also exist. For all of these the terms backing and stabilizer are often used interchangeably.

Bobbin: A bobbin is a small spool of threads inside of the rotary hook housing. The bobbin thread actually forms the stitches on the underside of the garment. The bobbin on an embroidery machine works in the same manner and for the same purpose as on a standard sewing machine.

Digitize: The computerized technique of turning a design image into an embroidery program. Special software is used to create plotting commands for the embroidery machine. The commands are transferred to the machines logic head by a designated embroidery "language."

Fill Stitch: Fill stitches are a series of running stitches sewn closely together to form broad areas of embroidery with varying patterns and stitch directions.

Hoop: A clamping device used to hold the backer and fabric in place in the machine.

Running Stitch: A running stitch is one line of stitches which goes from point A to point B. A running stitch is often used for fine details, outlining, and underlay.

Satin Stitch: Also known as the zig-zag stitch by which a line, border or edge is produced by thread being alternately stitched to either side of a baseline. Satin stitches are generally limited to a maximum of 1/2" in stitch length before some alternate technique such as split stitching or fill stitching must be used.

Underlay: A stabilizing pattern of embroidery which, if used, precedes the main body of satin or fill stitching. It consists of one or a combination of running stitches for centering, edging, paralleling or zigzagging the design area.

[hide] v • d • e Embroidery

Styles:	Assisi · Bargello · Berlin work · Blackwork · Broderie Anglaise · Broderie perse · Candlewicking · Canvas work · Counted-thread · Crewel · Cross-stitch · Cutwork · Darning · Drawn thread work · Free embroidery · Goldwork · Hardanger · Machine · Needlepoint · Quillwork · Smocking · Sprang · Stumpwork · Surface · Suzani · Trianglepoint · Whitework

Stitches:	Backstitch · Blanket · Brick · Buttonhole · Chain stitch · Couching and laid work · Cross stitches · Embroidery stitch · Featherstitch · Holbein · Parisian · Peyote · Running · Satin stitch · Sashiko · Shisha · Straight stitch · Tent stitch

Tools and materials:	Aida cloth · Embroidery hoop · Embroidery thread · Evenweave · Perforated paper · Plainweave · Plastic canvas · Sampler · Slip · Yarn

Regional and historical:	Art needlework · Bunka shishu · Brazilian · Chikan · Chinese · English · Indian · Jacobean · Kaitag · Kantha · Kasuti · Korean · Mountmellick · Persian · Opus Anglicanum · Suzhou · Ukrainian · Vietnamese · Zardozi

Embroideries:	Bayeux Tapestry · Bradford carpet · Hastings Embroidery · Hestia tapestry · Margaret Laton's jacket · New World Tapestry · Overlord embroidery · Quaker Tapestry

Designers and Embroiderers:	Leon Conrad · Kaffe Fassett · Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty · Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum · Ann Macbeth · May Morris · Charles Germain de Saint Aubin · Mary Elizabeth Turner · Teresa Wentzler · Erica Wilson

Organizations and Museums:	Embroiderers' Guild (UK) · Embroiderer's Guild of America · Embroidery Software Protection Coalition · Royal School of Needlework · Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum · Han Sang Soo Embroidery Museum ·

Related:	Applique · Crochet · Knitting · Lace · Needlework · Quilting

Art

2009-07-02T23:51:00.000-07:00

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This article is about the general concept of art. For the categories of different expressive disciplines, see The arts. For the arts that are visual in nature, see Visual arts. For other uses, see Art (disambiguation).

Paleolithic European cave painting of lionesses hunting

Pompeii, House VII, 2, 6: Paquius Proculus and his wife. National Archaeological Museum of Naples in Naples, Italy, 1st century fresco.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Le Bain turc (The Turkish baths), 1862

Vincent van Gogh, The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night, September 1888.

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature. The meaning of art is explored in a branch of philosophy known as aesthetics.

The definition and evaluation of art has become especially problematic since the early 20th century. Richard Wollheim distinguishes three approaches: the Realist, whereby aesthetic quality is an absolute value independent of any human view; the Objectivist, whereby it is also an absolute value, but is dependent on general human experience; and the Relativist position, whereby it is not an absolute value, but depends on, and varies with, the human experience of different humans.^[1] An object may be characterized by the intentions, or lack thereof, of its creator, regardless of its apparent purpose. A cup, which ostensibly can be used as a container, may be considered art if intended solely as an ornament, while a painting may be deemed craft if mass-produced.

Traditionally, the term art was used to refer to any skill or mastery. This conception changed during the Romantic period, when art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science".^[2] Generally, art is made with the intention of stimulating thoughts and emotions.

The nature of art has been described by Richard Wollheim as "one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture".^[3] It has been defined as a vehicle for the expression or communication of emotions and ideas, a means for exploring and appreciating formal elements for their own sake, and as mimesis or representation.^[4] Leo Tolstoy identified art as a use of indirect means to communicate from one person to another.^[4] Benedetto Croce and R.G. Collingwood advanced the idealist view that art expresses emotions, and that the work of art therefore essentially exists in the mind of the creator.^[5]^[6] The theory of art as form has its roots in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and was developed in the early twentieth century by Roger Fry and Clive Bell.^[4] Art as mimesis or representation has deep roots in the philosophy of Aristotle.^[4]

Definition of the term

The most common usage of the word "art," which rose to prominence after 1750, is understood to denote skill used to produce an aesthetic result.^[7] Britannica Online defines it as "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others."^[8] By any of these definitions of the word, artistic works have existed for almost as long as humankind: from early pre-historic art to contemporary art; however, some theories restrict the concept to modern Western societies.^[9] Much has been written about the concept of "art".^[10] Where Adorno said in 1970 "It is now taken for granted that nothing which concerns art can be taken for granted any more[...],"^[11],^[12] The first and broadest sense of art is the one that has remained closest to the older Latin meaning, which roughly translates to "skill" or "craft," and also from an Indo-European root meaning "arrangement" or "to arrange". In this sense, art is whatever is described as having undergone a deliberate process of arrangement by an agent. A few examples where this meaning proves very broad include artifact, artificial, artifice, artillery, medical arts, and military arts. However, there are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymology.

The second and more recent sense of the word art is as an abbreviation for creative art or fine art. Fine art means that a skill is being used to express the artist’s creativity, or to engage the audience’s aesthetic sensibilities, or to draw the audience towards consideration of the finer things. Often, if the skill is being used in a common or practical way, people will consider it a craft instead of art. Likewise, if the skill is being used in a commercial or industrial way, it will be considered Commercial art instead of fine art. On the other hand, crafts and design are sometimes considered applied art. Some art followers have argued that the difference between fine art and applied art has more to do with value judgments made about the art than any clear definitional difference.^[13] However, even fine art often has goals beyond pure creativity and self-expression. The purpose of works of art may be to communicate ideas, such as in politically-, spiritually-, or philosophically-motivated art; to create a sense of beauty (see aesthetics); to explore the nature of perception; for pleasure; or to generate strong emotions. The purpose may also be seemingly nonexistent.

Painting by Song Dynasty artist Ma Lin, c. 1250. 24,8 × 25,2 cm.

Art can describe several things: a study of creative skill, a process of using the creative skill, a product of the creative skill, or the audience’s experience with the creative skill. The creative arts (art as discipline) are a collection of disciplines (arts) that produce artworks (art as objects) that are compelled by a personal drive (art as activity) and echo or reflect a message, mood, or symbolism for the viewer to interpret (art as experience). Artworks can be defined by purposeful, creative interpretations of limitless concepts or ideas in order to communicate something to another person. Artworks can be explicitly made for this purpose or interpreted based on images or objects. Art is something that stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas through the senses. It is also an expression of an idea and it can take many different forms and serve many different purposes. Although the application of scientific theories to derive a new scientific theory involves skill and results in the "creation" of something new, this represents science only and is not categorized as art.

History

Main article: History of art

Venus of Willendorf, circa 24,000 BCE – 22,000 BCE

Sculptures, cave paintings, rock paintings, and petroglyphs from the Upper Paleolithic dating to roughly 40,000 years ago have been found, but the precise meaning of such art is often disputed because so little is known about the cultures that produced them. The oldest art objects in the world: a series of tiny, drilled snail shells about 75,000 years old, were discovered in a South African cave.^[14]

Many great traditions in art have a foundation in the art of one of the great ancient civilizations: Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, China, Ancient Greece, Rome, or Arabia (ancient Yemen and Oman) as well as Inca, Maya, and Olmec. Each of these centers of early civilization developed a unique and characteristic style in their art. Because of the size and duration these civilizations, more of their art works have survived and more of their influence has been transmitted to other cultures and later times. Some also have provided the first records of how artists worked. For example, this period of Greek art saw a veneration of the human physical form and the development of equivalent skills to show musculature, poise, beauty, and anatomically correct proportions.

In Byzantine and Gothic art of the Western Middle Ages, art focused on the expression of Biblical and not material truths, and emphasized methods which would show the higher unseen glory of a heavenly world, such as the use of gold in the background of paintings, or glass in mosaics or windows, which also presented figures in idealized, patterned (flat) forms.

The stylized signature of Sultan Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire was written in Arabic calligraphy. It reads Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious.

The western Renaissance saw a return to valuation of the material world, and the place of humans in it, and this paradigm shift is reflected in art forms, which show the corporeality of the human body, and the three dimensional reality of landscape.

Landscape of pine valley, by Ming Dynasty artist Chen Hongshou.

In the east, Islamic art's rejection of iconography led to emphasis on geometric patterns, calligraphy, and architecture. Further east, religion dominated artistic styles and forms too. India and Tibet saw emphasis on painted sculptures and dance with religious painting borrowing many conventions from sculpture and tending to bright contrasting colors with emphasis on outlines. China saw many art forms flourish, jade carving, bronzework, pottery (including the stunning terracotta army of Emperor Qin), poetry, calligraphy, music, painting, drama, fiction, etc. Chinese styles vary greatly from era to era and are traditionally named after the ruling dynasty. So, for example, Tang Dynasty paintings are monochromatic and sparse, emphasizing idealized landscapes, but Ming Dynasty paintings are busy, colorful, and focus on telling stories via setting and composition. Japan names its styles after imperial dynasties too, and also saw much interplay between the styles of calligraphy and painting. Woodblock printing became important in Japan after the 17th century.

The western Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century saw artistic depictions of physical and rational certainties of the clockwork universe, as well as politically revolutionary visions of a post-monarchist world, such as Blake’s portrayal of Newton as a divine geometer, or David’s propagandistic paintings. This led to Romantic rejections of this in favor of pictures of the emotional side and individuality of humans, exemplified in the novels of Goethe. The late 19th century then saw a host of artistic movements, such as academic art, symbolism, impressionism and fauvism among others.

By the 20th century these pictures were falling apart, shattered not only by new discoveries of relativity by Einstein^[15] and of unseen psychology by Freud,^[16] but also by unprecedented technological development accelerated by the implosion of civilisation in two world wars. The history of twentieth century art is a narrative of endless possibilities and the search for new standards, each being torn down in succession by the next. Thus the parameters of Impressionism, Expressionism, Fauvism, Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, etc cannot be maintained very much beyond the time of their invention. Increasing global interaction during this time saw an equivalent influence of other cultures into Western art, such as Pablo Picasso being influenced by African sculpture. Japanese woodblock prints (which had themselves been influenced by Western Renaissance draftsmanship) had an immense influence on Impressionism and subsequent development. Later, African sculptures were taken up by Picasso and to some extent by Matisse. Similarly, the west has had huge impacts on Eastern art in 19th and 20th century, with originally western ideas like Communism and Post-Modernism exerting powerful influence on artistic styles.

Modernism, the idealistic search for truth, gave way in the latter half of the 20th century to a realization of its unattainability. Relativism was accepted as an unavoidable truth, which led to the period of contemporary art and postmodern criticism, where cultures of the world and of history are seen as changing forms, which can be appreciated and drawn from only with irony. Furthermore the separation of cultures is increasingly blurred and some argue it is now more appropriate to think in terms of a global culture, rather than regional cultures.

Art theories

In the nineteenth century, artists were primarily concerned with ideas of truth and beauty. The aesthetic theorist John Ruskin, who championed what he saw as the naturalism of J. M. W. Turner, saw art's role as the communication by artifice of an essential truth that could only be found in nature.^[17]

The Burning of the Houses of Parliament; J. M. W. Turner, 1834

The definition and evaluation of art has become especially problematic since the 20th century. Richard Wollheim distinguishes three approaches: the Realist, whereby aesthetic quality is an absolute value independent of any human view; the Objectivist, whereby it is also an absolute value, but is dependent on general human experience; and the Relativist position, whereby it is not an absolute value, but depends on, and varies with, the human experience of different humans.^[18]

The arrival of Modernism in the late nineteenth century lead to a radical break in the conception of the function of art,^[19] and then again in the late twentieth century with the advent of postmodernism. Clement Greenberg's 1960 article "Modernist Painting" defines modern art as "the use of characteristic methods of a discipline to criticize the discipline itself".^[20] Greenberg originally applied this idea to the Abstract Expressionist movement and used it as a way to understand and justify flat (non-illusionistic) abstract painting:

Realistic, naturalistic art had dissembled the medium, using art to conceal art; modernism used art to call attention to art. The limitations that constitute the medium of painting – the flat surface, the shape of the support, the properties of the pigment — were treated by the Old Masters as negative factors that could be acknowledged only implicitly or indirectly. Under Modernism these same limitations came to be regarded as positive factors, and were acknowledged openly.^[20]

After Greenberg, several important art theorists emerged, such as Michael Fried, T. J. Clark, Rosalind Krauss, Linda Nochlin and Griselda Pollock among others. Though only originally intended as a way of understanding a specific set of artists, Greenberg's definition of modern art is important to many of the ideas of art within the various art movements of the 20th century and early 21st century.

Pop artists like Andy Warhol became both noteworthy and influential through work including and possibly critiquing popular culture, as well as the art world. Certain radical artists of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s expanded this technique of self-criticism beyond high art to all cultural image-making, including fashion images, comics, billboards and pornography.

Purpose of art

Art has had a great number of different functions throughout its history, making its purpose difficult to abstract or quantify to any single concept. This does not imply that the purpose of Art is "vague", but that it has had many unique, different, reasons for being created. Some of these functions of Art are provided in the following outline. The different purposes of art may be grouped according to those which are non-motivated, and those which are motivated (Levi-Strauss).

Non-motivated functions of art

The non-motivated purposes of art are those which are integral to being human, transcend the individual, or do not fulfill a specific external purpose. Aristotle has said, "Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature." ^[21] In this sense, Art, as creativity, is something which humans must do by their very nature (i.e. no other species creates art), and is therefore beyond utility.

Basic human instinct for harmony, balance, rhythm. Art at this level is not an action or an object, but an internal appreciation of balance and harmony (beauty), and therefore an aspect of being human beyond utility.

"Imitation, then, is one instinct of our nature. Next, there is the instinct for 'harmony' and rhythm, meters being manifestly sections of rhythm. Persons, therefore, starting with this natural gift developed by degrees their special aptitudes, till their rude improvisations gave birth to Poetry." -Aristotle ^[22]
Experience of the mysterious. Art provides us with a way to experience ourselves in relation to the universe. This experience may often come unmotivated, as we appreciate art, music or poetry.

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." -Albert Einstein ^[23]
Expression of the imagination. Art provide a means to express the imagination in non-grammatic ways that are not tied to the formality of spoken or written language. Unlike words, which come in sequences and each of which have a definite meaning, art provides a range of forms, symbols and ideas with meanings that are maleable.

"Jupiter's eagle [as an example of art] is not, like logical (aesthetic) attributes of an object, the concept of the sublimity and majesty of creation, but rather something else - something that gives the imagination an incentive to spread its flight over a whole host of kindred representations that provoke more thought than admits of expression in a concept determined by words. They furnish an aesthetic idea, which serves the above rational idea as a substitute for logical presentation, but with the proper function, however, of animating the mind by opening out for it a prospect into a field of kindred representations stretching beyond its ken." -Immanuel Kant^[24]
Universal communication. Art allows the individual to express things toward the world as a whole. Earth artists often create art in remote locations that will never be experienced by another person. The practice of placing a cairn, or pile of stones at the top of a mountain, is an example. (Note: This need not suggest a particular view of God, or religion.) Art created in this way is a form of communication between the individual and the world as a whole.
Ritualistic and symbolic functions. In many cultures, art is used in rituals, performances and dances as a decoration or symbol. While these often have no specific utilitarian (motivated) purpose, anthropologists know that they often serve a purpose at the level of meaning within a particular culture. This meaning is not furnished by any one individual, but is often the result of many generations of change, and of a cosmological relationship within the culture.

"Most scholars who deal with rock paintings or objects recovered from prehistoric contexts that cannot be explained in utilitarian terms and are thus categorized as decorative, ritual or symbolic, are aware of the trap posed by the term 'art'." -Silva Tomaskova^[25]

Motivated functions of art

The purposes of art which are motivated refer to intentional, conscious actions on the part of the artists or creator. These may be to bring about political change, to comment on an aspect of society, to convey a specific emotion or mood, to address personal psychology, to illustrate another discipline, to (with commercial arts) to sell a product, or simply as a form of communication.

Communication. Art, at its simplest, is a form of communication. As most forms of communication have an intent or goal directed toward another individual, this is a motivated purpose. Illustrative arts, such as scientific illustration, are a form of art as communication. Maps are another example. However, the content need not be scientific. Emotions, moods and feelings are also communicated through art.

"[Art is a set of] artefacts or images with symbolic meanings as a means of communication." -Steve Mithen^[26]
Art as entertainment. Art may seek to bring about a particular emotion or mood, for the purpose of relaxing or entertaining the viewer. This is often the function of the art industries of Motion Pictures and Video Games.
The Avante-Garde. Art for political change. One of the defining functions of early twentieth century art has been to use visual images to bring about political change. The art movements which had this goal - Dadaism, Surrealism, Russian Constructivism, and Abstract Expressionism, among others - are collectively referred to as the avante-garde arts.

"By contrast, the realistic attitude, inspired by positivism, from Saint Thomas Aquinas to Anatole France, clearly seems to me to be hostile to any intellectual or moral advancement. I loathe it, for it is made up of mediocrity, hate, and dull conceit. It is this attitude which today gives birth to these ridiculous books, these insulting plays. It constantly feeds on and derives strength from the newspapers and stultifies both science and art by assiduously flattering the lowest of tastes; clarity bordering on stupidity, a dog’s life." -Andre Breton (Surrealism)^[27]
Art for psychological and healing purposes. Art is also used by art therapists, psychotherapists and clinical psychologists as art therapy. The Diagnostic Drawing Series, for example, is used to determine the personality and emotional functioning of a patient. The end product is not the principal goal in this case, but rather a process of healing, through creative acts, is sought. The resultant piece of artwork may also offer insight into the troubles experienced by the subject and may suggest suitable approaches to be used in more conventional forms of psychiatric therapy.
Art for social inquiry, subversion and/or anarchy. While similar to art for political change, subversive or deconstructivist art may seek to question aspects of society without any specific political goal. In this case, the function of art may be simply to criticize some aspect of society.

Spray-paint graffiti on a wall in Rome.

Graffiti art and other types of street art are graphics and images that are spray-painted or stencilled on publicly viewable walls, buildings, buses, trains, and bridges, usually without permission. Certain art forms, such as graffiti, may also be illegal when they break laws (in this case vandalism).
Art for propaganda, or commercialism. Art is often utilized as a form of propaganda, and thus can be used to subtly influence popular conceptions or mood. In a similar way, art which seeks to sell a product also influences mood and emotion. In both cases, the purpose of art here is to subtly manipulate the viewer into a particular emotional or psychological response toward a particular idea or object. ^[28]

The functions of art described above are not mutually exclusive, as many of them may overlap. For example, art for the purpose of entertainment may also seek to sell a product, i.e. the movie or video game. One of the central challenges of post-modern art (after the 1970s), is that as the world becomes increasingly utilitarian, functional, and market-driven, the presence of the non-motivated arts, or art which is ritualistic or symbolic, becomes increasingly rare.

Classification disputes

Main article: Classificatory disputes about art

It is not uncommon in the history of art, especially in recent times, for disputation to take place as to whether something is art or not. Such disagreements may be referred to as classificatory disputes about art.

Image of a horse from the Lascaux caves

Classificatory disputes in the 20th century have included cubist and impressionist paintings, Duchamp’s Fountain, the movies, superlative imitations of banknotes, Conceptual art, and Video games. ^[29]

Philosopher David Novitz has argued that disagreement about the definition of art are rarely the heart of the problem. Rather, "the passionate concerns and interests that humans vest in their social life" are "so much a part of all classificatory disputes about art" (Novitz, 1996). According to Novitz, classificatory disputes are more often disputes about our values and where we are trying to go with our society than they are about theory proper. For example, when the Daily Mail criticized Hirst's and Emin’s work by arguing "For 1,000 years art has been one of our great civilising forces. Today, pickled sheep and soiled beds threaten to make barbarians of us all" they are not advancing a definition or theory about art, but questioning the value of Hirst’s and Emin’s work.^[30] In 1998, Arthur Danto, suggested a thought experiment showing that "the status of an artifact as work of art results from the ideas a culture applies to it, rather than its inherent physical or perceptible qualities. Cultural interpretation (an art theory of some kind) is therefore constitutive of an object’s arthood."^[31]^[32]

Controversial art

Further information: Art and politics

Theodore Gericault's Raft of the Medusa', c. 1820

Theodore Gericault's Raft of the Medusa' (c. 1820), was a social commentary on a current event, unprecedented at the time. Edouard Manet's "Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe" (1863), was considered scandalous not because of the nude woman, but because she is seated next to men fully dressed in the clothing of the time, rather than in robes of the antique world. John Singer Sargent's "Madame Pierre Gautreau (Madam X)" (1884), caused a huge uproar over the reddish pink used to color the woman's ear lobe, considered far too suggestive and supposedly ruining the high-society model's reputation.

In the twentieth century, Pablo Picasso's Guernica (1937) used arresting cubist techniques and stark monochromatic oils, to depict the harrowing consequences of a contemporary bombing of a small, ancient Basque town. Leon Golub's Interrogation III (1981), depicts a female nude, hooded detainee strapped to a chair, her legs open to reveal her sexual organs, surrounded by two tormentors dressed in everyday clothing. Andres Serrano's Piss Christ (1989) is a photograph of a crucifix, sacred to the Christian religion and representing Christ's sacrifice and final suffering, submerged in a glass of the artist's own urine. The resulting uproar led to comments in the United States Senate about public funding of the arts.

Art, class and value

Versailles: Louis Le Vau opened up the interior court to create the expansive entrance cour d'honneur, later copied all over Europe

Art has been perceived by some as belonging to some social classes and often excluding others. In this context, art is seen as an upper-class activity associated with wealth, the ability to purchase art, and the leisure required to pursue or enjoy it. For example, the palaces of Versailles or the Hermitage in St. Petersburg with their vast collections of art, amassed by the fabulously wealthy royalty of Europe exemplify this view. Collecting such art is the preserve of the rich, or of governments and institutions.

Fine and expensive goods have been popular markers of status in many cultures, and continue to be so today. There has been a cultural push in the other direction since at least 1793, when the Louvre, which had been a private palace of the Kings of France, was opened to the public as an art museum during the French Revolution. Most modern public museums and art education programs for children in schools can be traced back to this impulse to have art available to everyone. Museums in the United States tend to be gifts from the very rich to the masses (The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, for example, was created by John Taylor Johnston, a railroad executive whose personal art collection seeded the museum.) But despite all this, at least one of the important functions of art in the 21st century remains as a marker of wealth and social status.

Performance by Joseph Beuys, 1978 : Everyone an artist — On the way to the libertarian form of the social organism.

There have been attempts by artists to create art that can not be bought by the wealthy as a status object. One of the prime original motivators of much of the art of the late 1960s and 1970s was to create art that could not be bought and sold. It is "necessary to present something more than mere objects"^[33] said the major post war German artist Joseph Beuys. This time period saw the rise of such things as performance art, video art, and conceptual art. The idea was that if the artwork was a performance that would leave nothing behind, or was simply an idea, it could not be bought and sold. "Democratic precepts revolving around the idea that a work of art is a commodity impelled the aesthetic innovation which germinated in the mid-1960s and was reaped throughout the 1970s. Artists broadly identified under the heading of Conceptual art... substituting performance and publishing activities for engagement with both the material and materialistic concerns of painted or sculptural form... [have] endeavored to undermine the art object qua object."^[34]

In the decades since, these ideas have been somewhat lost as the art market has learned to sell limited edition DVDs of video works,^[35] invitations to exclusive performance art pieces, and the objects left over from conceptual pieces. Many of these performances create works that are only understood by the elite who have been educated as to why an idea or video or piece of apparent garbage may be considered art. The marker of status becomes understanding the work instead of necessarily owning it, and the artwork remains an upper-class activity. "With the widespread use of DVD recording technology in the early 2000s, artists, and the gallery system that derives its profits from the sale of artworks, gained an important means of controlling the sale of video and computer artworks in limited editions to collectors."^[36]

Forms, genres, mediums, and styles

Main article: The arts

The creative arts are often divided into more specific categories that are related to their technique, or medium, such as decorative arts, plastic arts, performing arts, or literature. Unlike scientific fields, art is one of the few subjects that is academically organized according to technique [1]. An artistic medium is the substance or material the artistic work is made from, and may also refers to the technique used. For example, paint is the media used in painting, paper is a media used in drawing.

An art form is the specific shape, or quality an artistic expression takes. The media used often influences the form. For example, the form of a sculpture must exist in space in three-dimensions, and respond to gravity. The constraints and limitations of a particular medium are thus called its formal qualities. To give another example, the formal qualities of painting are the canvas texture, color, and brush texture. The formal qualities of video games are non-linearity, interactivity and virtual presence. The form of a particular work of art is determined by both the formal qualities of the media, and the intentions of the artist.

A genre is a set of conventions and styles within a particular media. For instance, well recognized genres in film are western, horror and romantic comedy. Genres in music include death metal and trip hop. Genres in painting include still life, and pastoral landscape. A particular work of art may bend or combine genres but each genre has a recognizable group of conventions, clichés and tropes. (One note: the word genre has a second older meaning within painting; genre painting was a phrase used in the 17th to 19th century to refer specifically to paintings of scenes of everyday life and can still be used in this way.)

Detail of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, showing the painting technique of sfumato.

An artwork, artist’s, or movement's style is the distinctive method and form that art takes. Any loose brushy, dripped or poured abstract painting is called expressionistic (with a lower case "e" and the "ic" at the end). Often these styles are linked with a particular historical period, set of ideas, and particular artistic movement. So Jackson Pollock is called an Abstract Expressionist.

Because a particular style may have a specific cultural meanings, it is important to be sensitive to differences in technique. Roy Lichtenstein's (1923-1997) paintings are not pointillist, despite his uses of dots, because they are not aligned with the original proponents of Pointillism. Lichtenstein used Ben-Day dots: they are evenly-spaced and create flat areas of color. These types of dots, used in halftone printing, were originally used in comic strips and newspapers to reproduce color. Lichtenstein thus uses the dots as a style to question the "high" art of painting with the "low" art of comics - to comment on class distinctions in culture. Lichtenstein is thus associated with the American Pop art movement (1960s). Pointillism is a technique in late Impressionism (1880s), developed especially by the artist Georges Seurat, that employs dots that are spaced in a way to create variation in color and depth in an attempt to paint images that were closer to the way we really see color. Both artists use dots, but the particular style and technique relates to the artistic movement these artists were a part of.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849), colored woodcut print.

These are all ways of beginning to define a work of art, to narrow it down. "Imagine you are an art critic whose mission is to compare the meanings you find in a wide range of individual artworks. How would you proceed with your task? One way to begin is to examine the materials each artist selected in making an object, image video, or event. The decision to cast a sculpture in bronze, for instance, inevitably effects its meaning; the work becomes something different than if it had been cast in gold or plastic or chocolate, even if everything else about the artwork remained the same. Next, you might examine how the materials in each artwork have become an arrangement of shapes, colors, textures, and lines. These, in turn, are organized into various patterns and compositional structures. In your interpretation, you would comment on how salient features of the form contribute to the overall meaning of the finished artwork. [But in the end] the meaning of most artworks... is not exhausted by a discussion of materials, techniques, and form. Most interpretations also include a discussion of the ideas and feelings the artwork engenders."^[37]

Characteristics

Art tends to facilitate intuitive rather than rational understanding, and is usually consciously created with this intention. Fine art intentionally serves no other purpose. As a result of this impetus, works of art are elusive, refractive to attempts at classification, because they can be appreciated in more than one way, and are often susceptible to many different interpretations. In the case of Gericault's Raft of the Medusa, special knowledge concerning the shipwreck that the painting depicts is not a prerequisite to appreciating it, but allows the appreciation of Gericault's political intentions in the piece. Even art that superficially depicts a mundane event or object, may invite reflection upon elevated themes.

Traditionally, the highest achievements of art demonstrate a high level of ability or fluency within a medium. This characteristic might be considered a point of contention, since many modern artists (most notably, conceptual artists) do not themselves create the works they conceive, or do not even create the work in a conventional, demonstrative sense. Art has a transformative capacity: confers particularly appealing or aesthetically satisfying structures or forms upon an original set of unrelated, passive constituents.

Skill and craft

Art can connote a sense of trained ability or mastery of a medium. Art can also simply refer to the developed and efficient use of a language to convey meaning with immediacy and or depth. Art is an act of expressing our feelings, thoughts, and observations. There is an understanding that is reached with the material as a result of handling it, which facilitates one's thought processes.

Adam. Detail from Michelangelo's fresco in the Cappella Sistina (1511)

A common view is that the epithet “art”, particular in its elevated sense, requires a certain level of creative expertise by the artist, whether this be a demonstration of technical ability or an originality in stylistic approach such as in the plays of Shakespeare, or a combination of these two. Traditionally skill of execution was viewed as a quality inseparable from art and thus necessary for its success; for Leonardo da Vinci, art, neither more nor less than his other endeavors, was a manifestation of skill. Rembrandt's work, now praised for its ephemeral virtues, was most admired by his contemporaries for its virtuosity. At the turn of the 20th century, the adroit performances of John Singer Sargent were alternately admired and viewed with skepticism for their manual fluency, yet at nearly the same time the artist who would become the era's most recognized and peripatetic iconoclast, Pablo Picasso, was completing a traditional academic training at which he excelled.

A common contemporary criticism of some modern art occurs along the lines of objecting to the apparent lack of skill or ability required in the production of the artistic object. In conceptual art, Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" is among the first examples of pieces wherein the artist used found objects ("ready-made") and exercised no traditionally recognised set of skills. Tracey Emin's My Bed, or Damien Hirst's The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living follow this example and also manipulate the mass media. Emin slept (and engaged in other activities) in her bed before placing the result in a gallery as work of art. Hirst came up with the conceptual design for the artwork but has left most of the eventual creation of many works to employed artisans. Hirst's celebrity is founded entirely on his ability to produce shocking concepts. The actual production in many conceptual and contemporary works of art is a matter of assembly of found objects. However there are many modernist and contemporary artists who continue to excel in the skills of drawing and painting and in creating hands on works of art.

Value judgment

Aboriginal hollow log tombs. National Gallery, Canberra, Australia.

Somewhat in relation to the above, the word art is also used to apply judgments of value, as in such expressions like "that meal was a work of art" (the cook is an artist), or "the art of deception," (the highly attained level of skill of the deceiver is praised). It is this use of the word as a measure of high quality and high value that gives the term its flavor of subjectivity.

Making judgments of value requires a basis for criticism. At the simplest level, a way to determine whether the impact of the object on the senses meets the criteria to be considered art, is whether it is perceived to be attractive or repulsive. Though perception is always colored by experience, and is necessarily subjective, it is commonly taken that - that which is not aesthetically satisfying in some fashion cannot be art. However, "good" art is not always or even regularly aesthetically appealing to a majority of viewers. In other words, an artist's prime motivation need not be the pursuit of the aesthetic. Also, art often depicts terrible images made for social, moral, or thought-provoking reasons. For example, Francisco Goya's painting depicting the Spanish shootings of 3rd of May 1808, is a graphic depiction of a firing squad executing several pleading civilians. Yet at the same time, the horrific imagery demonstrates Goya's keen artistic ability in composition and execution and produces fitting social and political outrage. Thus, the debate continues as to what mode of aesthetic satisfaction, if any, is required to define 'art'.

The assumption of new values or the rebellion against accepted notions of what is aesthetically superior need not occur concurrently with a complete abandonment of the pursuit of that which is aesthetically appealing. Indeed, the reverse is often true, that in the revision of what is popularly conceived of as being aesthetically appealing, allows for a re-invigoration of aesthetic sensibility, and a new appreciation for the standards of art itself. Countless schools have proposed their own ways to define quality, yet they all seem to agree in at least one point: once their aesthetic choices are accepted, the value of the work of art is determined by its capacity to transcend the limits of its chosen medium in order to strike some universal chord by the rarity of the skill of the artist or in its accurate reflection in what is termed the zeitgeist.

Communication

Art is often intended to appeal and connect with human emotion. It can arouse aesthetic or moral feelings, and can be understood as a way of communicating these feelings. Artists express something so that their audience is aroused to some extent, but they do not have to do so consciously. Art explores what is commonly termed as the human condition; that is, essentially what it is to be human. Effective art often brings about some new insight concerning the human condition either singly or en-mass, which is not necessarily always positive, or necessarily widens the boundaries of collective human ability. The degree of skill that the artist has, will affect their ability to trigger an emotional response and thereby provide new insights, the ability to manipulate them at will shows exemplary skill and determination.

Anti-art

It is has been suggested in some quarters that the not making of art can constitute art. Or, more precisely, the suggestion is that the cessation of making art, can perhaps be considered a valid art form. This is obviously a minor opinion, and it is disputed. This notion has been associated with the term anti-art, and the suggestion which has been advanced is that the art movement associated with the artist's group known as the Situationists, actually made art by the very act of the cessation of making art. There is disagreement concerning the validity of this art "form." ^[38]^[39]

It might be useful to bear in mind that there is also an opinion articulated that takes a direct stance against anti-art, and that, not surprisingly is sometimes called anti-anti-art.

Notes

^ Wollheim 1980, op. cit. Essay VI. pp. 231-39.
^ Gombrich, Ernst. "Press statement on The Story of Art". The Gombrich Archive, 2005. Retrieved on January 18, 2008.
^ Richard Wollheim, Art and its objects, p.1, 2nd edn, 1980, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521 29706 0
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jerrold Levinson, The Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics, Oxford university Press, 2003, p5. ISBN 0-1992-7945-4
^ Jerrold Levinson, The Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics, Oxford university Press, 2003, p16. ISBN 0-1992-7945-4
^ R.G. Collingwood's view, expressed in The Principles of Art, is considered in Wollheim, op. cit. 1980 pp 36-43
^ Hatcher, 1999
^ Britannica Online
^ Elkins, James "Art History and Images That Are Not Art", The Art Bulletin, Vol. 47, No. 4 (Dec. 1995), with previous bibliography. "Non-Western images are not well described in terms of art, and neither are medieval paintings that were made in the absence of humanist ideas of artistic value". 553
^ Davies, 1991 and Carroll, 2000
^ Adorno, Theodor W. Aesthetic Theory. (1970)
^ Danto, 2003
^ Novitz, 1992
^ Radford, Tim. "World's Oldest Jewellery Found in Cave". Guardian Unlimited, April 16, 2004. Retrieved on January 18, 2008.
^ Turney, Jon. "Does time fly?". The Guardian, September 6, 2003. Retrieved on January 18, 2007.
^ "Contradictions of the Enlightenment: Darwin, Freud, Einstein and modern art". Fordham University. Retrieved on January 18, 2008.
^ "go to nature in all singleness of heart, rejecting nothing and selecting nothing, and scorning nothing, believing all things are right and good, and rejoicing always in the truth." Ruskin, John. Modern Painters, Volume I, 1843. London: Smith, Elder and Co.
^ Wollheim 1980, Essay VI. pp. 231-39.
^ Griselda Pollock, Differencing the Canon. Routledge, London & N.Y.,1999. ISBN 0-415-06700-6
^ ^a ^b Modern Art and Modernism: A Critical Anthology. ed. Francis Frascina and Charles Harrison, 1982.
^ Aristotle. The Poetics, Republic
^ Aristotle. The Poetics, Republic. Note: Although speaking mostly of poetry here, the Ancient greeks often speak of the arts collectively. http://www.authorama.com/the-poetics-2.html
^ Einstein, Albert. The World as I See It. http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/essay.htm
^ Immanuel Kant, Critique of Aesthetic Judgement (1790).
^ Silvia Tomaskova, "Places of Art: Art and Archaeology in Context": (1997)
^ Steve Mithen. The Prehistory of the Mind: The Cognitive Origins of Art, Religion and Science. 1999
^ Andre Breton, Surrealist Manifesto (1924)
^ Roland Barthes, Mythologies
^ Deborah Solomon, "2003: the 3rd Annual Year in Ideas: Video Game Art," New York Times, Magazine Section, December 14, 2003
^ Painter, Colin. "Contemporary Art and the Home". Berg Publishers, 2002. p. 12. ISBN 1-8597-3661-0
^ Dutton, Denis Tribal Art in Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, edited by Michael Kelly (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
^ Danto, Arthur. “Artifact and Art.” In Art/Artifact, edited by Susan Vogel. New York, 1988.
^ Sharp, Willoughby (December 1969). "An Interview with Joseph Beuys". ArtForum 8 (4): 45.
^ Rorimer, Anne: New Art in the 60s and 70s Redefining Reality, page 35. Thames and Hudson, 2001.
^ Fineman, Mia (2007-03-21). "YouTube for ArtistsThe best places to find video art online.". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2162382/. Retrieved on 2007-08-03.
^ Robertson, Jean and Craig McDaniel: Themes of Contemporary Art, Visual Art after 1980, page 16. Oxford University Press, 2005.
^ Robertson, Jean and Craig McDaniel: Themes of Contemporary Art, Visual Art after 1980, page 4. Oxford University Press, 2005.
^ Martin Puchner. “Poetry of the revolution: Marx, manifestos, and the avant-gardes”. Princeton University Press, 2006, p. 226. “the situationists thus drew a radical conclusion that set them apart from most neo-avant-garde movements: to renounce the making of art entirely.”
^ Paul N. Humble. “Anti-Art and the Concept of Art”. In : "A companion to art theory". Editors : Paul Smith and Carolyn Wilde, Wiley-Blackwell, 2002. Page 250 : According to Paul N. Humble, the philosopher of art George Dickie considers that "What is not clear from Dickie's account is how we can have two genuine forms of anti-art, one of which (readymades) counts as art and one of which (dematerialized objects) seemingly does not. The distinction appears to be quite arbitrary."

Bibliography

Arthur Danto, The Abuse of Beauty: Aesthetics and the Concept of Art. 2003
Dana Arnold and Margaret Iverson (eds.) Art and Thought. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 2003.
Michael Ann Holly and Keith Moxey (eds.) Art History and Visual Studies. Yale University Press, 2002.
John Whitehead. Grasping for the Wind. 2001
Noel Carroll, Theories of Art Today. 2000
Evelyn Hatcher, ed. Art as Culture: An Introduction to the Anthropology of Art. 1999
Catherine de Zegher (ed.). Inside the Visible. MIT Press, 1996.
Nina, Felshin, ed. But is it Art? 1995
Stephen Davies, Definitions of Art. 1991
Oscar Wilde, "Intentions".
Jean Robertson and Craig McDaniel, "Themes of Contemporary Art, Visual Art after 1980." 2005

External links

Art and Play from the Dictionary of the History of ideas
In-depth directory of art
Art and Artist Files in the Smithsonian Libraries Collection (2005) Smithsonian Digital Libraries
Visual Arts Data Service (VADS) - online collections from UK museums, galleries, universities
Artforum magazine - online art reviews - also previews of upcoming exhibitions
Article on the meaning of Art in Ancient India on the website of Frontline
The Definition of Art entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy by Thomas Adajian

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Embroidery

2009-07-02T23:50:00.000-07:00

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Traditional embroidery in chain stitch on a Kazakh rug, contemporary.

Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins.

A characteristic of embroidery is that the basic techniques or stitches of the earliest work—chain stitch, buttonhole or blanket stitch, running stitch, satin stitch, cross stitch—remain the fundamental techniques of hand embroidery today.

Machine embroidery, arising in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution, mimics hand embroidery, especially in the use of chain stitches, but the "satin stitch" and hemming stitches of machine work rely on the use of multiple threads and resemble hand work in their appearance, not their construction.

[hide]

[edit] Origins

Detail of an embroidered silk gauze ritual garment. Rows of even, round chain stitches are used both for outline and to fill in color. From a 4th century BC, Zhou era tomb at Mashan, Hubei province, China.

The origins of embroidery are lost in time, but examples survive from ancient Egypt, Iron Age Northern Europe and Zhou Dynasty China. Examples of surviving Chinese chain stitch embroidery worked in silk thread have been dated to the Warring States period (5th-3rd century BC).^[1]

The process used to tailor, patch, mend and reinforce cloth fostered the development of sewing techniques, and the decorative possibilities of sewing led to the art of embroidery.^[2] In a garment from Migration period Sweden, roughly 300–700 CE, the edges of bands of trimming are reinforced with running stitch, back stitch, stem stitch, tailor's buttonhole stitch, and whipstitching, but it is uncertain whether this work simply reinforces the seams or should be interpreted as decorative embroidery.^[3]

The remarkable stability of basic embroidery stitches has been noted:

It is a striking fact that in the development of embroidery ... there are no changes of materials or techniques which can be felt or interpreted as advances from a primitive to a later, more refined stage. On the other hand, we often find in early works a technical accomplishment and high standard of craftsmanship rarely attained in later times. ^[4]

English cope, late 15th or early 16th century. Silk velvet embroidered with silk and gold threads, closely laid and couched. An example of fine English embroidery. Art Institute of Chicago textile collection.

Elaborately embroidered clothing, religious objects, and household items have been a mark of wealth and status in many cultures including ancient Persia, India, China, Japan, Byzantium, and medieval and Baroque Europe. Traditional folk techniques are passed from generation to generation in cultures as diverse as northern Vietnam, Mexico, and eastern Europe. Professional workshops and guilds arose in medieval England. The output of these workshops, called Opus Anglicanum or "English work," was famous throughout Europe.^[5] The manufacture of machine-made embroideries in St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland flourished in the latter half of the 19th century.

[edit] Classification

Japanese free embroidery in silk and metal threads, contemporary.

Embroidery can be classified according to whether the design is stitched on top of or through the foundation fabric, and by the relationship of stitch placement to the fabric.

In free embroidery, designs are applied without regard to the weave of the underlying fabric. Examples include crewel and traditional Chinese and Japanese embroidery.

Cross-stitch counted-thread embroidery. Tea-cloth, Hungary, mid-20th century

Counted-thread embroidery patterns are created by making stitches over a predetermined number of threads in the foundation fabric. Counted-thread embroidery is more easily worked on an even-weave foundation fabric such as embroidery canvas, aida cloth, or specially woven cotton and linen fabrics although non-evenweave linen is used as well. Examples include needlepoint and some forms of blackwork embroidery.

Hardanger, a whitework technique. Contemporary.

In canvas work threads are stitched through a fabric mesh to create a dense pattern that completely covers the foundation fabric. Traditional canvas work such as bargello is a counted-thread technique.^[6] Since the 19th century, printed and hand painted canvases where the painted or printed image serves as color-guide have eliminated the need for counting threads. These are particularly suited to pictorial rather than geometric designs deriving from the Berlin wool work craze of the early 19th century.^[7]^[8]^[9]

In drawn thread work and cutwork, the foundation fabric is deformed or cut away to create holes that are then embellished with embroidery, often with thread in the same color as the foundation fabric. These techniques are the progenitors of needlelace. When created in white thread on white linen or cotton, this work is collectively referred to as whitework.^[10]

[edit] Materials

Phulkari from the Punjab region of India. Phulkari embroidery, popular since at least the 15th century, is traditionally done on hand-spun cotton cloth with simple darning stitches using silk floss.

Laid threads, a surface technique in wool on linen. The Bayeux Tapestry, 11th century.

The fabrics and yarns used in traditional embroidery vary from place to place. Wool, linen, and silk have been in use for thousands of years for both fabric and yarn. Today, embroidery thread is manufactured in cotton, rayon, and novelty yarns as well as in traditional wool, linen, and silk. Ribbon embroidery uses narrow ribbon in silk or silk/organza blend ribbon, most commonly to create floral motifs.^[11]

Surface embroidery techniques such as chain stitch and couching or laid-work are the most economical of expensive yarns; couching is generally used for goldwork. Canvas work techniques, in which large amounts of yarn are buried on the back of the work, use more materials but provide a sturdier and more substantial finished textile.^[9]

In both canvas work and surface embroidery an embroidery hoop or frame can be used to stretch the material and ensure even stitching tension that prevents pattern distortion. Modern canvas work tends to follow very symmetrical counted stitching patterns with designs developing from repetition of one or only a few similar stitches in a variety of thread hues. Many forms of surface embroidery, by contrast, are distinguished by a wide range of different stitching patterns used in a single piece of work.^[12]

[edit] Machine

Commercial machine embroidery in chain stitch on a voile curtain, China, early 21st century.

Much contemporary embroidery is stitched with a computerized embroidery machine using patterns "digitized" with embroidery software. In machine embroidery, different types of "fills" add texture and design to the finished work. Machine embroidery is used to add logos and monograms to business shirts or jackets, gifts, and team apparel as well as to decorate household linens, draperies, and decorator fabrics that mimic the elaborate hand embroidery of the past.

[edit] Notes

^ Gillow and Bryan 1999, p. 178
^ Gillow and Bryan 1999, p. 12
^ Coatsworth, Elizabeth: "Stitches in Time: Establishing a History of Anglo-Saxon Embroidery", in Netherton and Owen-Crocker 2005, p. 2
^ Marie Schuette and Sigrid Muller-Christensen, The Art of Embroidery translated by Donald King, Thames and Hudson, 1964, quoted in Netherton and Owen-Crocker 2005, p. 2
^ Levey and King 1993, p. 12
^ Gillow and Bryan 1999, p. 198
^ Embroiderers' Guild 1984, p. 54
^ Berman 2000
^ ^a ^b Readers Digest 1979, p. 112-115
^ Readers Digest 1979, pp. 74-91
^ van Niekerk 2006
^ Readers Digest 1979, pp. 1-19, 112-117

[edit] References

Berman, Pat (2000). "Berlin Work". American Needlepoint Guild. http://www.needlepoint.org/Archives/01-01/berlinwork.php. Retrieved on 2009-01-24.
Caulfield, S.F.A., and B.C. Saward (1885). The Dictionary of Needlework.
Embroiderers' Guild Practical Study Group (1984). Needlework School. QED Publishers. ISBN 0890097852.
Gillow, John, and Bryan Sentance (1999). World Textiles. Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown. ISBN 0-8212-2621-5.
Lemon, Jane (2004). Metal Thread Embroidery. Sterling. ISBN 071348926X.
Levey, S. M. and D. King (1993). The Victoria and Albert Museum's Textile Collection Vol. 3: Embroidery in Britain from 1200 to 1750. Victoria and Albert Museum. ISBN ISBN 1851771263.
Netherton, Robin, and Gale R. Owen-Crocker, editors, (2005). Medieval Clothing and Textiles, Volume 1. Boydell Press. ISBN 1843831236.
Readers Digest (1979). Complete Guide to Needlework. Readers Digest. ISBN ISBN 0-89577-059-8.
van Niekerk, Di (2006). A Perfect World in Ribbon Embroidery and Stumpwork. ISBN ISBN 1-84448-231-6.
Wilson, David M. (1985). The Bayeux Tapestry. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0500251223.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to (category):

Embroidery

Embroidery at the Open Directory Project

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Styles:	Assisi · Bargello · Berlin work · Blackwork · Broderie Anglaise · Broderie perse · Candlewicking · Canvas work · Counted-thread · Crewel · Cross-stitch · Cutwork · Darning · Drawn thread work · Free embroidery · Goldwork · Hardanger · Machine · Needlepoint · Quillwork · Smocking · Sprang · Stumpwork · Surface · Suzani · Trianglepoint · Whitework

Stitches:	Backstitch · Blanket · Brick · Buttonhole · Chain stitch · Couching and laid work · Cross stitches · Embroidery stitch · Featherstitch · Holbein · Parisian · Peyote · Running · Satin stitch · Sashiko · Shisha · Straight stitch · Tent stitch

Tools and materials:	Aida cloth · Embroidery hoop · Embroidery thread · Evenweave · Perforated paper · Plainweave · Plastic canvas · Sampler · Slip · Yarn

Regional and historical:	Art needlework · Bunka shishu · Brazilian · Chikan · Chinese · English · Indian · Jacobean · Kaitag · Kantha · Kasuti · Korean · Mountmellick · Persian · Opus Anglicanum · Suzhou · Ukrainian · Vietnamese · Zardozi

Embroideries:	Bayeux Tapestry · Bradford carpet · Hastings Embroidery · Hestia tapestry · Margaret Laton's jacket · New World Tapestry · Overlord embroidery · Quaker Tapestry

Designers and Embroiderers:	Leon Conrad · Kaffe Fassett · Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty · Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum · Ann Macbeth · May Morris · Charles Germain de Saint Aubin · Mary Elizabeth Turner · Teresa Wentzler · Erica Wilson

Organizations and Museums:	Embroiderers' Guild (UK) · Embroiderer's Guild of America · Embroidery Software Protection Coalition · Royal School of Needlework · Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum · Han Sang Soo Embroidery Museum ·

Related:	Applique · Crochet · Knitting · Lace · Needlework · Quilting

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embroidery"

Categories: Embroidery | Needlework

Keyboard Shortcuts For The Pen Examples

2009-06-09T03:02:00.001-07:00

Keyboard Shortcuts For The Pen Examples			Buy Graphics & DTP Software!
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The idea behind the keyboard shortcuts in Adobe® Illustrator®, Adobe Photoshop® and Macromedia® FreeHand® is so you can draw paths in a fluid manner with as few interruptions as possible. Ideally, you would draw as fluidly as if you were actually using a pen or pencil. The previous page described the hand positions with the keyboard and mouse. This page describes how it is done. The next page gives you practice templates for each application.

While the pen tool is selected and you are actively drawing a path, pressing the following keys will bring up a different tool:

For Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop:

Macintosh®	Windows®	Function
Command Option Shift	Ctrl Alt Shift	Selects the last selection tool Selects the Convert Direction Point Tool Constrains angle to 45° increments

For Macromedia FreeHand:

Macintosh	Windows	Function
Command Option Shift	Ctrl Alt Shift	Selects the Pointer Tool Places a corner point Constrains angle to 45° increments

Basically the functions of these keys between the Adobe applications and Macromedia FreeHand are the same. There is only a slight difference in the use of the Alt or Option key to create a corner point. In Illustrator and Photoshop, all newly placed points with control handles are smooth points by default. The Convert Direction Point Tool is used to change a smooth point to a corner point with handles. In FreeHand, you can drag out control handles for a corner point when you first place it.

Brief Example - Adobe Illustrator

In the following example, three tools are used without returning to the tool palette to change tools:

1. Drag out the first point

2. Drag out the second point. The first curve is off, now.

3. Press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) and use the Direct Selection Tool to drag back the first curve.

4. Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Macintosh) to bring up the Convert Direction Point Tool and drag the second point's handle (changing it from a smooth point to a corner point) to redirect the next curve.

5. Place the next point and continue drawing the path.

Pen Cursors

The pen cursor helps you identify where you're at when drawing paths. You need to know when you are over a point so you can append to an open path (restarting the path) or when you are over a point so you can close a path. You also need to know what the cursor looks like to start a new path so you don't inadvertently keep adding to an existing path or vice versa. These are the most important cursors. Their functions are identical between Adobe Illustrator 7 and 8, Adobe Photoshop 5 and Macromedia FreeHand 8. The chart below describes these cursors.

	Start New Path	Continue Adding To Path	Restart Open Path	Close Path
Illustrator 7 / 8

Photoshop 5

FreeHand 8

Deneba Canvas™

The Curve tool is used for drawing Bezier curves in Deneba Canvas. Some of the various cursors are described below.

	Add Points To Path	Pointer Directly Over an Anchor Point. Next Click Closes Path	Placing Straight Segments	Placing Segments Constrained To 45°
Deneba Canvas

CorelDRAW®

CorelDRAW 8 handles line drawing slightly differently. You have a choice of tools. Their functions are listed below.

	Freehand Tool Start New Path	Freehand Tool Restart or Close Path	Bezier Tool Start, Continue or Restart Path	Bezier Tool Close Path
CorelDRAW 8

Keyboard Shortcuts For The Pen

2009-06-09T03:01:00.000-07:00

Keyboard Shortcuts For The Pen			Buy Graphics & DTP Software!
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Draw Faster By Making Fewer Trips To The Tool Palette

This tutorial is for applications that use the pen: Adobe® Photoshop®, Adobe Illustrator® and Macromedia® FreeHand®. When drawing with the pen you will inevitably have to stop mid-path and make adjustments to anchor points, control handles or line segments.

Note: Different software packages use different terms for the same things, and since this article is using mixed terminology please consult the table of equivalent terminology for clarification of terms.

Usually, when first learning the software, the novice will go to the tool palette to switch back and forth between the pen and other tools. This is very time consuming and there are provisions in the software to switch tools without having to select them from the tool palette. The keys on both the right-hand and left-hand sides of the spacebar are used for this purpose. Shown below are the keyboard hand positions for a right-handed mouse:

Left hand keys - Windows®	Left hand keys - Macintosh®
Shift = Alt = Ctrl =	Shift Option Command

The diagram above shows the hand positions (for a right handed mouse) to take advantage of keyboard shortcuts for drawing with the pen. This is the quickest way to use the pen.

Mac® users will use various combinations of the Shift, Option and Command keys, while Windows users will use parallel combinations of the Shift, Ctrl and Alt keys.

For example, while actively drawing a path with the pen tool, Windows Illustrator users can press the Ctrl key to switch between the pen and the selection tool while at the same time press the Shift key to constrain a line to 45° increments. When finished making the adjustment, the user simply releases the keys and resumes drawing with the pen tool - all without resorting to the tool palette.

Following this tutorial are step by step examples to drill the point.

Using Clipping Paths In Photoshop

2009-06-09T03:00:00.001-07:00

Using Clipping Paths In Photoshop®			Buy Photoshop Software!
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A clipping path is a vector path which allows part of an image to show while hiding the rest (usually its background) effectively rendering part of the image transparent. A clipping path in an image editing program is functionally equivalent to a mask in an illustration program (more).

A clipping path is a means to make parts of an image opaque and parts of an image transparent. Usually it is used to "knock out" the background. It is also a way of changing the rectangular-shaped boundary of a bitmap image into a shape of your choice. Clipping paths are made with the pen tool in Photoshop. The path itself is a vector object, while the image is a bitmap. Together, the vector path and the bitmap image can be exported as an EPS file - a file format which is capable of having both vector and bitmap data in the same image.

The resulting EPS file can be placed directly into a page layout document such as one created in QuarkXPress™ or Adobe® PageMaker®. It can also be embedded (or linked) in a vector drawing file such as one created with Adobe Illustrator®, Macromedia® FreeHand® or CorelDRAW®. The EPS file can also be distilled into a PDF file (Adobe Acrobat® Portable Document Format) with Adobe Acrobat Distiller™. In all these applications the clipping path will knock out the background of the image.

1. Let's make one. Below is a bird over a green background. Let's cut out the bird. Then we can give the bird a new background or simply place it over a plain white background. This image was chosen because the subject (the bird) is very smooth and curved making it an ideal candidate for the pen rather than the selection tools.

2. First we use the pen to draw the path. Click the Paths tab on the Layers Palette. Then click the "New Path" icon on the bottom. The default path name for the new path is "Path 1".

3. Draw the path with the pen. Try to place as few points as possible, adding points only when necessary.

4. Below is a view of the path itself.

5. Photoshop allows more than one path to be embedded in a file. There can be only one clipping path so you have to assign which path is to be the clipping path. In the path options menu, click "Clipping Path".

6. In the dialog choose "Path 1" to be the clipping path. The flatness value determines how closely the path conforms to the curves. The lower the number, the more closely the path will conform to the curves. Enter a value and click "OK"

7. Next you need to save the file, then save a copy as an EPS file. Click:

File > Save

followed by...

File > Save a Copy

Choose "Photoshop EPS" as the file type, then enter a filename and click "Save".

8. Shown below is the effect of the clipping path. The EPS file will print out like this on a PostScript® printer. To see the effect of the clipping path on screen you can open the EPS file in a drawing program (such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW or Macromedia FreeHand) or you can place the EPS file in a page layout program such as QuarkXPress or Adobe PageMaker or you can distill the EPS file with Adobe Acrobat Distiller and view the resulting PDF file in Acrobat.

Note: If you open the EPS file in Photoshop, you won't be able to see the effect of the clipping path. To do so you either have to print it out on a PostScript® printer or view it on screen using one of the methods described above.

9. For example, you can load an image into one of the page layout or illustration programs mentioned above to function as a new background...

10. Then you can drop the EPS image right over it.

electing Anchor Points and Modifying Paths In Photoshop

2009-06-09T02:59:00.001-07:00

Selecting All Points In A Path
1. Press and hold the Option/Alt key. With the Direct Selection Tool click anywhere on the path. All the anchor points are selected. Selected anchor points become solid.

Deselecting All Points In A Path

2.Using the direct selection tool, click away from the path. All points are deselected.

Marquee Select Method

3. Using the direct selection tool drag a marquee around the path.

4. Release the mouse button. All the anchor points are selected. Selected anchor points become solid.

Selecting Individual Points

5. With all the anchor points now visible, use the direct selection tool to drag a marquee around the anchor points you want to select.

6. Release the mouse button. Now only the points enclosed within the marquee are selected (and solid) and all other points become deselected (and hollow).

Adjusting Path Segments

7. Use the direct selection tool and click and hold the mouse button on a line segment you wish to adjust

8. Drag the line segment to the desired shape. Release the mouse button when finished.

Opening and Closing Paths In Photoshop

2009-06-09T02:58:00.001-07:00

How To Open A Closed Path

1. With the Direct Selection Tool select an anchor point. The anchor point becomes solid.

2. Press the delete key. Both segments on either side of the selected anchor point will be deleted.

How To Close An Open Path

Drag and Resume Method

1. With the pen tool click and drag an anchor point of one open end. This starts adding to the path again. The pen tool changes into a black arrowhead. Release the mouse button after dragging.

2. Position the pen tool over the anchor point at the other open end. When the small loop appears next to the pen tip, the next click closes the path.

3. Click once to close path.

Click and Resume Method

1. With the pen tool click an anchor point of one open end and release the mouse button. This starts adding to the path again.

2. Direction lines will extend from the point...

3. Position the pen tool over the anchor point at the other open end. When the small loop appears next to the pen tip, the next click closes the path.

4. Click once to close path.

Style line

2009-05-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

A style line is a line or curve in a garment that has a visual effect, e.g., the seam between two fabrics of different colors or textures. For comparison, a nearly invisible seam, such as a dart or pleat, would not be considered a style line. A style line is a boundary between two distinguishable areas of fabric, or a visible edge of fabric such as the neckline, waistline or hemline.

As the term is generally used in practice, a style line is introduced only for fashion or cosmetic purposes. However, a style line may also fulfill a shaping function as a dart, a seam at which a dart may end, or as a way of hiding details of the garment's construction.

[edit] See also

Empire silhouette

[hide] v • d • e Sewing

Techniques	Basting · Cut · Darning · Dressmaker · Embellishment · Gather · Heirloom sewing · Pleat · Ruffle · Style line · Tailor · Gore (segment)

Stitches	Backstitch · Blanket · Buttonhole · Chain stitch · Cross-stitch · Embroidery stitch · Lockstitch · Overlock · Running · Sashiko · Tack · Zigzag]

Seams	Bound · Hong Kong · Inseam · Seam allowance · Seam types

Notions	Bias tape · Interfacing · Passementerie · Pattern · Simplicity · Trim · Twill tape

Closures	Button · Buttonhole · Frog · Hook-and-eye · Shank · Snap · Velcro · Zipper

Materials	Bias · Yarn/Thread · Selvage · Textiles/Fabric

Tools	Bobbin · Pin · Pincushion · Pinking shears · Scissors · Seam ripper · Sewing needle · Stitching awl · Tape measure · Thimble · Tracing paper · Tracing wheel · Upholstery needle

Sewing machines	Bernina · Brother Industries · Feed dogs · Pfaff · Sewing machine · Singer · Tapemaster

This fashion-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Style_line"

Categories: Sewing | Parts of clothing | Fashion design | Fashion stubs

Ruffle

2009-05-20T06:39:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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For other uses, see Ruffle (disambiguation).

Portrait of a woman wearing a heavily ruffled cap, 1789

In sewing and dressmaking, a ruffle, frill, or furbelow is a strip of fabric, lace or ribbon tightly gathered or pleated on one edge and applied to a garment, bedding, curtain or other textile as a form of trimming.^[1] A ruffle without gathers or pleats may also be made by cutting a curved strip of fabric and applying the inner or shorter edge to the garment.

A deep (wide) ruffle is usually called a flounce (earlier frounce or fronce).^[2]

Ruffles appeared at the draw-string necklines of full chemises in the 15th century, evolved into the separately-constructed ruff of the 16th century, and remained a fashionable form of trim off-and-on into modern times.^[3]

[edit] Notes

^ Caulfield, S.F.A. and B.C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, 1885, facsimile edition, Blaketon Hall, 1989, p. 428
^ Caulfield and Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, p. 218
^ For styles and construction of ruffles, frills and flounces through the centuries, see the Arnold, Baumgarten and Tozer volumes listed below

[edit] References

Oxford English Dictionary

Picken, Mary Brooks: The Fashion Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition ISBN 0-3081-0052-2)

Arnold, Janet: Patterns of Fashion: the cut and construction of clothes for men and women 1560-1620, Macmillan 1985. Revised edition 1986. (ISBN 0-8967-6083-9)

Baumgarten, Linda: What Clothes Reveal: The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America, Yale University Press,2002. ISBN 0-3000-9580-5

Tozer, Jane and Sarah Levitt, Fabric of Society: A Century of People and their Clothes 1770-1870, Laura Ashley Press, ISBN 0-9508-9130-4

[hide] v • d • e Sewing

Techniques	Basting · Cut · Darning · Dressmaker · Embellishment · Gather · Heirloom sewing · Pleat · Ruffle · Style line · Tailor · Gore (segment)

Stitches	Backstitch · Blanket · Buttonhole · Chain stitch · Cross-stitch · Embroidery stitch · Lockstitch · Overlock · Running · Sashiko · Tack · Zigzag]

Seams	Bound · Hong Kong · Inseam · Seam allowance · Seam types

Notions	Bias tape · Interfacing · Passementerie · Pattern · Simplicity · Trim · Twill tape

Closures	Button · Buttonhole · Frog · Hook-and-eye · Shank · Snap · Velcro · Zipper

Materials	Bias · Yarn/Thread · Selvage · Textiles/Fabric

Tools	Bobbin · Pin · Pincushion · Pinking shears · Scissors · Seam ripper · Sewing needle · Stitching awl · Tape measure · Thimble · Tracing paper · Tracing wheel · Upholstery needle

Sewing machines	Bernina · Brother Industries · Feed dogs · Pfaff · Sewing machine · Singer · Tapemaster

This textile arts article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This fashion-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruffle"

Categories: Sewing | Fashion design | Parts of clothing | Textile arts stubs | Fashion stubs

Pleat

2009-05-20T06:38:00.002-07:00

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Skirt with narrow knife pleats at the hip line, 1929.

The knife pleat is the basic pleat used in sewing.

A pleat (older plait) is a type of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and securing it in place. It is commonly used in clothing and upholstery to gather a wide piece of fabric to a narrower circumference.^[1]

Pleats are categorized as pressed, that is, ironed or otherwise heat-set into a sharp crease, or unpressed, falling in soft rounded folds. Pleats may also be partially sewn flat and allowed to fall open below.

Small pleats sewn in place down their entire length are called tucks.

[hide]

[edit] Types of pleats

Accordion pleats are the most basic form of pleat, consisting of a series of permanent folds of equal width in alternating opposite directions. When pressed flat in one direction, accordion pleats become knife pleats. Accordion pleats are rarely used in dressmaking, but are used to make folding fans.

Box pleats are knife pleats back-to-back, and have a tendency to spring out from the waistline.^[2] They have the same 3:1 ratio as knife pleats, and may also be stacked to form stacked box pleats. These stacked box pleats create more fullness and have a 5:1 ratio. They also create a bulkier seam. Inverted box pleats have the "box" on the inside rather than the outside.

Cartridge pleats are used to gather a large amount of fabric into a small waistband or armscye without adding bulk to the seam. This type of pleating also allows the fabric of the skirt or sleeve to spring out from the seam. During the 15th and 16th centuries, this form of pleating was popular in the garments of men and women. Fabric is evenly gathered using two or more lengths of basting stitches, and the top of each pleat is whipstitched onto the waistband or armscye. Cartridge pleating was resurrected in the 1840s to attached the increasingly full bell-shaped skirts to the fashionable narrow waist.^[3] ^[4] ^[5]

Fluted pleats or flutings are very small, rounded or pressed pleats used as trimmings.^[6] The name comes from their resemblance to a pan flute.

Fortuny pleats are crisp pleats set in silk fabrics by designer Mariano Fortuny in the early 20th century, using a secret pleat-setting process which is still not understood.

Honeycomb pleats are narrow, rolled pleats used as a foundation for smocking.

Knife pleats are used for basic gathering purposes, and form a smooth line rather than springing away from the seam they have been gathered to. The pleats have a 3:1 ratio–three inches of fabric will create one inch of finished pleat. Knife pleats can be recognized by the way that they overlap in the seam.^[2]

Organ pleats are parallel rows of softly rounded pleats resembling the pipes of a pipe organ. Carl Köhler^[7] suggests that these are made by inserting one or more gores into a panel of fabric.

Plissé pleats are narrow pleats set by gathering fabric with stitches, wetting the fabric, and "setting" the pleats by allowing the wet fabric to dry under weight or tension. Linen chemises or smocks pleated with this technique have been found in the 10th century Viking graves in Birka.^[8]

Rolled pleats create tubular pleats which run the length of the fabric from top to bottom. A piece of the fabric to be pleated is pinched and then rolled until it is flat against the rest of the fabric, forming a tube. A variation on the rolled pleat is the stacked pleat, which is rolled similarly and requires at least five inches of fabric per finished pleat. Both types of pleating create a bulky seam.

Watteau pleats are one or two box pleats found at the back neckline of 18th century gowns and some late 19th century tea gowns in imitation of these. The term is not contemporary, but is used by costume historians in reference to these styles as portrayed in the paintings of Antoine Watteau.^[9]

[edit] Modern usage

Spring dress of chiffon with pleated skirt detail, 1936. Pleats to allow movement in narrow skirts have been a recurring theme in fashion since the later 19th century.

Clothing features pleats for practical reasons (to provide freedom of movement to the wearer) as well as for purely stylistic reasons.

[edit] Shirts, blouses, jackets

Shirts and blouses typically have pleats on the back to provide freedom of movement and on the arm where the sleeve tapers to meet the cuff. The standard men's shirt has a box pleat in the center of the back just below the shoulder or alternately one simple pleat on each side of the back.

Jackets designed for active outdoor wear frequently have pleats (usually inverted box pleats) to allow for freedom of movement. Norfolk jackets have double-ended inverted box pleats at the chest and back.

[edit] Skirts and kilts

Skirts, dresses and kilts can include pleats of various sorts to add fullness from the waist or hips, or at the hem, to allow freedom of movement or achieve design effects.

One or more kick pleats may be set near the hem of a straight skirt to allow the wearer to walk comfortably while preserving the narrow style line.
Modern kilts may be made with either box pleats or knife pleats, and can be pleated to the stripe or pleated to the sett (see main article Kilts: Pleating and stitching).

[edit] Trousers

Pleats just below the waistband on the front of the garment are typical of many styles of formal and casual trousers including suit trousers and khakis. There may be one, two, three, or no pleats, which may face either direction. When the pleats open towards the pockets they are called reverse pleats (typical of khakis and corduroy trousers) and when they open toward the zipper, they are known as forward pleats.

Utilitarian or very casual styles such as jeans and cargo pants are flat-front (without pleats at the waistband) but may have bellows pockets.

[edit] Pockets

A bellows pocket is patch pocket with an inset box pleat to allow the pocket to expand when filled. Bellows pockets are typical of cargo pants, safari jackets, and other utilitarian garments.

[edit] Gallery

1 - Accordion pleats	2 - Box pleats	3 - Fortuny pleats	4 - Inverted box pleat (right)
5 - Knife pleats	6 - Organ pleats	7 - Watteau pleats

Painting of accordion pleated folding fan, Japan, 19th century
Afternoon costume with box pleated skirt and unpressed box pleated bodice panel, France, 1886
Fortuny pleated tea gown, 1917
Golfing jackets with inverted box pleats in the back for movement, 1920s
Knife-pleated kilt with pleats sewn down to the hip line, 2005
Organ pleated gown, Florentine, 1470
Tea gowns with Watteau-pleated backs, Russia, 1899

[edit] Notes

^ Picken, Mary Brooks, The Fashion Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls, 1957, p. 256-257
^ ^a ^b Picken, Mary Brooks, The Fashion Dictionary, p. 257
^ Tozer, Jane and Sarah Levitt, Fabric of Society: A Century of People and their Clothes 1770-1870, Laura Ashley Press,
^ Arnold, Janet: Patterns of Fashion: the cut and construction of clothes for men and women 1560-1620, Macmillan 1985
^ Arnold, Janet: Patterns of Fashion 1 (cut and construction of women's clothing, 1660-1860), Wace 1964, Macmillan 1972.
^ Caulfield and Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, p. 212
^ Köhler, Carl: A History of Costume, Dover Publications reprint, 1963
^ Owen-Crocker, Gale R., Dress in Anglo-Saxon Englandrevised edition, Boydell Press, 2004, ISBN 1-8438-3081-7, p. 42, 218
^ Picken, Mary Brooks, The Fashion Dictionary, p. 257, 370

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Arnold, Janet: Patterns of Fashion: the cut and construction of clothes for men and women 1560-1620, Macmillan 1985. Revised edition 1986. ISBN 0-8967-6083-9
Arnold, Janet: Patterns of Fashion 1 (cut and construction of women's clothing, 1660-1860), Wace 1964, Macmillan 1972. Revised metric edition, Drama Books 1977. ISBN 0-89676-026-X.
Kohler, Carl: A History of Costume, Dover Publications reprint, 1963, ISBN 0-4862-1030-8
Owen-Crocker, Gale R., Dress in Anglo-Saxon Englandrevised edition, Boydell Press, 2004, ISBN 1-8438-3081-7
Picken, Mary Brooks, The Fashion Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition ISBN 0308100522)
Tozer, Jane and Sarah Levitt, Fabric of Society: A Century of People and their Clothes 1770-1870, Laura Ashley Press, ISBN 0950891304

[hide] v • d • e Sewing

Techniques	Basting · Cut · Darning · Dressmaker · Embellishment · Gather · Heirloom sewing · Pleat · Ruffle · Style line · Tailor · Gore (segment)

Stitches	Backstitch · Blanket · Buttonhole · Chain stitch · Cross-stitch · Embroidery stitch · Lockstitch · Overlock · Running · Sashiko · Tack · Zigzag]

Seams	Bound · Hong Kong · Inseam · Seam allowance · Seam types

Notions	Bias tape · Interfacing · Passementerie · Pattern · Simplicity · Trim · Twill tape

Closures	Button · Buttonhole · Frog · Hook-and-eye · Shank · Snap · Velcro · Zipper

Materials	Bias · Yarn/Thread · Selvage · Textiles/Fabric

Tools	Bobbin · Pin · Pincushion · Pinking shears · Scissors · Seam ripper · Sewing needle · Stitching awl · Tape measure · Thimble · Tracing paper · Tracing wheel · Upholstery needle

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Categories: Parts of clothing | Sewing | Fashion design

Heirloom sewing

2009-05-20T06:38:00.001-07:00

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Heirloom sewing is a collection of needlework techniques that arose in the last quarter of the 20th century that imitates fine French hand sewing of the period 1890-1920 using a sewing machine and manufactured trims.^[1]

Heirloom sewing is characterized by fine, often sheer, usually white cotton or linen fabrics trimmed with an assortment of lace, insertions, tucks, narrow ribbon, and smocking, imitating such hand-work techniques as whitework embroidery, Broderie Anglaise, and hemstitching.

Typical projects for heirloom sewing include children's garments (especially christening gowns), women's blouses, wedding gowns, and lingerie.

[edit] Notes

^ Ahles, Carol Laflin: Fine Machine Sewing, p. 115

[edit] References

Ahles, Carol Laflin: Fine Machine Sewing Revised Edition: Easy Ways to Get the Look of Hand Finishing and Embellishing, Taunton Press, rev'd ed. 2003, ISBN 1-5615-8586-6

Pullen, Martha: French Hand Sewing by Machine: The Second Book, Martha Pullen Co (January 1985), ISBN 9-9998-4032-9

[hide] v • d • e Sewing

Techniques	Basting · Cut · Darning · Dressmaker · Embellishment · Gather · Heirloom sewing · Pleat · Ruffle · Style line · Tailor · Gore (segment)

Stitches	Backstitch · Blanket · Buttonhole · Chain stitch · Cross-stitch · Embroidery stitch · Lockstitch · Overlock · Running · Sashiko · Tack · Zigzag]

Seams	Bound · Hong Kong · Inseam · Seam allowance · Seam types

Notions	Bias tape · Interfacing · Passementerie · Pattern · Simplicity · Trim · Twill tape

Closures	Button · Buttonhole · Frog · Hook-and-eye · Shank · Snap · Velcro · Zipper

Materials	Bias · Yarn/Thread · Selvage · Textiles/Fabric

Tools	Bobbin · Pin · Pincushion · Pinking shears · Scissors · Seam ripper · Sewing needle · Stitching awl · Tape measure · Thimble · Tracing paper · Tracing wheel · Upholstery needle

Sewing machines	Bernina · Brother Industries · Feed dogs · Pfaff · Sewing machine · Singer · Tapemaster

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Gather (sewing)

2009-05-20T06:37:00.002-07:00

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Paul Revere in a shirt gathered at shoulder and cuffs, 1776.

Gathering is a sewing technique for shortening the length of a strip of fabric so that the longer piece can be attached to a shorter piece. It is commonly used in clothing to manage fullness, as when a full sleeve is attached to the armscye or cuff of a shirt, or when a skirt is attached to a bodice.

In simple gathering, parallel rows of running stitches are sewn along one edge of the fabric to be gathered. The stitching threads are then pulled or "drawn up" so that the fabric forms small folds along the threads.^[1] ^[2]

[edit] Types

Pleating or plaiting is a type of gathering in which the folds are usually larger, made by hand and pinned in place, rather than drawn up on threads, but very small pleats are often identical to evenly-spaced gathers. Pleating is mainly used to make skirts, but can have other uses.(See main article Pleat.)^[3]
Shirring or gauging is a decorative technique in which a panel of fabric is gathered with many rows of stitching across its entire length and then attached to a foundation or lining to hold the gathers in place. It is very commonly used to make larger pieces of clothing with some shape to them.^[4]

[edit] References

^ Caulfield, S.F.A. and B.C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, 1885, facsimile edition, Blaketon Hall, 1989, p. 219
^ Picken, Mary Brooks: The Fashion Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition ISBN 0308100522)
^ Caulfield and Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework
^ Caulfield and Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, p. 220

[hide] v • d • e Sewing

Techniques	Basting · Cut · Darning · Dressmaker · Embellishment · Gather · Heirloom sewing · Pleat · Ruffle · Style line · Tailor · Gore (segment)

Stitches	Backstitch · Blanket · Buttonhole · Chain stitch · Cross-stitch · Embroidery stitch · Lockstitch · Overlock · Running · Sashiko · Tack · Zigzag]

Seams	Bound · Hong Kong · Inseam · Seam allowance · Seam types

Notions	Bias tape · Interfacing · Passementerie · Pattern · Simplicity · Trim · Twill tape

Closures	Button · Buttonhole · Frog · Hook-and-eye · Shank · Snap · Velcro · Zipper

Materials	Bias · Yarn/Thread · Selvage · Textiles/Fabric

Tools	Bobbin · Pin · Pincushion · Pinking shears · Scissors · Seam ripper · Sewing needle · Stitching awl · Tape measure · Thimble · Tracing paper · Tracing wheel · Upholstery needle

Sewing machines	Bernina · Brother Industries · Feed dogs · Pfaff · Sewing machine · Singer · Tapemaster

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Embellishment

2009-05-20T06:37:00.001-07:00

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For the penalty in ice hockey, see Diving (ice hockey).

See also Ornament (music).

In sewing and crafts an embellishment is anything that adds design interest to the piece.

[edit] Common examples of embellishment in sewing and crafts

appliqué
embroidery, done either by machine or by hand
piping made from either self-fabric, contrast fabric, or a simply a cord.
trim (sewing)
lace, either pre-made or home-made
Fringe (trim)
beads
batique

Items that normally serve a function may also be used as embellishment. For example

buttons can be placed anywhere on the piece
zippers can be unzipped and be used as piping, or simply stiched on
buckles can be placed anywhere on the piece
grommets can be placed anywhere even when there is no cord is looped through them
sequins can be placed anywhere

[hide] v • d • e Sewing

Techniques	Basting · Cut · Darning · Dressmaker · Embellishment · Gather · Heirloom sewing · Pleat · Ruffle · Style line · Tailor · Gore (segment)

Stitches	Backstitch · Blanket · Buttonhole · Chain stitch · Cross-stitch · Embroidery stitch · Lockstitch · Overlock · Running · Sashiko · Tack · Zigzag]

Seams	Bound · Hong Kong · Inseam · Seam allowance · Seam types

Notions	Bias tape · Interfacing · Passementerie · Pattern · Simplicity · Trim · Twill tape

Closures	Button · Buttonhole · Frog · Hook-and-eye · Shank · Snap · Velcro · Zipper

Materials	Bias · Yarn/Thread · Selvage · Textiles/Fabric

Tools	Bobbin · Pin · Pincushion · Pinking shears · Scissors · Seam ripper · Sewing needle · Stitching awl · Tape measure · Thimble · Tracing paper · Tracing wheel · Upholstery needle

Sewing machines	Bernina · Brother Industries · Feed dogs · Pfaff · Sewing machine · Singer · Tapemaster

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Categories: Arts and crafts | Fashion design | Sewing | Textile arts stubs | Decorative arts stubs

Digitizing

Machine embroidery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] The computerized machine embroidery process

[edit] Design files

[edit] Editing designs

[edit] Loading the design

[edit] Stabilizing the fabric

[edit] Embroidering the design

[edit] Embroidery machines

[edit] Commercial and contract embroidery factories

[edit] Other supplies

[edit] Embroidery glossary

Art

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

Definition of the term

History

Art theories

Purpose of art

Non-motivated functions of art

Motivated functions of art

Classification disputes

Controversial art

Art, class and value

Forms, genres, mediums, and styles

Characteristics

Skill and craft

Value judgment

Communication

Anti-art

See also

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

Embroidery

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] Origins

[edit] Classification

[edit] Materials

[edit] Machine

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Keyboard Shortcuts For The Pen Examples

Keyboard Shortcuts For The Pen

Using Clipping Paths In Photoshop

electing Anchor Points and Modifying Paths In Photoshop

Opening and Closing Paths In Photoshop

Style line

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] See also

Ruffle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

Pleat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] Types of pleats

[edit] Modern usage

[edit] Shirts, blouses, jackets

[edit] Skirts and kilts

[edit] Trousers

[edit] Pockets

[edit] Gallery

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Heirloom sewing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

Gather (sewing)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Types