Final answer:
The most commonly used element to create walls or divisions in theater is a soft-covered flat, whereas a hard-covered flat uses wood. Artists have utilized various materials for painting and creating illusions through different periods, including wood panels, frescos, and canvas with gesso on wooden frames.
Step-by-step explanation:
To create walls or divisions, the most commonly used element is a soft-covered flat – a canvas over a wood frame. A hard-covered flat uses a piece of wood instead of fabric. All flats are then painted according to the needs of the production design.
Throughout history, surfaces such as wood panels and fresco have been employed for painting by artists. These methods have paved the way for diverse artistic expressions including panel painting, mosaic, and color-field painting. Panel painting, for instance, involved painting on flat panels of wood and was prevalent in ancient times, though many of these works have not survived due to their organic materials.
The tradition has evolved as artists began using canvas stretched over wooden bars sealed with gesso to create a stable painting surface. This new substrate made of woven cotton sealed with gesso has been a staple for artists, like those during the Baroque period who used Italian Gesso to protect their oil paintings.
In the realm of decorations and creating the illusion of depth, techniques such as the Second Style of wall painting from ancient Rome attempted to manipulate the viewer's perspective by painting illusionistic images that mimicked the look of an open window. Additionally, large folding screens, decorated with scenes and bold colors, were used in architecture to divide spaces and adorn walls.