Painting is an art form that involves applying pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface with the use of a brush or other implement. The visual art painting can express certain emotions and ideas or may represent real experiences. The technique of painting, the choice of materials and the subject matter come together to create a unique artistic expression. The artist who produces a painting is known as a painter.
In modern times, the medium used for painting has expanded to include a wide variety of options including oil paints, acrylics, water-based paints, gouache, ink and more. The style of the painting can be realism, abstract or impressionistic. The subject matter can be anything from a still life to a landscape or a portrait.
Throughout history, the art of painting has developed along with technological advancements and changes in social conventions and world events. These factors have helped influenced the painting styles that are now available to artists.
Painting has been around for thousands of years and is characterized by its ability to capture an image and convey an emotion. Cave paintings and drawings have been discovered all over the world, showing that humans have a desire to express themselves in some fashion. Modern painting is a multi-step process that often requires the artist to wait for layers to dry in order to progress to the next stage. The multi-step process has also been a result of the difficulty of achieving the proper balance between a painted object and its surroundings.
The first step in a painting is usually to lay down a base of colors and shapes. This can be done by using broad strokes of a single color to set up the composition and establish relationships. Then, additional layers can be added with other colors. This method allows the painters to control the way that light will hit the surface of their painting, which can add or subtract depth and a sense of dimension.
Many painters will use a palette that contains all of the pigments that are likely to be included in the finished painting. This helps the artist to see the painting as a unified whole and allows for experimentation and improvisation. Earlier cultural traditions of tribes, religions, guilds and royal courts largely controlled the craft of painting and determined its function, which was usually ceremonial, devotional, decorative, entertaining or educational.
In later periods, the techniques of a painting were more open to individual interpretation and the influence of other cultures. This led to the development of a more personal, if not always amicable relationship between the artists and patrons. Painters were now able to establish their own ideals and artistic vision as they chose the techniques and working methods that best suited their temperaments.
For example, a medieval European illuminator’s painstaking procedure of gradual illumination might have been contrasted with the Song Chinese Chan (Zen) practice of immediate, calligraphic brush painting after a contemplative period of spiritual self-preparation. Then, as trade routes opened up and new synthetic pigments became available, the range of colors that could be obtained by combining pigments began to expand. Eventually, the ability to achieve certain intense hues such as cinnabar (orange-red vermilion) and lapis lazuli (violet blue ultramarine) made them desirable as focal accents and important symbolic features of the painting design.