Painting is the art of applying paint or another medium to a solid surface, usually canvas, for the purpose of conveying an idea, emotion or narrative. It involves the use of color, line and texture to create a sense of volume and movement on flat surfaces. It is an expressive language that allows artists to represent real or supernatural phenomena, interpret a theme, or create wholly abstract visual relationships.
In its earliest forms, painting was primarily instructional and designed to communicate a specific idea or story. As the tools available to painters advanced, the subject matter and style of paintings diversified. Paintings migrated from cave walls onto wood, paper and other surfaces, and became decorative rather than instructional in nature. It was at this point that the concept of painting as an art form was born.
Some early paintings were intended to be realistic representations of the world around them. Others, like Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, aimed to capture the essence of a subject through the use of certain aesthetic qualities. In the 18th and 19th centuries, philosophers and artists debated the concept of beauty in relation to art. Classical philosophers such as Plato dismissed painters as craftsmen, while modernist thinkers like Kant and Hegel argued that painting was a way to express ideas and emotions through the use of colour, line and texture.
Vermeer used many techniques in his painting, including linear perspective to create an illusion of depth, and he also utilized a pinprick as the vanishing point for Clio’s book. He also displayed a strong sense of symbolism, and the painting has a general feeling of serenity and calmness.
In the 1950s, the era of abstract art saw a shift away from realism and the embrace of a subjective concept of beauty. Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings, for example, may look a mess to some, but they hold your attention with their kinetic energy and abstract composition. Other painters, such as Mark Rothko, reduced the subject to its basic elements, eliminating any specific imagery or shapes and creating a more fluid color-field composition.
Whether a painter is using a traditional or unconventional method, it is important to have a foundation in the fundamentals of painting. This will help them to develop their own unique style. Those new to the field of painting should start by learning about the most common painting styles and techniques. These include pouring, in which liquid paints are poured onto the surface, and reverse painting, in which a coat of paint is applied to the back side of a translucent or transparent material, resulting in a mirror image when viewed from the front. In addition, sgraffito and grattage are both processes of scratching through layers of dry paint to reveal or add textured effects. Other painting techniques include stippling, in which small dots are made with a brush or other tool. There are countless ways to create beautiful paintings, and the definition of art will continue to evolve and change with the times as artists explore and innovate.