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The art of painting

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Table of contents:

1.Argument

2.Definition and short history

3.Elements,materials and techniques

4.Bibliography

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Argument

Art to me is an expression of emotions, events, feelings and words. 

Personaly, I don’t like to speak a lot and I often prefer to lock in on myself.But when I

draw or paint,all the stress and all my feelings come out and it makes me truly happy

with the final result.

Since I saw a picture of “The Baleful Head” painted by Edward Coley Burne-Jones and

I found out the story of the painting, I discovered how a canvas, some paint and few

brushes cand transpose a myth,a story or feelins into a work of art, even if it’s about “a

look that kills”.

Why I chose this topic? Because I think art is important for the thought and emotions it

can evoke, for the absolute joy it brings, for it’s diversity, because with every blank

canvas, comes a new journey.

William Butler Yeats said that “Supreme art is a traditional statement of certain heroic

and religious truth,passed on from age to age,modified by individual geniusbut never 

abandoned”.

I honestly hope it will never be abandoned.

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Definition

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium  to

a surface (support base). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but

other implements, such as knives, sponges, and airbrushes, can be used. In art, the

term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is

also used outside of art as a common trade among craftsmen and builders. Paintings

may have for their support such surfaces

as walls,paper , canvas, wood, glass, lacquer , clay, leaf , copper or concrete, and may

incorporate multiple other materials including sand, clay, paper, gold leaf as well as

objects.

Painting is a mode of creative expression, and

the forms are numerous.

 Drawing, composition or abstraction and other 

aesthetics may serve to manifest the

expressive and conceptual intention of the

practitioner. Paintings can be naturalistic and

representational (as in a still life or landscape

painting), photographic, abstract, be loaded

with narrative content, symbolism, emotion or 

be political in nature.

“The baleful head”by Edward Coley Burne-Jones

-oil on canvas-

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History

The oldest known paintings are at the Grotte Chauvet in France, claimed by some

historians to be about 32,000 years old. They are engraved and painted using red

ochre and black pigment and show horses, rhinoceros, lions, buffalo,mammoth, abstract

designs and what are possibly partial human figures. However the earliest evidence of 

the act of painting has been discovered in two rock-shelters in Arnhem Land, in northern

Australia. In the lowest layer of material at these sites there are used pieces of ochre

estimated to be 60,000 years old. Archaeologists have also found a fragment of rock

painting preserved in a limestone rock-shelter in the Kimberley region of North-Western

Australia, that is dated 40 000 years old. There are examples of cave paintings all over 

the world—in India, France, Spain, Portugal, China, Australia, etc.

In Western cultures oil painting and watercolor painting have rich and complex traditions

in style and subject matter. In the East, ink and color ink historically predominated the

choice of media with equally rich and complex traditions.

Modern and Contemporary Art has moved away from the historic value of craft and

documentation in favour of concept; this led some to say in the 1960s that painting, as a

serious art form, is dead. This has not deterred the majority of living painters from

continuing to practice painting either as whole or part of their work. The vitality and

versatility of painting in the 21st century belies the premature declarations of its demise.

In an epoch characterized by the idea of pluralism, there is no consensus as to a

representative style of the age. Important works of art continue to be made in a wide

variety of styles and aesthetic temperaments, the market place being left to judge merit.

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Elements:

Intensity

What enables painting is the perception and

representation of intensity. Every point in space

has different intensity, which can be represented in

painting by black and white and all the gray shades

between. In practice, painters can articulate

shapes by juxtaposing surfaces of different

intensity; by using just color (of the same intensity)one can only represent symbolic shapes. Thus, the basic means of painting are distinct

from ideological means, such as geometrical figures, various points of view and

organization (perspective), and symbols. For example, a painter perceives that a

particular white wall has different intensity at each point, due to shades and reflections

from nearby objects, but ideally, a white wall is still a white wall in pitch darkness. In

technical drawing, thickness of line is also ideal, demarcating ideal outlines of an object

within a perceptual frame different from the one used by painters.

Color and tone

Color and tone are the essence of painting as pitch and rhythm are of music. Color is

highly subjective, but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ 

from one culture to the next. Black is associated with mourning in the West, but in the

East, white is. Some painters, theoreticians, writers and scientists,

including Goethe, Kandinsky, and Newton, have written their owncolor theory. Moreover 

the use of language is only a generalization for a color equivalent. The word " red", for 

example, can cover a wide range of variations on the pure red of the visible spectrum of 

light. For a painter, color is not simply divided into basic and derived (complementary or 

mixed) colors (like red, blue, green, brown, etc.).

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Painters deal practically with pigments, so "blue" for a painter can be any of the blues:

phtalocyan, Paris blue, indigo, cobalt, ultramarine, and so on. Psychological, symbolical

meanings of color are not strictly speaking means of painting. Colors only add to the

potential, derived context of meanings, and because of this the perception of a painting

is highly subjective.

Rhythm

Rhythm is important in painting as well as in music. If one defines rhythm as "a pause

incorporated into a sequence", then there can be rhythm in paintings. These pauses

allow creative force to intervene and add new creations—form, melody, coloration. The

distribution of form, or any kind of information is of crucial importance in the given work

of art and it directly affects the esthetical value of that work. This is because the

esthetical value is functionality dependent, i.e. the freedom (of movement) of perception

is perceived as beauty. Free flow of energy, in art as well as in other forms of "techne",

directly contributes to the esthetical value.

Non-traditional elements

Modern artists have extended the practice of painting considerably to include, for 

example, collage, and is not painting in the strict sense. Some modern painters

incorporate different materials such as sand,cement, straw or wood for their texture.

Mixed media, in visual art, refers to

an artwork in the making of which

more than one medium has been

employed.

 

When creating a painted or 

photographed work using mixed

media it is important to choose the

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layers carefully and allow enough drying time between the layers to ensure the final

work will have integrity. If many different media are used it is equally important to

choose a sturdy foundation upon which the different layers are imposed.

A phrase sometimes used in relationship tomixed media

is, "Fat over lean." In other words: "don't start with oil paints. Plan to make them the final layer."

Many effects can be achieved by using mixed media. Found objects can be used in

conjunction with traditional artist media, such as paints and graphite, to express a

meaning in the everyday life. In this manner, many different elements of art become

more flexible than with traditional artist media.

Materials and tehniqus:

Canvas

Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-

woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and

other items for which sturdiness is required. It is

also popularly used by artists as a painting

surface, typically stretched across a wooden

frame. It is also used in such fashion objects as

handbags and shoes.

Canvas is typically stretched across a

wooden frame called astretcher , and may

be coated with gesso before it is to be

used; this is to prevent oil paint from

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coming into direct contact with the canvas fibres, which will eventually cause the canvas

to decay. A traditional and flexible chalk gesso is composed of lead carbonate and

linseed oil, applied over a rabbit skin glue ground; a variation using titanium white

pigment and calcium carbonate is rather brittle and susceptible to cracking. As lead-

based paint is poisonous, care has to be taken in using it. Various alternative and more

flexible canvas primers are commercially available, the most popular being a synthetic

latex paint composed of titanium dioxide and calcium carbonate, bound with a thermo-

plastic emulsion. Many artists have painted onto unprimed canvas, such as Jackson

Pollock,[2] Kenneth Noland, Francis Bacon,Helen Frankenthaler , Dan Christensen, Larry

Zox, Ronnie Landfield, Color Field painters, Lyrical Abstractionists and others.

Types of paint:Oil

Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium

of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as

linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were

called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body and gloss. Oil paint eventually became

the principal medium used for creating artworks as its advantages became widely

known.

Pastel

Pastel is a

painting

medium in

the form

of a stick,

consisting

of pure

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powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those

used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue

and low saturation. The color effect of pastels is closer to the natural dry pigments than

that of any other process. Because the surface of a pastel painting is fragile and easily

smudged, its preservation requires protective measures such as framing under glass; it

may also be sprayed with a fixative. Nonetheless, when made with permanent pigments

and properly cared for, a pastel painting may endure unchanged for centuries. Pastels

are not susceptible, as are paintings made with a fluid medium, to the cracking and

discoloration that result from changes in the color, opacity, or dimensions of the medium

as it dries.

Acrylic

Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension

in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-

resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is diluted (with water) or modified

with acrylic gels, media, or pastes, the finished acrylic painting can resemble

a watercolor or an oil painting, or have its own unique characteristics not attainable with

other media. The main practical difference between most acrylics and oil paints is theinherent drying time. Oils allow for more time to blend colors and apply even glazes

over under-paintings. This slow drying aspect of oil can be seen as an advantage for 

certain techniques, but in other regards it impedes the artist trying to work quickly.

Watercolor 

Watercolor is a painting method in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in

a water soluble vehicle. The traditional and most common support for watercolor 

paintings is paper.other supports include papyrus, bark papers,

plastics, vellum or leather , fabric, wood and canvas. Finger-painting with watercolor 

paints originated in China.

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Hot wax

Encaustic painting, also known as hot wax

painting, involves using heated beeswax to

which colored pigments are added. The

liquid/paste is then applied to a surface—

usually prepared wood, thoughcanvas and

other materials are often used.

Gouache

 

Gouache is a water based paint consisting of pigment and other materials designed to

be used in an opaque painting method. Gouache differs from watercolor in that the

particles are larger, the ratio of pigment to water is much higher, and an additional, inert,

white pigment such as chalk is also present. This makes gouache heavier and more

opaque, with greater reflective qualities. Like all watermedia, it is diluted with water.

Tempera

Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium

consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium (usually a

glutinous material such as egg yolk or some other size). Tempera also refers to the

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paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples

from the first centuries AD still exist. Egg tempera was a primary method of painting

until after 1500 when it was superseded by the invention of oil painting.

Spray paint

Aerosol paint (also called spray paint) is a type of paint that comes in a sealed

pressurized container and is released in a fine spray mist when depressing

a valve button. A form of spray painting, aerosolpaint leaves a smooth, evenly coated

surface. Standard sized cans are portable, inexpensive and easy to store.

Aerosol primer can be applied directly to bare metal and many plastics.

PaintbrushesPaintbrushes are used to

apply ink or paint. These brushes are

usually made by clamping the

bristles to a handle with a ferrule.

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Artists' brushes

Short handled brushes are for watercolor or ink painting while the long handled brushes

are for oil or acrylic paint.

Shapes

The styles of brush tip seen most commonly are:

• Round: pointed tip, long closely arranged bristles for detail

• Flat: for spreading paint quickly and evenly over a surface. They will have longer 

hairs than their Bright counterpart.

• Bright: shorter than flats. Flat brushes with short stiff bristles, good for driving

paint into the weave of a canvas in thinner paint applications, as well as thicker 

painting styles like impasto work.

• Filbert: flat brushes with domed ends. They allow good coverage and the ability

to perform some detail work.

• Fan: for blending broad areas of paint.

• Angle: like the filbert, these are versatile and can be applied in both general

painting application as well as some detail work.

• Mop: a larger format brush with a rounded edge for broad soft paint application

as well as for getting thinner glazes over existing drying layers of paint without

damaging lower layers.

• Rigger: round brushes with longish hairs, traditionally used for painting the

rigging in pictures of ships. They are useful for fine lines and are versatile for both

oils and watercolors.

• Stippler and deer-foot stippler : short, stubby rounds

• Liner: elongated rounds

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• Egbert

Bristles

Types include:

• watercolor brushes which are usually made of sable, synthetic sable or nylon;

• oil painting brushes which are usually made of sable or bristle;

• acrylic brushes which are almost entirely nylon or synthetic.

Handles

Artists' brush handles are commonly wooden but can also be made of molded plastic.

Many mass-produced handles are made of unfinished raw wood; better quality handles

are of seasoned hardwood. The wood is sealed and lacquered to give the handle a

high-gloss, waterproof finish that reduces soiling and swelling.

Metal ferrules may be of aluminum, nickel, copper , or nickel-plated steel. Quill ferrules

are also found: these give a different "feel" to the brush.

Bibliography:

1. Reichold Klaus and Graf Bernhard “Paintings that Changed the

World”

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2. Jennings Siomon “Collins Complete Artist’s Manual”

3. http://www.art-is-fun.com

4. http://www.wikipedia.com

5. http://emptyeasel.com