PAINTING

PAINTING Colours play an important part in our lives. They add fun and life to

it and make it beautiful and enjoyable for us. We see different shades of colours all around us in everything from

nature to the place we live and work. The best way of making use of these colours is through Painting. Painting is a mode of creative expression. It’s an art form which

gives us the freedom of expressing our thoughts on a canvas with the help of colours and a brush.

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.

HISTORY OF PAINTING The history of painting reaches back in time to artifacts from pre-

historic humans, and spans all cultures. It represents a continuous, though periodically disrupted tradition from ancient times.

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 or humans often hunting.

Until the earlier 20th century it relied on primarily representational, religious and classical motifs, after which time more purely abstract and conceptual approaches gained favour.

Each part in the world have their own style of painting. There are Eastern paintings which includes Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Philippines, etc styles of painting and the Western paintings which includes Egypt, Greece, Roman style of painting.

For in detail study of history of paintings you can visit the below link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_painting

INDIAN PAINTING HISTORY Indian painting has a very long tradition and history in Indian art.

The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of pre-historic times, the as found in places like Bhimbetka, but the paintings of the Ajanta Caves are the most significant of the few survivals.

Indian paintings from being essentially religious in purpose in the beginning, it has evolved over the years to become a fusion of various cultures and traditions.

Indian Paintings can be broadly classified as murals and miniatures. Murals are large works executed on the walls of solid structures, as in the Ajanta Caves and the Kailashnath temple. Miniature paintings are executed on a very small scale for books or albums on perishable material such as paper and cloth.

The tradition of miniature paintings was carried forward by the painters of different Rajasthani schools of painting like the Bundi, Kishangarh, Jaipur, Marwar and Mewar. Modern Indian art has seen the rise of the Bengal School of art. There are many others like Mysore, Tanjore, Madhubani paintings.

For in detail study of Indian painting history you can visit the below link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_painting

TYPES OF PAINTING There are different types of paintings depending on the medium of the

paint is, which determines the general working characteristics of the paint, such as viscosity, miscibility, solubility, drying time, etc. the types are as :

Watercolours : Watercolours are cheap so easy to explore.

They are thin transparent paints usually painted on paper. Most children can start finger paintings with watercolours.

Acrylics : Acrylics are easy to work with because they're

thicker than watercolour paints. Because they are thick,

they are easy to blend with other colours and easy to

control when painting them on a canvas. Oil : Oils are the thickest paints and easiest to control.

They take days to dry so you can work for hours to get

the images you want. Once applied to a canvas, you can

work in other colours easily, change he form and textures.

Hot Wax : Hot wax painting also known as Encaustic painting,

also known as hot wax painting, involves using heated beeswax

 to which coloured pigments are added. The liquid/paste is

then applied to a surface—usually prepared wood, though 

canvas and other materials are often used. Fresco :  Fresco is any of several related mural painting types,

done on plaster on walls or ceilings. The technique consists of

painting in pigment mixed with water on a thin layer of wet,

fresh, lime mortar plaster. Spray : Spray painting is a painting technique where a device

sprays a coating (paint, ink, varnish, etc.) through the air onto

a surface. It is typically used for covering large surfaces with an

even coating of liquid. Enamel : Enamel paint is paint that air dries to a hard, usually

glossy, finish, used for coating surfaces that are outdoors or

otherwise subject to hard wear or variations in temperature.

It is used to paint brands of higher quality, floor coatings of a

high gloss finish.

STYLES OF PAINTING Painting has colourfully captured the emotions, ideas, and perception of

the artists throughout the years and preserved up to this to provide the modern society a glimpse of what it was in the past.

Artists and painters have employed several styles of paintings to communicate their perception of the universe through their own eyes. Though these painters have different ideas and perspective to their styles and themes, it is remarkable and extraordinary to see the variety of styles in their paintings. Few of these styles of painting are :

Abstract : Abstract painting usually utilizes form and colour in

a non-figurative way and do not portray any entity or object in

the natural world. It is usually used to portray realistic forms in

a simplified manner, leaving only a reference of the original subject.  Expressionism : Expressionism is a form of subjective art in

which the artist has the propensity to twist reality for a desire

emotional effect. Expressionism often involves emotional

anguish and torment.

Landscape : Landscape meant a piece of cultivated land which

makes Landscape painting, a form of painting portraying

beautiful sceneries such as valleys, mountains, trees, forests

and rivers and that the skies most of time are included in the

scenery as well. Cubism : Cubism focuses more on the basic geometric solid of

the object. The objects are analyzed, brokenup and reassembled

in an abstracted form—instead of depicting objects from one

viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of

viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context. Portrait : A Portrait is the form of painting that highlights the

face and their expression. The idea is to capture the personality,

likeness and mood of the subject. Most portrait paintings illustrate

a person facing directly to the artist for a successful and better

connection with the viewer. 

Still Life : Still life is a type of painting that portrays inanimate

objects and subject matters such as foods, fruits, plants, rocks,

drinking glasses, cigarettes, house and several other objects. Symbolism : Symbolism style is used  to represent reality in

its gritty particularity, and to elevate the humble and the

ordinary over the ideal. This art form is more of a philosophy

than an actual. Real Life : Real Life or Realism Painting portrays the daily life

as they appear to the artists, free from interpretations. The

art form requires painting that reveals the truth and accuracy

of the subject and upholds objectivity and reality that reflected

on their paintings. Religious : Religious Paintings usually portrays Christian

religious icons such as Jesus, Virgin Mary and the saints.

It also portrays other religious gods and saint.

For more details on each style you can visit the below site:

http://www.awolbook.com/styles-of-painting/

FAMOUS PAINTINGS The best known, the most visited, the most written about,

the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the

world is Mona Lisa, portrait of a woman by the Italian artist

 Leonardo da Vinci.

The most expensive painting is The Card Players by 

Paul Cézanne, which was sold for a record price of more

than $250 million in 2011.

One of the most famous Indian Painting is Shakuntala by

Raja Ravi Varma. It’s a beautiful painting, where the gorgeous

Shankuntala is pretending to get rid of a thorn from her foot.

INDIAN PAINTERS Indian subcontinent is famous for being the home country of a large

number of exceptionally brilliant artists, including painters, writers,

singers, etc.  Indian painters have covered almost every arena revolving around

religious topics to the abstract ones. Few of the famous painters of India are :

Abanindranath Tagore : His famous paintings included ‘Bharat Mata’, ‘The Fairyland illustration’, ‘Passing of Shah Jahan’, etc.

Raja Ravi Varma :  He is known for his amazing paintings, which revolve mainly around the great epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana. The most famous one being ‘Shakuntala’.

Hemen Majumdar : His famous paintings included ‘Lady with lamb’ portraying the loneliness of a woman and other one which portrays spinning of thread by Mahatma Gandhi named ‘Cure of all ills’.

Jamini Roy : He chose themes from daily life of rural Bengal and also religious themes like Sri Chaitanya, Ramayana, Jesus Christ, RadhaKrishna etc, but he presented them without any narrative.

M.F. Hussain : He is one of the most famous artists of India, both at the national as well as the international level. ‘The Horses series’ is one of his most famous painting.

PAINTING FOR KIDS Kids painting is a happy sight !!  Painting is a great activity for child

development as well. When they paint, children are able to experiment and express themselves, which is definitely good for them.

There are so many different options available for kids to paint. They can use traditional paint, use paint in bottles to apply to paper, let them paint with glitter, or even go with fun finger paints or bath paints.

Some benefits which a kid can get through painting are they can use it for learning letters with the help of colours , it also develops the hand-eye coordination of a child, they also learn about different shapes and work with curved shapes and lines, they get to learn about different colour materials and textures.

Painting makes a great activity for child development, so it should be taken up as regular activity in schools and children should be encouraged to per sue painting as a hobby.

Children if interested can also give Elementary/Intermediate drawing grade examination which contains different styles of painting to be presented. This is mainly to encourage the art education among children.

PAINTING SCHOOLS Painting can be also be taken up as a career. A career in art is not

limited to being a painter of canvases which get framed and sold in a gallery. Behind every piece of art in a newspaper, magazine, book, poster, and leaflet there’s a graphic or commercial artist usually a team.

There are different art schools where you can learn painting and a take a degree or a diploma like New York academy of art , Royal College of Art William Rothenstein, London etc. For in detail information on different art schools available abroad you can visit the below site :

http://www.artschools.com/ As India itself has a great history in paintings there are lots of painting

schools in India. Bengal school of art is the among the oldest school. Depending on the painting type there are several schools spread across India. For detail of all the schools you can visit the below site :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Schools_of_Indian_painting There are different art schools also in India where you can use your

painting talent and creativity in other fields of fine arts. The detail information on different fine art schools in India is on below site :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Art_schools_in_India

CONCLUSION From ancient to modern times, Paintings have successfully

chronicled the history of man, starting from the cavemen up to the modern and sophisticated people of today. It has colourfully captured the emotions, ideas, and perception of the artists throughout the years and preserved up to this to provide the modern society a glimpse of what it was in the past.

Painting helps us to express what our heart feels, and if you are depressed it will help you to feel relaxed. It also improves our creativity which could be used in all aspects of life to make it more beautiful.

Painting can be taken up as a hobby or as a career option also. Other them putting up paintings in galleries and being a art teacher there are other options out there like designing book, magazine, landscape etc.

So just start painting from today itself !!

It just requires paper, colours and a brush..

You can also portray your creativity on glass, or a vase, or wooden frame and you can be creative with it.