The great leader, scientist and artist of the Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci said: "Painting is the poetry that they see, and poetry is the painting that they hear." And one cannot disagree with him. True art is truly perceived comprehensively. We see, and contemplate, and hear, and in the soul we keep the works of art we like. And world masterpieces remain in our memory for many years.
Genres and types of painting
Drawing a picture, the master performs it in a certain state, a special character. The work will not turn out to be full-fledged, worthy of love and attention, if only shape and color are displayed on it. The artist is obliged to endow objects with the soul, people with charisma, a spark, maybe a secret, nature with peculiar feelings, and events with real experiences. And in this creator helps genres and types of painting. They allow you to correctly convey the mood of the era, event, fact, it is better to catch the main idea, image, landscape.
Among the main genres of art can be called such as:
- Historical - an image of facts, moments of history of different countries and eras.
- Battle - transmits battle scenes.
- Household - plots of everyday life.
- Landscape is a picture of wildlife. There are marine, mountain, fantastic, lyrical, rural, urban, space landscapes.
- Still life - illustrates inanimate objects: kitchen utensils, weapons, vegetables, fruits, plants, etc.
- A portrait is an image of a person, a group of people. Often, artists like to write self-portraits or canvases depicting their lovers.
- Animalistic - pictures about animals.
Separately, one can also distinguish a plot-thematic genre and include here works, the subject of which are myths, tales, epics, as well as paintings of everyday content.
Types of painting also imply separate forms of images. They help the artist achieve excellence in creating the canvas, tell him in which direction to move and work. The options are as follows:
- Panorama - the image of the area in a large-scale format, a general view.
- Diorama - a bent in a semicircle image of battles, spectacular events.
- Thumbnail - manuscripts, portraits.
- Monumental and decorative painting - painting on walls, panels, plafonds, etc.
- Iconography - paintings on religious subjects.
- Decorative painting - the creation of artistic scenery in the cinema and theater.
- Easel painting - in other words, paintings.
- Decorative painting of everyday objects of life.
As a rule, each master of fine arts chooses for himself one particular genre and type of painting, which is closest in spirit to him, and mainly works only in it. For example, Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (Hovhannes Gayvazyan) worked in the style of a sea landscape. Such artists are also called marinists (from "marina", which is translated from Latin as "marine").
Technicians
Painting is a certain way of plot execution, its feeling through the world of paints and strokes. And of course, such reproduction cannot be accomplished without the use of certain techniques, patterns, and rules. The very concept of "technique" in the visual arts can be defined as a set of techniques, norms and practical knowledge, with which the author most accurately, close to reality conveys the idea and plot of the picture.
The choice of painting technique depends on what type of paint, type of materials, type of canvas will be taken to create the work. Sometimes an artist can individually approach his work, take advantage of a mixture of different styles and directions. This author’s approach allows you to create truly unique works of art - world masterpieces.
Technically, several painting options are distinguished. Let's consider them in more detail.
Painting of ancient times
The history of painting begins with rock paintings of primitive man. At this time, the paintings did not differ in liveliness of the plots, in a riot of colors, but there was a peculiar emotion in them. And the plots of those years clearly inform us about the existence of life in the distant past. The lines are extremely simple, the subject is predictable, the directions are unambiguous.
In ancient times, the content of the drawings becomes more diverse, more often depict animals, different things, do whole biographies on the entire wall, especially if the pictures are created for the afterlife of the pharaohs, in whom they then very much believed. After about two thousand years, wall paintings begin to acquire paints.
Ancient painting, in particular, Old Russian, is well transmitted and preserved in old icons. They are a shrine and the best example, conveying the beauty of art from God. Their color is unique, and the purpose is perfect. Such a painting conveys the unreality of being, images and instills in man the idea of the divine principle, of the existence of ideal art, which must be followed.
The development of painting did not pass without a trace. For a long time, mankind has managed to accumulate real relics and spiritual heritage of many centuries.
Watercolor
Watercolor painting is distinguished by the brightness of colors, color purity and transparency of application to paper. Yes, it is on a paper surface that it is best to work in this fine art technique. The picture dries quickly and as a result acquires a lighter and more matte texture.
Watercolor does not allow you to achieve interesting shades when using dark, monophonic shades, but it perfectly simulates the color if layers are laid on top of one another. In this case, it turns out to find completely new, unusual options that are difficult to obtain with other artistic techniques.
Difficulties with watercolor
The difficulty of working in a technique such as watercolor painting is that it does not forgive mistakes, it does not allow improvisation with radical changes. If you didn’t like the applied tone or if you didn’t get the color you wanted, then this is unlikely to be fixed. Any attempts (washing with water, curettage, mixing with other colors) can lead to a more interesting shade, as well as to complete contamination of the picture.
Changing the location of a figure, an object, any improvement in composition in this technique is essentially impossible to do. But thanks to the quick drying of paints on paper, watercolor painting is ideal for sketching. And in terms of the image of plants, portraits, urban landscapes, it can compete with the work done by oil.
Oil
Each of the technical varieties of painting is distinguished by its specificity. This applies to both the manner of performance and the artistic transmission of the image. Oil painting is one of the most beloved techniques of many artists. It is difficult to work in it, because it requires a certain level of knowledge and experience: from the preparation of necessary items, materials to the final stage - covering the resulting painting with a protective layer of varnish.
The whole process of writing in oil is quite laborious. Regardless of which base you choose: canvas, cardboard or hardboard (fiberboard), you must first cover it with soil. It will allow you to lie down well and hold on to the paint, not to stand out from it oil. It will also give the background the desired texture and color. There are a lot of types and recipes of various soils. And each artist prefers his own, certain, to which he is accustomed and who considers it the best option.
As mentioned above, the work of oil paints takes place in several stages, and the final is the coating of the painting with varnish substances. This is done in order to protect the canvas from moisture, the appearance of cracks (mesh) and other mechanical damage. Oil painting does not tolerate work on paper, but thanks to the whole technology of applying paints it allows you to keep artwork safe and sound for centuries.
Chinese fine art
I would like to pay special attention to the era of Chinese painting, since it has a special page in the history of fine art. The eastern direction of painting has developed over more than six thousand years. Its formation was closely connected with other crafts, social changes and conditions occurring in people's lives. For example, after the introduction of Buddhism in China, religious frescoes gained great importance. During the Song Dynasty (960-1127), paintings of a historical nature became popular, including stories about everyday life. Landscape painting has established itself as an independent direction in the IV century BC. e. Images of nature were created in blue-green colors and Chinese ink. And in the ninth century, artists increasingly began to paint paintings that depicted flowers, birds, fruits, insects, fish, embodying in them their ideals and the nature of the era.
Features of Chinese painting
Traditional Chinese painting is distinguished by its special style, as well as the materials used for drawing, which, in turn, affects the methods and forms of oriental art. Firstly, Chinese painters use a special brush to create paintings. It looks like a watercolor and has a particularly sharp tip. Such a tool allows you to create sophisticated work, and, as you know, the style of calligraphy is still widely used in China. Secondly, ink is used everywhere as ink - Chinese ink (it happens that, coupled with other colors, but also used as an independent ink). This has been happening for two thousand years. It is also worth noting that before the advent of paper, they painted in China on silk. Today, modern masters of art are doing their work both on a paper basis and on a silk surface.
This is not all the technical possibilities of painting. In addition to the aforementioned, there are many others (gouache, pastel, tempera, fresco, acrylic, wax, painting on glass, porcelain, etc.), including author's versions of art.
The era of painting
Like any kind of art, painting has its own history of formation. And above all, it is characterized by different stages of development, multifaceted styles, interesting directions. Not the last role is played by the era of painting. Each of them affects not just a piece of the life of the people and not only the time of some historical events, but a lifetime! Among the most famous periods in the art of painting can be distinguished: the Renaissance and Enlightenment, the work of impressionist artists, modernism, surrealism and many, many others. In other words, painting is a graphic illustration of a certain era, a picture of life, a world view through the eyes of the artist.
The concept of "painting" literally means "to write life", to depict reality vividly, masterly, convincingly. To convey on his canvas not only every detail, any trifle, moment, but also mood, emotions, color of this or that time, style and genre of the whole work of art.