acrylic painting essay

Acrylic Painting Techniques: 19 Techniques to Improve Your Skills

Use these acrylic painting techniques to improve your art and elevate the appearance of your acrylic paintings.

For many of these techniques, you’ll only need your tube paint and brushes. But for some of the more advanced techniques, you may need extra mediums and slightly different tools such as softer brushes.

Learn how to make your acrylic paintings look more professional and achieve specific effects using these techniques.

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Acrylic painting techniques

For each technique, I’ll run through the supplies you need and how to try the technique yourself.

Create texture with the impasto acrylic painting technique

Impasto is an incredibly fun technique that artists use to create vibrant works with depth and texture.

What supplies do you need for the impasto technique using acrylic paint?

To create texture with acrylic paint, you don’t need too many extra supplies. All you really need is heavy body paint and stiff brushes. You won’t need to add any water to the paint mix.

Golden’s Heavy Body paint is high quality, highly pigmented, has a thick texture and retains brush strokes on the canvas. 

When choosing a brush for the impasto technique, choose one that is stiff but springy. These Princeton Catalyst brushes emulate the stiff properties of hog hair, making it feel easy to move thick paint.

To add to the body of paint, or make it more thick and three dimensional in appearance, look at the Liquitex Modelling Paste . Apply thick paint with a palette knife , stiff brush or a silicone catalyst wedge .

How to paint with the impasto technique

To paint with the impasto technique, first think of how you will approach the painting.

One approach is layering texture, waiting for paint applications to dry in between. This way you can create depth and variety by using different colours layered on top of one another. By layering broken brush strokes on top of previous dried layers, the colours from the previous layers of the painting can shine through.

Think about the brush strokes and marks you’re making. Will you use short sharp strokes like Monet and Van Gogh, or pile the paint on creating almost sculptural pieces?

If you want to create vibrant colour combinations, you could even think about mixing the colour on the canvas, as opposed to mixing it on the palette first. Monet was famed for using colours straight from the tube and mixing them on the canvas. When looking at your reference, look for underlying colours and tones that you could incorporate into the painting.

For a more in depth look at this technique, with tips on choosing a subject and planning composition, refer to our impasto tutorial .

Artists who want to seamlessly blend colours onto their canvas usually gravitate towards oil paint due to its slow drying nature. However, it’s possible to increase the open working time of acrylic paint.

Use Golden Open Acrylic paints , as these dry at the same rate as oil paints (around 1-2 days). If you already have a set of acrylic paints, then you could extend their open working time with a medium. Any of the Golden Open Mediums will make paint dry slower.

Softer brushes are best for blending paint. If you use soft body acrylic paint , get an extra soft brush to blend colours together. The Da Vinci Casaneo in the square shape would work perfectly for this. A large slightly springier brush like the Isacryl brush in the flat or filbert shape would blend slightly thicker paint better.

For a more in depth look at how to blend acrylics and step by step guides using two different blending methods, take a look at our blending acrylic paint tutorial .

Alla Prima (wet on wet) with acrylic paint

Alla prima is the technique of applying layers of paint on top of wet layers. The painting, or section of the painting should be finished before the first application of paint dries.

It’s a fast, fun and spontaneous way of painting, that can yield gestural and textural results. Colours swirl together, appearing loose and painterly.

A drawback of acrylic paint that makes it difficult to use the alla prima technique is its fast drying nature. If you want to try painting wet on wet, you will need a slow drying medium , or to use Golden Open Acrylics . The slower the paint dries, the better. As it will give you longer to complete the painting. I also recommend using stiff brushes , especially in later stages of the painting as you will have to increase the thickness of paint in consecutive layers.

Start by blocking in colours, or by creating an underdrawing. Then layer paint onto the canvas in the colours that you see in your reference. Gradually increase the thickness of the paint as you apply more layers. The thickest and lightest highlights should be applied last.

If you make a mistake, scrape the paint away with a palette knife . Paint can be applied to your surface with a stiff brush, a palette knife or catalyst wedge.

Check out our alla prima painting guide to learn this technique in more detail.

Acrylic painting in layers

This is an approach to acrylic painting that goes hand in hand with blocking in, underpainting and glazing. 

Acrylic paint dries fast, so it’s possible to create works with hard edges with relative speed. Increase the open working time of paint to create blended layers with a fluid retarder . By combining these techniques, creating layered pieces with a variety of hard and blended edges, you can create realistic looking artworks.

Blocking in acrylic painting technique

The only supplies you need for this technique are tube paint and a medium stiff brush . You can optionally thin your tube acrylic paint with water to make it runny in texture. 

Blocking in an acrylic painting forms the first stage of the painting process. The purpose of this technique is to cover the canvas, so the white of the gesso ground isn’t visible. Block in basic shapes of colours you see in your reference. 

For example, if you’re painting a mountain scene, a distant mountain may appear broadly blue-grey in tone with light grey highlights where snow is reflecting light. For the blocking in stage, you would paint the blue-grey colours. Then wait for it to dry and layer the lighter highlights on tops.

To be successful at using this technique, you’ll have to think of your painting in layers. You’ll have to see these layers in your painting reference. 

For a more detailed tutorial, check out our blocking in technique guide .

Underpainting

The underpainting technique can be used with oil and acrylic paint. 

The purpose of this technique is to create a monochromatic layer. Spread a layer of paint thinned with water evenly over the surface. This type of underpainting method is called a toned ground or imprimatura. It works well with transparent earth colours like burnt umber or burnt sienna. It functions to create a mid toned ground, which helps artists establish value relationships between colours more easily.

Another underpainting method is using a colour like burnt umber and titanium white to create a tonal underpainting. Establish the values, form and composition of a piece. Colour layers are then applied on top in glazes or opaque layers.

To learn more about this technique, read our underpainting tutoria l . It’s aimed at oil painters but all the techniques can be applied to acrylic painting.

Glazing acrylic paint

Glazing is the technique of applying transparent colours on top of one another to alter the colour profile of previous layers. This is a slightly more advanced technique than the previous two and can take some practice to master. It’s a famous technique in oil painting, used by old masters such as Rembrandt. This technique enabled artists to create detailed and realistic paintings.

There are many ways of using this technique. For example, change the colour temperature of a section of your painting to warm or cool. Apply a glaze over the entire painting to create a more unified appearance (almost like adding a filter to your painting). Use a glaze to deepen shadows or increase colour contrasts.

This technique is also useful for painting subtle shifts in skin tone. Burnt umber works wonderfully in shadows in portraits.

You could also use this technique to render details in a portrait. For example, use the transparency of the glaze to paint almost imperceptible pores on the skin, or fine wisps of hair. 

As you can imagine, to paint such fine layers, you’ll need a medium to make paint runny and transparent. This glazing medium by Winsor & Newton increases the transparency and fluidity of the paint layer. It also strengthens the paint film. You’ll also need soft body acrylic paint, from a professional brand, like Golden’s Fluid Acrylic paints . Look out for colours that are transparent or semi transparent. Information about pigment transparency will be on the paint tube, or on the website. Another tool you will need to paint glazes is a soft brush. Isabey Isacryl brushes are soft, but are also springy.

Apply colour to the surface without wetting the brush first. Wipe excess paint on a paper towel and create marks on your canvas. This technique can emulate the effects of charcoal and create dry, broken texture that lends itself to portrait painting.

Paint can be thinned with water to create washes that look similar to ink. Wet your brush, dip into the acrylic paint colour and spread evenly across the surface. This technique works well with slightly softer brushes like Isabey Isacryl . 

Pouring acrylic paint

Pouring acrylic paint onto a surface is an incredibly satisfying technique to try, that can yield beautifully organic yet intricate looking results.

To create pour paintings, you’ll need a few different pour painting supplies . This includes Fluid Acrylic Paints and a pouring medium . Get cups, gloves, mixers and pouring strainers in this set . To achieve cells , you’ll need to mix a few drops of silicone oil in each colour cup. Then use a heat gun once poured onto the canvas to get rid of air bubbles. There are a multitude of different acrylic pouring techniques you can use, like dirty pour , flip cup , swiping and more!

Mix one colour per cup with the pour medium. You should read up on the ratio of medium to paint to use, find it on the pouring medium product page. For example, Schmincke specify to use their medium at any ratio up to 45% acrylic colour. Mix the medium with the paint in each cup using a stir stick. Then layer paint by pouring the individual cups one by one into a clean cup. Tip the cup with all the paint upside down onto the canvas. Then use the heat gun to get rid of bubbles.

For a more in depth tutorial, check out this beginner’s guide to acrylic pouring . If you want to find the best pouring mediums and paints for fluid art , check out our guide.

Airbrushing is a technique that can be used with Fluid Acrylic paint . You’ll also need an airbrush tool to spray paint onto canvas or paper. Use a medium, like Golden’s Airbrush Medium to reduce the viscosity of the paint.

Airbrush is an art in itself, the thin viscosity of Fluid Acrylic paint means it won’t clog in the airbrush tool. It’s recommended to use a nozzle of .2mm or higher and paint can be sprayed through an airbrush at 25-50 p.s.i.

The technique of airbrushing gives the artist superior control over the paint and ability to create subtle colour gradations. This technique allows artists to create realistic works and render fine details.

Other mark making and brushwork techniques

Apply paint in splatters.

Liquitex splatter brushes are made for this technique! The long bristles enable you to create unique splatter patterns.

To create splatter effects on the canvas, you’ll need a stiff brush with long bristles (like the Liquitex brush) and soft body acrylic paint . Wear some gloves and cover your work surface, as it can get messy. Pull the bristles back with your fingers, then release onto your surface. Or you could flick the brush itself. Use this technique to create abstract pieces, stars, or ocean foam.

Jackson Pollock would use a number of different tools and mark making techniques such as paint splatter in his abstract expressionist pieces.

Sgraffito is the technique of scratching into wet paint so that colours are revealed from layers beneath. Create patterns in the wet paint by scratching with the end of a brush or a palette knife. 

Use this technique in portraiture by creating a toned underpainting in a transparent earth colour like burnt umber and scratch off highlights in the hair. Rembrandt used this technique to reveal highlights on strands of hair in his self portrait.

Create three dimensional works

By incorporating modelling paste in the paint mixture, you can create sculptural, three dimensional works. It improves the adhesion of paint layers, so it can also be applied on its own before acrylic paint is layered onto the canvas. One way of using the medium is to create volume and structure on the canvas, then paint on top of it.

Add texture to the paint with dry additives

Add dry mediums such as marble dust or mica flakes to acrylic paint gel medium or to the paint itself. Dry mediums all have their own individual properties. Mica flakes will provide opalescent and iridescent effects. Add mica flakes to transparent mediums like acrylic paint gel for the best effects. Equally, mica flakes can be sprinkled on top of a wet paint film to make a painting sparkle.

Dabbing with a sponge

Using a sponge to apply paint can yield some varied effects. If you want to create a texture appearance, dab a dry sponge loaded with thick paint onto your canvas. You will create peaks of paint with broken almost grainy appearing texture. If you wet the sponge and use fluid paint , you can create a soft blended appearance. 

Stippling is the art of dotting paint onto the canvas. This is a technique commonly used with pencil medium. Get a round brush with short hair, an old worn down brush works well with this technique. Use the dotting action, with dots closer together in areas you want to appear shaded. 

Mix colours on the canvas

Mix colours directly on the canvas instead of on the palette. Monet was famed for doing this. This technique can create vibrant and varied areas of colour. Colours are mixed together and therefore the pigments appear purer than if they were combined. Use a palette knife on the canvas for the best mixing results.

Scrape paint

Use this technique in abstract painting. Layer on colour, then use a Catalyst Wedge tool to remove paint from the surface. You’ll be left with a thin, mixed layer of transparent paint. Play around with this technique and colours until you achieve the desired effect. 

Acrylic painting techniques for beginners

The impasto technique is a perfect for beginners to experiment with. It’s fun, and feels immediate and spontaneous. Thick texture adds a new dimension to artwork. For beginners, I would recommend sketching out your painting first so you know how the different elements are going to fit together. Then mix all your colours before you start applying paint. Get a stay wet palette to keep colours wet for longer.

All other techniques on this list would be suitable for beginners to get started with, however glazing and alla prima may take some practice to master. If you’re interested in learning how to acrylic paint from scratch, check out our list of the best acrylic painting tutorials .

Acrylic painting techniques: Pin it!

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Essays on Acrylic Paint

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Modern materials: plastics.

Wild Emperor

Anselm Kiefer

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Willem de Kooning

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Isamu Noguchi

Jackson Pollock

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Charles Biederman

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Mark Rothko

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Faith Ringgold

David Smith

Morris Louis

Richard Hamilton

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Agnes Denes

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Rachel Mustalish Sherman Fairchild Center for Works on Paper and Photograph Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2004

The development of plastics from the mid-nineteenth century to the present has profoundly changed the materials of our physical world. As plastics inundated the home, workplace, and every industry and profession, they also found their place as a material for the creation of art.

Plastic has become a general term for synthetic materials that, as their name connotes, can be bent, molded, or formed into any shape, be it rigid, flexible, or liquid. The earliest plastics were actually modifications of natural materials. Horn, amber, shellac, and tortoiseshell can all be manipulated into forms by heating. In the nineteenth century, the world of synthetic chemistry began to boom, resulting in the new technologies of the chemical, dye, paper, and textile industries.

Cellulose Plastics One of the first plastics manufactured, discovered in 1856 and refined in 1877, was cellulose nitrate, also known as Celluloid. It was made from chemically treated cotton and was easily molded into a myriad of shapes, from billiard balls to false teeth. Cellulose nitrate was so versatile that it also became a material for replicating tortoiseshell, ivory, and horn for the numerous mass-produced items that were being offered to the public through new institutions such as the department store and the mail-order catalogue. Additionally, cellulose nitrate was the first flexible transparent sheet for photographic negatives and movie film. This wonderfully adaptable material did have some problems: it yellowed, cracked, and soon after creation became highly flammable.

The demand for mass-produced items at an affordable price drove plastics industry innovations and the invention of a plethora of new materials and uses. One such material is cellulose acetate, a cotton-based synthetic plastic that was marketed as Secoid in the early twentieth century. It was tough and had a rich gloss, high transparence, and good hand feel. For these reasons, it was often used to make items that were frequently handled or had a preciousness about them, such as a lustrous red box by Lalique ( 24.145.3ab ) Cellulose acetate was also adopted by the burgeoning movie industry as a film that did not “ignite” and therefore was called “safety film.” Another important solid plastic was Bakelite (phenolic resin), introduced into popular use in the 1920s for radios ( 2000.600.14 ), handbags, and jewelry and other small objects. The twentieth century, particularly from 1935 on, saw the invention of Styrofoam, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), acrylic, polyurethane, epoxy, cellophane, nylon, and synthetic rubber and textile fibers.

Solid Plastic as a “Drawing” Medium As early as 1938, artist Charles Biederman used plastic sheeting to create the planar forms of his work New York, Number 18 ( 1980.419 ). This shallow relief uses plastic as the main medium. The shot of yellow from the dyed plastic illustrates the capacity of plastics to have bright intense colors even when transparent.

British artist Richard Hamilton (1922–2011) and the Independent Group advocated the use of modern media to create modern art. This group was formed in 1952, not coincidentally around the time when synthetic paints began to replace traditional household paints in the United Kingdom. Hamilton expanded his use of synthetic media in his subsequent prints, drawings, and paintings. In Palindrome ( 2000.382 ), however, he used plastic as plastic (not as a paint coating or substitute for a natural material) as the principal “medium.” Palindrome is made from a sheet of lenticular plastic laminated onto a print . Lenticular plastic is designed with a precise parallel array of lenticules or lenses. Each lens is capable of magnifying the image aligned below it. This allows a viewer, by a slight shift in position, to see another image. You see the artist, you see the artist looking in a mirror; he uses the technology of the plastic to amplify the idea of simultaneous seeing. Plastics are also used in the work of Agnes Denes ( 1983.501.3 ), where the clear and glossy properties of the overlaid sheet become integral to the multilayered drawing.

Plastics as Paint In the early twentieth century, hard plastic materials were also chemically manipulated to create paints and coatings. The industrial demand was great and the scarcity of raw materials made synthetic alternatives very attractive. Early synthetic paints were made from either cellulose nitrate or by adding alkyds to traditional oil paints. These new paints are often called lacquer or enamel. Ripolin was one of the first brands of these synthetic paints and was used by Pablo Picasso ( 1996.403.1 ). These paints had faster drying times than traditional oil paint and could be used with oil and oil mixtures. At the time, this was important to the paint industry and artists alike. Painters knew how to work with oil paints and could predict their behavior. A synthetic paint that could simulate oil was a selling point during the early development of plastic paints.

Industrial Paints In the United States, synthetic paints began to replace natural materials in household paints in the 1930s. Artists at this time also migrated toward these materials. They were cheaper and more readily available, especially during World War II, when natural raw materials were difficult to obtain. They also appealed to artists who wanted to experiment with nontraditional materials to create nontraditional art. David Alfaro Siqueiros, Franz Kline, and Willem de Kooning ( 1984.613.7 ) were some of the artists who turned to industrial paints in the creation of their works. In Jackson Pollock’s ink and enamel drawing of about 1948–49 ( 1982.147.27 ), the red synthetic paint has a raised body and shiny appearance. The physical characteristics of this synthetic paint, which allow it to flow and drip, are integral to Pollock’s unconventional methods. This paint can capture movement and gesture, from the finest line to the largest blobs, reflecting the speed and angle of application.

Cellulose nitrate-based paints were particularly well suited to spray application. In David Smith’s DS 1958 of 1958 ( 1994.399 ), a preparatory drawing for a sculpture, the artist sprayed several colors, including a metallic copper paint, over partially masked paper to delineate the forms of the sculpture. The cellulose nitrate paint is rich in color, both transparent and opaque, and also relates to the type of paint Smith sometimes used to coat his large metal structures.

Acrylics for Artists The development of acrylic paints specifically for artists by Bocour Colors in the late 1940s and early ’50s was one of the most significant innovations in artists’ materials. These first paints were acrylic resin solutions. Marketed as Magna, these highly pigmented paints, which could be thinned with turpentine and used with oils, made them immediately attractive to modern artists such as Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, and Roy Lichtenstein. Louis, a close collaborator in the development of Magna color, used it to create the strong colored stripes of his painting Alpha-Pi ( 67.232 ). The complete saturation of the unprimed canvas with the pure, high-tone color in thin transparent washes was only achievable with the new synthetic paint, an acrylic resin solution. Mark Rothko also used these paints. Like Louis, he experimented with this medium and was able to achieve matte, near-powdery surfaces with very strong saturated color ( 1985.63.5 ).

In the mid-1950s, acrylic emulsion paints, often referred to as “acrylics,” were also being developed and marketed to contemporary artists. Andy Warhol and Helen Frankenthaler were among the first artists to use this new medium. Like other successful synthetic media, acrylics are highly versatile in terms of texture, gloss, and thickness. They can be diluted in water instead of turpentine or paint thinner, they dry very quickly, and, unlike Magna color, they do not resolublize with the addition of other layers of acrylic. This allows the artist to paint layer upon layer without disturbing the previously applied paint. Acrylics also cause less change to paper and textiles, giving the artist more freedom in choosing supports for the work of art.

Acrylic paint can be diluted or used in a highly viscous form to create heavy amounts of impasto. Lee Krasner’s drawing Night Creatures from 1965 ( 1995.595 ) illustrates the rich color and thick impasto obtained with acrylic paints. Anselm Kiefer also explored the structural quality achievable with acrylics by using a synthetic gesso (a layer put down on canvas before painting, often called primer) to make the large, high-peaked mountain in the center of his 1975 work Wild Emperor ( 1995.14.11 ). This gessoed area in high relief is chalky rather than glossy, holds its peaks, and remains compatible with the watercolor .

Faith Ringgold’s 1990 drawing Freedom of Speech ( 2001.288 ) shows a variety of effects in a single work. Some of the lettering is raised and shiny, while other areas are a pale wash of matte color. The degree of gloss varies from section to section. The layered colors retain their vividness and purity. Ringgold’s work illustrates the adaptability of acrylic paints as she used them to create her paintings, drawings, and textile quilts.

Although developed in the mid-nineteenth century for commercial purposes, it is the twentieth-century artist who has adopted plastics as an art material. Plastics in all forms are being developed and will continue to find their way into works of art in unique and varied methods.

Mustalish, Rachel. “Modern Materials: Plastics.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mome/hd_mome.htm (October 2004)

Further Reading

Crook, Jo, and Tom Learner. The Impact of Modern Paints . London: Tate Gallery Publishing, 2000.

Morgan, John. Conservation of Plastics: An Introduction to Their History, Manufacture, Deterioration, Identification, and Care . London: Plastics Historical Society and the Conservation Unit of the Museums & Galleries Commission, 1991.

Quye, Anita, and Colin Williamson, eds. Plastics: Collecting and Conserving . Edinburgh: NMS, 1999.

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Essay Samples on Art

While it may seem easy to compose essays about art, it’s not really so because you have to offer background information in your introduction part and explain why some exhibition or a school of thought is important. This should go to your first paragraph because your purpose is to inspire your readers and provide enough background information. When you already have a prompt that must be followed, determine what kind of essay must be written. It can be a descriptive essay, which is great for a description of the works of art or photography. Some other cases may require working with an explanatory tone where you have to explain why an artist has chosen certain palettes or what has been an inspiration. See various free art essay examples below for inspiration. It also helps to learn how to structure your writing and implement quotes or footnotes that are used to highlight the images. Remember to focus on the ways how to cite images and multimedia elements, depending on the chosen style. Your writing should address every image that you have by checking twice with the grading rubric to ensure that you use the sources that may have already been specified.

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Peter Doig is a contemporary Scottish artist I found that peaked my interest from his art work to his personal life. I’d like to start off by giving a brief background of the artist seeing that a lot of his work is landscapes from where...

• Contemporary Art

Being an Artist: My Passion, Place of Freedom and Courage

I remember constantly wondering if there was a way that I could make my life meaningful or if it even had meaning. I was just a thirteen year old starting to figure out her own self. My life revolved around wanting to please the people...

• About Myself

Sculpture From Dura Europas: the Head of a Bearded God

One of the artworks in the Yale art gallery is the Head of a Bearded God. This sculpture of bearded man that looks old and wise. This piece has curly hair, bushy eyebrows, and very wide/big eyes. The piece is is classified as a sculpture,...

Kashimiri Papier Mache Art: a Unique Dying Art Form

Kashmir has been wrought in conflict and upheaval for decades now, but its wonderful valleys give us a unique gift of native craftsmanship – Papier Mache art. Kashmir’s rich cultural past is often overlooked due to its troublesome political past. Its handicrafts and shawls (from...

The Art of the Meddah: Exploring Turkish Forms of Storytelling

Culture is the conglomeration of the beliefs and art forms of societiesm across places, along a long-time frame. And quite evidently, the Republic of Turkey has an extremely long history and a resultantly rich diversity in its culture. Throughout its history, the Turkish land was...

The Way Technologies Transform Already Existing Art Forms

Compelling games are not the consequences of accidents, any more than are riveting novels, movies, or music. Creators for all these medias draw on well-established set of strategies and techniques to create a particular emotional experience. Musicians, for example, may create tension through reiteration and...

How Shemistry Influenced the History and Presentation of Art

Chemistry is everywhere in our life. Of course, chemistry is also closely related to art. There are many forms of art, such as oil painting, gouache, watercolor and so on. These painting forms are inseparable from products such as pigments and watercolors, which are based...

Critical Understanding of the Sculptural Art of Alexander Calder

Calder was an American sculptor from Pennsylvania. His father, Alexander Stirling Calder was a sculptor and his mother a painter. Him and his family were constantly on the move around the country throughout Calder’s childhood due to his dads work. And through this Calder was...

Discussion on the Relationship Between Intelligence and Creativity

The relationship between intelligence and creativity has been subjected to research for many years. Unfortunately, there is yet no consensus on how these constructs are related. The connection between intelligence and creativity is that they are functions of the brain that handle data to determine...

• Intelligence

Do Schools Kill Creativity: the Issues of Music Education

In the TEDx video entitled, 'Do schools kill creativity?' Sir Ken Robinson discusses what he believes to be the main problem with our education system, providing a series of funny anecdotes and facts appropriate for his argument. After watching this video about 'Do schools kill...

Creative and Critical Thinking: Combining the Achievements of Thought

Creative, one word that can be interpreted in many ways whether in thoughts which is include ways of thinking and actions and also in verbal form. Critical, on the other side refers to the ability to analyse information objectively and make a reasoned judgment. It...

• Critical Thinking

Culture, Art and Creativity: the Way They Are Related

Art is a reflection of your thinking, your ideas, and your surroundings, the artist adopts his or her surroundings and then by using their imagination, outside thinking and their perspective they present a new face of it in front of the world. Art and creativity...

• Cultural Anthropology

Accessing the World of Theatre: Musicals and Music Theatre

Goodwin (2019) states music theatre is a type of stage performance using music from various forms such as ballets, operas, cabarets, and contemporary music. Musical theatre uses different techniques (e.g. music, dance, songs, acting as well as spoken dialogue) to tell a story to the...

Drawing for Architecture: A Key to Understanding Complex Designs

Architecture the word from Latin is called “architectura” originally from the Greek “arkhitekton”. Architectural drawing has never been taken for granted. All things we design and sketch are from our thinking to our hands. Therefore, drawings are the main development to architectural projects. When designing,...

Architecture: Bridging Vision into Reality

Architecture can be defined in various ways, but if I were to define it, I would simply use these following words, ‘Architecture is an abstract language that bridges a vision into reality.’ I think everyone would agree that architecture is best paired with great effort...

• Interior Design

The Development of Nationalism & Regionalism in Australian Architecture

Introduction From the 1880s, “nationalism” and “regionalism” had been started to be two of the keywords on the Australian development of architecture. These two words point toward the nation’s sake of rejecting foreign architectural approaches and seeking of the local architectural characteristics in Australia. During...

• Modern Architecture

Architecture: A Means to Improve People's Quality of Life

Introduction  “Architecture is about finding imaginative, creative solutions to improving people’s quality of life.” - Alejandro Aravena Architecture was born approach back in the prehistoric age, once the first man determined to come back up with shelters made up of twigs and bones. architecture isn't...

• Quality of Life

Architecture and its Role in Nation Building: A Critical Review

Brief introduction on architecture and how its spaces are perceived The universal definition of architecture as a synthesis of ‘art’ and ‘science’ is inadequate in the present democratic, globalized, and information world of the 21st century. Many modern good-looking buildings with sound structures have been...

Romanticism Paintings Analysis: The Raft of Medusa and Liberty Leading the People

I will be focusing on romanticism that is based on emotions and sublimity. I will be displaying the features of romantic art by analysing two paintings from the 19th century. These are The Raft of Medusa by Theodore Gericault (1819; Louvre Museum, Paris), oil on...

• Romanticism

The Ideas Behind The Persistence of Memory and Pillars of Society

George Grosz, Pillars of Society (1926) George Grosz was born in Berlin on July 26, 1893, he studied at Dresden Art Academy and began his career as a cartoonist. He later joined a Dada movement in 1917. And he was a famous figure in Neue...

• Salvador Dali

The Persistence of Memory, Starry Night and Analysis of Other Paintings

Dreams are something that everyone is or was able to have at one point in their life. Dreams are defined as, 'a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep.' Many artists create their artworks from their dreams or other...

• Vincent Van Gogh

The System Of Education: If I Could Change The World

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• Importance of Education

Expressive Art: Is Graffiti Art Or Vandalism

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Why Is Art Important For Human

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The Doll`s House" By H. Ibsen: Nora Helmer Character Analysis

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Why Is Graffiti Are Not Vandalism

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My Take On Comedy: From Tartuffe To Sylvia And Cards Against Humanity

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Attitudes Towards Consumerism in Contemporary Art

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• Consumerism

One of the Most Common Forms of Theatre

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The Practice of Art Forgery and Monet's Aesthetic Flaws

A forgery is a work that is not genuine to its proclaimed origins, however, is presented as a genuine article, and is so acting with the intention to deceive. The practice of art forgery is as well established and mature as the practice of creating...

• Claude Monet

Visual Verbal Essay on Wilfred Owen and Franz Marc

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• Wilfred Owen

The Role of Creative Industries in the United Kingdom

In this essay I will go over and talk about the creative industries and the role they play in the United Kingdom, I will look at the history and the development of the Creative Industries and their sectors. I will then look at the wider...

• Great Britain

African Art: West African Sculpting 

West African sculpting greatly influenced us today because lots o people still do it like when Pablo Picasso recreated the style of west African art he created it like they would some real some supernatural and exaggerated on some body parts after Pablo Picasso shared...

• African Art

Caravaggio's Sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham Due to Divine Intervention

First of all, there are several juxtapositions present throughout the painting. For example, there is a dichotomous relationship between the cold sensuality in the foreground and the pastoral beauty in the background. Secondly, Caravaggio manages to convey the sensational struggle present between the unconditional loyalty...

Greetings From the 1970s Contemporary Photography

The term contemporary refers to things happening in the same period of or in the style of the present or recent times so when referring to contemporary photography that is only basic modern 21st-century pictures or videos.. Over the past years, something called 'the medium'...

• Photography

Claude Monet and Modern Art Today

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The World’s Wife Borrowed From Other Texts

It is often that literature, whether being a poem or a book, often provides a voice for those who lack one. The work by Carol Ann Duffy is an accumulation of poems titled 'The World's Wife', first published in 1999 and the present works through...

• Drama (Play Genre)

Typography: From Billboards to Street Signs

Typography is everywhere we look, in the books we read on the websites we visit even in everyday life, from billboards to street signs, product packaging and even on your mobile phone. It is the art and technique of designing and arranging type. Today the...

• Advertising

Rebellious Aspect to Monet’s Personality

Claude Monet is an artist who continues to be adored and held in high esteem even to this day. There may be many who perhaps are not familiar with the name, yet still at least recognise one piece of his work. His paintings are a...

Edgar Degas and His Way of Critics

Mary Cassatt was born in 1844. She was born in what is now known as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and died on June 14, 1926 at her French home right outside of Paris. Mary was raised in Philadelphia where she spent her childhood with a social privilege...

• Edgar Degas
• Impressionism

The Principles of Art: Movement, Unity, Harmony, Variety

If you were to ask someone “what is art essay”, the majority of people in the world would think of art and immediately their mind would shoot to a painting. The truth is, art is so much more than just a painting. There are thousands...

• Art Movement

Fairy Tale Black Swan Is a Story of a Ballerina

“Black Swan” is not the fairy tale of “swan lake” but a story of a ballerina, Nina. The story begins with the change of the company, the old lead dancer Beth is about to leave. The stage needs a new lead dancer who can act...

The Book Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Calico

One may call war a side effect of human civilization. Nevertheless, it is in a war that people show their best virtues: courage, loyalty, strength, perseverance, and honesty. Nothing is surprising in the fact that texts on this subject have existed since the writing appeared....

Comparing Two Great Pieces by Pablo Picasso and by Francisco Goya

Today I will be comparing and contrasting two great pieces called “GUERNICA” by Pablo Picasso and “THE THIRD OF MAY” by Francisco Goya.The “GUERNICA” by Pablo Picasso was hard to understand at first but the longer you look at it you understand it is a...

• Pablo Picasso

Black Swan is About Destructive Nature of Ballet

Nina Portman is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica who exerts a suffocating control over her life. When artistic director...

The Development of Islamic Art

Islamic art is created not only for the Muslim faith, but it consists of artworks such as textiles, architecture, paintings and drawings that were produced in the regions that were once ruled by Muslim empires. Artists from various disciplines take part in collaborative projects and...

• History of Islam
• Islamic Art

Role of Cultural and Religious Pluralism

Cultural pluralism is a term used when smaller groups within a larger society maintain their own unique cultural identities. Migration is a key process that makes significant contribution to the growth of urbanism. Often immigrants belonging to particular region, language, religion ,tribe etc tend to...

• Art and Religion
• Religious Pluralism

John Berger: Understanding His Artwork

John Berger is a remarkable man who enlighten us with his knowledge using one of his brilliant essays “Ways of Seeing.” Berger has concurred the ability to fully understand any artwork and to recognize what is visible before him. He clarifies that there is a...

• John Berger

America’s Contemporary Multimedia Artist Jeff Koons

Jeff Koons is one of America’s most popular contemporary multimedia artists, who believes that art can change lives, give vastness and expand your parameters. Koons was born in York, Pennsylvania in 1955. He studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and the...

• American Culture

The Sistine Chapel Ceiling by Michelangelo

The Sistine Chapel Ceiling (Italian: Volta Della Cappella Sistina), painted by Michelangelo somewhere in the range of 1508 and 1512, is a foundation work of High Renaissance craftsmanship. The Creation of Adam' is one of the nine ceiling boards in the Sistine Chapel portraying scenes...

• Michelangelo

History of Medieval And Byzantine Art Movements

A painting wealthy in color typical for St.George on a rearing white horse, shown against a rocky landscape, slaying the winged monster as it appears before him. An angel crowns St.George with a martyr’s crown, symbolizing the triumph of good over evil. The tower on...

• Byzantine Empire

The Power Of Photography: Capturing Emotions With Camera

Photographs help people preserve memories with its technology, but what is actually happening is much more interesting when thought about in more depth. A moment in time is captured forever, so long as the photograph is kept in good shape. It is the closest people...

Jackson Pollock as an Influential America Artist

The painter Jackson Pollock was an influential America painter and a key person to the abstract expressionist movement. He was born in Cody , Wyoming in 1912 and he was the youngest of 5 brothers. He grew up in Arizona and Chico, California he moved...

• Jackson Pollock

The Girl Who Loved Caravaggio by Belle Ami

The Girl Who Loved Caravaggio by Belle Ami is a romantic suspense thriller and the second book in the Out of Time series. High on the success of finding a centuries-old Leonardo da Vinci painting, Angela Renatus, and her fiance Alex Caine are on a...

The Portrayal of the Culture of Death and Afterlife in Art

Throughout history, different cultures dealt with the concept of death and afterlife according to their beliefs, and developed different perspectives about what happens after the body dies. These ideas were often reflected in their art, literature, and their lifestyle as well. Most cultures produce art...

Art Nouveau and Modernist Movements in Art

Art Nouveau is originated in England. William Morris collaborated with other artists so Art Nouveau was created. It has a wide range of different decorative arts, like architectural, painting, graphic art, and jewelry. It was most popular during the 1890s. Its popularity came to a...

• Art Nouveau
• William Morris

The Famous Michelangelo Merisi Da Caravaggio

The famous Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio produced original paintings, criticizing those who imitated other artists creative styles. He even accused the great Giovanni Baglione and Guido Reni for imitating his uniquely developed techniques. Caravaggio was the building block for modern art and followed by many....

Art of Theatre and French Figure Joan of Arc

Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) is an irish playwright, critic, and political activist. His influence on Western theatre started from the 1880s till after his death. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1925 becoming the leading dramatist of his generation. Shaw's first play to bring...

• Joan of Arc

The Beauty and Skill of Ansel Adams’ Photography

Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco, California on February 20, 1902. As a child, Adams had many freedoms and lots of energy. He was an unattractive child, with big dark circles under his eyes, a crooked nose, and large ears. He was often teased...

• Ansel Adams

Holi Festival and Vibrant Celebration of Colors

Holi is a very vibrant celebration of colors. We have to wait for a whole year. So we can enjoy the festival of color. Although, Holi is fun and joyous. It's also immensely damaging to your skin. The colors are not extracted from flowers but...

• Holi Festival

The Struggle of the Graphic Designers and Social Media

Graphic designers relied heavily on word-of-mouth for their works to become popular and to be seen by the public, it was close to impossible to grow an organic dedicated fanbase to follow your work, nowadays with the rise of the internet and social media, you...

• Graphic Design

Some Interesting Facts About Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali was one of the most, if not the most celebrated artist of the 20th century. His art is iconic, his personality, eccentric, his fashion sense, interesting, his style, unique, his showmanship, unforgettable. All these combined to make him an interesting human and a...

Salvador Dali's Biography: Main Topics

 Salvador Dali was born on May 11, 1904 in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. His father was an atheist lawyer who was very strict in Dali’s upbringing. Dali’s mother, on the other hand, was loving and encouraged him to be artistic. He has an older brother named...

Caravaggio’s Artwork Judith Beheading Holofernes

For this essay, you needed to decide on a painting, Sculpture and other selected types of art work by which ever artist that created them before the 1900’s.Select a topic out of the selection given to do research about the topic and art work to...

William Morris: Arts and Crafts Movement

William Morris was a famous artists who mainly focused on his wallpaper and fabric designs. While he was mainly known for his art, even today, he had many other notable careers and accomplishments, One of them being that he founded the Arts and crafts movement....

Breaking The Parametr In Red Wheelbarrow: Analysis

The most conspicuous element of modernist poetry is the invention and experimentation of new forms of representation. It featured movements such as imagism and symbolism and moved consciously away from naturalism and realism. Ezra Pound was one of the first to delve into this new...

The Importance Of Paying Attention To Detail In Architecture

The architectural detailing process of a project is a long process that includes a lot of steps and patterns to consider. The designing issue is not consecutive for making a theoretical plan for the entire structure, the detailing, and construction of a building. It is...

Depiction Of Revolution In Les Miserables And Musical Theatre

This essay will deliberate the framework of genre, and investigate Musical Theatre, a genre within performing arts. What is Genre? Genre has been around for centuries, it commenced with the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato, they created a classification system that would separate literature into...

• Les Miserables

The Concepts Of Love And Hate With Loyalty In "Romeo And Juliet"

Loyalty is a virtue that most people strive for as seen in the play, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, which is about two feuding families, the Montagues and the Capulets. Romeo, a Montague and Juliet, a Capulet fall in love. Throughout...

• Romeo and Juliet
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Romeo And Juliet: The Decision Between Choice And Fate

“God gave us free will, and we may choose to exercise it in ways that end up hurting other people”-Francis Collins. Romeo and Juliet is a tragic play written by Shakespeare, that follows the lives of two star-crossed lovers. The setting of Romeo and Juliet...

Societal Views On Graffiti: Street Art Or Vandalism

When you think of graffiti what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Vandalism or street art? Most would say vandalism, but what makes the distinction between the two? The intention of the piece. There’s a difference between defiling the back of a building and...

Portrayal Of Love And Hate In Shakespeare's Romeo And Juliet

Shakespeare’s exploration of themes through tragic conventions make the play, Romeo and Juliet, of enduring relevance to modern audiences. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (1595) captures audiences through the thrill of lovers from feuding families racing together to their tragic demises. This play explores themes understood...

Graffiti And Street Art As An Act Of Vandalism

It is difficult to apply a single definition to what is considered Art. Whether it can or should be defined has been constantly debated. “The definition of art is controversial in contemporary philosophy. Whether art can be defined has also been a matter of controversy....

Passionate Pursuit: Being Passionate About Art

Different pieces of artwork inspire people all around the world. Artists use a wide variety of techniques to make their work unique. While creating new pieces of art, it is common to look at other artists' work for inspiration. While evaluating their artwork you can...

Andy Warhol's Album Artwork: Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover

As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover, or in this case an album, but sometimes it cannot be helped. Custom packaging is an extremely important with any kind of product but despite this album cover art has not always been used...

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The Role Of Other Characters In Death Of Romeo And Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is such a tragic love story. It is sad that their lives ended, but that doesn’t mean their love for eachother did; their love may still live on with them in the after life. There are many characters who had a role...

The Presentation Of Love In Romeo And Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a play written by Shakespeare in the 1500’s. It tells us the tragedy of two young lovers named Romeo and Juliet who fall in love at first sight but can never be together due to their two families conflict which ends...

The Importance Of Different Types Of Love In Romeo And Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare during the 16th century that mainly follows the themes of love and tragedy. The intense passion the two lovers from both households have for one another causes the deaths of their friends, family and themselves....

The Use Of Hyperbole And Symbolism In "The Doll's House"

A Doll's House delves into the lives of a young couple living in Victorian era Norway. The play follows Nora through her journey, from her previously unexamined life of domestic, wifely comfort, to questioning the very foundation of everything she used to believe in. Having...

Realism In A Doll's House Play

Realism as a literary movement emerged in the late nineteenth century and extended to the twentieth century, the most important factors that led to the emergence of the period of realism is the horrors that happened to people after the World War, which made the...

20th Century Art: Representational Abstract Art

One of the most influential and significant periods in the history of the arts is the 20th century. It was a period that consisted of many rapid and radical artistic changes that gave birth to endless ideas, possibilities, experiences, and visions. Not only were ideas,...

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The Opposite Concepts Of Realism Versus Idealism

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The Abstract Art And Pop Art Artists And Movements

Pop art emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain, then later in the 1950s in the United States of America. Pop art still influences designers and artists to this day, was against abstract expressionists, pop artists saw abstract artists as intense. The art was a...

Romanticism & Realism: Changing Landscapes 

In my essay I will be looking at the contrast between romanticism and photo-realism, how light controls the image and how photographers are able to control how the picture will look like, by the time of day, the angle and being able to change the...

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The Abstract Art And Expressionism In World War 2

In World War 2, many countries were destroyed by Hitler and his army. There were allies which were the U.S., Britain, France, USSR, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, and Yugoslavia and the axis powers, which were...

Coriolanus: Plutarch's And William Shakespeare's Versions

Two of the greatest contributors to the “Struggle of the Orders” between Plebeians and Patricians were the Patricians’ fears of Plebeian power overshadowing their influence on Roman politics, as well as the issues of grain pricing and distribution. Plutarch’s “Coriolanus” within his Parallel Lives work...

The Definition Of Fate And Free Will In Macbeth

Throughout time, it has been believed that fate has the power to forge one’s destiny. On the other hand though, I believe these choices can defy fate and that fate only manipulates one's mind into choosing their own path. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare messes...

Reality Of Romanticism And Realism Under The Umbrella Of Gothic Genre

Two of the most common genres of writing that is found in literature belongs to either the Romanticism movement or the Realist/Naturalism movement. While these two movements might seem like they are related to each other, they are very opposite from one another in the...

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By Will Fenstermaker

June 14, 2017

There has never been a time when art critics held more power than during the second half of the twentieth century. Following the Second World War, with the relocation of the world’s artistic epicenter from Paris to New York, a different kind of war was waged in the pages of magazines across the country. As part of the larger “culture wars” of the mid-century, art critics began to take on greater influence than they’d ever held before. For a time, two critics in particular—who began as friends, and remained in the same social circles for much of their lives—set the stakes of the debates surrounding the maturation of American art that would continue for decades. The ideas about art outlined by Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg are still debated today, and the extent to which they were debated in the past has shaped entire movements of the arts. Below are ten works of criticism through which one can trace the mainstreaming of Clement Greenberg’s formalist theory, and how its dismantling led us into institutional critique and conceptual art today.

The American Action Painters

Harold Rosenberg

Harold Rosenberg, a poet who came to art through his involvement with the Artist’s Union and the WPA, was introduced to Jean-Paul Sartre as the “first American existentialist.” Soon, Rosenberg became a contributor to Sartre’s publication in France, for which he first drafted his influential essay. However, when Sartre supported Soviet aggression against Korea, Rosenberg brought his essay to Elaine de Kooning , then the editor of ARTnews , who ran “The American Action Painters” in December, 1952.

RELATED: What Did Harold Rosenberg Do? An Introduction to the Champion of “Action Painting”

Rosenberg’s essay on the emerging school of American Painters omitted particular names—because they’d have been unfamiliar to its original French audience—but it was nonetheless extraordinarily influential for the burgeoning scene of post-WWII American artists. Jackson Pollock claimed to be the influence of “action painting,” despite Rosenberg’s rumored lack of respect for the artist because Pollock wasn’t particularly well-read. Influenced by Marxist theory and French existentialism, Rosenberg conceives of a painting as an “arena,” in which the artist acts upon, wrestles, or otherwise engages with the canvas, in what ultimately amounts to an expressive record of a struggle. “What was to go on the canvas,” Rosenberg wrote, “was not a picture but an event.”

Notable Quote

Weak mysticism, the “Christian Science” side of the new movement, tends … toward easy painting—never so many unearned masterpieces! Works of this sort lack the dialectical tension of a genuine act, associated with risk and will. When a tube of paint is squeezed by the Absolute, the result can only be a Success. The painter need keep himself on hand solely to collect the benefits of an endless series of strokes of luck. His gesture completes itself without arousing either an opposing movement within itself nor the desire in the artist to make the act more fully his own. Satisfied with wonders that remain safely inside the canvas, the artist accepts the permanence of the commonplace and decorates it with his own daily annihilation. The result is an apocalyptic wallpaper.

‘American-Type’ Painting

Clement Greenberg

Throughout the preceding decade, Clement Greenberg, also a former poet, had established a reputation as a leftist critic through his writings with The Partisan Review —a publication run by the John Reed Club, a New York City-centered organization affiliated with the American Communist Party—and his time as an art critic with The Nation . In 1955, The Partisan Review published Greenberg’s “‘American-Type’ Painting,” in which the critic defined the now-ubiquitous term “abstract expressionism.”

RELATED: What Did Clement Greenberg Do? A Primer on the Powerful AbEx Theorist’s Key Ideas

In contrast to Rosenberg’s conception of painting as a performative act, Greenberg’s theory, influenced by Clive Bell and T. S. Eliot, was essentially a formal one—in fact, it eventually evolved into what would be called “formalism.” Greenberg argued that the evolution of painting was one of historical determinacy—that ever since the Renaissance, pictures moved toward flatness, and the painted line moved away from representation. Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso were two of the landmarks of this view. Pollock, who exhibited his drip paintings in 1951, freeing the line from figuration, was for Greenberg the pinnacle of American Modernism, the most important artist since Picasso. (Pollock’s paintings exhibited in 1954, with which he returned to semi-representational form, were regarded by Greenberg as a regression. This lead him to adopt Barnett Newman as his new poster-boy, despite the artist’s possessing vastly different ideas on the nature of painting. For one, Greenberg mostly ignored the Biblical titles of Newman’s paintings.)

Greenberg’s formalist theories were immensely influential over the subsequent decades. Artforum in particular grew into a locus for formalist discourse, which had the early effect of providing an aesthetic toolkit divorced from politic. Certain curators of the Museum of Modern Art, particularly William Rubin, Kirk Varnedoe, and to an extent Alfred Barr are credited for steering the museum in an essentially formalist direction. Some painters, such as Frank Stella , Helen Frankenthaler , and Kenneth Noland, had even been accused of illustrating Greenberg’s theories (and those of Michael Fried, a prominent Greenbergian disciple) in attempt to embody the theory, which was restrictive in its failure to account for narrative content, figuration, identity, politics, and more. In addition, Greenberg’s theories proved well-suited for a burgeoning art market, which found connoisseurship an easy sell. (As the writer Mary McCarthy said, “You can’t hang an event on your wall.”) In fact, the dominance of the term “abstract expressionism” over “action painting,” which seemed more applicable to Pollock and Willem de Kooning than any other members of the New York School, is emblematic of the influence of formalist discourse.

The justification for the term, “abstract expressionist,” lies in the fact that most of the painters covered by it took their lead from German, Russian, or Jewish expressionism in breaking away from late Cubist abstract art. But they all started from French painting, for their fundamental sense of style from it, and still maintain some sort of continuity with it. Not least of all, they got from it their most vivid notion of an ambitious, major art, and of the general direction in which it had to go in their time.

Barbara Rose

Like many critics in the 1950s and 60s, Barbara Rose had clearly staked her allegiance to one camp or the other. She was, firmly, a formalist, and along with Fried and Rosalind Krauss is largely credited with expanding the theory beyond abstract expressionist painting. By 1965, however, Rose recognized a limitation of the theory as outlined by Greenberg—that it was reductionist and only capable of account for a certain style of painting, and not much at all in other mediums.

RELATED: The Intellectual Origins Of Minimalism

In “ABC Art,” published in Art in America where Rose was a contributing editor, Rose opens up formalism to encompass sculpture, which Greenberg was largely unable to account for. The simple idea that art moves toward flatness and abstraction leads, for Rose, into Minimalism, and “ABC Art” is often considered the first landmark essay on Minimalist art. By linking the Minimalist sculptures of artists like Donald Judd to the Russian supremacist paintings of Kasimir Malevich and readymades of Duchamp, she extends the determinist history that formalism relies on into sculpture and movements beyond abstract expressionism.

I do not agree with critic Michael Fried’s view that Duchamp, at any rate, was a failed Cubist. Rather, the inevitability of a logical evolution toward a reductive art was obvious to them already. For Malevich, the poetic Slav, this realization forced a turning inward toward an inspirational mysticism, whereas for Duchamp, the rational Frenchman, it meant a fatigue so enervating that finally the wish to paint at all was killed. Both the yearnings of Malevich’s Slavic soul and the deductions of Duchamp’s rationalist mind led both men ultimately to reject and exclude from their work many of the most cherished premises of Western art in favor of an art stripped to its bare, irreducible minimum.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Philip Leider

Despite the rhetorical tendency to suggest the social upheaval of the '60s ended with the actual decade, 1970 remained a year of unrest. And Artforum was still the locus of formalist criticism, which was proving increasingly unable to account for art that contributed to larger cultural movements, like Civil Rights, women’s liberation, anti-war protests, and more. (Tellingly, The Partisan Review , which birthed formalism, had by then distanced itself from its communist associations and, as an editorial body, was supportive of American Interventionism in Vietnam. Greenberg was a vocal hawk.) Subtitled “Art and Politics in Nevada, Berkeley, San Francisco, and Utah,” the editor’s note to the September 1970 issue of Artforum , written by Philip Leider, ostensibly recounts a road trip undertaken with Richard Serra and Abbie Hoffman to see Michael Heizer’s Double Negative in the Nevada desert.

RELATED: A City of Art in the Desert: Behind Michael Heizer’s Monumental Visions for Nevada

However, the essay is also an account of an onsetting disillusion with formalism, which Leider found left him woefully unequipped to process the protests that had erupted surrounding an exhibition of prints by Paul Wunderlich at the Phoenix Gallery in Berkeley. Wunderlich’s depictions of nude women were shown concurrently to an exhibition of drawings sold to raise money for Vietnamese orphans. The juxtaposition of a canonical, patriarchal form of representation and liberal posturing, to which the protestors objected, showcased the limitations of a methodology that placed the aesthetic elements of a picture plane far above the actual world in which it existed. Less than a year later, Leider stepped down as editor-in-chief and Artforum began to lose its emphasis on late Modernism.

I thought the women were probably with me—if they were, I was with them. I thought the women were picketing the show because it was reactionary art. To the women, [Piet] Mondrian must be a great revolutionary artist. Abstract art broke all of those chains thirty years ago! What is a Movement gallery showing dumb stuff like this for? But if it were just a matter of reactionary art , why would the women picket it? Why not? Women care as much about art as men do—maybe more. The question is, why weren’t the men right there with them?

Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?

Linda Nochlin

While Artforum , in its early history, had established a reputation as a generator for formalist theory, ARTnews had followed a decidedly more Rosenberg-ian course, emphasizing art as a practice for investigating the world. The January 1971 issue of the magazine was dedicated to “Women’s Liberation, Woman Artists, and Art History” and included an iconoclastic essay by Linda Nochlin titled “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”

RELATED: An Introduction to Feminist Art

Nochlin notes that it’s tempting to answer the question “why have there been no great women artists?” by listing examples of those overlooked by critical and institutional organizations (a labor that Nochlin admits has great merit). However, she notes, “by attempting to answer it, they tacitly reinforce its negative implications,” namely that women are intrinsically less capable of achieving artistic merit than men. Instead, Nochlin’s essay functions as a critique of art institutions, beginning with European salons, which were structured in such a way as to deter women from rising to the highest echelons. Nochlin’s essay is considered the beginning of modern feminist art history and a textbook example of institutional critique.

There are no women equivalents for Michelangelo or Rembrandt, Delacroix or Cézanne, Picasso or Matisse, or even in very recent times, for de Kooning or Warhol, any more than there are black American equivalents for the same. If there actually were large numbers of “hidden” great women artists, or if there really should be different standards for women’s art as opposed to men’s—and one can’t have it both ways—then what are feminists fighting for? If women have in fact achieved the same status as men in the arts, then the status quo is fine as it is. But in actuality, as we all know, things as they are and as they have been, in the arts as in a hundred other areas, are stultifying, oppressive, and discouraging to all those, women among them, who did not have the good fortune to be born white, preferably middle class and above all, male. The fault lies not in our stars, our hormones, our menstrual cycles, or our empty internal spaces, but in our institutions and our education.

Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief

Thomas McEvilley

One of the many extrapolations of Nochlin’s essay is that contemporary museum institutions continue to reflect the gendered and racist biases of preceding centuries by reinforcing the supremacy of specific master artists. In a 1984 Artforum review, Thomas McEvilley, a classicist new to the world of contemporary art, made the case that the Museum of Modern Art in New York served as an exclusionary temple to certain high-minded Modernists—namely, Picasso, Matisse, and Pollock—who, in fact, took many of their innovations from native cultures.

RELATED: MoMA Curator Laura Hoptman on How to Tell a Good Painting From a “Bogus” Painting

In 1984, MoMA organized a blockbuster exhibition. Curated by William Rubin and Kirk Varnedoe, both of whom were avowed formalists, “‘Primitivism’ in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern” collected works by European painters like Paul Gaugin and Picasso with cultural artifacts from Zaire, arctic communities, and elsewhere. McEvilley takes aim at the “the absolutist view of formalist Modernism” in which MoMA is rooted. He argues that the removal tribal artifacts from their contexts (for example, many were ritual items intended for ceremonies, not display) and placement of them, unattributed, near works by European artists, censors the cultural contributions of non-Western civilizations in deference to an idealized European genius.

The fact that the primitive “looks like” the Modern is interpreted as validating the Modern by showing that its values are universal, while at the same time projecting it—and with it MoMA—into the future as a permanent canon. A counter view is possible: that primitivism on the contrary invalidates Modernism by showing it to be derivative and subject to external causation. At one level this show undertakes precisely to coopt that question by answering it before it has really been asked, and by burying it under a mass of information.

Please Wait By the Coatroom

Not content to let MoMA and the last vestiges of formalism off the hook yet, John Yau wrote in 1988 an essay on Wifredo Lam, a Cuban painter who lived and worked in Paris among Picasso, Matisse, Georges Braque, and others. Noting Lam’s many influences—his Afro-Cuban mother, Chinese father, and Yoruba godmother—Yau laments the placement of Lam’s The Jungle near the coatroom in the Museum of Modern Art, as opposed to within the Modernist galleries several floors above. The painting was accompanied by a brief entry written by former curator William Rubin, who, Yau argues, adopted Greenberg’s theories because they endowed him with “a connoisseur’s lens with which one can scan all art.”

RELATED: From Cuba With Love: Artist Bill Claps on the Island’s DIY Art Scene

Here, as with with McEvilley’s essay, Yau illustrates how formalism, as adapted by museum institutions, became a (perhaps unintentional) method for reinforcing the exclusionary framework that Nochlin argued excluded women and black artists for centuries.

Rubin sees in Lam only what is in his own eyes: colorless or white artists. For Lam to have achieved the status of unique individual, he would have had to successfully adapt to the conditions of imprisonment (the aesthetic standards of a fixed tradition) Rubin and others both construct and watch over. To enter this prison, which takes the alluring form of museums, art history textbooks, galleries, and magazines, an individual must suppress his cultural differences and become a colorless ghost. The bind every hybrid American artist finds themselves in is this: should they try and deal with the constantly changing polymorphous conditions effecting identity, tradition, and reality? Or should they assimilate into the mainstream art world by focusing on approved-of aesthetic issues? Lam’s response to this bind sets an important precedent. Instead of assimilating, Lam infiltrates the syntactical rules of “the exploiters” with his own specific language. He becomes, as he says, “a Trojan horse.”

Black Culture and Postmodernism

Cornel West

The opening up of cultural discourse did not mean that it immediately made room for voices of all dimensions. Cornel West notes as much in his 1989 essay “Black Culture and Postmodernism,” in which he argues that postmodernism, much like Modernism before it, remains primarily ahistorical, which makes it difficult for “oppressed peoples to exercise their opposition to hierarchies of power.” West’s position is that the proliferation of theory and criticism that accompanied the rise of postmodernism provided mechanisms by which black culture could “be conversant with and, to a degree, participants in the debate.” Without their voices, postmodernism would remain yet another exclusionary movements.

RELATED: Kerry James Marshall on Painting Blackness as a Noun Vs. Verb

As the consumption cycle of advanced multinational corporate capitalism was sped up in order to sustain the production of luxury goods, cultural production became more and more mass-commodity production. The stress here is not simply on the new and fashionable but also on the exotic and primitive. Black cultural products have historically served as a major source for European and Euro-American exotic interests—interests that issue from a healthy critique of the mechanistic, puritanical, utilitarian, and productivity aspects of modern life.

Minimalism and the Rhetoric of Power

Anna C. Chave

In recent years, formalist analysis has been deployed as a single tool within a more varied approach to art. Its methodology—that of analyzing a picture as an isolated phenomena—remains prevalent, and has its uses. Yet, many of the works and movements that rose to prominence under formalist critics and curators, in no small part because of their institutional acceptance, have since become part of the rearguard rather than the vanguard.

In a 1990 essay for Arts Magazine , Anna Chave analyzes how Minimalist sculpture possesses a “domineering, sometimes brutal rhetoric” that was aligned with “both the American military in Vietnam, and the police at home in the streets and on university campuses across the country.” In particular, Chave is concerned with the way Minimalist sculptures define themselves through a process of negation. Of particular relevance to Chave’s argument are the massive steel sculptures by Minimalist artist Richard Serra.

Tilted Arc was installed in Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan in 1981. Chave describes the work as a “mammoth, perilously tilted steel arc [that] formed a divisive barrier too tall to see over, and a protracted trip to walk around.” She writes, “it is more often the case with Serra that his work doesn’t simply exemplify aggression or domination, but acts it out.” Tilted Arc was so controversial upon its erecting that the General Services Administration, which commissioned the work, held hearings in response to petitions demanding the work be removed. Worth quoting at length, Chave writes:

A predictable defense of Serra’s work was mounted by critics, curators, dealers, collectors, and some fellow artists…. The principle arguments mustered on Serra’s behalf were old ones concerning the nature and function of the avant-garde…. What Rubin and Serra’s other supporters declined to ask is whether the sculptor really is, in the most meaningful sense of the term, an avant-garde artist. Being avant-garde implies being ahead of, outside, or against the dominant culture; proffering a vision that implicitly stands (at least when it is conceived) as a critique of entrenched forms and structures…. But Serra’s work is securely embedded within the system: when the brouhaha over Arc was at its height, he was enjoying a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art…. [The defense’s] arguments locate Serra not with the vanguard but with the standing army or “status quo.” … More thoughtful, sensible, and eloquent testimony at the hearing came instead from some of the uncouth:

My name is Danny Katz and I work in this building as a clerk. My friend Vito told me this morning that I am a philistine. Despite that I am getting up to speak…. I don’t think this issue should be elevated into a dispute between the forces of ignorance and art, or art versus government. I really blame government less because it has long ago outgrown its human dimension. But from the artists I expected a lot more. I didn’t expect to hear them rely on the tired and dangerous reasoning that the government has made a deal, so let the rabble live with the steel because it’s a deal. That kind of mentality leads to wars. We had a deal with Vietnam. I didn’t expect to hear the arrogant position that art justifies interference with the simple joys of human activity in a plaza. It’s not a great plaza by international standards, but it is a small refuge and place of revival for people who ride to work in steel containers, work in sealed rooms, and breathe recirculated air all day. Is the purpose of art in public places to seal off a route of escape, to stress the absence of joy and hope? I can’t believe this was the artistic intention, yet to my sadness this for me has become the dominant effect of the work, and it’s all the fault of its position and location. I can accept anything in art, but I can’t accept physical assault and complete destruction of pathetic human activity. No work of art created with a contempt for ordinary humanity and without respect for the common element of human experience can be great. It will always lack dimension.

The terms Katz associated with Serra’s project include arrogance and contempt, assault, and destruction; he saw the Minimalist idiom, in other words, as continuous with the master discourse of our imperious and violent technocracy.

The End of Art

Arthur Danto

Like Greenberg, Arthur Danto was an art critic for The Nation . However, Danto was overtly critical of Greenberg’s ideology and the influence he wielded over Modern and contemporary art. Nor was he a follower of Harold Rosenberg, though they shared influences, among them the phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Danto’s chief contribution to contemporary art was his advancing of Pop Artists, particularly Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein .

In “The End of Art” Danto argues that society at large determines and accepts art, which no longer progresses linearly, categorized by movements. Instead, viewers each possess a theory or two, which they use to interpret works, and art institutions are largely tasked with developing, testing, and modifying various interpretive methods. In this way, art differs little from philosophy. After decades of infighting regarding the proper way to interpret works of art, Danto essentially sanctioned each approach and the institutions that gave rise to them. He came to call this “pluralism.”

RELATED: What Was the Pictures Generation?

Similarly, in “Painting, Politics, and Post-Historical Art,” Danto makes the case for an armistice between formalism and the various theories that arose in opposition, noting that postmodern critics like Douglas Crimp in the 1980s, who positioned themselves against formalism, nonetheless adopted the same constrictive air, minus the revolutionary beginnings.

Modernist critical practice was out of phase with what was happening in the art world itself in the late 60s and through the 1970s. It remained the basis for most critical practice, especially on the part of the curatoriat, and the art-history professoriat as well, to the degree that it descended to criticism. It became the language of the museum panel, the catalog essay, the article in the art periodical. It was a daunting paradigm, and it was the counterpart in discourse to the “broadening of taste” which reduced art of all cultures and times to its formalist skeleton, and thus, as I phrased it, transformed every museum into a Museum of Modern Art, whatever that museum’s contents. It was the stable of the docent’s gallery talk and the art appreciation course—and it was replaced, not totally but massively, by the postmodernist discourse that was imported from Paris in the late 70s, in the texts of Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Jean Baudrillard, Jean-François Lyotard, and Jacques Lacan, and of the French feminists Hélène Cixous and Luce Irigaray. That is the discourse [Douglas] Crimp internalizes, and it came to be lingua artspeak everywhere. Like modernist discourse, it applied to everything, so that there was room for deconstructive and “archeological” discussion of art of every period.

Editor’s Note: This list was drawn in part from a 2014 seminar taught by Debra Bricker Balken in the MFA program in Art Writing at the School of Visual Arts titled Critical Strategies: Late Modernism/Postmodernism. Additional sources can be found here , here , here (paywall), and here . Also relevant are reviews of the 2008 exhibition at the Jewish Museum, “Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940–1976,” notably those by Roberta Smith , Peter Schjeldahl , and Martha Schwendener .

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The 10 Essays That Changed Art Criticism Forever

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The history of Acrylic Paint

When was acrylic paint invented.

The history of acrylic paint doesn’t go back in the 10th or 11th-century like many suppose, but way earlier. If you wonder when was acrylic paint invented, you should know it was invented in 1920.

However, acrylic paint was not used for painting, as anyone would assume, but for painting the walls of buildings. The acrylic paint has a great resistance to bad weather, UV rays and it doesn’t wear down easily.

Despite these great advantages, the history of acrylic paint only began in 1940, in the United States of America. During that time you could buy acrylic colors for paintings and artworks. But the painters soon understood the possibilities that the acrylic paint would bring and they adopt it in their masterpieces.

Many impressionist painters began using acrylic paint, Morris Louis, Jackson Pollock, Al Held or Frank Stella. The acrylic colors opened up doors to new possibilities in art. They could be splashed, sprayed or painted with a roller. Notable artworks for the history of acrylic paint are the paintings series of Jackson Pollack, “Drip paintings”.

In the 1960s, more artists were using and exploring the advantages of acrylic paint. Painters like Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol used them to create the well-known “Pop art” style.

Later, in the ’70s, Chuck Close and Richard Estes used them to paint in photorealism style, while Horst Antes and Keith Haring used them for figurative art.

Because it was a young painting technique it had to fight a lot to get recognition in the art arena. Only in 1985, acrylic paint was considered officially a part of the artistic scene.

The properties of acrylic paint

• Acrylic paint can be water diluted
• They are not soluble in water
• Once the paint dries, it’s no longer soluble
• It has a high resistance in time
• The colors are well preserved
• Have UV ray resistance properties
• The colors are vibrant and pigmentated
• Acrylic paint has no smell
• The price is relatively cheap
• They dry quickly
• Acrylic paint can be used on large surfaces
• This paint allows layering without creating cracks
• When they are diluted with enough water, they have a watercolor effect
• Using undiluted can create an impasto effect
• You can use acrylic paint layers under oil
• Acrylic paint can be used on any degreased solid surface: paper, canvas, cardboard, wood, ceramic, metal, plastic, leather, rock, glass or polystyrene.
• It’s suitable for beginners

Although the history of acrylic paint is relatively young, this artistic medium earned its place on the art scene. We are grateful because of the invention of acrylic paint we can enjoy wonderful artworks.

"Aurora Borealis" Northern Lights Watercolor 15/300

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Acrylic Paints vs. Oil Paints: What’s the Difference and Which One Is Right for You?

Wondering which type of paint is best for your next artwork? Acrylic paint and oil paint both have benefits and drawbacks to consider, from drying time and ease of clean-up to the cost of materials and the paint’s final look. In this blog, we’ll cover the differences between acrylic and oil paints to help you figure out which is right for you.

A Side-by-Side Comparison: Acrylic vs . Oil Paints

The main difference between these two paints is the binder that holds the pigment together: Acrylic paints are water soluble, meaning they can be dissolved with water, while oil paints aren’t. (We’ll go into more detail on pigments and binders down below.) 

You might have heard that acrylic paint is always thinner and more watery than oil paint, but that’s not always the case. Acrylic and oil paints both come in different viscosities. While oil paint is generally thicker, there are thinner oil-based paints, and acrylic paint comes in a full range of consistencies from pourable liquids to heavy-bodied paints that have a thick paste-like texture. 

Generally speaking, acrylic and oil paints require different drying times, materials, techniques, and safety precautions. We’ll answer common questions about both paints below.

1. Which Paint Dries the Quickest?

As we mentioned above, acrylic paints are water-based, and this makes them quick-drying compared to oil paints . An oil painting takes anywhere from several days to months to fully dry or “cure,” while an acrylic painting can dry in just a few hours, depending on the number of layers or size of the painting. 

If you’re hoping for a quicker drying process , acrylics will be the best choice for you. However, if you’re working on a large painting and don’t mind a long drying time , or want to use various blending techniques over several days, oil paints can work well too. 

You can also add different substances to both types of paint to make them dry slower or faster. An additive you mix into paint to make it dry faster is typically called a "drying medium" whereas an additive that slows dry times is called an "extender medium."

2. Which Paint Is Easier to Blend or Mix?

Each type of paint can be blended or mixed to make interesting colors and effects, so there isn’t necessarily a winner here. 

If you want to work on a large piece of art and continue to have the ability to blend, oil is the more flexible choice because it retains moisture much longer than acrylic. Working with oil paint will ensure you have a smooth, easy-to-glide texture for a long period of time.

Here’s a helpful tip to keep your acrylic paints easy to blend and mix for longer: Keep a spray bottle of water near you and re-wet the paint if it’s drying too fast or you need to do some more work. Just make sure you don’t use too much water, as this will take away some of the rich color and make it look more like watercolor paint .

So, when it comes to mixing and blending, it just depends on your preference and how long you want to be able to work with your paint.

Want to pick up some new ways to make colors and apply paint to the canvas?  Try out these 14 acrylic paint techniques specifically for beginners . 

3. Which Paint Is Easier to Clean Up ?

Cleanup isn’t as fun as creating, but it’s a necessary part of the art-making process. Overall, cleaning acrylic paint is much easier and less time-intensive than oil paint . There are a few different reasons for this.

First, water alone isn’t enough to clean oil paint because the oil naturally repels the water. Second, oil painters often thin their paint and clean their brushes with solvents like turpentine, which you definitely can’t wash down the drain. 

And third, many painters add strong substances to their oil paints to get certain effects, like a matte or shiny finish, which can’t be cleaned with water alone. You’ll need to use linseed oil , artist’s soap, paint thinner , or other specially made products to properly clean your paint brushes . 

Cleaning up acrylic paint is simpler because it’s water-based. In most cases, warm water and a bit of soap (if needed) will do the trick. Acrylic paint is safe to wash down the drain — although you wouldn't want to pour out a bottle of acrylic paint or anything like that — so you can clean your brushes and other tools right in the sink at home. You can learn more about how to care for your brushes in this blog . 

4. Which Paint Is More Toxic?

The short answer is that, overall, acrylic and oil-based paints are generally safe and non-toxic when used on their own (no other substances added). To know for sure though, check your paint material’s labels. Most paint has a label from ASTM International (formerly American Society for Testing and Materials), which will tell you which products are dangerous. 

Most companies will also explain unsafe ways to use their paint, such as spraying, inhaling, or ingesting. When in doubt, look on the manufacturer’s website.

There’s more to toxicity than we’ve covered above so let’s look at both paint types in more detail: 

Is Oil Paint Toxic? 

Oil paint on its own isn’t inherently toxic or dangerous. Toxicity really comes down to the makeup of the paint you purchase and the substances you mix or clean your paint with when creating your art.

Broadly speaking, oil paints are made of two things: pigment , or the color, and a type of vegetable oil. These vegetable oils aren’t toxic, however, some pigments can be toxic especially when they’re in powder form. Some pigments with higher toxicity levels include:

• Lead white 
• Barium yellow 
• Burnt or raw umber 
• Cadmium red, orange, or yellow
• Chrome green 

As wet oil paint dries , the oil comes in contact with the air and creates a hard film of paint. A skin forms over the surface and the paint underneath will dry over time. Used alone, oil paints don’t release chemicals into the air as they dry.

The potential for harm begins when you add solvents or mediums. For instance, products containing petroleum distillate, commonly found in paint thinner . During the drying process , these harmful chemicals will evaporate into the air you’re breathing. 

So, if you’re working with harsh chemicals when oil painting , be sure you’re in a well-ventilated area such as a studio with a ventilation system above your work area, or a room with lots of open windows and fans running. Be careful not to get chemicals on your skin or in your eyes or mouth. 

Is Acrylic Paint Toxic? 

Generally, no, acrylic paints aren’t toxic. Acrylic paints use the same pigments as oil paints , but use a different, non-toxic chemical called propylene glycol to suspend the pigments . When acrylic paint dries , chemicals are released into the air, but they aren’t toxic to breathe.

5. How Does Each Paint’s Finish Look?

The paint’s finish, or how it looks when it dries, is a big factor when deciding between acrylic and oil-based paints. Depending on the type of artwork or surface you’re working on, you may prefer a certain finish over another. 

Acrylic paint provides a flatter, more matte finish. Acrylic colors are usually dense and dry darker than they looked while they were wet. If you want a shinier finish, there are glosses you can add to your paint when you start painting or as a final layer to give it a sheen.

Oil paint naturally provides a high-gloss, smooth finish that can look really delicate, but in reality, is extremely durable when dry. Oil paint can be great if you’re using a lot of painting techniques that require depth and texture. 

If you’re working with oil colors and want to achieve a matte finish, you’ll have to use additives. Some additives that will lessen the gloss finish include alkyd medium, such as Liquin, or adding a matte varnish as a final layer on your piece. 

One thing that both acrylic and oil paint have in common is that they’re generally not opaque; they’re either transparent or semi-transparent. This means that regardless of which paint you’re using, if your end goal is to have a solid-looking finish, you’ll need to paint multiple layers. 

In most cases, you’ll need to wait for each layer to dry before adding more so your new layers don’t mess up the previous ones. Here, acrylic paint is a great choice because it offers a shorter drying time . 

6. Which Paint Lasts Longer on the Canvas?

There are many elements that can degrade a painting, like light and moisture. Of the two, light is the bigger threat to your painting’s color. All paints have varying degrees of lightfastness and some colors fade with light exposure more quickly than others. 

Generally speaking, oil and acrylic paint contain the same pigments, so they share the same lightfast qualities, This means they’re affected by artificial light and sunlight in similar ways. Framing your painting with UV protectant glass can keep your painting looking fresh and vibrant for longer.

Now, let’s talk about moisture. Oil paint is water-resistant, while acrylic paint is waterproof when dry. You can even clean an acrylic painting with a damp cloth. That said, moisture isn't half so much a threat to the paint itself as it is to the wood stretcher bars, fibers of the canvas, or paper surface the painting is created on. 

While oil and acrylic paintings can both stand the test of time, acrylic paintings last longer when sealed with a varnish or other protective coating and maintained a bit more over the years than oil paintings .

7. Which Paint Is More Expensive to Get Started With?

Price is one of the key differences between oil and acrylic painting . The process of oil painting is simply more expensive. This is because there are expenses beyond the paint itself, like solvents or special brushes. 

Additionally, most oil paints require a primed canvas , which you can either purchase or make from scratch with a paint medium such as gesso . And don’t forget, you’ll need to be in a space with proper ventilation if you’re using toxic additives. 

If you’re just starting out with painting , there’s no real need to go all out and purchase oil paints along with all of the bells and whistles needed to properly use them. Acrylic paints are much more accessible and affordable. The only real medium you’ll need to add to your painting process is water. 

A Closer Look at Acrylic Paints and Oil Paints

When it comes down to chemical makeup, acrylic paint and oil paint are different but share one key component: pigment . Let’s take a closer look.  

What Is Acrylic Paint ?

Acrylic paints are made up of pigment and a vehicle the pigment is suspended in. Then, depending on the brand, there can be a mixture of silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, and metal soaps.

When acrylic paints dry, the components of the vehicle evaporate into the air. In most cases, these components are safe to breathe in, but be sure to double-check that your acrylic paints are labeled as “non-toxic.” For instance, Painting to Gogh’s acrylic paints are non-toxic and safe for adults and children.

Types of Projects That Acrylic Paints Work Best For

Acrylic paints are versatile, affordable, and easy to work with. Artists who use acrylic paint can do many of the same projects as those who use oil paint , such as painting on canvas , but acrylic has a wider variety of materials you can use it on. Some ways to use acrylic paint in your art include:

• Abstract paintings on canvas or paper
• Sponging and painting on clay, stone or plaster
• Creating landscapes or larger objects on fabric, such as a T-shirt
• Color block designs

Feeling creative? Check out these acrylic painting ideas for beginners . 

What Is Oil Paint ?

Oil paints are also made up of two components, pigments and a vehicle that the pigment is suspended in. Unlike acrylics, the vehicle in oil paint is often a highly refined vegetable oil like flax (otherwise known as linseed oil ), safflower, poppy, or walnut. The oil is also what makes the paint’s drying time longer. 

What makes oil paints unique from acrylics is that there are many additives you can mix with the oil paint to modify the viscosity, or thickness, of the paint. This is where solvents , like turpentine or mineral spirits , and varnish come into play. These additives are also where oil painting can become toxic, so if you’re using oils in this way, be sure to work in a well-ventilated area, or consider wearing a face mask.

Oil paints are water-resistant, which makes them great in terms of longevity but can cause problems for first-time painters, or kids who are using them and getting paint all over.  

Types of Projects That Oil Paints Work Best For

Oil paints are ideal for more experienced painters or painters who want to experiment with more advanced techniques. Some types of projects oils work best for include:

• Tonal portraits 
• Landscapes and clouds with deep colors
• Chiaroscuro 
• Textured paintings (using a palette knife )
• Surfaces like canvas, paper, wood, and metal

Give Acrylics a Try With Painting to Gogh!

All in all, acrylic paint can be a great place to start if you’re just getting into painting or if you’re going to be painting with kids. It’s easy to use, non-toxic in most cases, and requires minimal materials. Even better, when you order an acrylic painting kit from Painting to Gogh, it ships right to your doorstep and includes everything you need, including a tutorial video you can pause or rewind at any time. 

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• Acrylic Painting Techniques
• Painting Ideas
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How to Describe a Painting: 10+ Phrases to Talk About Art

Art is eternal. Many paintings created hundreds of years ago still inspire and excite us. But it’s also a great topic for conversation with friends or strangers. So, knowing how to describe a painting in your native language and English is essential. And, of course, we are here to help!

In this article, you will learn the best tips for describing a piece of art and understand the importance of such a process. So whether you need it for school or you are going to visit a museum, keep reading! You will find everything you need below. 

How to describe a piece of art: General tips

You probably think describing art is effortless. Just say some adjectives, explain the colors and composition, and you’re done. Well, it might be enough for art classes. Yet, in real life, we want you to be more prepared. Here is one of our favorite examples of describing a painting. In the Theory of Everything movie, Eddie Redmayne, a.k.a. Stephen Hawking, says that Turner’s paintings usually look like they’ve been left out in the rain. It is not the description we used to hear, but it is still valid. 

As you can see, you have genuinely enough ways to describe a painting. But since it might be hard to navigate at first, we created a step-by-step guide to help you understand what details need more attention and what to talk about during your next visit to the gallery. So, how to describe paintings properly? 

Describe your impressions

When discussing a particular painting at the gallery, express your feelings about it. Do you like it or not? Does the picture make you happy or sad? And why does it give you such a mood – because of the colors, composition, or maybe its background history? 

For example, you can say that the picture makes you sentimental because the woman in the foreground reminds you of your granny, whom you haven’t seen for a while. Or, for example, it makes you calm because you enjoy the sea view. You can use many adjectives to describe your feeling regarding any piece of art. Here are some of them: 

• Positive emotions: inspired, joyful, satisfied, interested, happy, serene, nostalgic, sentimental, excited, impressed, powerful, fascinated, etc.
• Negative emotions: disappointed, sad, moody, gloomy, unsatisfied, scared, nervous, angry, depressing, disgusted, etc. 

Don’t be afraid of telling the truth about your feeling regarding any art. Of course, there is no need to be rude – you don’t have to offend an artist and their work. But you shouldn’t tell untruth as well. If you don’t like something, pay attention to your feelings, and try to explain what exactly makes you feel that way. The excellent hack is to share your first thoughts when you see a particular picture for the first time. And when you are finished with this step, you can proceed to the next one. 

Describe the composition 

You can now talk more particularly about the chosen work of art after conveying your feeling from the picture. And the best thing to start describing it is to explain the composition. In layperson’s terms, you need to tell what is depicted on the canvas. You can use these common expressions and words to describe art composition: 

• in the foreground/background, in the middle, on the right/left side, next to, in front of;
• asymmetrical, symmetrical, centered; 
• urban landscape, suburban landscape, rural landscape; 
• a historic site, domestic setting, intact nature; 
• horizontal, vertical, circular, triangular.

For example, let’s look at the  Mona Lisa (we are confident you’ve seen this one before). What can you see in this famous painting? There is a beautiful woman  in the foreground . She has long black hair and wears a black dress.  In the background is a natural landscape – a river, mountains, and a road. 

You can be more general when talking about the painting’s composition. Just describe what you can see in the foreground and background, the main shapes of the picture, what is in the center and what is in the distance, etc. The best advice for this step is to tell everything you see, even the smallest details. 

Describe the colors

Colors are integral when you need to describe a painting. Of course, we are not telling you to go to the gallery and stand in front of pieces of art saying they are red or yellow. It would be a little bizarre. You can try some other things instead. Here are some adjectives you can use to explain the color palette of the painting:

• bright, vibrant, vivid;
• hot, cold, warm, cool;
• natural, artificial, earthy, rich, intense; 
• deep, flat, weak, pale, muted; 
• complementary, quiet, contrasting; 
• dark, light, monochromatic.

Take a look at the painting and try to identify your impression of the colors used. Are they good together? Do they fit the overall idea and composition? Can you identify the primary color palette and what it is? Are there any specific colors you can notice? The more details your eye can catch, the better your description will be. Try to feel the atmosphere the artist created using a specific color and explain it. 

Describe the scene

When describing a composition, you explain only the things pictured in the painting. But when discussing the scene, you create your own story based on the painting. Of course, it would be harder to describe the landscape scene because you can only guess the place’s location, city, or country here. 

But if there are any actions, and you feel a little creative, you can imagine the story behind this picture and add it to your description. Let’s get back to the legendary Mona Lisa. You probably know there are many stories about this masterpiece. So, why don’t we create another one? 

Take a look at this painting once again, and try to guess a few things. Who do you think this woman is? Maybe she is the wife of the artist. Perhaps she is his mistress. Or possibly, she is just the famous lady of that time, and it’s a custom painting. Where does she live? We know that Da Vinci was born in Italy but spent his last days in France. Hence, maybe it is one of those countries? The number of options is countless. You can choose any picture and make your own vision of it. 

Describe the history

Generally, four previous steps would be enough to describe a painting. But if you have a bit more spare time and want to impress whoever you will discuss the art with, you need to do some research. 

Start with the information about the artist. Find out their date and place of birth, the genres they were working with, and some major events in their life. When you know something about the artist, it will be easier for you to keep the conversation going. Moreover, it will significantly simplify the painting-describing process. 

After learning some basics about the author, research the information about the painting. Try to learn as much as possible about the events or people pictured on the piece of art. It may be a famous historical event or figure. Maybe, it is the sibling of the artist. The more you find, the better you will understand the painting. 

Of course, if you’ve decided to do this research, you should skip step four. It won’t be easy to guess and create your versions when you know exactly what the picture is about. But to mention the painting’s history, you need to be sure that you’ve found only relevant information. So pay attention to the smallest details to avoid misunderstandings and confusion. 

Why is it important to learn how to describe a piece of art?

You might think that describing a painting can be useful only at the museum or in your art class. But we can show you that it is not entirely true. This simple process can bring you more benefits than you can imagine. Here are only a few of them: 

• Improving your speaking and writing skills.  Of course, since we are here to study English, the first benefit is connected to our learning process. When you learn words to describe the painting, you expand your vocabulary, understand how to build sentences, and use them in your speech and writing. 
• Learning to understand yourself. Yes, you’ve read it correctly. As we mentioned earlier, one of the best ways to describe art is to start with your feelings. And when you realize what you feel regarding some painting, you will learn how to listen to yourself in other situations. 
• Imagination development. You probably remember that in step four of describing a painting, we offered to define a scene using your imagination – guess what is going on, and create your version of events. It will help you develop your fantasy and imagination and become even more creative. 
• Increasing knowledge.  You already know that to describe a piece of art better, you need to find some information about the artist and the historical background of the painting. It will help you to increase your knowledge of various topics, so you will always be an interesting person to communicate with. 

Only these four benefits can show you how much profit you have from learning how to describe art. You can use them to discuss paintings, even in your native language. And if you want to master this topic in English, we know precisely how to help you reach this goal. 

Learning the best words to describe a painting with Promova

If you are an avid reader of our blog, you probably know our main motto – studying doesn’t have to be boring. And if you still think that describing art in English is tedious, we are ready to prove you wrong. The Promova English studying platform is the best place to learn all the steps mentioned above, but make it easy and fun. There are a few studying options depending on students’ needs. And we will tell you about each one of them. 

Let’s start with those who seek help from professional tutors. If it’s you, we have a perfect solution. Promova offers amazing one-on-one lessons with professional teachers . They will prepare a unique plan according to your experience level, studying goals, and interests. As a result, you will start learning only the information pertinent to you and bypass all the useless details. 

You can join our friendly and exciting group classes if you need company. It is an outstanding opportunity for those who want to practice speaking. Depending on your English proficiency, you can join any group of six students and begin having fun right away. You can talk to people worldwide, discuss interesting topics, and strengthen your language skills. 

Another great option is suitable for those who don’t want to study general information but want to practice speaking and discuss various topics more. Yes, we are talking about our wonderful speaking club . Here, you can discuss art, books, movies, and other amazing topics with students from various countries. And the best thing is that it is free! Go to the Promova website , choose the subject you want to discuss, and book your place. Just as simple as that!

Finally, we have something great for those who prefer to study independently. The Promova app is perfect if you want to practice English alone, anywhere, and anytime. Install the application on your phone or laptop, and enjoy hundreds of lessons and exercises on grammar, vocabulary, speaking, pronunciation, listening, etc. The application is also free, so you can enjoy it immediately. Don’t hesitate, and check one of those opportunities to find the one that suits you best. 

All in all, discussing a particular piece of art might be more tricky than you thought. But with minimal preparation, you can become a personal guide for your friends on your next visit to the gallery. All you need to do is to remember some basic steps for describing a painting.

• Find out more about the art and the artist. Scroll through the Internet and visit famous websites like the  National Gallery of Art to find information about the chosen painting. Describe the background history of the author and the painting.
• Describe your own feelings about the piece of art – what emotions does it evoke? 
• Discuss the composition of the painting – what you can see in the foreground, in the background, etc. 
• The next step is to mention the colors of the painting – what are they? 
• Finally, you can tell the story of the scene. If you’ve done the research mentioned in the first step, you can skip it since you’ve already discussed it. But if you don’t know what is going on, just turn on your imagination and try to guess. 

These five steps are the general plan for describing a picture in English. You can use them for discussing art in your mother tongue as well. And if you need some practice, please describe your favorite painting in our comments section. We will be happy to learn more about the art you like. 

How to describe a painting in English?

To describe a piece of art, find out more about the artist and tell the background history of the painting. Then, discuss the composition, color palette, scene, and your impressions of the art. Finally, use many adjectives to show various details of your chosen masterpiece. 

Is it necessary to learn how to describe art?

Although it is not mandatory knowledge, it can benefit your English and general studying. For example, learning to describe a piece of art can help you practice speaking and writing, expand your vocabulary, develop your imagination, and increase your general knowledge. 

How to talk about my impressions of a particular painting?

First, you need to determine what emotions the art evokes. Try to understand whether they are positive or negative. Then. when it’s done, try to specify your feelings. Does the artistic composition make you happy or sad, excited or disappointed, satisfied or disgusted? After you know exactly what emotions the painting evokes, try to find and explain the reason for it. 

How to describe a scene in the painting?

If you don’t know the historical background of the piece of art, you need to appeal to your imagination. First, try to guess the story of this painting – who is painted here, what is this character doing, if they are rich or servants, where are they going, etc. Then, imagine yourself as the artist – what meaning would you put into the painting if you were its author?

Painting Essay

Introduction

While there are people who find peace in seeing the beautiful nature outside, there are also a few who find satisfaction in capturing this beauty in their paintings. Even though it is easy to draw something you see, it is sometimes difficult to understand the meaning behind a painting. Such is the depth and value of a painting, and this painting essay example will be ideal for your kids to write about painting.

Due to its simple and narrative format, this painting essay will be easy for your kids to understand. The essay is so easy to read that children will be able to create one on this topic effortlessly. Here is an essay on a painting I made.

Experience in Painting

It was during my 7th birthday that my parents gifted me with a set of paints and paintbrushes. Since I was young, I have had a liking for drawing and painting, and it was due to my artistic talent that my parents decided to give me this painting set. Of all the gifts that I have received, this one was extremely special for me. The moment I unwrapped the gift, I began mixing colours and dabbing them on paper. And the sheer sight of colours filled me with great joy.

In the beginning, I began painting things that I saw around me; sometimes, it was beautiful scenery or a particular incident, such as a boy helping an elderly man cross the road. Although my paintings were not perfect, I was happy that I could capture such memorable moments through my art. Slowly, I perfected the art by painting from my imagination and seeing things from a different perspective. I would like to highlight an incident in this essay on a painting I made.

My school organised a painting competition in connection with Republic Day, and I took part in it. Excitedly, I grabbed my painting tools and started painting an alluring landscape. I utilised the paper to paint a burning sunset at the top, glistening waters in the middle and lush greenery at the bottom. As the lines disappeared, the picture felt like a single landscape that depicted the colours of the Indian flag. Satisfied with my painting, I submitted it to the judges, and they applauded me for my creativity. The fact that I was able to show something meaningful through the painting filled me with happiness, and it was the greatest achievement that I have had so far.

Moral of the Essay

Painting is an art through which our children express themselves, and we cannot imagine how far their thoughts will go. While many of them will not have a natural skill in painting, as elders, we must ensure that we encourage the gifted children to practise painting and refine their art. This painting essay from BYJU’S shows that if we support the dreams and talents of children, they will surely go a long way. As such, they will stop doubting themselves and, in fact, believe that they can create wonders through painting.

For essays similar to the drawing essay, visit BYJU’S website. You can also find an exciting range of kids’ learning resources, such as short stories, poems, worksheets, etc., on the website.

Is painting a good hobby for children?

Children have varied interests, and if you think that they love art and painting, it will be good to buy paints, brushes and paper. While painting as a hobby will help them relax and enjoy, it will also develop their imaginative and creative skills as well as improve their hand-eye coordination.

How to improve your child’s painting skills?

Even though it is good to introduce them to painting at an early age, we must not overfill their plates. First, give them small canvases and let them learn how to mix colours to form new ones. Once they are familiar with colours, give specific topics or themes to paint. Also, present them with different types of paintings, like watercolour painting, oil painting, acrylic painting, etc.

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4 Well Written Essays on Painting & Its Importance [ 2024 ]

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Painting is a constructive art. It is the human passion to draw something out of the heart. Read the following essay that sheds light upon the meaning and purpose of painting, painting as a hobby, and benefits of painting essay for children & students. This essay is quite helpful for children & students for their school exams preparation etc.

List of Topics

Essay on Painting | Painting as hobby | Types, Purpose & Importance of Painting Essay for Students

Painting is an art form that surfaces images to canvas or other materials by applying paints, pigments, and other mediums. There are several different media used for painting like oils, acrylics, watercolor, etc.

Painting is a beautiful art of colors . It requires creative skills to paint images on canvas or any other surface. There are various stages of painting that include preparing the surface, under-painting or blocking in colors, laying the paint, and blending colors. Additional layers of paint are applied to the surface in order to build up complex colors.

The history lies in cave paintings, which are considered as the first ever paintings. These paintings were done to depict life in those times.   It was then that people realized the power of expression in art. Following are the important types of painting:

• Minimalist paintings
• Abstract expressionism paintings
• Postmodern paintings

Some of the famous painters of the world who made their contribution to art include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Raphael, Vincent van gogh, Pablo Picasso, etc. Some of the paintings that are famous worldwide include Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, the night watch by Rembrandt, the awakening conscience by Raphael, etc.

Some of the major art galleries of the world include The Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, National Gallery, Tate Modern London, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, National Galleries of Scotland, etc.

Purpose of Painting

Painting is the great colorful depiction of Art . The main functions of paintings are that they can transport you to a different time and place, evoke varied emotions from within the society, provide inspiration to people who love creative arts, etc. Following are the important functions of paintings: –

• To express an idea or a thought
• Beautiful view of nature and objects
• Memories and different emotions associated with the painting
• Helps in relaxation and meditation
• Inspiration for creative people
• Acquisition of knowledge about history, culture etc. through paintings
• Invention of new form-styles and themes
• Aesthetically pleasing paintings and pictures
• Visual learning and knowledge about things around us through photographs.

Joys of Painting

Painting is fun when you don’t give it the kind of importance that you give your studies or any other work. This way it can be enjoyed like a break from your regular stressful routine. Paint whenever you feel like, for no reason at all and see how it helps you unwind.

Painting in Modern Times: Artworks have been produced by computers for a long time now. In the beginning, it was mostly used to generate technical drawings and research papers by scientists and engineers. However, with the advent of digital photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop and Corel Draw, artists started using computers to make their paintings look more realistic, to create various effects like colors blending in the air.

Nowadays, many artists use 3D software like Maya and Z-Brush to create their artworks. Maya is used by many 3D animators, video game developers and VFX (Visual effects) artists, etc. Z-Brush is a digital sculpting software which allows artists to create 3D models from scratch.

Benefits of Painting

Painting has been a pleasure.  It has the following benefits: –

• Visual learning and knowledge about things around us through photographs i. Provides inspiration to creative people
• Memories and different emotions

Painting for Children

Painting is a very nice hobby, so students should definitely be encouraged to follow painting. Painting develops the skills of creative thinking and expression which are necessary for everyone.

Painting has been used as a form of art since centuries. Painting has been and will continue to be used as a way to express thoughts and experiences, depict memories and different emotions associated with the painting, provide inspiration to people who love creative arts etc.

There is nothing wrong with painting, if it is done by children. Painting can help them to develop their creativity, imagination and hand-eye coordination. They can even learn to paint by numbers once they are familiar with the various painting tools. Then they can paint on their own. Children don’t waste time while painting, instead they learn to make the best use of their idle time.

Learn to Develop an Interest into Painting

Anyone can learn how to paint. Painting is a very nice hobby that everyone should try at least once in their life.  It doesn’t matter how old or young you are, you can always try your hand at painting.

It is true that some people just naturally seem to be better than others in terms of skill and creativity, but there are many artists who have not even received formal training, yet they paint very beautifully. According to me anyone can learn how to paint.

You should always begin with small canvases, until you get used to handling paints, brushes etc. You should be able-bodied enough to carry out all of your painting activities without getting tired too soon which might lead to your paintings being sloppy. Try different styles and themes. There is no end to creativity and imagination, so don’t limit yourself with a particular style or theme. You can always try your hand at something new.

Essay on Painting My Hobby:

Painting is an activity that I have loved since childhood. It is not just a hobby for me, but also a way to express my creativity and emotions. Whenever I feel stressed or overwhelmed, painting acts as a therapeutic outlet for me. In this essay, I will discuss my love for painting in 200 words.

I remember being fascinated by colors and shapes as a child. I would spend hours drawing and coloring in my sketchbook, creating my own imaginary world. As I grew older, painting became a frequent hobby that I turned to whenever I needed an escape from reality.

What I love most about painting is the freedom it gives me to express myself without any limitations. There are no rules or boundaries when it comes to art, and that is what makes it so special to me. I can use any color, any stroke, and create whatever I want on the canvas.

Apart from being a creative outlet, painting has also taught me patience and perseverance. It takes time and effort to bring an idea or concept to life through art. As I continue to paint, my skills improve, and I am able to create more complex and meaningful pieces.

I have also found solace in painting during difficult times. Whenever I am feeling down or struggling with my emotions, I turn to my paintbrushes and canvas. The process of creating something beautiful from a blank canvas is therapeutic for me.

In conclusion, painting is not just a hobby for me, but an essential part of who I am. It allows me to express myself, relax my mind, and continuously improve my skills. I am grateful for having this hobby, and I hope to continue painting for the rest of my life. So why not pick up a paintbrush and canvas yourself? You never know, you might discover a hidden talent or find peace in this beautiful form of art. Happy painting!

Short Essay on Painting:

Painting is an art form that has been around for centuries, dating back to prehistoric times. It involves using colors and various techniques to create visual representations of objects, people, or landscapes on a surface such as canvas, paper, or walls.

One of the earliest forms of painting was cave paintings, where early humans used natural pigments to depict animals and their surroundings. As time went on, painting evolved and became more refined, with the rise of different techniques such as fresco, oil painting, and watercolor.

Painting has been an integral part of human culture throughout history, with many renowned artists leaving behind a rich legacy of their work. From the iconic works of Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent van Gogh to modern masters like Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock, painting has been a medium for self-expression, storytelling, and social commentary.

Apart from its artistic value, painting also holds significant cultural and historical significance. Many paintings serve as visual records of past events and societal norms, providing insights into different time periods. For example, the famous Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is not only admired for its aesthetic beauty but also serves as a representation of Renaissance ideals and values.

In today’s world, painting continues to be a popular medium for both professional artists and hobbyists alike. With the advent of technology, new forms of painting have emerged, such as digital art and street art. However, traditional painting techniques remain highly valued and continue to inspire new generations of artists.

In conclusion, painting is a timeless art form that has stood the test of time and continues to captivate us with its beauty, complexity, and ability to convey emotions and ideas. It will undoubtedly remain an essential part of human culture for centuries to come.

Paragraph on Painting:

Painting is an art form that has existed for centuries, with evidence of its existence dating back to ancient times. It involves the use of pigments, dyes, or other coloring substances to create images on a surface. This could be on canvas, paper, wood, clay, or even walls. Paintings can range from simple illustrations to complex and detailed works of art.

Throughout history, painting has been used for various purposes. In ancient civilizations, it was primarily used for religious or ceremonial purposes. In the Renaissance period, it became a means of expressing human emotions and ideas. Today, painting is considered a form of self-expression and is widely recognized as a valuable form of art.

One of the most significant aspects of painting is its ability to capture the essence of a moment. It allows the artist to immortalize their thoughts, emotions, and ideas on a canvas or any other surface. Paintings can also serve as a representation of history, culture, and social commentary. They have the power to evoke strong emotions and convey powerful messages.

Painting is not limited to just one style or technique; it is a diverse and ever-evolving form of art. Some famous painting styles include realism, abstract, impressionism, and surrealism. Each style has its unique characteristics and techniques that give the artwork its distinct look.

In today’s digital age, painting is not limited to traditional mediums like oil or acrylic. With advancements in technology, artists are now exploring digital painting and other innovative techniques to create unique and captivating pieces of art. Painting has evolved alongside society, and it continues to be a significant form of artistic expression, reflecting the culture and values of each era. So, it is safe to say that painting will continue to captivate and inspire generations to come.

The power of painting lies in its ability to transcend time and language barriers. It speaks to our collective humanity and allows us to connect with each other through shared emotions and experiences. Whether it is a classic masterpiece or a contemporary work, painting has the power to move, challenge, and inspire us.

In conclusion, painting is not just about creating pretty pictures; it is a profound form of human expression that has stood the test of time. It has played an essential role in shaping our understanding of the world and ourselves. From ancient cave paintings to modern digital art, painting continues to captivate and inspire us, making it a timeless form of art that will continue to hold significance for generations to come.

Q: How do you write an essay about a painting?

A: To write an essay about a painting, start with an introduction, describe the painting, analyze its elements and artistic techniques, and provide your interpretation and insights.

Q: What is painting and its importance?

A: Painting is a visual art form where colors, shapes, and textures are used to create images or convey ideas. It’s important as a means of self-expression, cultural preservation, and communication.

Q: Why is painting important in our life?

A: Painting enriches our lives by offering a creative outlet, preserving history and culture, inspiring emotions, and promoting visual literacy and critical thinking.

Q: What is an introduction to painting?

A: An introduction to painting typically covers the basics, such as color theory, techniques, and materials used in creating visual artworks. It’s the initial step in learning how to paint.

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Home — Application Essay — Liberal Arts Schools — About My Passion for Art and How it Shaped Me

About My Passion for Art and How it Shaped Me

• University: Pratt Institute

About this sample

Words: 687 |

Published: Jul 18, 2018

Words: 687 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

As a young child, I always experienced awe and inspiration through art. Even twenty minutes of finger painting or dabbing emerald green petals with soap paint in the bathtub or doodling with chalk on the sidewalk reflected my passion as a young artist. So this essay about my passion for art discusses how my talent has molded my aesthetic character ever since my earliest childhood memories.

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My mother first introduced me to the world of art. I began learning the piano at the age of six, and after the long tedious hours of practice and lessons, I am fortunate to have it as a hobby that can surround me with sonorous peace or fill the room with vivid enthusiasm. I also began taking ballet lessons during that time, along with my favorite childhood memory: splashing acrylic paint and watercolors at an art studio in Chicago. Later, I learned my second instrument, the flute, and joined the school band when I was in seventh grade. As a senior in high school, I am proud to still be part of the band. All of these artistic pursuits have allowed me to express my inner identity.

When I was in seventh grade, I began to take journalism classes and even created my own fashion magazine with a group of friends. Ann Curry was my favorite news reporter, and I was always awed by Anna Wintour’s professional talent in fashion as editor-in-chief for Vogue. English has always been my favorite academic subject at school, so I have taken a keen interest in journalism, which has allowed me to use words to create personal expression. However, there was always a part of me that could not detach myself from the visual arts. To me, having art as only a hobby just wasn’t enough.

Despite the fact that I took Advanced Placement Art Studio during my junior year, it was my childhood memories that drove me back to my growing interest in the arts. Suddenly, I remembered my childhood days spent drawing with pastels and embellishing flowerpots with brightly colored beads. At that moment, I knew I had to return to the art studio and expand my artistic techniques.

I began to work on my college portfolio at an art studio. Because I did not decide on my intended career path early, however, my art instructor warned me that I would need to dedicate most of my time and effort to completing that portfolio. While some might have felt frustration, I completely enjoyed the process. The freedom and ability to express my ideas and feelings were always rewarding. In fact, it really made me into a person who brings out messages through drawings. For example, I have completed one piece of a young girl with piercing, sparkling eyes who is hiding part of her face with a crimson fan sprinkled with violet feathers. Her hair has also been braided with yarn in order to achieve a more dramatic, edgy appearance since I wanted to create a mysterious yet sharp look. In a different piece, I used colored pencils to draw a tropical rainforest-like background with vivid butterflies fluttering between the smooth tea-green leaves. On the right side of the canvas is a human-like creature with various sized butterflies clustered on her head to bring astonishment and a dream-like feeling to the audience.

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I am proud to have discovered not only my passion, but my dream career as an artist. The art studio is now my second home, as I am there drawing from the end of the school day until dark three times a week. Because I work at the studio so often, my friends ask me if I’m ever “tired” or “exhausted” from trying to balance my artistic career and my school life. No, I tell them, I’m not tired. I’m not tired at all. Instead, I feel more alive -- more awake -- than ever before! Given my passion and commitment, I long to refine my talents as an artist. I feel fortunate to have rediscovered the keen interest in art that I have possessed since childhood but only recently started to develop.

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