The Different Styles of Painting – All You Need to Know

painting

Painting is known as the process of applying paint, pigment or color to any solid surface which is then a form of visual art. While the most common medium of painting is with different kinds of brushes, many artists go further to use objects such as knives, sponges and even airbrushes. The entire procedure of painting involves many steps until a final product is produced. These include drawing, gesture, composition, narration and even abstraction.

Paintings can be of a wide variety, as there are no set rules or boundaries when it comes to art. Whatever you paint could be naturalistic and representational such as a painting of a landscape or abstract and symbolistic such as a vague composition of various colors and objects.

Another variety of painting is very much dominated by art that relates to religion. This type of artwork focuses mainly on depicting mythological figures on pottery or the paintings of biblical scenes.

 

How Art is Evolving

In the vast world of art, paintings can be of many forms. Surfaces such as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, leaf, concrete or even plaster may be used to form a piece of visual artwork that is pleasing to the eye or portrays a message from the artist.

While it may sound like painting is simple, it never is and never will be. The most fascinating part about painting is that it constantly evolves. With new artists comes new forms of creativity and newly found techniques. With this consistent change, the mere use of different colors is becoming complex and the ways to illustrate your thoughts on a canvas is becoming increasingly intricate.

As a beginner in the world of art, the many different styles that this industry has to offer may easily overwhelm you. To make things much simpler, here are a few common painting styles that are followed by artists today.

 

The Western Style

Put in the simplest words, the most common style of painting today is the Western style. This type further includes many different styles of art that each focus on one specific core element.

1. Modern Paintings

The Modernist style of painting evolved in the period between 1860 and 1970. While there is no set definition for the term ‘modernism’, it is usually referred to as a break away from the traditional forms of painting. Artists that choose to pursue this path are extremely radical in their thinking, and tend to follow no boundaries when it comes to expressing their opinions in the form of art.

2. Impressionism

This style of painting had recently originated in Paris during the late 19th century. While this style was highly criticized in the beginning, it is now becoming one of the most popular forms of art. Paintings of impressionism commonly include thin brush strokes, ordinary subjects and unusual angles which sets it apart from all other forms of painting. Impressionist paintings usually do not include the color black. Instead, they tend to mix complementary colors that are then transformed into darker shades. These thoughtful artists take color, reflection and natural lighting into careful consideration during their painting regime. In older times, impressionist paintings were almost considered an alternative to photography, as both did not fully express themselves with bright and shining colors.

3. Abstract Paintings

This kind of painting is of any piece of art that hopes to illustrate something, but not in its truest form. Abstract paintings are known to be a product of very radical thought processes. In these paintings, you would never find a man, animal or a proper object. Anything that is expressed on the canvas is purely made up of varying colors and shapes. In this form of painting, even a simple shape could be immensely impactful. In many cases, the artist scales down the shape to successfully create the effect that is intended.

Since there are no proper objects on the canvas, the colors and shapes are used to symbolize emotions and objects in the real world. This type of 21st century painting allows the artist to experiment in whichever way he wishes, as there is no direction or ruling in the world of abstract painting. The results, however, are still impeccable and highly satisfying.

4. Figurative Paintings

Sometimes known as Figurativism, this type of painting usually consists of artwork that has evidently originated from real objects and figures. Since it acts as an opposite to abstract paintings, the term ‘figurative’ is especially used to symbolize its use of real-world objects and references. These type of paintings are becoming increasingly popular as they tend to feature a wide range of subjects. Figurative paintings leave their mark on the viewers through their extensive use of lines, shapes, color, texture and even perspective that makes them highly unique.

5. Landscape Paintings

Landscape artwork is known to feature the beautiful scenes of nature that include mountains, lakes or flowing rivers across valleys. Most commonly, landscape paintings are made from oil paints, but new artists are beginning to use other mediums such as watercolors or pastels. This genre of art is specifically designed to portray any majestic view of scenery and even feature subjects such as animals or people within them to express a thought. Over the course of many years, artists have begun including cityscapes into the world of landscape paintings and capture some beautiful skylines, urban areas or seascapes onto their canvases.

 

The Best Collection of Paintings

In the region of Netherlands, ‘schilderij’ or paintings have held great importance since the beginning of time. True appreciation of artwork signifies the intellect of a nation, and our country has learnt to love multiple different styles of paintings over the years. At Artello, you can browse through a grand collection of the best paintings and purchase the ones that personally speak to you. By providing only the most remarkable collection of artwork and excellent after-sales service for the customers, Artello is the most reliable seller in the country!