Wednesday, April 7, 2010

What Makes a Great Oil Painting

There should be some snap or fire in the color harmonies even if it's a darker painting. The lighting should be natural and have its own glow, unlike the faux lighting effects often used. There must also be detail in the shadows and dark sections of the painting as well as detail in the highlights. You can spot this by looking at other elements in the painting. See if they are of similar quality, or some spots of the painting are more refined than others.
You can see this when a painting gets your attention but the closer you get to the image or zoom in on an image the illusion falls apart. It's because it lacks detail. One of the most important effects a painting must have is the ability to pull you out of your element, and stir up emotions. Or if the painting causes you to reflect or ponder. If you can find yourself starting to mentally wander in the painting and it gets your imagination going, then it's a good painting. But if you can feel somehow refreshed a little for having gotten lost in the painting and temporarily forgot about the days troubles, then it's a great painting.

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