subject: Oil painting is the Essence of Imagination [print this page] Oil painting is the Essence of Imagination
In the 1970's Rod Stewart sang the lyrics, "Every picture tells a story" and indeed they do. When we visit an art gallery and gaze upon the works of Da Vinci, Van Gogh and other famous artists, if we look long enough, the paintings seem to come to life. The artist's brush strokes and use of color, tell us so much. Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the lady with the smile. Art lovers for centuries have wondered why Mona smiles. As we stare at her oil painted image, stories flash through our minds like the images on a theater screen.
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The longer we stare, the more we come to understand the lady with the smile. Oil paintings have unique way of talking' to us. The artist captures the person or the scene better than a camera. Photographs are just colorful copies of the real world, paintings ARE the real world. We stand and stare and while we gaze upon the gold framed masterpiece, we lose ourselves in the art, indeed we are alone alone with the artist. The colors used give us a kind of understanding of what the person who painted this creation was like. We imagine what the artist is telling us, or perhaps telling himself. As we continue our quiet vigil, the picture begins to "speak" to us, telling its story.
There is no need for words words can be misunderstood or confused. An oil painting speaks silently to us - the brush strokes the words, the colors the story. Paintings touch our thoughts, feelings and memories and therefore can carry us backward or forward in time. When visiting an art gallery, take your time and look at the magic hang from the walls. That magic has lasted many years and it beckons you to understand it.
Make up stories about what you see - chances are what you imagine is exactly what the artist wanted you to imagine. Oil paintings have endured hundreds of years of wars, natural disasters, and political unrest and change, yet still we are amazed by the beauty in the frame. A smiling Mona Lisa, makes us want to know why, portraits of soldiers, sea captains or ladies of grace, make us wonder what life must have been like. The longer we stare, the more we learn. Indeed oil paintings are windows to the past or in some cases, the future. Learning to appreciate the image is learning about the person who painted it. Spending time in galleries viewing oil paintings is therapeutic as you are taken to a world of make-believe and mystery and a world of color and imagination. Indeed oil painting is the essence of imagination.
