Personally, I have always held a certain disdain for painting, perhaps it spurred from the tedious work of blending and finding the right shade of a color for a tiny section of a piece. Or maybe it sprouted from never quite being able to paint as well as others. Regardless of that I view painting as a way to relieve oneself of emotions and memories, or to create new ones. To express a hatred or sorrow through jagged and smooth lines gashed deeply with a dark shade of paint. People use their bodies to paint, huge mops, anything they can get their hands on, or something that makes a statement.
Must painting be graphic in nature?
No, painting can be whatever it feels like being, just as conceptual art can almost have any meaning for anything a painting can be as simple or as complicated as the painter. Though I don't very much like it when I see a canvas in a museum with one line on it and it's supposedly the meaning of life. That's when my definition gets a little dodgy.
Does the act of painting necessarily result in a painting?
Well, if I painted a house, or a wall to cover up a questionable shade of pink, would the wall automatically count as a work of art? I don't think so, a lot of people hold brushes and slather paint on a wall, usually it's a job, or someone redecorating a room, but there's no hidden meaning. Or even a representation as to what it could possibly mean, painting is something that takes thought and planning.
Does painting serve as the basis for other forms of art or stand on its own?
It definitely stands on it's own, just as drawing and printmaking are separate works of art. There are different levels of painting even, depending on what type of paint is used (oil, acrylic, tempera etc.) or where it is painted. Such as graffiti, performance art, and murals. But definitely painting is its own form of art, and though it can be the basis for other art, it is more than capable of standing on it's own.
Three examples:
(James Nares. Oil on Linen, 2007 94"x67" 1/4)
I chose these paintings/artists, because each of them has a different style of painting, but is equally devoted to creating an image/emotion on the canvas/linen/paper. I don't much care for things that all look the same when sitting next to each other. I came across James Nares on a media website and was a little angry but mostly impressed by what he does. Jim Overall's piece looks jumbled and busy while Lorus Maver just makes me want to cry because it's so accurate and pretty. Painting is a hard thing to define.
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