Portraiture is an old art form that existed way before the invention of sculpting, photography or drawn portraits. It was the only way to record anybody’s appearance. However, portraits were much more than just a medium of keeping records. They used to show the beauty, virtue, importance, power, taste etc. of others. Throughout historical times, different types of paintings were created and they had different significance. Some of the portrait paintings dated back to Ancient Egyptian times while others the past century. In fact, portrait painting became popular only after 1450. As the years passed by, the style of these paintings kept changing. Some Masterpieces were those with dark and heavy paints along with some precise lines, some were also like Van Gough’s, with light strokes and colours. With OilPixel, get to know about some unique meanings of such portrait paintings painted in the past that made them famous:
Wealth Signification with Portrait Painting
Owning a portrait used to signify a deep meaning. If you wanted one, you had to pay a heavy amount to an artist. It wasn’t cheap to get a portrait done. It would cost approximately between 10,000 dollars to 1,00,000 dollars. If someone had one for themselves, it would signify a lavish life and a high social status. Having one portrait was still considered rich, but some used to keep many to show off how well they were.
So, next time whenever you plan to visit a historical castle or a mansion, just have a look around their walls and you will be amazed by the magnificent strokes used for painting these. Afterall, none of these structures are complete without a portrait painting.
Before the invention of the Camera
If you think about the time when cameras did not exist, somewhere before 1816, one had to get a portrait painting done even as a reminder. Without any such medium of reminder, people might have thought that their future generation won’t be able to recognise them as to how they lived, what they wore and what was their social status. So, many also opted to go for a portrait painting for their grandchildren to remember them as they were.
By becoming a Norm in every House
As times passed, middle-class families also showed keen interest in owning their portrait paintings. They also got the thought that they wanted to outlive and not be forgotten as they went. So, even middle-class people thought of buying them, so they started looking out for affordable painters who could fulfil this wish of theirs with fewer pennies. Thus, portrait paintings started becoming a household norm.
A Unique Personalised Art Piece
As time passed by, it became easier to get pictures clicked and to collect the memories of anything, with the advancement of technology. So, personalised assets got more in demand rather than instant ones because of its rarity and personal touch. In this way, personal portrait painting started gaining more popularity.
Therefore, nowadays people prefer keeping one because of the deep values that it brings with it, a unique touch on the art and lots of appreciation to the subject. People have started ordering these paintings now and started decorating their houses with them. What a thoughtful way of remembering a moment and decorating a space too.
Digital Oil Painting
The fast-moving world has also coined this new concept called ‘Digital Oil Painting’. Digital painting is an art form which uses traditional painting methods like watercolours, oils etc. These are applied with the help of a Wacom tablet, software and computer. As the name suggests, it does differ from other art forms. It is mostly computer generated and the programs used for digital painting try to mimic the physical form via different paint effects and brushes.
This has now helped in bridging the gap between digital and traditional painting. Softwares such as Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter are used to give a multitude of colour varieties. It is said to allow artists to work in a mess-free and organised environment.
Although the acceptance of this medium of painting has been slow by some in the art world, digital painting will soon be fully accepted as one of the forms of fine art in the near future. It saves a lot of time since there are no brushes to clean, no paint that gets dry. It is basically a different set-up with the same thought process of painting. So, you can be guaranteed that brushes used by digital artists make a very remarkable piece, just as beautiful as traditional media.
A Unique type of Painting
Digital portrait painting became famous because the end results of this painting might be indistinguishable from the physical art form, but its process is very challenging and rewarding. A digital art piece requires a lot of expertise.
Choosing the tools best adapted to creating a piece of digital art requires expertise and ingenuity. A professional digital artist makes wonderful conceptualisations. Even if it is not created as per your expectation, then there can still be revisions, step by step and your artwork can be customised without any hassle, unlike a physical artwork where a re-painting has to be done. So a perfect art piece as per your convenience is assured through this medium.
Digital oil painting studio like OilPixel, understands how every art piece showcases a personal story which holds a strong meaning. With our in-house professional artists, we make sure that every digital stroke does justice to your dreamy artwork and turn it up into a masterpiece to be cherished forever. For more details you can log on to our website. We hope that you enjoyed reading the evolution of portrait painting. Feel free to drop any comments.
