What is the difference between a painting, a sketch, a sketch and a sketch? Which is better, canvas or cardboard? Is it possible to paint on canvas? Contrasting, sharp image with gaunt and bearded faces - El Greco.

For many, remembering artists and their paintings seems like an impossible task. Over hundreds of years, history has written down the names of many artists whose names are well-known, unlike their paintings. How to remember the artist's personality and style? We have prepared a brief description for those who want to understand fine arts:

If the paintings show people with big butts, you can be sure it's Rubbens

If people in beautiful clothes relax in nature - Watteau

If men look like curly-haired women with hairy eyes - This is Caravaggio

If a painting with a dark background shows a person with a beatific expression or a martyr - Titian

If the painting contains multi-figure compositions, many people, objects, Christian and surreal motifs - this is Bosch

If the painting contains multi-figure compositions and complex plots, but they look more realistic than Bosch’s paintings, rest assured that this is Bruegel.

If you see a portrait of a person against a dark background in dim, yellow light - Rembrandt

Biblical and mythological scenes depicting several plump cupids - Francois Boucher

Naked, pumped up bodies, perfect shapes - Michelangelo

Ballerinas are drawn, this is Degas

Contrasting, sharp image with gaunt and bearded faces - El Greco

If the painting shows a girl with a unibrow, this is Frida

Quick and light strokes, bright colors and depictions of nature – Monet

Light colors and rejoicing people – Renoir

Bright, colorful and rich - Van Gogh

Dark colors, black outlines and sad people - Manet

The background is like from the movie “The Lord of the Rings”, with a light blue fog. Madonna's wavy hair and aristocratic nose - Da Vinci

If the body depicted in the painting has an unusual shape - Picasso

Colored squares like an Excel document – ​​Mondrian

Painting of any genre (from still life to religious painting) is artistic image, created with the help of the artist’s imagination and personal worldview. The artist’s worldview and attitude are formed under the influence of the environment - era, state, society, family, lifestyle, etc. The art of great artists is always a portrait of an era through the prism of a self-portrait, a personality that passes through the surrounding reality and the spirit of the time.

An icon is a timeless phenomenon, it is a revelation of God, represented with the help of visual arts. The most important principle in icon painting is following established canons. The canons of icon painting are so unique that a person unfamiliar with the history and theology of the Church may be perplexed: why adhere to the ancient principles of depiction? Perhaps the masters who stood at the origins of icon painting simply did not master the technique that developed during the Renaissance? And maybe we should shift the achievements European civilization on this ancient art?

So, how is the icon so strikingly different from classic painting? And by what technical means is this difference achieved?

The icon painter does not transfer into the icon anything from his personal worldview that is in any way different from the worldview of the Church of Christ. The icon painter becomes a guide to the worldview of the Church. The icon does not seek to reflect the surrounding temporary reality; it is not concerned with the problems of our time, the transitory unrest of this world. An icon is a window into another, eternal world.



The painting inevitably reflects the individuality of the author; the work reflects his personal, unique features; moreover, each artist strives to achieve his own distinct unique style. One of highest achievements author's activity - the creation of a new style, direction in painting. The master's canvases are inextricably linked with his name, image, and biography.

The painting is spiritual, that is, sensual, it conveys emotions, since art represents a way of understanding the world through feelings.

The icon is spiritual, unemotional, and dispassionate. Like church singing and reading, the icon does not accept emotional methods of influence.

A painting is a way to interact with the author’s personality. An icon is a means of communication with God and His saints.

An icon, unlike a painting, directly serves the salvation of the human soul.

We have highlighted the internal differences between an icon and a painting, and which external differences can we trace?

First of all, an icon is a testimony to the true God; it is a purely religious phenomenon. Canonical icon does not have random decorations devoid of semantic meaning.

The main differences between an icon and a painting:

1. Conventional, some distortion real forms and symbolism.

The carnal is diminished in the icon, and the spiritual is revealed. Elongated proportions of the figure, lack of volume. The icon lacks heaviness, the weight inherent in the objects of our world.

2. Reverse perspective.

The picture is constructed according to the laws of direct perspective, the vanishing point is located on the horizon line, and it is always the same. The icon is characterized by a reverse perspective, where the vanishing point is located not in the depth of the plane, but in the person standing in front of the icon. This is how the idea of ​​the appearance of the heavenly world into our world, the world below, finds its expression. And the parallel lines on the icon do not converge, but, on the contrary, expand in the space of the icon.

3. No external light source.

Light, as it were, from within the icon, from the faces and figures themselves, from their depths is the essence of holiness. The icon is luminous, and this principle is based on the theological gospel testimony about the Transfiguration of our Lord on Mount Tabor. The Orthodox halo is the uncreated light of the Divine, born in the heart of a saint and forming a single whole with his transformed body.

4. Color in an icon performs a purely symbolic function.

The red color on the icons of martyrs symbolizes sacrifice, or royal power. Gold is a symbol of non-commodity light, which has a completely different nature than other physical substances. Why it cannot be conveyed with paint. Gold on icons is the opposite of the idea of ​​earthly gold and wealth. There are also colors that replace the presence of gold on the icon - ocher, red and white. Black color on icons is used only in cases where it is necessary to show the forces of evil or the underworld.

6. There is no time in the icon. All events happen at the same time.

Often, one icon depicts several different scenes, sometimes these are scenes from the life of one saint, illustrating his entire path from birth to repose. This is how the icon’s involvement in the world of eternity is conveyed, where everything is open at one time, or rather, time is simply absent. In the picture, on the contrary, it happens in one time plane.

So, the difference between a canonical icon and a painting is obvious.

The main task of the icon, in contrast to the painting, which conveys the sensory side of the world, is to reveal the reality of the spiritual world, to help gain a sense of the real presence of the saint, Mother of God or the Lord, to contribute to the opening of the heart and the birth of repentant prayer or praise, through which the mind, heart and whole life of a person are sanctified.

In the Icon Painting Workshop "Measured Icon" it is possible

- Wow, great picture! – complimented the work and immediately offended the artist with incorrect terminology

You probably know, friends, that a good but impressionable artist can be offended if you tell him that he “paints” his picture. It's the same as saying that ships sail on the sea... but we all know that ships sail on the sea!

Still, a person who is far from fine art often cannot say exactly what painting is, what drawing is and how they differ from each other. Therefore, both “drawing” and “writing” are one and the same for him. But try telling the master that he has a good “drawing” on canvas!

No more easy way hurt a sensitive creative nature, although a simple viewer will not immediately understand what is wrong and offensive.

Painting and drawing are close and even related concepts, but clearly separated from each other. Just as it is well known when pictures are painted and when they are drawn.

Let's try to figure this out terminology in fine arts. Believe me, this is not only important for those who are creative, but also interesting.

Difference between painting and drawing

In strict formal language, drawing - this is an image of any images, objects and phenomena on a plane. You can draw with chalk, pen, pencil, paints - anything that leaves marks on a particular surface.

In general, even scratching a diamond on glass or, for example, drawing with a pen in a lesson and applying a tattoo is also drawing.

And here painting - this is also an image of objects and phenomena, but only with the use of paints. That is, speaking in dry and formal language, painting is one of the drawing options in which a brush is used as a tool, and paint is the means of creating an image.

In other words, drawing is graphics and is considered Officially, everything that is done on paper is considered graphics, and, oddly enough, watercolor is also considered graphics. Although many works are considered as paintings on paper too

So, everything on paper is graphics, and everything else is painting... on canvas, wood, glass, wall

Remember drawing lessons at school? There the whole subject was called that way: fine art. There were no separate lessons in painting or drawing, just one day they taught how to work with oils, and another day - with pencils.

Hence the common belief that painting is just a variant of drawing. Formally this is so, in reality it is different.

Fine Arts - The Art of Capturing Images = Fine Arts, Association various types painting, graphics, sculpture

In fact, such a hierarchy is real bureaucracy. In the visual arts today there is a clear division: painting- this is working with a brush and paints on dense materials, drawing- this is the use of all other materials on paper.

It may not be so strict and scientific, but the world of art is loved by many because it is not subject to science, and therefore its laws do not necessarily have to correspond to strict classification and terminology.

There is another nuance: think about the word itself "painting"- it consists of two parts: "live" And "write". This can be interpreted in different ways, but many artists say that working with paints is alive precisely because the paints themselves, after being applied to the canvas, dry and somewhat change their properties, that is, they live their own lives.

And the image itself acquires its own dynamic life, the picture turns out to be alive. Or depiction- to write in a lively way... In general, the word painting sounds lofty and beautiful, in my opinion

Looking and reflecting on living paintings

So, we have figured out this part: painting is working with paints, drawing is using other means. Moreover easel painting, both monumental and decorative also differ from similar forms of drawing.

Paints are applied to the walls - we're talking about about painting, they decorate them with crayons - this is already drawing.

Do they paint or draw?

Another, no less pressing question is what to call the process of creating a picture itself. It seems that if an image is created, it means it is drawn. And if they talk about a letter, they usually mean text.

Here the terminology has deep historical roots. Painting in Rus' gradually developed from icon painting, when masters began to try to revive and make more vivid biblical motifs, using the same techniques, and then completely switched to paintings that had nothing to do with religion.

But since icons were originally "wrote", then this word migrated to painting and today oil paintings are also painted.

I often sin and usually “paint” my pictures

If we are talking about drawing, then all the works here are painted, no matter how significant they are. One can, of course, say that the artist “wrote” an epic canvas with a pencil, but this is nothing more than liberty.

Is it possible to paint on canvas?

In general, it is customary to say that they paint on canvas with oil, but, for example, they simply draw on paper. But these are not absolute rules.

For example, Before painting with paints, the artist can make a pencil sketch on canvas. This is a drawing, the author draws it. And only when paints are applied to this drawing does the picture begin to be painted.

Although, no one forbade drawing with pencils or charcoal on canvas... the only question is that drawing on a fabric canvas is not entirely convenient for dry techniques, unless, of course, this is not where it is possible to use everything.

The same is true for any other basics; not only easel painting allows you to paint pictures. For example, monumental painting involves painting pictures with paints on various architectural objects of the facade, decorative painting- this is a letter to various subjects and interior details - these are painting the walls inside the room with various frescoes and faux paintings

At the same time, if we take a glass or jug ​​and paint it, for example, with ink, this will already be decorative painting . This means that it does not depend in any way on the basis whether we are engaged in painting or drawing. It's all about the materials with which the picture is created.

And finally: do not assume that painting is for professionals, and drawing is for amateurs. Not at all! Often, pencils, pastels or crayons create works that are no less grandiose and magnificent than oil or acrylic paintings.

And the difficulty of creating work, for example, only with pencils, is very great. Therefore, if you like to draw, you don’t have to torture yourself and force yourself to paint with paints - it’s quite possible to create masterpieces with what you like best.

Masters of portraits in graphics

Only in this case, by the way, you will be able to fully express yourself and your emotions in your work, be it on canvas, paper, glass or on the wall! They are the primary ones, and materials and techniques are just tools, among which you choose the most convenient for you.

Friends, to the article not lost among many other articles on the Internet,save it to your bookmarks.This way you can return to reading at any time.

Ask your questions below in the comments, I usually answer all questions quickly

“I realized a long time ago that for art critics, self-expression is more important than substance.”

Eldar Ryazanov

“Why am I, the son of a famous Moscow painter, spending my childhood and youth among artists, in whose collection more painting and graphics, than in any other regional museum, should I listen to art historians who never even held a brush in their hands?”

Alexander Gremitskikh

Wikipedia defines the term “picture” in relation to painting as “a work of art that has a complete character (as opposed to a sketch or sketch) and independent artistic value." The concepts of “study”, “sketch” and “sketch” in relation to painting are generally lumped together on Wikipedia and are reduced to one concept - sketch, preparatory material for the artist’s actual painting.

Let's see if this is true in practice:

I must say that all artistic terminology took shape back in the 19th century, if not even earlier. To speak in those days not only here, but throughout Europe decent people was supposed to be written exclusively in French, as evidenced by the terminology still used in painting. So the word “study” comes from the French “étude”, and “sketch” - from the French “esquisse”, for example. The painters' clients lived mostly in very spacious, to say the least, premises that required decoration with huge canvases, which were naturally impossible to paint from life. It is clear that in such conditions, only the final product was valued - the big picture (but, by the way, it was paid exclusively). Since it never occurred to anyone to hang the works from nature, to which the sketches, strictly speaking, belong, on the wall, it was impossible to get money for them, and therefore, if they were painted, it was only as supporting visual material for some big picture and had even less importance than the sketches, which were carefully written out since they had to be submitted to the customer for approval.

This is where, from “the times of Ochakov and the conquest of the Crimea,” long-outdated definitions migrated artistic terms to Wikipedia! Yes, and into other dictionaries, alas, too, and from there - into our heads.

However, by end of the 19th century century, with the democratization of society, views on what the final product in painting can be, so to speak, have changed dramatically. If the French impressionists were still blamed for the sketchiness of their works, then A.K. Savrasov encouraged his students to “learn from nature.” Of the Russian artists, Konstantin Korovin, for example, became famous precisely for his sketches from nature; he practically did not paint thematic paintings at all. We already live in the 21st century, but in relation to painting we continue to use an understanding of its terminology from 200 years ago, a paradox, and that’s all!

Misunderstanding of the simplest terms of painting, used in everyday speech, on the basis of such an ancient understanding of them, deliberately imposed on the general public by respected art critics who, as is quite obvious, do not PROFESSIONALLY understand anything about art, can cause serious problems. an ordinary person to a dead end. Therefore, in this article I would like to consider the main commonly used terms in painting in relation to our contemporary situation.

MEANINGS OF THE WORD “WRITE”(with emphasis on the second syllable, of course)

In Russian, the word “write” has the basic meaning of “writing letters and numbers.” In painting, professionals use the word “painting a picture” as a term. If an artist says: “I painted a picture,” then in this case he does not use professional terminology, but simply speaks in everyday language, like ordinary people, not related to artistic activity. In the terminological understanding, they paint with charcoal, sanguine, pencil, pastel, but not an oil painting. “This painting by the artist is painted in oil,” only a person far from painting can say. And there’s nothing terrible about it, it’s not that important. It also doesn’t matter that you don’t know what kraplak red or cadmium yellow is and you’ve never heard of any umber or burnt sienna. The names of artistic paints, which accurately designate certain colors (after all, red, yellow and blue are different), are completely unnecessary for a non-specialist to know, and art critics do not encroach on such narrowly professional precise terms.

But these gentlemen “in charge of art,” or, more simply put, critics, that is, journalists writing on the topic of art, have successfully imposed on all other people false idea, that in art, they say, “you need to understand.” Who knows about art? Of course, no one except art critics!

Thus, they successfully explained to us that in the visual arts we know and do not understand anything. And the most interesting thing is that we completely agree with this! Who can you ask: “I don’t understand painting”, “I don’t understand art”..., and things like that.

What is there, actually, to understand? Art, including fine art, is created for us, ordinary people, and not for “specialists”, it appeals to the aesthetics inherent in all of us by nature. In art, for the viewer, reader, listener, there are only two criteria - like and dislike. Will you read a boring book? Watch a bad movie or play? Will you listen to opera, music, or a song that you don’t like? Do you think Kazimir Malevich a brilliant artist, and Velimir Khlebnikov - a brilliant poet? No? Bravo! You have a great understanding of art!

But in order for you and me to be able, as Peter I put it, “to be recognized from other ignorant fools,” it is still necessary to understand several common terms that are often found in everyday speech, relating in this case to painting.

MATERIAL FOR THE ARTIST'S PAINTING

Non-professionals, at the suggestion of those same art critics, usually believe that real picture oil painting should be painted exclusively on canvas, and other bases such as art cardboard generally do not deserve attention. Then the “Mona Lisa” shouldn’t even be considered a painting, because Leonardo used linden boards for the work.

Cardboard, primed so that the paints are not absorbed into it, with a white compound, the so-called primer consisting of chalk and glue, or a colored primer if the artist requires it, that is, special art cardboard, is surprisingly convenient for working, especially in the plein air. Cardboard is a compact, fairly dense material that does not spring back under brush pressure, unlike canvas. Canvas, under the influence of changes in temperature and humidity in the room, either sag or stretches; therefore, the paints on it crumble over time, but not on cardboard. Painting on cardboard is as durable as the cardboard itself, and cardboard even surpasses canvas in durability.

The same can be said about hardboard, although it is much heavier than cardboard. Soviet artists often primed the hardboard themselves, or even simply, in order to make it more convenient to paint and the brush not to spring back, they specially glued the primed canvas onto the hardboard. There you are shining example, a still life with lilacs quite picture size:

What about canvas? Artists are exclusively with him Russian Empire worked until 1862, when Russian industry began to produce artistic cardboard.

The canvas requires a heavy stretcher plus a good stretch of the canvas on it. In this case, you have to wait a long time for the paint to dry after finishing the work, otherwise the canvas cannot be rolled up, since the wet paints will stick together and the painting will be completely ruined. The paints can take a whole month to dry. This is where the artist begins to have forced downtime. For transportation, the painting, if it is large, is removed from the stretcher and carefully rolled onto a large babbin with the painting facing up so as not to damage the painting. The next stage is after delivery to the site, stretch the canvas again onto the stretcher, correctly, without distortions, wrinkles in the corners and sagging, but also without excessive tension (all this can also damage the painting layer). And over time, the canvas stretched on a stretcher, under the influence of changes in humidity and temperature, can sag or, on the contrary, stretch too much, which can even threaten to rupture the canvas. This, in turn, can cause the paint layer to fall off, destroying or ruining the painting. That's why in the halls and storerooms art museums so they strictly monitor the constancy of humidity and temperature.

Artistic cardboard has many advantages. It is light, when leaving for the open air it can be placed in a special wooden frame with clamps, having a belt handle on top for carrying. An idea of ​​this useful device is given by a drawing preserved in my father’s papers of such a frame for sketches, which my father ordered from some carpenter. Here's the drawing:

Sometimes a painter takes two cardboards with him for sketches. One is used first and then if

the lighting or mood has changed, or some other motif has attracted attention, the artist takes a second cardboard and writes on it. Having finished the work, he turns the cardboards, still raw with painting, inside the frame and secures them with clamps. The cardboards do not touch each other. The painting remains intact and unharmed. It will dry in the workshop.

Therefore, after 1862, when the industrial production of primed art cardboard was established, painters gradually began to go plein air with cardboard more and more.

Gentlemen art critics, who know nothing at all about all this, and have not written a single sketch themselves, treat artistic cardboard with contempt, for some reason considering painting on cardboard to be obviously unfinished, based only on the fact that it is mainly written on cardboard sketches, which, as we will see below, are always finished, carefully crafted works, often requiring a lot of work. Moreover, the word “study” was also invented, used as a synonym for unfinishedness, negligence and... incompleteness! But let me ask, what does the carelessness of the execution or the incompleteness of the picture have to do with what it is painted on? And aren’t there sketches on canvas?

By the way, the painting in the style of socialist realism by the Soviet artist Nikolai Ovchinnikov “In the Shop”, which in September 2016 V.V. Putin gave D.A. as a birthday present. Medvedev is written on cardboard.

Strictly speaking, this is not a painting, but a full-scale sketch made by the artist directly in the factory workshop, but this terminology will be discussed below.

The most important thing is not the material on which the painting is applied, but how the artist was able to reflect reality, mood, his feelings and convey them to the viewer. The base material, be it canvas, cardboard, hardboard, paper, board or even thin galvanized iron, has nothing to do with this. What matters is talent, experience, good art school. They say that in Abramtsevo S.I. Mamontov once changed the roof of his house. M.A. Vrubel picked up a piece of roofing iron and wrote lilac on it. So now, this isn’t Vrubel?

Here is “Portrait of D.P. Smirnova, worker of the Trekhgornaya manufactory, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR”

Sometimes, due to the shortage of everything at that time, Soviet artists painted oil paints even on paper that was not intended for this at all. This is what my father sometimes did, in particular. Then, after my father’s death, I had to glue this paper onto cardboard. (“Snow Fell” paper on cardboard, oil; 61.5x82; 1969)

Why, they even wrote on the burlap from the torn bags! And it worked out well!

For example, my father’s job is “Chairman”. Her story is this: her father received a business trip to one of the collective farms in Altai, somewhere near Biysk, with the task of writing the chairman there, a Hero of Socialist Labor. On the collective farm, naturally, there was no canvas, much less a primed one, so my father ripped open some huge sack, stretched it onto an improvised stretcher that was immediately put together, primed the burlap and painted a portrait of the chairman. Subsequently, 50 years after the events, I had to drag this work onto an already normal stretcher.

Or here autumn landscape“Crimson Autumn,” written by my father somewhere in a remote village, also using a similar technology:

Thus: IF YOU ARE PAINTING A HUGE MULTI-METER PICTURE, willy-nilly you will have to paint it on canvas EXCLUSIVELY FOR CONSIDERATIONS OF SUBSEQUENT TRANSPORTATION, and not for it to be of artistic value!

In other cases, it doesn’t matter what to write on, otherwise the first ones bought by P.M. Tretyakov two ETUDES by M.A. Vrubel ON CARDBOARD, no matter artistic value had no idea.

SKETCHES AND SKETCHES

A sketch is, after all, whatever you say, a completely finished, relatively small in size full-scale work that was done in the open air (landscape) or, say, in the studio (still life, portrait) and is a completely independent work. However, sketches can also be used in the future to paint a large picture, sometimes even a huge multi-meter canvas, which is only possible in the workshop. A sketch, especially for landscapes, most often has dimensions, roughly speaking, not exceeding 60 by 80 cm, that is, a size convenient for carrying by one person. Here is an example of such a full-scale sketch:

The sketch can be a one-session study, written in one session, that is, in one day. But this happens quite rarely, much more often the etude requires several, or even many sessions. A multi-session sketch, especially if it is a full-scale landscape, sometimes requires several years of work. This usually happens when the weather changes sharply and for a long time, and the desired state will now appear already in next year. Well, for example, you write golden autumn In the bright sun, there are still a couple of sessions left, but here it rains for a whole month, and inevitably we will have to come to this place next year.

Thus, a sketch is a full-scale work, a completed work of art on which the painter spent a fair amount of labor, that is, in everyday language, a completed oil painting is relatively big size.

Of course, there are also unfinished sketches, but a multi-meter large painting can also be unfinished. So, as we see, the idea of ​​respected art critics that a sketch is certainly something unfinished and of insignificant artistic value, which has, unfortunately, firmly implanted in us into the head, and what is reflected, alas, even in dictionaries, today has not had the slightest basis for a long time.

SKETCH

A sketch differs from a sketch in that it is always done solely in preparation for a large thematic painting (a multi-figure composition on a specific topic. “The Morning of the Streltsy Execution” by Surikov, for example). Completeness is not always present in the sketch, and in this case it has the character of a sketch. Let's compare two sketches for large works Soviet artist Claudia Tutevol. In the first case, the sketch was made for oneself, as a working material (Sketch of a panel for the Space pavilion at VDNKh)

In the second case (Sketch of the ceiling ceiling of the Abai Opera and Ballet Theater in Almaty), the sketch was made for approval by the artistic council, as evidenced by the signatures and stamps in the lower and upper left parts of the sketch. Therefore, it is completely finished and finished, no sketchiness, i.e. There is no smell of negligence or unfinished work here. In architecture, for example, this would be a model of the corresponding architectural structure.

A sketch for a painting can be a completely finished, and even carefully drawn or drawn, image of a hand, leg, ear, face, figure or head of a person, horse, dog, other animals, or even a tractor, truck, any object, or a piece of clothing, everything that currently interests the painter, in general, anything that can be included in the artist’s future large painting. Moreover, all this can sometimes fit on the same piece of canvas, cardboard or hardboard.

Such sketches, sometimes unfinished, carelessly, hastily executed, are also called sketches, that is, what the artist, in the process of conceiving a large multi-figure composition, “sketched” on a sheet of paper, cardboard, canvas, etc.

In addition, sketches are also called quick sketches made by the artist spontaneously, under the influence of the moment. An example is the sketch by V.G. Gremitskikh "Away" 25.5x17 paper, pencil; 1940s.

As we see, the artist, on the first piece of wrapping paper that came to hand, just for himself, sketched with a simple pencil, also apparently having come across a genre scene he was observing.

But the Moscow artist Igor Radoman painted my father resting on a bed somewhere in the “Academic Dacha” house of artists:

Artists of all sorts, numerous in Soviet time At meetings and meetings in general, we were constantly bored and amused ourselves by making pencil sketches of each other. I have many similar sketches in my collection from various artists.

A sketch can be made not only with a pencil, but also with oil paints, sanguine, pastel, charcoal, pen, and anything, even ballpoint pen, because a true artist cannot live for a minute without his profession. For realist artists, this is simply some kind of professional mania at the level of a conditioned reflex, requiring constant training, improvement of skills, which, in fact, distinguishes a real artist, who devotes his entire life to art every day and every hour, from the so-called “modern” artists and avant-garde artists who You don’t need to be able to do anything, and therefore no training is required - there is no skill, there is nothing to hone, just paint squares and triangles!

By the way, a sketch, depending on the time that the artist has to complete it, can turn into a completely finished drawing. Here we have a completely finished child portrait in pencil “Volodya at play” by the Murom painter Vasily Vasilyevich Serov, but nevertheless, this is a sketch!

Sketches are a help in the artist’s process of working on a large thematic painting. Sketches are made not only in oil, but also in charcoal or pencil, tempera, etc. In addition, the entire future large multi-figure painting by the artist can be assembled in the sketch.

As an example, we can cite two sketches for a large thematic painting “Commanders Civil War"by Soviet artist Grigory Gordon, in fact, which is a group portrait of the most famous red commanders of the Civil War.

At first, the painter decided to simply line them all up against the background of a red banner,

but then this composition seemed boring to him, and he decided to complicate it somewhat:

As we can see, in this case the sketches were made in tempera, and besides, despite the sketchiness of both works, i.e. incompleteness and seeming carelessness of execution, all the heroes of the future big picture are quite recognizable. We clearly see Voroshilov, Budyonny, Shchors, Frunze, Chapaev, Parkhomenko, etc.

And here is a sketch for the large thematic painting “The Arrest of Alexander Ulyanov” by the already mentioned Murom artist V.V. Serova:

Of course, the outcome will most likely differ from the original plan. A true artist, as a rule, new thing can't get it out of my head. He is constantly delving into the topic that interests him. He thinks it over, changes his mind, observes a lot, reads relevant literature. If the future thematic picture contains a landscape, corresponding sketches from nature are written, which are subsequently, usually in a slightly modified form, transferred to the picture. Sometimes they are transferred to the big picture individual parts from several full-scale sketches at once.

However, a full-scale sketch, in contrast to a sketch and sketch, is a work, as we have already seen, independent and necessarily completely finished. Here is a vivid example for you. Having received an order for a large thematic painting “Lenin and Gorky in Gorki,” my father specially in the spring of 1952 traveled many times to Leninskie Gorki near Moscow and painted two large sketches there, both on canvas. First, “Gorki. Spring. canvas, oil; 60x80 cm",

and then - “In Gorki Leninsky, oil on canvas; 78.5x57 cm."

Subsequently, in the final large painting, my father took the second sketch as a basis, moved the steps back a little, and placed Maxim Gorky talking with Lenin in front of them. From the sketch “Gorki. Spring." he took the earlier state of nature in the background, significantly reducing the landscape itself with a gazebo compared to central figures. However, both sketches, each in itself, represent a completely completed independent park landscape, no different from my father’s other numerous natural landscapes. If I had not told this story here, you, even if you had been an art critic three times, would never have guessed that both of these works were used to create a painting of socialist realism, right? So how can we say that the sketches do not have a complete character and independent artistic significance? (Remember the definition in Wikipedia).

A large thematic multi-figure painting requires enormous and lengthy work on it, the presence huge amount sketches and sketches. It is painted exclusively in the studio, often over many years. Take, for example, A. A. Ivanov with his huge painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People,” on which the artist worked for twenty years - from 1837 to 1857, or Vasily Surikov, who worked on each of his paintings for three to five years.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE between the PICTURE and the STUDY?

The sketch, being independent and completely finished a work of art, differs from a painting primarily in that it is painted from life. The picture is painted exclusively in the studio on the basis of a huge amount of material - studies, sketches, sketches, pencil sketches and photographs. Sometimes you have to study a large number of literature and periodicals, while the plot, that is, the theme of the picture, is invented by the artist himself, or dictated by the customer. And what is most important, the painting always embodies the PRELIMINARY INTENTION OF THE ARTIST, while the sketch is MAINLY WRITTEN SPONTANEOUSLY - the artist takes the sketchbook and goes to look for a motive, i.e. the kind he will write. Where he saw it, he stopped there and wrote.

Etudes written specifically for the creation of large thematic paintings are no exception. In the case that I spoke about above, my father first found a gazebo in Leninsky Gorki, decided that he would put Lenin and Gorky in front of it, and only then painted two sketches from life with this gazebo.

Basically it can be said that everything that is written from life is a sketch, be it a landscape, still life or portrait, and everything that requires a preliminary plan, long-term work with numerous and varied preparatory materials- This is a picture .

A painting can definitely be called an epoch-making canvas of large, and sometimes simply enormous, size. There was such an artist Henryk Ippolitovich Semiradsky. So he painted such large paintings that in the studio they were suspended from the ceiling and reached the floor, and, mind you, this did not happen in a khrushchev. Therefore, the academician and professor of the Imperial Academy of Arts had to constantly climb the stairs, he sometimes had such enormous works. At G.I. Semiradsky had mostly large fantasy paintings on antique themes, the plots of which he took from his head, because real life Ancient Greece Naturally, he could not observe Rome during the times of Emperor Nero with his own eyes.

However, the painting can be quite modest in size, especially for genre paintings, that is, paintings by artists depicting everyday scenes. For example, the famous “Matchmaking of a Major” by Pavel Fedotov has quite a sketch size - only 58.3x75 cm. But, as you understand, it was clearly not painted from life directly in a merchant’s living room.

A historical picture in general is an exclusively fantasy thing. Both Vasnetsov brothers, for example, wrote on historical material, but very different ones. One recreated the life and architecture of Moscow in the 14th and XVII centuries, the other took the Russians as a basis folk tales and epics. But if Apollinaris, seriously, scientific level, who was engaged in history and archaeology, was a member of various historical and archaeological societies, being a passionate supporter of the dissemination of knowledge of history, sought to recreate the life and views of medieval Moscow “as it was” on the basis of ancient documents and the results of archaeological excavations, in which sometimes he personally took part, the paintings of his older brother, Victor, were already of a purely fantasy nature.

Battle paintings fall into the same category. Painting them from life directly on the battlefield, as some ladies from art history imagine, is simply ridiculous. The famous Russian battle painter V.V. Vereshchagin, who personally observed many battles, and sometimes even took direct part in them, wrote his paintings solely from memory, naturally in the studio, relying on numerous sketches he made at the theaters of military operations. In addition, Vasily Vasilyevich read a lot, interviewed eyewitnesses, spent a lot of money on props - he bought weapons, uniforms, equipment, which he then drew from life, thus preparing sketches for the paintings that he had in mind.

Large paintings depicting landscapes are also not real things, but invented by the artist from his head and made on the basis of sketches from nature. Once I happened to see a sketch, approximately 60 by 80 cm in size, on the basis of which I.I. Shishkin painted his famous large painting “Rye” already measuring 107 by 187 cm. The sketch was on canvas and depicted everything the same as in the picture, only the road did not go straight from the viewer to the pine trees, but somewhat sideways and the number of pine trees was different . In this case, the sketch from nature clearly served as the basis for creating a large painting with a landscape, but it itself represents a completely finished and carefully worked out work.

Thus, we can talk not only about a sketch for a painting, but also about a sketch for a painting, if the sketch is specifically written for it. Most often this concerns the landscape. If I.I. Shishkin limited himself to the sketch mentioned above, and for some reason did not write a large-scale work based on it, now art critics would Tretyakov Gallery boasted of the painting by I.I. Shishkina “Rye” 60x80 cm, without suspecting that this is a full-scale sketch.

LET'S SUM UP:

A painting, unlike a sketch, necessarily requires a preliminary plan by the artist, long-term thinking, and is always distinguished by careful execution and finishing, so to speak, written out. A painting of any size is always painted by the artist in the studio on the basis of a wide variety of materials: photographs, preparatory sketches and sketches and, if necessary, based on pre-written sketches from nature. A painting, even a small one, and even more so large sizes, is always painted not in the open air, even if it is a landscape (try dragging such a colossus with you into a field or forest!), but in the artist’s studio. A large painting is certainly painted on canvas, which is due to nothing more than the exceptional convenience of large canvases for transportation.

A thematic painting - as the term itself suggests, is a painting on a specific topic. Most often this is a large multi-figure composition. This term already appeared in Soviet art history, so it is most often applied to works of so-called socialist realism, for example, on the theme of the Civil, Great Patriotic War, or, say, “Lenin in October”. Since the size of such works is often simply enormous, the artist naturally works on such a painting in his studio and paints it on canvas. “The Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan” I.E. Repin, whose size is 2.03 by 3.58 meters, in principle can also be called a thematic painting, although socialist realism there's no smell there. It was also written by Ilya Efimovich in the workshop on the basis of many sketches and sketches, as well as, for example, “Barge Haulers on the Volga” (1.31 by 2.81 m).

Genre painting - the name comes from French word"genre" is work usually

Small conversation piece can be made not only on canvas, but also on cardboard or hardboard. This material began to spread widely already in the 20th century.

There is also such a thing as a genre portrait. A portrait is simply a portrait of a person against a neutral background, but when there is a background that depicts objects, people, or even an industrial landscape that suggests to the viewer, for example, the occupation of the person depicted, then this is already a genre portrait. As an example, we can cite the genre female portrait “Veteran of Mining Labor” by the Soviet artist Klavdia Aleksandrovna Tutevol, already mentioned here:

A sketch, as we said above, is a completely finished independent work, but certainly from nature. It is a completely independent work of art, but it can also act as auxiliary material for a large painting by the artist, which in no way detracts from its artistic value. It can be a still life, portrait, landscape, interior. The sketch, due to its relatively small size, is painted on all of the above materials, but the main thing in it, of course, is the quality of the painter’s work, his ability to build a composition in a still life, reflect the character of the model in a portrait, convey the excitement or peace of the sea, the cold winter forest, the beauty of sunset, the charm of golden autumn or spring mood nature in the landscape.

A sketch is an auxiliary work, its purpose is to record the idea of ​​the future composition

A sketch, if it is made in the process of working on a painting, is also a purely auxiliary work, unfinished, not drawn in detail.

However, as we saw above, sketches can also be completely independent.

A sketch also usually has the character of a sketch, but a sketch is essentially a plan for a future painting, its entire composition, while a sketch for a painting is a quick sketch of something that can, in principle, be included in a future painting.

ABOUT SOME OTHER COMMON TERMS IN PAINTING:

I was once very surprised to learn that staffage is “an oil painting without a clear depiction of the figures of people or animals.” In fact, staffage is small figures of people or animals, inscribed by the artist into the landscape to revive it.

Another term from landscape painting- tuning fork. This is a bright spot that contrasts with the general background of the landscape. Usually this is some kind of staffage. An example is the work of a Tashkent artist

V.M. Kovinina " Mountain landscape"with the figure of a girl dressed in bright red national clothes.

It’s strange when they call any oil painting, even small in size, and even written on cardboard. “The linen is a smooth and dense linen fabric of the simplest weave; the finest varieties were called cambric, the coarsest were called canvas, canvas, equalduc, etc.” (Wikipedia). Thus, the canvas cannot be either cardboard or hardboard; in relation to painting, it is definitely canvas.

In painting, canvases are paintings of enormous size, and usually on some epoch-making theme. Thus, we can say that only canvases came out of the brush of Vasily Surikov, but Konstantin Korovin became famous mainly for his sketch works. If “The Ninth Wave” by Aivazovsky can be fully called a canvas, then in relation to the already mentioned small work “Fresh Cavalier” by Fedotov it will be simply funny, despite the fact that it is also painted on canvas.

A little more about soils: What is gesso? This is a special primer, also based on chalk, which is used to cover a wooden board. Previously in Western Europe Pictures were often painted on boards, and in Rus' - icons, and always. This is extremely uncomfortable material. In Holland, at one time, boards were dried for 50 years, only after that they were put to work. Nowadays, artists rarely use gesso, since the paint, together with a thick layer of primer, easily chips over time or from a light blow. And modern icon painters use it less and less.

In conclusion, here are a few more illustrations for clarity:

Work by V.G. Gremitskikh, which is called “Etude”. This is essentially, as the name suggests, a full-scale, one-session genre portrait of a worker, painted right at her workplace at the construction of the Kuibyshev hydroelectric power station.

And here is a genre portrait by Tashkent artist Valery Kovinin:

This is clearly not a one-session portrait; here the artist clearly tormented his colleague, who served as his model, with a number of sessions, which is evident both from the careful execution of the work and from its size. But nevertheless this male portrait not a painting, but a multi-session sketch from nature, which in no way detracts from its artistic value.

To prove this last statement, consider the famous female portrait “Girl Illuminated by the Sun.” His cousin, Maria Simonovich V.A. Serov painted from nature throughout the summer of 1888, catching every sunny day (on cloudy days he painted the landscape “Overgrown Pond”). Preliminary plan (we said above that we have famous artist was also absent, he just wanted, in his words, “to write something joyful.”

Thus, here we are dealing with nothing more than a typical multi-session sketch from nature, written on a whim, according to an instantly arising desire. Luckily for P.M. Tretyakov, who acquired this work, did not yet know that “A study in fine art is a preparatory sketch for a future work.” (Wikipedia) And Valentin Serov showed an extreme degree of unprofessionalism, spending as much as 90 days on just two preparatory sketches - a portrait of a girl and a landscape with a pond!

I could give many more similar examples, but I’m afraid I’ve already greatly tired the reader. I hope that I still managed to make my modest contribution to explaining to the general public some of the most commonly used artistic terms, in which sometimes, to be honest, even the artists themselves get confused.

Alexander Gremitskikh

Avatar: V.M. Kovinin "To the Sunday market. Karakalpakstan." oil on canvas 98x178. 1971 (This is a typical large genre picture)

Do the necessary work. Explore the work, check out the author’s other works, compare captions, look at them up close. Improving your knowledge is essential to evaluating a painting and understanding what to look for to determine authenticity.

Visit the museum and look at the patina. If you ask to see the back of the painting, the staff will help you do it. Appreciate the feel and look of old works of art. Evaluate the depth and number of layers that were required to achieve the color desired by the artist.

Look at the patina of the wood to determine if it is ancient. Determine how the frame is assembled and what nails and fasteners are used.

Look for brush hairs. Copies of paintings sometimes have hairs left over from cheap brushes on the canvas itself.

Use your sense of smell. If you manage to get close to it, smell it. Paint takes a long time to dry; it takes years for a painting to completely stop smelling.

Decide how the painting makes you feel. Analyze everything together. For example, many fakes do not have sufficient color depth or layers. It is possible to photocopy a work with ease, but it is impossible to convey the layers of paint in a painting.

Everything must fit together. Check whether everything fits in the painting - for example, the frame and the canvas; it is also difficult to fake the patina.

Order a job evaluation. If you really like a piece of art, you need to involve a third party who can impartially evaluate the painting. How can you be sure that the appraiser can be trusted? Must be certified by one or more professional art appraiser associations and have experience working with a specific artist. Preferably he is not an art dealer or broker. An example is http://www.bernardewell.com, which is an expert on Salvador Dali, whose paintings are often copied. Research how this artist's paintings are sold - which auction houses are they sold at, what size are they, when are they sold and with what agent?

Please note that some dealers, particularly those on cruise ships, may try to defraud the buyer by overselling the painting. Look for the signature and number - they should always be there. Paintings without a signature are of little interest, because many such copies can be made.

Explore the gallery. Many pieces will have gallery stickers or information on the back. Check out the gallery to see if this is true. In some cases, the frame and canvas should show signs of wear. Wooden edges may not remain as sharp after 50 or 100 years; the frame itself must become drier. Research the artist's reputation. Find out that some writers signed a blank form, after which their signature was copied onto the paintings. This is a negative sign, and therefore their paintings have a lower price. It is known that Salvador Dali sometimes did this.