What enables painting is the perception and representation of intensity. Every point in space has different intensity. The means of representing this intensity in painting is therefore the shade, nuance, i.e. the span between white and black with all visible gray shades - the difference in intensity. Line is considered as reduced surface, the difference in surface intensity (int. of reflected light) is marked by thickness of line. In practice, only by use of shades painter can articulate shapes - if the two meeting surfaces are of very different intensity, the line will be thick, if the surfaces are close in intensity, the line will be pale. Color and texture are separate qualities, and they can not be used to articulate form, but can be mixed (for instance with gray) without restriction. By using just color (of the same intensity) one can only represent symbolic shapes, and not 3D space or construction of an object. It is important to distinguish between using this basic painting means and ideological means, like geometrical figures, varios points of view and organization (prespective), symbols, etc. For instance, "white wall" is an idea, and for a painter, white wall has different intensity in each point, painter will perceive all various shades and reflections from nearby objects on particular wall, but ideally, white wall is still white in pitch darkness. In technical drawing, thickness of line is also ideal, this kind of drawing gives ideal outlines of an object within a perceptual frame different from the one used by painters.
Color and tone are the essence of painting as
sound and pitch are of
music. Color is highly subjective, but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ from one culture to the next. Black is associated with mourning in the West, but elsewhere white may be. Some painters, theoreticians, writers and scientists, including Goethe, Kandinsky, Newton, have written their own color theory. Moreover the use of language is only a generalisation for a color equivalent. The word "red", for example, can cover a wide range of variations on the pure red of the visible spectrum of light. There is not a formalised register of different colors in the way that there is agreement on different notes in music, such as C or C# in music, although the Pantone system is widely used in the commercial printing and graphic design industry for this purpose.
For a painter, color is not simply divided to basic and derived (complementary or mixed) colors (like, red, blue, green, brown, etc.). Painters practically deal with pigments, so "blue" for a painter can be any of blues: phtalocyan, Paris blue, indigo, cobalt, ultramarine, etc. Psychological, symbolical meanings of color are not strictly speaking means of painting. Colors only add to the potential, derived context of meanings, and because of this the perception of a painting is highly subjective. The analogy with music is quite clear - tones in music (like "C") are analogous to "shades" in painting, and coloration in painting is the same as the specific color of certain instrument - these do not form a melody, but can add different contexts to it.
Rhythm is important in painting as well as in music. Rhythm is basically a pause incorporated into a body (sekvence). This pause allows creative force to intervene and add new creations - form, melody, coloration. The distribution of form, or any kind of information is of crucial importance in the given work of art and it directly affects the esthetical value of that work. This is because the esthetical value is functionality dependant, i. e. the freedom (of movement) of perception is perceived as beauty. Free flow of energy, in art as well as in other forms of "techne" directly contributes to the esthetical value.
Modern artists have extended the practice of painting considerably to include, for example, collage which began with Cubism and is not painting in the strict sense. Some modern painters incorporate different materials such as sand, cement, straw or wood for their texture. Examples of this are the works of Jean Dubuffet or Anselm Kiefer. (There is a growing community of artists who use computers to literally paint color onto a digital canvas using such programs as Photoshop, Painter, and many others. These images can be printed onto traditional canvas if required.)
In 1829, the first photograph was produced. From the mid to late 19th century, photographic processes improved and, as it became more widespread, painting lost much of its historic purpose to provide an accurate record of the observable world. There began a series of art movements into the 20th century where the Renaissance view of the world was steadily eroded, through Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Expressionism, Cubism and Dadaism. Eastern and African painting, however, continued a long history of stylization and did not undergo an equivalent transformation at the same time.
Modern and Contemporary Art has moved away from the historic value of craft and documentation in favour of concept; this has led some to say that painting, as a serious art form, is dead, although this has not deterred the majority of artists from continuing to practise it either as whole or part of their work.
Recently, painting has been used in paint-on-glass animation.
