Is there a particular way you can observe a painting? Are there steps to understand the piece of art? YES! There are some easy ways to understand a painting. 

1. LOOK AT WHAT’S IN FRONT OF YOU:  When you’re standing in front of a painting, look at the painting. Simply look at what’s in front of you, the colours, the textures, the contrast, the size, the shininess, the dirtiness, the positioning of the objects in the painting. Just look!

2. APPLY MEANING:  While looking at the painting, try to notice how the painting is making you feel. Try understanding the context of the painting. Try to understand what the painter wants us to understand. As explained in our COLOUR THERAPY blog, different colours let out different emotions and meanings. In order to understand why we feel a certain way while observing a painting, read our blog called SCIENCE OF ART. While understanding a painting, you need to trust yourself. 

3.TRUST YOURSELF:  While observing a painting, you need to trust yourself. You are your own expert. Your own reaction is the only one that counts. Other’s opinions do not matter while you observe a painting because a painting is subjective. 

4. THERE IS NO WRONG ANSWER:  Paintings are subjective. They can be viewed through different perspectives. A painting can have a billion different meanings but we can only find a few. That’s alright because some paintings mean different things to us without the artist trying to portray that meaning.

From personal experience, I have realized that often, I have played a game about this, with my friends. At home, we sit on the sofa opposite a painting, and try to guess all the things that are happening in the painting, make stories about it, figure out what all is happening. It works really well with a piece of abstract/ contemporary art.

At an art gallery, the same game is played in a rapid fire form. During an exhibition opening, we hop from painting to painting, reading into it from two different perspectives. By the end of the round, we have a wealth of stories woven into our bag, to carry back with us.

So the next time you come face to face with a painting, don’t swipe left or walk past it. Stay. Give it a few minutes, to reveal its magic. Allow yourself to drown in emotions of wonder and enigma. Follow  some of these steps to observe paintings. You can check Pranjal Arts painting collection on our website and comment how these suggestions have helped you observe a painting.