And I ask, what «grabs» you when you see a work of art? I don’t care if it is a sculpture or a painting, I just want to know what it is that you «see» that makes you either love it or hate it, or perhaps just «like» it a bit… Is it the colours? The artist’s imagination? Or the technical abilities you perceive the artist possesses? Or is it the «message» you find hidden within the composition? Or perhaps it’s the composition itself? What is it?
A painting (and I’ll stick to painting which is my forte) contains several parts that an artist must considere critically before beginning. These are: Size (of the canvas and shape of the canvas), the colour scheme, the composition and the message he hopes to transmit. These parts come together visually and that is what you see. Even abstract paintings go through these «steps» if you will. The only difference is that the reference is abstract art is within the mind of the artist and you do not see it. You may «see» something entirely different. As a matter of fact, you will…
So now, tell me, when you look at a work of art what is it that attracts you or repels you about it?
CHEERS
JaZzArt en València 
I was happy to see a picture from Turkiye. Thank you. I wish you success.
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You’re very welcome! So glad you liked it. I have spent much time in Turkey and enjoy being there very much. Thank you for the well wishes. Much success to you too and all the best! Greetings from Spain 🇪🇸.
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Beauty…
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Thank you!
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Colors, composition, lines (if applicable), emotional response when viewed is what usually grabs me.
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Good points Pat. Thank you!
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Quite welcome. Good question.
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🙏🏻😊🙏🏻
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The brightness of the colors.
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Usually one of the main points of attraction. Good point. Thank you!
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buona pasqua
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Buona Pasqua Giovanni! E bona notte.
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GRAZIE VALENCIA, BUON PROSEGUIMENTO
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🙏🏻😊🙏🏻
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🙂
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What attracts me when I look at the work of art is the painting.The painting and drawing is usually different.Thank you for sharing
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Thank you!
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Colors and the composition.
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Thank you Janet!
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Beautiful .
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Thank you! But what grabs you from a work of art?
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I am repulsed by what I feel is an effort to create something, declaring it «new» by virtue of a different name when it is really something someone else has done before. Honest emulation, imitation, or even copying under the guise of «variations upon a theme (idea, style, whatever) is acceptable. No secret that I enjoy talent that speaks as eloquently with black and white as others might employing a a rainbow. Considering written «art» I’m immediately turned away by affectations of avant garde standing and purely rude commercialism; enchanted by solid skill and wordsmanship, originality, and even when working humor, social commitment.
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Very interesting and well explained, and I fully agree. Reference emulation, a mediocre artist copies, a genius steals but the product of the theft shines more brightly than the original object/image stolen… Thank you Espie and all the best.
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For me, art that sends out a strong feeling is what would make it stand out, and it doesn’t really matter whether it’s a good or bad feeling. For example, a good book can have me laughing one minute and crying the next. If an artist, whether they be an author, musician, architect or painter, can evoke a strong feeling that can get inside my soul, then it doesn’t matter so much that they are not accomplished in the eyes of a so-called expert.
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I fully agree Malc. Thank you!
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Muhteşem. Teşekkürler.
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Rica ederim, bu bir zevk. Saludos de España
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Just about everything, still life, color scheme, the different images etc it’s a beautiful fine art picture.
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Wonderful! Thank you 🙏🏻
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Colours and overall story telling is important to me when viewing paintings. How I relate to the paintings, more is how I relate to a series of the artist’s work.
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It’s true, a series can say a lot about the messages, philosophy and ideas a painter wants to transmit. Thank you so much Cassa! All the best!
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Colors, the imaginative ideas of the painter, meaning but honestly, even though I don’t understand the meaning behind a painting, it just draws me into it. There are paintings that, for some unknown reason, my daughter always finds me glued to them unaware that I have been looking at them for some minutes already. It’s as if I am hypnotized that I just can’t look away from them.
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I know. That happens to me too with many paintings. They absorb your attention. Thank you so much Adelheid. All the best!
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Whatever makes me want to stand longer to look into it as apposed to look away. Colour, shapes, story. Maybe story the most.
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True, good points Sandy… Thank you!
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I love the contrast between the city and the sunflowers.
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Thank you Dawn!
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I tend to have a split – there’s my immediate, sublime «Huh» where the image stops me for reasons it would take me hours too fail to articulate. Then there’s art that gets me thinking about the relationship of humans and art itself. That tends to hold me. Magritte’s «Golconda» – with the endless men in the air against a bourgeois backdrop of apartments – I love because of the way some people see the men as falling, others seem them rising, others suspended in air – and the painting is TOTALLY different depending on which of those you see
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That is very true. Different paintings «grab» you in different ways. And you are right about Magritte’s «Golconda» it is an amazing painting. I saw it last year at the Thyssen Museum in Madrid and I literally stood in front of it for a long time just engaged fully in the vision… Thank you very much.
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lovly
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Things like composition, contrast, and colour pull me in, but what makes me stay and look longer (or again) is some sense of depth, mystery, or, as Kelly Grovier puts it in his book A New Way of Seeing, strangeness.
That could come by way of a lost edge into a dark passage, an intriguing detail, some text, or intentionally distorted perspective—it varies from painting to painting. But I’m looking for something that suggests there’s “more beneath the surface”.
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Very good points Chris. Thank you.
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BUON POMERIGGIO
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Buon pomeriggio Giovanni!
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GRAZIE VALENCIA
BUONA SERATA
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Di niente Giovanni, buona serata.
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🙂
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Color and juxtaposition
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Those two are very important aspects and parts of a painting. Thank you so much Pam.
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You’re very welcome!
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COLOUR…in painting, is a MUST! But, I also enjoy drawings! Having said these things, I like to look at all art, the variety of paintings, sculptures, printing….just as in life, so much variety, so much new, so much not seen or realised before! In the little art that I do, I want simplicity & honesty.
Thinking about your paintings above…they are vibrant & full of energy & life!
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Thank you so much Ashley. Yes, colour is a must. For me, colour is the message in and of itself and as important as any other part of the composition. I use colour (in figurative art) as an abstract painter would. Thank you so much for your words about my paintings, I really appreciate it. All the best.
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BUONA GIORNATA
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Buona giornata Giovanni!
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GRAZIE
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De niente Giovanni! Bona sera
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SERA VALENCIA
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