The Popularity of Painting

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Painting is widely regarded as the most popular artistic medium and is the one that most people associate with the practice of visual art. Discuss why this might be. Why not sculpture or architecture? Is there one medium within painting, for example oil paint, or fresco, that most represents this phenomenon?

 

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Painting is a popular artistic medium for many reasons. The most obvious reason for its popularity is that painting can create the illusion of depth and texture in ways that sculpture or architecture cannot. Painting allows artists to explore a wide range of colors, textures, and shapes without physically manipulating material or risking physical harm like they would with sculpture or building materials respectively. Additionally, painting is relatively inexpensive compared to other art forms since it only requires paint and canvas (or paper). With a limited budget, aspiring artists can purchase these materials and begin practicing the craft with very little financial investment upfront.

The two-dimensionality of paintings also gives them an advantage over sculpting: viewers are able to appreciate the artwork from different angles without physically moving around it as they would with sculptures. This accessibility makes paintings especially appealing in public settings such as museums where people may not be allowed to touch objects on display due to safety regulations. Furthermore, while some large-scale sculptures require high-level engineering skills and expensive materials, painting does not necessitate this; any artist can practice their craft regardless of technical skill level or resources available at hand.

Lastly, the flexibility afforded by painting has been celebrated for centuries due to its ability to represent almost anything imaginable–from landscapes and portraits of famous people all the way through abstract expressionism which calls upon broad themes such as emotion or identity (Cannatà et al., 2017). This versatility makes it possible for painters to work within tight restrictions yet still express themselves authentically depending on their particular style; this could explain why painting continues to be so popular amongst practitioners today.

In conclusion, while there are several reasons why painting has become one of the most beloved artistic mediums today – ranging from its affordability all the way through its versatility – it’s to hard deny that this practice has had an enduring influence throughout history nonetheless.

As humans, we continuously seek out things that can produce pleasurable feelings. One of the few ways to attain this feeling of euphoria or pleasure is by consumption of chemical substances. However, continuous consumption of these substances can lead to development of dependence towards them and this is more commonly known as addiction. Currently, the cost of social and economic impacts due to drugs of abuse addiction sums up to more than $740 billion annually (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2017). Despite this, the clear neurophysiological mechanisms underlying development and progression of addiction is still unknown.

Addiction can be defined as repeated self-administration of alcohol or other drugs (AOD’s) despite knowledge of adverse medical and social consequences and attempts to abstain from AOD use (Robert & Koob, 1997). Initial intake of drug may be due influenced by genetic, psychosocial or environmental factors however, subsequent doses is most probably caused by action on drug on the brain to induce the drug-seeking behaviour. Addiction is comprised of three stages which are ‘binge/intoxication’, ‘withdrawal/negative affect’, and ‘preoccupation/anticipation’ as seen in Figure 1 (Koob &Volkow, 2010).

Figure 1. The Three stages of addiction and brain areas each stage associates with (Herman & Roberto, 2015)

‘Binge/intoxication’ refers to the consistent intake of drug after initial dose which may cause decrease in dopamine release after each intake due to sensitization. This will then lead to ‘withdrawal/negative affect’ stage where absence of drug will cause a decrease in dopamine causing anxious and restless feelings resulting in the craving or ‘preoccupation/anticipation’ stage. Two major factors known to modulate these behavioural changes are reinforcement where a stimulus increases the chance of response and neuroadaptation, the process by which neuronal structures change in response to drug exposure. Modulation of these factors motivates initial response to a drug and formation of long-term craving however, relapse is thought to be caused by permanent neuroadaptations that will cause discomfort during withdrawal (Robert & Koob, 1997)

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