Three key things about buying original paintings
Revised: 8 April 2023 v2.1
None of us want not‑good art on our walls, do we? But how to tell if it's good? Out of five reasons why people don't buy art, four were all to do with confidence – or more accurately, the lack of it.
So I've come up with three key things to look for, when deciding whether to spend a lot of money (however little that is) on an original painting made by a human being. Hopefully, it'll help you become more confident about art.
The three things apply whether the artwork is meant to be recognisably of something, or more abstract.
Buying what everyone else buys
It's possible to spend thousands on a limited edition from the big chain fine art shops, sorry galleries, found on our high-streets and in large shopping centres.
It feels safer buying from them because a 1,000 and one copies means a 1,000 other people will buy it too (er, no, not neccessarily).
This is how a lot of art sales work in truth: “If other people are buying it, then it must be good”. No, I'm afraid it isn't always.
If other people don't seem to be buying an artist's work in their hundreds, then there can be a lot of reasons why. Reasons that are nothing to do with how good it is.
I follow some amazing artists on social media, and I'm not sure hundreds of people, never mind thousands, are buying their art.
There are collectors who seek out 'unknowns' and enjoy the kudos of having something few others have spotted. It's one of the most brilliant things about owning unique original art – no one else has one the same, or even a copy of it. It's truly one of a kind.
Original handmade prints come in editions that are way smaller than a thousand. My print editions usually contains only 25 prints, each one subtly unique because I've printed each colour by hand (no plugs, no on/off or 'print' buttons involved). Now that is a small number, only 25 exist in the world.
Don't be afraid: Like what you like
This is not one of the three things by the way, but it is the most important bit.
If your next door neighbour pulls a face because in their head people are only allowed to like what they think people should like, then I'm not sure why you even invite the them in, to be completely honest.
There are no rules and we're all different – thank goodness – so if you stop dead in front of a painting and cannot take your eyes off it, then go right ahead.
It does not matter what the painting is of, or even if it's not 'of' anything. Most galleries will let you take a painting back if you get it home, and then it just isn't the same in the morning, or doesn't look right in position after all. Ask them about it..
Oh, it's easy to say isn't it: buy what you like. But what if in a year's time you don't like it anymore? It's always a possibility. However, choosing a good quality painting by a really skilful artist makes it much less likely you'll find yourself regretting buying their painting.
You can always take it to a gallery, whether it's the one you bought it from or not, and ask them to sell it for you, you know.
So always buy what you like. Now that's out of the way, we'll move on to the three things.
The three things below will offer some insight into avoiding regret.
ONE:
Does anything about the painting really fascinate and intrigue you?
Take your time. All gallery owners are happy for you to stand and stare.
This is why many good quality galleries create space for you to stand, and also don't clutter the paintings by putting them too close together on their walls.
Is there anything about the painting that intrigues you and makes you wonder? Do you look at it and think “How did the artist [add whatever you like here]”.
It could be:
- How did the artist decide where to put everything in the painting, in such a way that it all goes together so nicely?
- You might wonder how the artist captured the place so perfectly, even though you'd never mistake the painting for a photograph.
- It could be that you're intrigued by how the artist managed to mix such lovely colours and picked ones to put together that you'd never have thought could be so rich, even if the colours are neutral ones.
- You might be fascinated by how the artist managed to so perfectly capture the light in the scene, so that you know exactly the time and what kind of day it was.
- Perhaps it's that when you stand close, all the brushwork doesn't look like anything though it's somehow really nice all the same, and when you step away the picture appears.
- I could go on…
The list of qualities that might have you gazing at an artwork lost to the world is endless. Take your time, stand in front of the art and see if it fascinates you.
Knowing why it's so interesting isn't that important to be honest. All you need to be sure of is that it does fascinate you. And if it does, then you can be confident it'll be good to gaze at for years to come.
With landscape paintings, I know a lot of collectors have fond memories of the place I've painted and the art triggers recollection. Those precious memories alone are enough.
TWO:
What is 'the one thing' the painting is about?
This might seem a strange question. Some artists call what I'm referring to, the “focal point”. However, I'm trying to avoid art-speak.
You should find yourself repeatedly looking at one part of the painting. That 'one thing' is what the painting is 'about' – it's probably what made the artist paint it.
If the painting is a realistic one with recognisable things in it, then you should be able to guess what the 'one thing' is quite easily – it's much harder with abstracts, but should still be possible.
With a lot of amateur paintings, you find you end up really unsure. Was it the cup? Was it the vase? Was it the drooping flower? Was it the light catching on the back of the table, the curtain billowing into the whole arrangement or the open walnut shell in front of it all?
If you cannot decide what one thing is the most important thing in the painting, then the painting has no centre and hasn't been constructed very well.
Unfocussed paintings tend not to fascinate for long. The 'one thing' gives a painting a centre, heart perhaps, and it should be the most powerful, beguiling, fascinating and intriguing bit
Take my painting here as an example.
Can you tell what made me paint it? What 'one thing' the painting is about? Is it the sky, the rocks on the horizon, the sea, the foam, the cliffs, the harbour wall, or the group of birds?. Take your time to decide what you think the 'one thing' is.
Remember, it's what your eye keeps going back to and dwelling on. Standing well back from the art can help you decide. The illustration is small so it has a similar effect to standing well back. (Answer at the bottom of this page).
THREE:
Does it look badly drawn, are the colours rather dirty, or all a bit flat?
This is possibly a really hard thing for non‑artists to understand
I can tell instantly when an artist has not paid attention to a curve, or has over-worked their paints.
Amateurs lack confidence and tend to make small brush strokes, rather than big sweeping ones, during the early stages of their paintings.
The early stage of any painting is closer to 'drawing' than painting. It's the stage where the artist sets the painting out. They establish lines and shapes before 'blocking‑in' the painting
If they're not confident, then the lines and shapes they make suffer by using lots of little marks, rather than sweeping gestural strokes. While these strokes are not visible (always) in the finished work, the resulting shapes betray the hesitancy.
Look really carefully at a lot of art and you'll begin to see it too.
Not understanding colour is bad for paintings.
If you mix all the colours in a paint palette together, you end up with a funny dirty dead brown. You could try this yourself. The dirty brown appears long before you've got through all the colours in the palette.
There's a point at which the colour 'dies'. That's how I feel about it anyway. Amateur artists tend to mix together too many colours. It usually shows up best in the dark areas of a painting such as shadows, but in my experience it pervades the whole artwork.
Or they avoid mixing colours by using the paint more or less straight from the tube and end up with little variation in their colours.
Once you see it, you'll always spot it.
Side‑by‑side, it's obvious. However, study the examples below closely so you can understand what you're seeing when encountering a painting in sisolation.
Muddy colours
Mimicking poor colour mixing using a beautifully structured artwork like this is a bit of a nonsense tbh. I've not been able to reproduce the 'sludge' brown tint.
When you compare this to the next one, the difference in vibrancy and colour sophistication is blatant. Be alert to a general impression of dullness, that should be a red flag telling you to look closer. Examine the colours in the painting for a grey-brown dullness. Once you see it, you'll spot it immediately ever after.
The original
Detail of the original artwork “Le Parc Monceau”, oil on canvas, 50 by 65cm. Painted in 1877, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Gustave Caillebotte was a French painter who was a member and patron of the Impressionists, although he painted in a more realistic manner than many others in the group. According to Wikipedia [ Accessed: April 2023 ].
Straight out of the tube
This provides a good impression of the 'paint straight out of the tube' approach to colour mixing. The high saturation leads to an impression of sameness across the artwork. The bushes have become the same colour as the grass, compared to the subtleties in the original.
Artists who deliberately paint this way would probably have turned the bushes bright blue in order to overcome the problem.
Not all brown paintings are bad, of course. Browns can be beautiful - just look at a ploughed field, the bark of a tree, or leaves when all their autumn yellows and oranges have gone leaving beautiful russet, sienna and umber browns. The brown I'm talking about is a grey‑brown.
Buying your painting
Galleries are quite happy to let you take your time, and to go away, then come back for another look – several times!
They completely understand that if you're going to live with a piece of art on your walls, then it needs to be right for you.
Going to a gallery is a great way to see art that's good enough to be in there, and they're always happy to talk about any concerns you might have.
If you like a painting so much that you know it will never matter whether it's a been painted by a skilful artist or an amateur, then jump right in.
If on the other hand, you think it is, or will be, important that the painting has been painted well, then the three questions above should help you decide that it has been painted well.
Does something about it fascinate you? Can you see the 'one thing', the one reason, why the painting was painted? And are the colours clean, lines smooth and shapes carefully crafted?
Of course you can examine my paintings online too, and the zoom feature on this website (soon to be implemented at the time of writing - April 2023) will help you look closely at the brushwork and colours so you can answer the questions set-out here.
So did you see it?
The 'raison d'etre' in my painting?
You might find yourself unsatisfied by this answer to the question I asked about my own painting above. However, there's no getting away from what the answer is.
Confusing paintings that have no clear 'one thing' can be tiring to look at after a while, as your eyes constantly move around not quite satisfied by anything. This is why it's important for a painting to have a strong design, called composition in art‑speak. Deciding if there is an important bit the painting is all about is a way of figuring out whether the painting has a good composition.
So if you were able to decide with confidence that there was one important thing in my painting, then the painting is doing its job. The painting isn't confusing and it's well designed, and that makes it a good painting – good composition is the most important characteristic of a good painting.
It actually doesn't matter what the one thing was that made me paint it - it only matters that you see a focus in the artwork.
After all, I might have missed something you've spotted. I often say…
Once a painting is finished, it's no longer mine. It's for someone else to tell its story, and that's how it should be.