It seems like a fair question in this day and age, why would you have a wedding painting on your wall instead of just a photo?
There is something special about having your portrait painted by another human being. Having your image hand crafted and captured on a canvas is an exciting experience.
Cameras and humans see things differently. The camera shoots a very literal representation of what’s in front of it, whereas an artist filters the experience through their own artistic lens and interpretation.
This allows the artist to use a little bit of creative license and artistic flair. They can highlight and emphasise elements that a camera can’t. An artist can inject more vibrancy, life, dynamism and character in to a painting, that elevates the entire piece.
Sure, these days you could do this digitally, but there is something about looking at yourself in brushstrokes on a physical canvas that’s much more visceral, alive and impressive.
From a distance you will look at a painting and see yourself, but get up close enough and you will see a fascinating combination of strokes of shape and colour, all strategically combined and put together in a way to create the essence of you.
Good Paintings Have Wow Factor!
Good paintings have more wow factor, it’s as simple as that.
One of my big art heroes is Drew Struzan. I doubt you’ve ever heard of him, but If you grew up in the 80’s, 90’s or 00’s I guarantee you’ve seen his art.
Drew is known for his amazing movie poster art. He did posters for Star Wars, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and hundreds of other films over his career. He’s famous for his almost photo realistic portraits and exciting compositions that would tell you exactly what the movie was about.
These days Drew has retired from the business and he has pretty much been replaced by photoshop. Movie posters now use the same ‘rules’ for composition, but they don’t have the same magic that Drew’s paintings do.
Here’s an example of one of Drew’s posters vs a photoshop poster for the same movie. Which would you rather have on your wall?
