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2 - Art & Beginning (the engine or 4 essential factors in painting)

In this Art & blog though I focus mainly on the methods, philosophies and joys of painting, these ideas can work across various types of Art making. My focus here is on painting because that's what I do. 

In the last post we surveyed ‘The Fuel' for why we paint. Why does anyone begin to paint? Because they want to. Though Art is necessary to being fully human it is by definition subjective, not a science, not made or controlled by formulae. 

In the modern era we have made so much of science that we have often missed how vital the subjective arts are to daily life. The subjective aspects of art are also vital to Art itself. What is the most vital aspect in Art making? Is it the artist or the Art itself? There is no artist or Art without its driving force. We will say more on the “I want…” fuel in future posts. 

The last post, this one and several to follow, are part of a longer essay on “How To Begin A Painting (or How to Begin A Career in Painting)”. In this post the essay continues with “the engine” of painting. You've probably guessed by now that my larger essay about beginning a painting (or Art in general) uses a car or vehicle as its metaphoric outline. 

But it's not just the car metaphor. It's also the trip or journey to the final destination or home for the Art. These blog posts are that essay broken into bite size portions. Here's how those portions fit into the overall essay. These will be posted weekly here and in my other platforms:

1, the fuel (“I want…”)

2, the engine (4 factors)

3, the driver (artist) 

4, the mileage (better art making)

5, a closer look at the subject

6, a closer look at the medium

7, a close look at the tools

8, a closer look at the tabula

9, a closer look at the driver

10, the destination (Art's home : frame + wall + room)

11, the host (the collector)j

12, the vehicle (artistic style)

13, the map (artistic career)

14, the road (marketing/galleries)

Of course, what is missing in the above list is the Art process itself. I'll reserve that topic for a separate future series of posts. 

The engine is made of 4 essential factors: 

• the subject of the painting 
• the medium or media
• the tools used to paint
• and the tabula or the surface of the painting 

These 4 are essential because they are, at minimum, what the painter needs to make his/her “I want…” fuel come to life. These 4 factors are the engine for making his “I want…” a reality. Imagination + desire is not enough to make a painting. There is physical stuff needed to bring the painter's imagination & desire out of the immaterial world into the material world.

‘Nighthawks' Edward Hopper, 1942

Edward Hopper supposedly said, “If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” There does not appear to be a direct source for the quote from Hopper. No doubt, he and most artists would agree with the sentiment of the statement. Writing — the work of putting facts or ideas into words — is most certainly its own art form. But saying things without words is why we have Art. 

For the painter, saying things without words comes about by employing a subject, a medium, some tools and a tabula or surface. This may seem to be an all too obvious thing to note as we talk about beginning a painting or beginning a career in painting. Yet, it needs to be said for two vital reasons:

1. Frequently, art making and in this case painting is talked about as if it were a mysterious or magical process. It's not mysterious. Yet, it often goes like this - ”So and so artist does amazing work! I could never do that. What an amazing talent.” Framing art-making this way uses the artist's talent as a code for some magical or mysterious force that brought the artist to that point of glory. This mysterious force is an elusive thing thought of as “talent”. However, what brought the painter along was learning how to combine the subject, the medium, the tools and the tabula into a work of fine art. Talent was at play, but the non-mysterious and non-magical engine of art-making was the means the painter used to arrive at the desired destination. Demystifying how we get the Art is not only good for the viewer or collector. Demystification of art-making is good for the painter. A work of art is just that — work.

2. The next reason we should make much of the engine or the 4 essential factors in painting is for mastery. When the painter reaches a certain level of proficiency with a subject, a medium, a set of tools and various tabula the painter will then be on the threshold of mastery. Some degree of mastery is what we painters want and mastery is what gives us consistency of quality in the output. Again, mastery isn't mysterious. It just takes spending lots of time with interesting subjects, one or more media, a usable set of tools and a dependable tabula. 

Great art is the outward expression of an inner life of the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.
Edward Hopper

What Hopper did say was that “Great art is the outward expression of an inner life of the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world” (See page 8 of Reality, 1953). Getting from the “inner life” to the “outward expression” takes an engine. In future posts we will take a more in depth look at each of the 4 essentials in the engine. In the next Art & post we will look at Art & Beginning - the driver (the artist). 

Till then, here are a few bullet points for how to look at / enjoy a painting and its engine.

For Collectors

The engine for collectors can be a wonderful part of their aesthetic experience in buying and enjoying Art. The image above referring to Hopper's ‘Nighthawks' is more than just an image of a restaurant at night. The subject began for him with a restaurant on Greenwich Avenue in New York City. The medium he used was oil paint. The tools, no doubt, were oil painting brushes and whatever other painting instruments he found useful. The tabula or substrate is canvas. Simple to know, but getting more acquainted with these 4 essentials factors in the painting process deepens your love of the work itself. 

For Artists

The engine for the artist is his/her life blood. The very things that make possible the work of Art becoming Art. Many artists talk about their subject matter, their brushes and painting tools, their medium and surface in a way that makes us think they love them as much as the final work of art. What artist does not love a fine hog hair sable brush?! What artist does not love an ole palette knife that has served them for a few decades?! 

For General Audiences 

The engine for general audiences can be something as simple as going to a local art exhibit or museum and looking at more than the images on the wall. Look closer to find out what subject matter was behind the final work. See if you can tell what medium the artist used and on what surface and with what tools. Maybe you could also go with an artist friend to an art supply store to get a simple intro into brushes they use or paints they like. 

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Note: All artworks by M. Albert Olivero and blog articles written by M. Albert Olivero are copyrighted 2025 with all rights reserved by M. Albert Olivero. Permission to copy or reproduce is not granted unless in writing by M. Albert Olivero.