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How is it some oil paintings look better further away?

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Mark Forster

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Some of the stuff I'm working on looks okay close to, others only look okay when I'm a couple of feet away. Is that a technique thing or something to do with oils?
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Robert Jones, NAPA

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Most paintings - certainly most of mine - look better from further away; paintings really aren't mean to be viewed with your nose pressed to the canvas.
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Alan Green

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Mine look better from a great distance, with the lights out. Close up, you can see too much detail

D Hillman

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As above, mine look best in low light from far away from the back of a galloping horse. In fairness I couldn't tell you why... maybe from further away it smooths out the blending and hides some imperfections.
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Lewis Cooper

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The last time I bought a TV, the shop had an array of screens all showing the same images...an old Dad's Army episode. The smaller cheaper screens seemed to have a much sharper, clearer image...they looked better. Get closer and they became blocky with fat pixels. Same with paintings I guess. I think many of the pictures in the gallery look better as thumbnails, mine especially. I remember seeing a Rembrandt exhibition, standing back (as you should) some looked highly realistic, step closer and his wonderful brushwork looked almost abstract. They remained wonderful. In illustration, an artist working on what will end up as an A4 page, paints the original in A3 (or larger) because they look better scaled down. Just the way the eye works, I guess. The place that pictures really look their best is when you're visualizing in your head...where we go wrong is trying to get that down on paper. But..but..the next time....

Mark Forster

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The 'moment' happened the other day. I was working on a 30x20cm board and had decided on a different approach - exaggerating the figure against the background, I'd chosen. I'd been working on the sketch and, while I kept stepping back, think I was too 'involved'. I wasn't happy with the results - but I went into the kitchen for a cuppa and when I looked back, it didn't look too bad. A completely different painting, almost. I felt I was onto something, but then sat back down and started wondering about the above question. Mark

Michael Hanrahan

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I think it depends on how far away you are from the canvas as you are painting the work. I tend to be up close and personal so naturally since im judging my execution at close distance the work looks best up close. Ive heard about holding the brush at roughly arms length with the elbow bent slightly. I think that maybe a good idea yet i continue to be up close .