Kinkade: Dark layers bring out the light

“Holiday” by Thomas Kinkade.

Thomas Kinkade realized that painting reflected life, including how the dark times bring out the light, and passed that inspirational message along.

Virginia Dawkins, a guest columnist for the Meridian Star, writes about Kinkade’s work and how it resembles the way people live their lives.

Kinkade was known as the Painter of Light, creating paintings of English cottages and Victorian homes with the lights on in the windows. As Dawkins explains, though, Kinkade’s bright paintings didn’t start with bright colors:

Although “Light” was his trademark, he confessed that if people came into his studio while he was in the middle of a painting they were often surprised and disappointed to find his work-in-progress to be quite dark and gloomy. This was because he deliberately painted layer after layer of dark glaze across his canvas as a first step. He considered the dark layers a necessary preparation for the luminous colors he would add later.

In his book, “Lightposts for Living,” Kinkade explains that the “dark layers are what will give the work its depth; they will make the windows and the streetlights and even the sun seem to glow from within instead of being dabbed on the surface. Because of the darkness, the light I add has more impact.”

According to Dawkins, Kinkade held similar beliefs about his own life, that dark times added depth to his own character. Dawkins further states Kinkade believed that despite our circumstances and failings, we all have a “God-given purpose for being on this earth.”

In Kinkade’s words: “Every circumstance in your life, every event that occurs is moving you a little closer to your final destination. Every response you make adds another brushstroke to the final picture.”

To read the full article, click here.

Kinkade is one of the most collected artists in the U.S., using his talents to help pass along life-affirming messages.