Painting refers to the application of paint, pigment, color, or any other medium to a hard surface (called the matrix or support). The most common method of applying the medium to the base is with a brush. However, other tools such as knives and sponges can also be used, including airbrushes.

Painting is a term that describes both the act and result of an artistic work (the final product is known as a painting). Paintings can be supported by walls, paper and canvas, as well as wood, paper, canvas and paper, lacquer and pottery, leaf and copper, and may also include multiple materials such as plaster, clay, plaster, gold leaf and paper.

The visual arts include painting, which includes elements such as composition, gesture, drawing (as with gestural paintings), narration (as with narrative art) and abstraction (as with abstract art). Paintings can be representational and naturalistic (as is still life and landscape painting), abstract, narrative, symbolic (as with Symbolist art), emotive, or political in nature (as shown in Artivism).