Traditional Painting Research Articles

Application of computer image technology in 3D painting based on cloud computing

Virtual painting technology is a new technical means of modern art creation. 3D painting is a branch of virtual reality art. It uses computers or other intelligent computing devices to simulate the virtual 3D space environment, so that art creators can immerse themselves in painting creation. The difference between 3D painting and traditional painting is that it is a painting space from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. It is a painting creation process of double immersion of human brain and limbs. We believe that the artistic exploration of 3D painting is helpful to the improvement of painting artistic creation ideas and the expansion of skills. It is an embodiment of enriching the media and visualization of painting. Due to the complexity of 3D painting, this paper creates a cloud platform based on the high-speed and large storage characteristics of cloud computing, which will provide more efficient and convenient experience for 3D painting users. The key to the development of the cloud platform is to build an NX digital modeling and display platform based on cloud computing. Through the compression, serialization and network transmission of the three-dimensional image technology at the NX end, the three-dimensional model is finally displayed in the browser interface, and the basic functions of interacting with the model are provided for users. Cloud computing technology is used to arrange the computing work of 3D model compression into subsequent computing, which greatly reduces the redundancy of users' work. Through the research of cloud computing, this paper applies it to computer image technology, which makes the application of 3D painting flourish.

Painting with natural pigments on drowning land: the necessity of beauty in a new economy

ABSTRACT This article draws on insights of young people learning to make natural pigments and traditional paintings in acute climate vulnerable areas. Why do they paint during ongoing crises and how do they voice their future concerns? Critical realism is applied as a meta-theory in this field-based study in a slum area in Kolkata and the Sundarbans mangrove forest. Methods comprise focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and participant observation. Analysis was done in an abductive process, applying Roy Bhaskar’s model of ‘four-planar social being’. The analysis demonstrates how painting with natural pigments leads the young ones towards: (a) discovering beauty in nature (b) transcendence of borders (c) transformation and responsible action (d) discovering one’s own dignity. Findings are discussed considering the key concepts co-presence and crisis system. I reflect upon how this local effort can inspire a new economy, with the signposts: becoming co-present with the natural world and the necessity of beauty.

TRADITION AND MODERNISM IN THE SACRED ART OF IGOR ZILINKO

The article explores the directions of contemporary Ukrainian sacral art in the work of the painter I. Zilinkо, his contribution to the development of sacred art of the temples of Ternopil region. The main directions of stylistic orientation in the formation of modern sacral art, the evolution of paintings from realistic tendencies of Ukrainian sacral painting of the seventeenth century to experiments with stylization of iconic figures in search of greater spirituality of the face, the introduction of our own modern iconography, based on tradition. The article explores the directions of contemporary Ukrainian sacral art in the work of the painter I. Zilinkо, his contribution to the development of sacred art of the temples of Ternopil region. Sacred art is the object of study of many scientists, historians, archivists, art historians, local historians, journalists. Among them, in particular, D. Stepovyk, M. Golubets, K. Moskalets, V. Sventsitska. However, the issue of the development of the modern sacred art of Ternopil region (1990–2018) requires additional study. The purpose of the article is to highlight the main directions in the work of Igor Zilinka, to specify the formation of the sacral and artistic environment of the churches of the city of Ternopil, to study the temples with modern interiors, to analyze the observance of traditions in icon painting and the search for modern aesthetic forms. After the revival of the Ukrainian Church, the construction of new temples began. The construction of churches led to the search for masters who could carry out their interior decoration. Famous Ternopil painter Igor Zilinko has become a “sacred” artist who has been successfully working in this field for many years. One of the first works of Igor Ivanovich was the decoration of the church of the Sacred Heart of Christ in the village of Veluky Gai, Ternopil district (1920). The murals of the church are classic paintings that date back to the works of the famous master of Ukrainian icon painting of the seventeenth century Ivan Rutkovych. It is the only church that reflects the realistic trends of Ukrainian sacral painting of the seventeenth century. Here the traditions of folk art are combined with creative bold search for new content and form. Next was the work on painting the temples in the villages of Petrykiv, Pronyatin, Kupchintsy, in the Ternopil region. On the initiative of Fr. Pavel Repely, the parish priest of the church of the village of Petrykiv, the painter was oriented to the heritage of Byzantine-Ukrainian icon painting. It is the first church in the Ternopil region that depicts the Eastern traditions of icon painting. Igor Zilіnko later managed to form his own style in the contemporary Ukrainian icon, following the Byzantine iconographic tradition. Particularly noteworthy is the iconostasis created by Igor Ivanovich for the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael in Ternopil in 2007. The artist very responsibly approached the choice of plots, taking as a basis the traditional composition of Ukrainian iconostases. The author has preserved the foundations of Ukrainian church traditions and has reflected the saints of the Ukrainian Church. An interesting development in the decoration of the spatial environment of the temple is the Church of St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God in Ternopil. For the decoration of the church, the parish priest Fr. dr. Vitaliy Kozak invited the already known master of sacral painting Igor Ivanovich Zilinko, who at that time developed his own iconographic style. The figures of the saints are exaggerated, unnatural in height, reflecting the idea of an invisible celestial world, without a realistic image. Creativity of Igor Zilinko is one of the most striking pages of contemporary Ukrainian art culture, evokes joyful aesthetic experiences, encourages contemporaries to creative pursuits to create monumental images that combine tradition with the actual spiritual needs of modern society.

On Devotional Artworks: A Non-Invasive Characterization of Pigments of the Madonna della Croce Wall Painting in Triggiano (Bari, Southern Italy)

Devotional artworks represent a valuable form of art, as they are evidence of religious worship and the demo-ethno-anthropological, as well as historical-artistic, heritage of a community, which is why they definitely belong to the cultural identity of a geographic area. The Madonna della Croce wall painting is an example of devotional art preserved today in the homonymous church in Triggiano (Bari, Italy). The presented study concerns the characterization of pigments used in the painting. The identification of pictorial materials had the aim of providing a contribution to knowledge about the painting, the history of restorations, and other historical events, and to increase the information about the Apulian painting to better reconstruct the social, cultural, and economic contexts of the region. Through a non-invasive and fast methodological approach, including portable digital microscopy, colorimetry, fibre optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF); 42 points considered on coloured areas were analysed in situ, and results on pigment identification were achieved. According to the local wall painting tradition, red and yellow ochres, green earth, vine black, massicot, and lead-tin yellow were found. Furthermore, both indigo-woad dye and a mixture of vine black and yellow ochre to obtain a blueish colour on the Virgin’s mantle were highlighted.

Artistic activity of Russian-Soviet artists in Harbin and Shanghai China during the period of the Republic of China (1912–1949)

This article mainly studies and analyzes the artistic activity of Soviet artists in Harbin and Shanghai during the period of the Republic of China. Due to their special geographical location, Harbin and Shanghai have always been centers of dissemination and artistic exchange of Soviet art and culture in China. The subject of the study is various types of art education and artistic activities that Soviet artists carried out in China during the period of the Republic of China. The object of the study is the influence that the spread of Soviet realistic painting in China had on the development of modern Chinese art in the XX century. The author pays special attention to the analysis of the profound impact that the appearance of various art studios created in China, acquaintance with the artistic work of Soviet artists, as well as training with the owl, have had on the development of modern Chinese art. Soviet art has been the basis for the development of modern Chinese art from the very beginning. The novelty of this study lies in the fact that the author addresses a little – explored topic – how the arrival of Soviet artists in China, which coincided with the "Movement of Foreign Painting" in the Republic of China, influenced the formation of Chinese art. Soviet artists strongly supported the innovative artistic creativity of Chinese artists and at the same time contributed to the dominance of Soviet realistic art in the artistic landscape during the formation of China. The main conclusions of the study are that the mass spread of Soviet art in China created new ground for traditional Chinese art, gave a continuation and a new life to traditional painting. To a certain extent, this influenced the artistic and aesthetic preferences of that time and even the general public, and also directly affected the development of Chinese art education in the XX century.

Монах-художник иеродиакон Афоний (Вишняков): материалы к жизнеописанию

85 years ago, on March 17, 1938, on the territory of the Butovo special zone of the NKVD, a large group of christians was shot - 11 people from a secret monastic community that existed in the city of Sergiev Posad (since 1930 - Zagorsk) in the 20-30s. XX century. One of them was Hierodeacon Afoniy (in the world - Vishnyakov Alexander Egorovich, 1870-1938), an artist, a master of lacquer painting, who played an important role in the preservation and development of the traditions of folk lacquer painting in Soviet times. He came from a family of peasant painters, the creators of the Zhostovo tray craft. From 1892 he was a monk, later a hierodeacon of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and for some time a subdeacon of St. Patriarch Tikhon. An active participant in the secret monastic life in the city of Sergiev Posad (since 1930, Zagorsk) in the 20s - mid-30s. XX century. The article makes an attempt on the basis of newly studied documents, primarily the archival and investigative case of a group of believers, in which Fr. Afoniy, and documents of personal origin show the circumstances of the life path, arrest and execution of an outstanding monk-artist. A significant part of the documents is introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.

Primary Colors for the Fourth World: The Nonfigurative Sovereignty of Synnøve Persen and Frederik “Kunngi” Kristensen

Summary This essay examines the anti-colonial conditions under which two artists gravitated toward radically reduced form. In 1977, Synnøve Persen (b. 1950) designed a tricolor screen print that inspired an iconic flag. The flag was hoisted at barricades along the Áltá river where water defenders blockaded the site of a planned hydroelectric dam and demanded recognition for the Sámi people’s ancestral rights to their homelands, and in 2017, it reappeared alongside nine monochrome paintings at documenta14. Across the same timeline, Frederik “Kunngi” Kristensen (1952–2021) charted another path for abstract form. While political organizers called for Indigenous self-determination in Kalaallit Nunaat in the mid-1970s, Kunngi began producing geometrically abstract images that had no basis in art historical or culturally specific precedents. For Persen, monochromy reconfigured collective memory, underscoring the Áltá struggle’s continued purchase on contemporaneity, while for Kunngi, who resisted comparison to avant-garde painting traditions, nonfigurative techniques indexed the new possibilities that an independent Greenlandic arts institution promised.

Eva Hesse: Emergent Self-Portrait

The artist Eva Hesse (1936–1970) and her work, ranging from traditional painting and drawing to highly inventive bas-relief and sculptural form, are frequently interpreted through the lenses of biography, psychology, and gender, contributing to a prevailing narrative of a troubled and tragic artist figure. This dominant understanding of Hesse’s oeuvre has largely emerged from the interpretation of the artist’s own words, in the form of diary entries and interviews, and the published interpretations of these texts by scholars, peers, and critics, who frequently dwell on the narrative of Hesse’s short and challenging life. However, a closer look at the documentation of the artist’s own process of making, one that combined a near-daily writing practice, close annotations of choices made and executed in her work, and her emphasis on material experimentation, reveals an alternative reading of her writing and work. This paper will first explore the origins of the existing scholarship dedicated to Hesse’s writing that has contributed to the gendered and tragic mythos surrounding the artist and her work. This paper will then provide a re-reading of Hesse’s practice through the example of the work Repetition Nineteen, demonstrating her textual and material process as a deeply entangled set of relations between artist, process, and material contributing to a still-emerging portrait of the artist and her contributions.

Generation and Transformation: A Study of China Traditional Painting under the Spread of Western Learning to the East

China traditional painting is an integral part of China traditional culture and has a long history. With the outbreak of the Opium War, the door of China was opened, and various foreign cultures were gradually combined with their own cultural heritage, and western paintings gradually appeared on the stage of art history. China is a traditional China art region with distinctive features. In addition, the emergence of the spread of western learning to the east and various schools of painters have produced a lot of innovations and influences on the traditional painting art in China. This paper will discuss the influence of the introduction of western learning to China's traditional painting art, so as to understand the introduction of western painting to China and its far-reaching influence on China's traditional painting art.

Picturing Political Power: Eighteenth-Century Korean Portraits in San Francisco's Asian Art Museum

Picturing Political Power: Eighteenth-Century Korean Portraits in San Francisco's Asian Art Museum

Evaluation of an Augmented Reality for Historical Context Experiences of 3D Restored Court Paintings

Court painting is a traditional Korean type of painting that depicts royal events. It should be understood in the context of royal rituals and historical writing. Therefore, it is only possible for visitors of a museum with historical knowledge to interpret the content accurately. This problem is often identified in traditional paintings in other countries, and existing methods have attempted to deal with it using digital media technologies. Most methods aim to reconstruct paintings as 3D virtual objects for visitors to view them. However, these methods prevent visitors from interacting with the historical events depicted in the paintings and do not explain the essential historical facts and stories that the paintings leave out. In this study, we propose an augmented reality system that provides 3D virtual restorations of information necessary for understanding court paintings and supports historical context experiences of royal events. Specifically, we restore the information required for the interpretation of the painting to a virtual 3D object so that visitors can intuitively understand the historical stories missing from the painting. In addition, the system allows visitors to experience royal events through various interactions. The structural design combines experiential learning theory and digital storytelling so that visitors can be exposed to historical knowledge in a stepwise manner. According to the user study results, our system provides visitors with a more immersive experience and gives more accurate information about royal events compared to the existing method. This result suggests that the proposed system effectively communicates historical information and stories of court paintings to visitors who view paintings that require prior historical knowledge.

НАСЛЕДИЕ НАРОДНОГО ХУДОЖНИКА РФ МИХАИЛА ЯКОВЛЕВИЧА БУДКЕЕВА: 100 ЛЕТ СО ДНЯ РОЖДЕНИЯ

Currently, it is becoming relevant to analyze the activities of the artists who stood at the origins of the formation of the traditions of painting in the Altai Krai. To do this, it is important to explore the creative legacy of predecessors. The article presents the results of the joint work of the author of the article, the employees of the exhibition hall of the “City” museum and S.M. Budkeev on the organization of a personal exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the only People’s Artist of the Russian Federation in the Altai Krai, M.Ya. Budkeev. The article for the first time publishes the materials obtained during an interview about Mikhail Yakovlevich’s sketch collection, which has not been exhibited before. More than 200 works were presented at the artist’s personal exhibition, which reflect only a small part of his creative heritage. The favorite themes of the People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, his attitude to art, the search for himself and his individual style, are presented according to the memoirs of his son.

The Experience of Teaching Chinese Traditional Painting in Russian Art Education

The Experience of Teaching Chinese Traditional Painting in Russian Art Education

Overview of Artificial Intelligence Painting Development and Some Related Model Application

The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in painting has gained significant attention in recent years, promising to revolutionize the digital art world and enhance traditional painting processes. AI painting involves the use of computer algorithms and machine learning techniques to generate and manipulate digital images. This paper provides an overview of current research in AI painting, covering key findings, literature review, and analysis of the field’s current status and future direction. Research has shown that AI algorithms can generate unique digital art forms and automate tasks in traditional painting processes, freeing up time and effort for artists. The field of AI painting holds immense potential and further research and development will likely lead to new and innovative applications. In addition, this technology has a long way to go on the road of commercialization.

The Application of Traditional Technology and Modern Concept in the Restoration and Protection of Calligraphy and Painting

In recent years, with the development of science and technology, painting and calligraphy mounting technology has added more and more modern science and technology. Under such a background, painting and calligraphy restoration work combines modern concepts and modern technologies, while traditional restoration and protection technologies also occupy an important position. The concept of "repairing the old as the old" has become the key principle in painting and calligraphy restoration work, but after restoration, the state of painting and calligraphy will also be affected. At present, the impact of its effect on the subsequent protection of calligraphy and painting remains controversial, especially the introduction of modern restoration technology in the work of painting and calligraphy mounting puts forward a new proposition for the restoration and protection of traditional painting and calligraphy. Based on this, the article analyzes the application of traditional technology and modern concepts in the restoration and protection of calligraphy and painting, with a view to bringing inspiration to relevant practitioners.

Taoist Painting during the Tang and Song Eras: The View of Russian Orientalists

The paper is an attempt to examine several key works of orientalists of the domestic (Soviet and Russian) schools of the last century, whose activities were aimed at analyzing the theoretical foundations, genre-typological, compositional aspects, and other aspects of both classical Chinese painting as a whole and its cult component, largely expressed by Taoist creativity. The comprehensive growth of interest in the spiritual culture of China, one of the oldest and most distinctive value systems, observed now (2023), as well as the gradual penetration of its basic features into modern life, prompt us to pay increased attention to the question of the degree of development of the relevant issues in the scientific environment of Russia. Undeservedly remaining for a long time on the periphery of the sphere of research of Russian sinologists, Chinese art needed Russian-language publications not only large monographs of a generalizing nature, but also works focusing on narrower issues, including coverage of the Taoist painting tradition. The period covered (1948-2004), the prerequisites of which were laid at the early stage of the existence of the Soviet state (20-30-ies, 20th century), became, despite the trend of long-termism, convincing evidence of the confident pace of development of the art direction of Russian orientalism. The result of the efforts of the authors presented on the pages (O. N. Glukharyova and B. P. Denicke (“A Brief History of Chinese Art”, 1948), E. V. Zavadskaya (“Aesthetic Problems of Painting in Old China”, 1976), N. A. Vinogradova (“Chinese Landscape Painting”, 1972)), which described the significant properties of Chinese art, was the formation of a strong framework, which with the advent of the 21st century allowed to open a new milestone in the field of cultural and historical research of Russian Oriental studies. The quintessence of this phenomenon is the publication in 2004 of a comprehensive manual by M. E. Kravtsova “World Art Culture. History of Chinese Art: Textbook”, which at the same time absorbed all the material accumulated during the 20th century and expanded the previously formed horizons of knowledge. Significant attention on the pages of the work is paid, among other things, to cult creativity as one of the most important engines of the processes of evolution of traditional Chinese painting.

근대 유럽에서 풍경화의 발흥과 진화

This article aims to introduce how European landscape painting emerged in ancient times, gradually revived during the early modern period, and finally developed into an independent subject or genre, which later affects modern East Asian landscape paintings. Landscape paintings in Europe originate from the Minoan civilization of the Aegean sea around B.C. 1450. It also appears in a form of realistic style ‘painting within a painting’ in Roman wall paintings from Campania since B.C. 80. Although this tradition was neglected by the Christianity-oriented medieval art from the 4th to 14th century, it reappeared during the mid-14th century. As the Renaissance Humanism of the 15th and 16th century raised the awareness of the independent self, nature was objectified as a coexisting companion and began to be represented in a vision-based way.BR From the early 15th century, landscape painting was revived as the background of paintings of Flanders, Florence, and Venice. Later in 1473, those background materials began to appear on the canvas solely, signaling the rebirth of a ‘sheer landscape painting.’ Soon after, it developed into both watercolor landscape painting and oil painting landscape painting, and became an independent painting subject accompanied by the emergence of a subject specialist in the 16th century. In the Netherlands during the 17th century, with the support of the bourgeoisie, realistic and naturalistic landscape paintings thrived and landscape became a major genre in painting, eventually leading to the establishment of the tradition of modern landscape painting. Meanwhile, classical landscape painting flourished in Rome and became the canon of modern academic art. From the 18th century to the early 19th century, landscape painting was associated with Naturalism and Romanticism in England, while being the major theme of the Barbizon school in France. Eventually, landscape expanded as a part of the visual culture. On the other hand, German Romantic painters deviated from the customs of landscape paintings to elevate the spirituality of landscape, which combines the perception and mind as religious paintings does through the spiritual eye. After the mid-19th century, landscape, along with nude, became one of the most favored subjects in modern painting and photography, followed by the emergence of Impressionism which led landscape painting to its peak period.

The Development of Changzhou School and Yun Shouping’s (1633-1690) Flower Paintings

Yun Shouping 惲壽平 (1633-1690) was one of the Early Qing orthodox masters. He embarked on his artistic career by painting landscapes in the Southern School style, but later gained his reputation for flower paintings in the “boneless” (mogu 沒骨) coloring method, a technique that does not leave traces of outlines on the pictorial surface. Living in the late Ming and early Qing period, Yun trod on an eventful trajectory of life. He was born to a family of literati and exhibited an aptitude for scholarly exercises during his childhood. As a Ming royalist, he was arrested for his activities against the Manchu rule. During his engagement in the resistance, he was accidentally reunited with his father, Yun Richu 惲日初, with whom he returned home together. Changzhou, Yun’s hometown, was a region that was particularly known for paintings of flowers and insects. Active since the Song period (960-1279), the Changzhou school developed a style of painting that achieved a lifelike verisimilitude of ordinary flowers and insects. Against this regional backdrop of the vivid and lifelike painting tradition, Yun applied the boneless coloring method to the genre of flower painting. This boneless coloring method allowed Yun’s flower painting to depart significantly from prior generations of Changzhou flower painters whose work relied on meticulous fine brushwork (gongbi 工筆). Yun began his study of flower painting from 1670s, acquired various techniques and styles of painters active from the Song through the Ming periods, and took the genre of flower painting to a level of literati painting. Prior to Yun, flowers were regarded as a pictorial subject reserved exclusively for academy painters. Yun overturned that perception, charting a new territory of artistic exploration for scholar-painters. His style exerted a far-reaching influence over diverse hosts of painters encompassing not only the Yun clan painters, but also court painters, the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, and even modernists. He also left indelible impacts on the history of Korean flower painting since his work came to be circulated in Chosŏn.

Icon Painting as Visual Component of Ritual Entertainment in the Context of Socio-Cultural Life of Kyivan Rus

The purpose of the article is to consider icon painting as one of the elements of the visual component of ceremonial and ritual "entertainment" in the context of the socio-cultural life of Kyivan Rus.The methodology of the research consists in the application of the analytical method to study the theoretical material about the types of «entertainment», special attention is focused on the ceremonial-ritual type. The formalisation method is used to clarify the term «Entertainment» within the subject field of art history. The hermeneutic historical-cultural methodsenable the study of icon painting as a visual component of the «Entertainment» ceremonial-ritual phenomenon in the context of the socio-cultural life of Kyivan Rus. It is undeniable that the research also uses theoretical material regarding icon painting schools and traditions of icon painting during the times of Kyivan Rus.The scientific novelty of the work is that for the first time icon painting is considered as a visual component of "entertainment" ritual in the context of the socio-cultural life of Kyivan Rus.Conclusions. The hermeneutic method of interpretation of the «entertainment» concept nakes it possible not to narrow its meaning to the term entertainment, in the linguistic and art-historical aspect. Thus, this term is interpreted as a spectacle, and in relation to this interpretation, it has several types, the main of which are ceremonial-ritual, artistic, agonal, and fair. The article focuses on the ceremonial-ritual format of «entertainment» and its visual component during the socio-cultural life of Kyivan Rus. The ceremonial and ritual format of the spectacle is extremely important, combining elements of ceremony and ritual, and the religious aspect plays an important role in the socio-cultural life of each historical era. The interpretation of rite and ritual in the works of Arnold van Gennep, I. Fursin, N. Zakovych, V. Horovyi, and E. Durkheim is considered. It has been determined that it is the symbolic nature of the ceremonial-ritual format of the spectacle that distinguishes it from entertaining, artistic, agony, and farce formats. It is noted that the church rite, as one of the forms of spectacle, also has the right to exist, as an external manifestation of faith in God and the possibility of worshiping him. Thus, icons, which had their own sign and symbolic language, acted as one of the visual components of the ceremonial-ritual spectacle in Kyivan Rus, for example, a church rite. The traditions of the Kyiv icon-painting school of the times of Kyivan Rus, the peculiarities of style, and the main icons of that period are considered, which makes it possible to determine that icon-painting is one of the visual components of the "Entertainment" ritual in the socio-cultural life of Kyivan Rus. Key words: еntertainment, church rite, Kyivan Rus, Kyiv icon painting school, rite, ritual.

The Effects of Psychotic Tendencies on Aesthetic Preferences of Paintings

This study examined the effects of psychotic tendencies on aesthetic preferences for paintings. Although psychotic tendencies and related phenomena are often associated with creative achievements, little research in the field of experimental aesthetics has investigated their effects on the aesthetic experience. This study (N = 153) examined how the positive, negative and disorganized aspects of psychotic tendencies, defined through a comprehensive model of the Disintegration trait, are related to the aesthetic preferences of paintings. Results indicated a general trend whereby Disintegration and its modalities had a positive effect on the aesthetic preferences of non-canonical (Ugly and Incomprehensible) paintings, and a negative effect on canonical, traditional (Beautiful and Comprehensible) paintings. Examination of the Disintegration trait provides us with additional information regarding aesthetic preferences, compared to use of the Big Five model alone. Two processes – conservation and progression – are proposed as explanations for the findings.