郭晓光风景写生油画的价值，在于在形色光影的变幻中捕捉源自灵魂的悸动，并在观察的整体性和视觉的积极开放性层面，实现了自我风格的完满。作为国内新具象表现主义油画的代表画家之一，他有意识地从单纯的室外写生中，发掘找寻来自于绘画本体性价值的真切感受，以大尺幅的画面、厚重的色块，构建了中国本土风景油画的气魄与特色，并以此形成特立独行的艺术风格与表现样式。
郭晓光的“心象”风景，在观察、感受、认识自然的基础上融入了对景物的理解和体验，进而运用构图、造型、色调等因素，改变某些形状、色彩的位置和强弱，通过删繁就简的过程，进行艺术的再创造。他不主张利用图片照片进行创作，而强调自然风景给人的视觉与内心带来的直截性的感奋与悸动。正如帕马尔·席勒所说：“艺术的本质不是再现用眼睛原封不动看到的对象，而是把对象进行视觉化。”这个“视觉化”的观照方式与立意过程，在郭晓光的风景写生创作中达到了一个由量变到质变的高度，使其作品超越了一般意义上风景写生的“小品”性与习作感，而趋向一种完满的含义空间。
在对于风景的执迷中，痛快淋漓的情感抒泄也使郭晓光的作品呈现出某种特殊的酣畅与鲜活。正如画家在2005年出版的一本画集自序中所言：“写生使我在半生创作中的那种重压得以释放/从正式中得到一点轻松/从深刻中找到一点简单/从复杂中找到一点单纯/从刻意中找到一点不经意/在不经意中，又去体会和积淀一些经验和发现。”当媒体时代与图片信息的洪流甚嚣尘上，当艺术终结论的哲学思辨替代了对于原有传统媒介技法的探究，这种创作理念与方式不啻为向“绘画”的本体性的回归。
The value of Guo Xiaoguang landscape oil paintings is not only to seize the pulsating of the soul in the changes of form and shadow, but also to accomplish the completion of his style at two levels of observational integrity and visual positive openness. As a representative painter of oil paintings of neo-representationalism at home, he discovers and seeks the genuine feeling brought by the true value of painting through simple outdoor paintings from life consciously, and he also constructs the boldness of vision and characteristics of native Chinese landscape oil paintings with big-sized pictures and heavy color lumps, which forms his own eccentric art style and expression pattern.
Guo Xiaoguang’s mental image landscape blends in the understanding and experience of scenery on the base of observing, feeling and knowing the nature, and further changes some shapes and sites and strength of some colors by making use of elements like picture composition, sculpture, hues and so on, and then carries on a recreation of art through a course of simplifying complicated materials. He would rather emphasize the direct moving, inspiration and pulsating of the vision and heart brought by the natural scenery than advocate the production from pictures or photos. Just as Pamar Schiller once said that the essence of art is not to reappear what we see, but to visualize it. The comparison way and conception course of visualization reach to a height from quantitative change to qualitative change in the production of Guo Xiaoguang’s landscape painting from life, which makes his works surpass the feelings of an essay and study of an ordinary scenery painting from life brought to people and tend to a kind of complete meaning space
The straightforward expression of feelings makes Guo Xiaoguang’s works appear merry and live with ease and verve in the insistence of scenery. Just as he said in the preface of his one album published in 2005, to paint from life makes me release my great pressure during my half lifetime creation/ to get a little relaxation from formality/ to get a little briefness from profundity /to get a little purity from complexity/to get a little carelessness from care/to taste and accumulate some experience and discoveries. When the flood current of media age and picture information is making a great clamor, and when the philosophy analysis of the end of art is replacing the exploration of original media skill, this kind of creative philosophy and way is not less than a return to the essence of painting.