Abstract Art : Art Process

February 25, 2014

Fine Tuning Two Abstract Paintings

I often let new paintings sit for a while and then give them another look. Today I worked on two abstract paintings that had been hanging around the studio. I liked them both, but felt they might still need something more.

In this first one, I added just a few more spots of color--a bright orange and a pale yellow--which made a big difference, I thought. Then I played with it some more, mixing a light blue with white to make an even paler shade, and using it throughout the canvas where I thought it might do some good. Check out the original painting, and see if you can see the difference here:

Abstract Painting #225, 40" x 30" acrylic on canvas.

While fine tuning the next painting, I made more drastic changes. I had been focusing on black and white and grays in recent painting sessions, but this time I went back to the colors in the underpainting: yellow, orange and red.

I began with a cadmium red deep, adding circles of this color interspersed among the dark gray and black circles toward the bottom of the canvas. I continued the layers of circles, working my way toward the top of the canvas, with cadmium red medium and red light, a medium orange, and finally cadmium orange.

Abstract Painting #224, 36" x 30" acrylic on canvas.

Feb 25, 2014 12:05:12 PM | abstract paintings, Art Process, how to paint, painting process

February 04, 2014

New Abstract Painting Made With A Palette Knife

To make this new abstract painting, my primary tool was a palette knife, which I used to apply heavy body Liquitex acrylics. First I painted the whole 20" x 20" canvas in unbleached titanium (a creamy beige color) with a brush.

Then I used a palette knife to apply the main colors, beginning with titanium white. I made some loose, broad strokes which left some of the background color showing through. Next, I added yellow oxide, then raw sienna, and finally, burnt umber.

As I worked, I let the colors blend, but not too much. It is tricky using a knife because you have less control than a with a brush. I used the burnt umber for the heaviest accent since it had the most contrast with the white and the beige background.

My last step was to draw lines in the burnt umber, highlighting movement and outlining shapes for emphasis. Then I slowed down, adding more white here, more brown there, even using a brush at one point to subtly change a color.

Canvas #221, 20" x 20" acrylic on canvas.

Feb 4, 2014 1:00:00 PM | abstract painting, Art Process

July 11, 2013

Still Not Satisfied With a New Painting

Lately I've had a lot of trouble deciding if a new painting is finished or not. In fact, I'm looking at ones I thought were finished and repainting them. I just have a general disatisfaction with what I'm doing in the studio, though I keep painting. From experience, I've found that continuing to work is the best antidote to this kind of disatisfaction.

Here's the painting before I started working on it today:

Painting #199, 24" x 24" acrylic on canvas.

I began today by taking a palette knife and applying large swaths of titanium white. Then I brushed over most of the underlying image with a pale green and cobalt teal.

Next I drew lines with prussian blue and brushed over them. In the final step, I drew lines in mars black, creating a grid-like structure over the whole canvas, and then drawing several circles.

Tomorrow I'll take another look.

Painting #199, 24" x 24" acrylic on canvas.

Jul 11, 2013 1:00:00 PM | abstract art, Art Process

June 14, 2013

Having More Fun in the Studio

When you put your art out there for the world to see, which we can all do now thanks to the internet, you get all kinds of reactions. Those of us who have made art all our lives and exhibited publicly in gallery shows, have enough experience to let the negative reactions and comments slide off us for the most part.

When you are painting abstract art, especially, you can expect some people to say, "My kid could do that," or to think we make abstract art because we don't know how to draw and paint realistically from life.

When I wasn't selling my art, I painted for myself. Once I began to sell it, I worried more about my "public." And since I write about my art all the time, I was careful to keep my private life and opinions out of it.

But here I am, at the final sprint of life. I feel I can paint and write what I want to now without the burden of censorship. That doesn't mean I don't edit or try to write in the most engaging way possible. I still care about the writing process and the painting process.

All of that is a long introduction to the work I'm doing now repainting some of my old canvases. I'm letting my self go and having more fun in the studio.

Today I continued work on Entropy Two, solidifying colors and shapes to make the composition stronger and clearer. I worked slowly, stepping back often to see what I wanted to do next.

Entropy Two, 36" x 36" acrylic on canvas.

I like it now. I'll see what I think tomorrow.

Jun 14, 2013 1:00:00 PM | abstract art, Art Process, Art Writing

June 07, 2013

Shape, Color and Form in Abstract Painting

I've been reworking an older painting, and my first work session led to a loose composition of brighter colors. My next work project was to solidify the shape, color and form in this painting.

First I repainted the cadmium red light and cadmium red medium shapes, giving them a more solid feel. Then I selected some of the lighter shades and repainted them in parchment to make them pop more from the background.

I continued to strengthen shapes and colors, adding more pale lavender, more dark red, and more of the pale greenish-gray. In between, I kept standing back to look at the canvas to see what it needed.

At this point there was barely any of the original painting left in the background--just a touch here and there.

My final step was to redraw some of the lines in Prussian blue in order to clearly delineate separations.

Now I'll let it sit for a while.

Accentuate the Positive Two, 36" x 36" acrylic on canvas.

Jun 7, 2013 12:27:00 PM | abstract painting, Art Process

March 11, 2013

Underpainting Lets the Light Shine Through

I began this painting with white, parchment, and unbleached titanium, blending them together with a palette knife as I covered the whole canvas.

Then I used the knife to apply a few broad sweeps of medium magenta, pyrole orange, and Paynes gray, being careful to let these colors rest on the suface of the underpainting.

After cleaning my knife, I began to scrape off the top coat of paint, and to blend the top coat with the underpainting colors. As I worked, I stepped back often to see how the composition was taking shape.

I left a lot of the light colors showing through in the center of the canvas, and blended the gray into the background along the edges.

Painting #181, 24" x 24" acrylic on canvas.

Mar 11, 2013 1:00:00 PM | abstract art, Art Process

January 14, 2013

Abstract Drawing in Blue and Green

I began this drawing using the broad nib of a double-tipped calligraphy marker. I worked with a variety of shades of blue, creating a free-form image with a central focus. Then I added some aqua and pale greens.

Next I switched to the narrower point of the calligraphy pens to draw closely-packed parallel lines in order to create texture and more densitiy in some of the shapes. I also used a fine point black pen to outline some of the shapes in the center of the image, drawing the eye toward that center.

My final step was to fill in some of the areas with a pale green brush pen.

2013 Abstract Drawing #3, 10.5" x 9" acid-free inks on archival paper.

Jan 14, 2013 1:00:00 PM | Abstract Drawing, Art Process

January 09, 2013

First Abstract Drawing of 2013

I wanted this first abstract drawing of 2013 to have a celebratory feeling. I began with shades of green, using the broad nibs of colored calligraphy markers to make sweeping lines from one edge of the paper to the next.

I continued to make broad strokes with yellow, lime, and a yellow-orange. Then I used the smaller nibs of the markers to draw in more details.

In the final steps, I drew very fine lines with Kohinoor fine-tipped pens in red and black. I used these lines to add texture and to outline the inner edge of some shapes.

2013 Abstract Drawing #1, permanent inks on archival paper.

Jan 9, 2013 1:09:00 PM | abstract art, Abstract Drawing, Art Process

January 04, 2013

Blue and Gray Match the Sky in New Painting on Paper

I am still working with acrylic on watercolor paper, in a size small enough to fill completely in one painting session. I began with ultramarine and cobalt blue, applying them loosely with a brush. Then I added white and black, blending the colors as I worked. This blending created various shades of gray and blue-gray.

I added a bit of cadmium yellow light for highlights, and then drew lines in mars black to outline the amorphous shapes. The composition has a central, cave-like focus, but I'll let viewers see what they want to in this abstract, non-objective image.

Paper Painting #24, 24" x 18" acrylic on watercolor paper.

Jan 4, 2013 1:00:00 PM | Art Process, non-objective art

November 28, 2012

More Background Work on New Painting

I usually work in a freer, more expressionist way, but this time I planned the background carefully for this new painting. I don't know if it will end up being a good idea or not. Sometimes when I'm working too carefully, I get uptight and even depressed about it. Maybe that's why my favorite way to work is in an abstract expresisonist or "action painting" mode where I'm not overthinking what I'm doing.

Nevertheless, here I am with this canvas. First, I drew circles in each "box," beginning in the upper center with Indian yellow, then raw sienna, burnt sienna, and raw umber. After drawing the lines in paint, I used a small brush to flatten and widen the outline.

After the painted circles dried, I drew angular lines in raw umber. Now the whole thing has to dry before I can take the next step.

My goal is to set up a background that will enhance the final stages of the painting, a form to work against and play with. We'll see.

Canvas #166, 40" x 30" acrylic on canvas.

Nov 28, 2012 1:00:00 PM | Art Process, Beginnings, painting process

Abstract Art

Abstract art, abstract artists, and the daily practice of painting and drawing.