Abstract Art

Finalizing a Painting Commission

I've had a hard time finalizing two paintings for a commission I received recently.  The paintings need to work separately or together, and will most likely be hung a few inches apart.  The list of required colors was long, with little room for me to add or subtract colors to make the composition work better.

I worked for a long time on one set of two paintings, but didn't like the way they came out.  So I started two new canvases, and was much happier with the results.   I let the paintings dictate what they needed instead of a formula of prescribed colors and percentages of each.  Not that my client was that specific, but the instructions were way more constrained than I usually have when doing a commission. 

I sent the photos to my client, and she liked them.  But she still had a request for some changes.  One color wasn't the exact shade she wanted, and the paintings were missing another color she thought should be there.

So I reworked the paintings to bring them in line with her requests.  And that made her happy.  And the paintings are now on their way to her home.

  Commissioned Painting #1, 30" x 36" acrylic on canvas.

  Commissioned Painting #2, 30" x 36" acrylic on canvas.

 

Final Step in Commissioned Painting

In this final painting session, I spent a lot of time staring at the canvas, deciding what it needed in order to call it finished and send it off to my client.  Most of the steps I took were small ones:  I added a line or two in order to break up a too-large block of color.  I extended a color when I thought it needed to be more prominent.

There was still too much brightness near the top and bottom, so I added more dark lines to block out more of it.  I added a few more white lines where I thought the painting needed them.

What I was looking for was not to reproduce the original painting my client liked, but to get the same feel and movement.  In order to get the spontaneity of the original, I had to paint this one freely, and that meant it would never match the original too closely. 

Finally, the painting looked ready to me.  I sent a photo to the client, she said it looked great, and I shipped it.

  Commissioned Painting, 44" x 64" acrylic on canvas.

 

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Getting the Color and Mood Right in Commissioned Painting

I liked the way the composition in this new commissioned painting was coming along, but the color and mood were not right yet.  It was too bright with too many pastel colors. 

I began this painting session by adding more medium and dark grays, applying the paint directly from the tubes without a brush.  This painting is made up mostly of thick and thin lines, so applying the paint this way allowed me to create those lines, which added to the thick "thickety" texture I was looking for.

I also added more raw umber and black, covering over some of the more pastel colors from previous layers.  Then I drew a lot of thin lines in Paynes Gray, which looks almost black. 

  Commissioned Painting, 44" x 64" acrylic on canvas.

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Adding Detail to Commissioned Abstract Painting

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Beginning A New Painting Commission

Adding Detail to Commissioned Abstract Painting

Today I began to add detail to the commissioned abstract painting I'm working on.  Each layer has to dry before the next can be applied, especially since the first layers had so much thick paint texture. 

In this session I drew thinner lines, filling in some areas and highlighting others.  I began with the lighter colors: titanium white, cadmium yellow light, and raw sienna.  Then I added the grays, ultramarine blue, raw umber, and black. 

By drawing multiple lines next to each other, I darkened sections and created texture. 

I am trying to achieve a loose, expressionist feel in this painting, so a lot of the lines have a scribbled look to them. 

  Painting Commission, 44" x 64" acrylic on canvas.

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Continuing Work on New Abstract Painting Commission

After painting a basic background on this new abstract painting commission, I began to mix the acrylic paint for colors that are not available straight from the tube.  My client likes a lot of texture in her paintings, so I also added a Liquitex gloss super heavy gel medium to the paint mixtures.

This painting is going to end up with many overlapping layers, so the important thing at this stage was to apply the colors in thick lines of varying lengths over the whole canvas.  The composition of the original painting was made up of vertical overlapping lines suggesting a thicket or forest in an abstract way.

I used a paint brush to apply the colors I mixed, filling in more of the blank spaces on the canvas (see previous post).  Some of these colors will be almost entirely covered over in future painting sessions. 

  Painting Commission, 44" x 64" acrylic on canvas.

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Beginning A New Painting Commission

I recently got a new commission to paint a large canvas in the style and colors of a small painting I had made with acrylic on watercolor paper.  It is always a challenge to take a small image and expand it into something much larger, while at the same time keeping the same sense of overall design, texture and color. It is not a matter of reproducing or enlarging the original painting, but creating a new one that has the same feel to it. 

Here's the original painting I'm working from:

     Acrylic on watercolor paper, 18" x 24"

To begin the new painting, I first painted the whole canvas in a pale peach color.  In the end it will be mostly or entirely covered over, but it's a better background to work against than the white of the canvas.

Next, I applied paint in lines straight from the tube, beginning to get the basic colors down.  Of course, this painting has so many colors with various shading, that it will take a lot of paint mixing to get them all in.  For now, I need to let this canvas dry.

  Painting Commission, 44" x 64" acrylic on canvas.

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Finishing Abstract Painting Commission

I was happy with the progress on this abstract painting commission, but felt it needed some sharpening and texture to complete the effect. First, I drew lines with raw sienna, using it to lighten up some of the dark brown areas, as well as to extend the central image into the top and bottom portions of the painting. 

Next, I drew with burnt umber, allowing those lines to extend into the light colored background as well.  I also used the brown lines to sharpen the definitions of other shapes and colors. I wanted to keep the loose, improvisational effect that I already had, so I was careful not to overdo the outlining of shapes.

It is always important, at this stage of the painting process, to be careful not to overwork an image to the point that you take its life away.  One could always add more, but stopping at the right time is key to keeping an image fresh.

  Canvas #161, 40" x 30" acrylic on canvas.

More Work on Commissioned Painting

I began work today by making the burnt sienna and burnt umber stronger, brushing on the color with vertical strokes of the brush.  Above the brown, I painted strokes of cadmium red light, cadmium orange, and Indian yellow.  I also used raw sienna and yellow oxide.

As I painted the central image, I also dabbed spots of each color into the background, knowing I would later blend them with parchment.  That's what I did next, creating a heavier parchment in some areas for highlighting and emphasis. 

Periodically, I stopped to look at the painting, and then went back to add more of one color or another.  I got out the Prussian blue again and added more of that to the main image, and lightly in the background, mixing it with the parchment.

I had to be careful not to mix the colors where I wanted each one to be crisply itself.  It takes practice and judgement to know when to work wet in wet, and when to let colors dry before painting over them. 

  Canvas #161, 40" x 30" acrylic on canvas.

New Abstract Painting Commission

I started work on a new abstract painting commission this week.  Hurricane Sandy did a lot of damage to downstate NY, especially coastal regions, but we were spared most of it here upstate in the Fingerlakes region.  I filled buckets with water, got the candles and flashlights ready, and charged up my cell-phone, but never lost power. 

I just talked to a friend in Bloomfield, New Jersey, who said a huge tree on her block was split down the middle by the storm.  She will venture out today for the first time.

This commissioned painting is based on one I sold, Abstract Art Twenty-One.  But this one will be the same size, shape and colors, so it is not a huge challenge.  The challenge will be to make it similar yet original, with its own sense of movment and energy. 

In this first step, I painted in the background, beginning with burnt sienna and burnt umber.  Next I added the cadmium red light and cadmium orange.  Finally, I filled in the background with unbleached titanium, mixing it with the other colors as I did. 

  Canvas #161, 40" x 30" acrylic on canvas.

Finishing A New Commissioned Painting

In the final steps of this new commissioned painting, I drew lines in parchment, alizarin crimson, and prussian blue.  I drew lines to outline some of the petal shapes to make them pop out from the background.  I outlined some of the circles, and drew lines around larger areas to emphasize central shapes on the canvas.

  Canvas #157, 40" x 60" acrylic on canvas.

Basically, I was filling up almost every inch of this canvas with flower petal and star shapes, creating a dance of colors against the darker background.  This painting will be hung at the end of a hallway, so it should draw the eye toward it, even from a distance. 

It's always a challenge to paint a commission for someone, a challenge that is fulfilled when they end up loving it.