I’ve been reading about the history of abstract art. There seem to be as many theories and approaches to art as there are artists. How could that be otherwise? For the most part artists try to portray truths about reality. It is no coincidence that many different forms of art arose after Einstein’s theory of […]
Today I played some more with stabby brush strokes. I used Bristol paper, I think. The pad was removed from its cover, so I only know that the paper was smooth and the paint did not soak in. I splotched mainly blues and reds, with a dash of yellow here and there. After the paper dried, I washed it with light […]
I continued my experiments with cerulean blue deep today. I’m not exactly sure how the oval shape came about. I was experimenting with stabbing brush strokes and the oval shape just happened. I really like Japanese brushes for stabby work. Unlike the synthetic ones that bounce back into shape after being smushed, the bristles of the Japanese […]
I frequently have problems with cerulean blue. It is the coverage; I have to use quite a lot of pigment to get a decent tone on the paper. However, with cerulean blue deep, the problem goes away. The color is shown on the study below. It is a rich deep blue. It goes rather well with […]
For today’s study I mixed a solution of quinacridone burnt orange and another of turquoise. I find it much easier to have a lot of liquid pigment at my disposal, especially for washes. However, I began by painting narrow traces of burnt orange (without plan). I abutted fields of turquoise against the orange for maximal contrast. […]
I usually paint on a block of watercolor paper, on which all four sides are tacked down to prevent warping. Today, I used a single sheet of light weight paper that I taped to a board to accomplish the same end: preventing the paper from buckling. I was surprised that the pigments I used did […]
I began today’s study with the idea of sprockets in my head. I took a picture the other day that had repetitive square figures at the top edge that reminded me of sprocket holes in a roll of film (see Sprockets). Instead of creating square figures, I painted a wavy blue line. The rest of […]
The study I painted the other day reminded me of the brain. I used the same diagonal strokes in the composition below. This time, a solid sphere coalesced. The streaks imply motion. Thus the abstract nature of this painting dissolves into representationalism.
Sometimes visual elements align themselves and just beg to be preserved. This happened today while I was on break. The nearly-empty parking lot caught my eye. The top of the building reminded me of the sprocket holes on the edge of a roll of film. For those of you not familiar with film, it used […]
