Stratum

24x30 oil on canvas

I am trying my hand at abstract. I am a realist painter so this turned out harder than I thought it would be. With realism one works from references, either from life or from photo. Composition,subject, colour and value can already be predetermined or adjusted prepainting. With abstract, the theory of painting and design must be decided solely by the artist before or during the painting process.

I chose to start out by applying a thin wash of red oxide to the canvas. I had no ideas where it would go. I would let the wash and values lead me. I seem to have a thing for circles and flowing lines. When I added colour it became more defined. But it looked like crap I wiped off alot of it and left my studio thinking How would I cover that mess up to reuse the canvas?

I came back and saw definite shapes and patterns in the mess on the canvas.

Over 3 painting sessions I worked colour and redefined the shapes, continually adjusting for values and cohesion of overall painting.

What a fun and growing experience, I want to do it again.

As much as I am happy with the results, I have no idea whether it is any good. Art and abstraction mean different things to all people. I would love to receive your comments, positive and negative. It looks great in my bathroom. Ha Ha Ha