UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #40

“Screen - Night” (Reversible)

(Mixed media with Silver Leaf)  

148cm high x 128cm wide 

ABOUT THIS PAINTING:

"Night" is the reverse side of the screen I discussed in last week’s post.  I repeated the same subject composition but changed the mood with colour.  I observed moon lit nights so as to understand how the moon’s luminosity casts shadows among the trees.  How the colours are reduced and how light differs from day time.

Although the same scene is replicated, it was suprisingly, very challenging to reproduce it on both sides.  This is because my brain gets confused with reversals and plays games with just where the trees are supposed to be.  It’s hard to describe when the pictures are finished but it was difficult when producing it.

Artistic techniques used in the painting

The colours for “Night” were carefully planned.  Again a tertiary triadic colour scheme was used.  In this instance, Purple is the dominant colour.  The intermediary colour is Green and the subordinate colour is Orange.  

I have split the dominant Purple between Blue Violet and Red Violet (Alizarin Crimson and Magenta).  White is also been used.  The Green is Phthalo Green and the Orange is near Cad. Red Orange.  The Phthalo Green when mixed with Magenta turns into a cold steel grey, which I lighten with White.  The shadows are mixes of Orange, Blue Violet, Magenta, Phthalo Green and White.  The Aqua is the Phthalo Green and White.

I printed a photo of the painting and then decided where to place the silver leaf to best direct the viewers’ eye.  The point of interest is the Aqua area where the moon breaks through the trees.  Note that this area is broken into smaller, and more numerous shapes than any other area in the painting.

Texture is used in the tree foliage and the mid foreground, by adhering tissue paper to the canvas.  This technique is consistent with the other side “Day”.

Composition is discussed at length in the previous post (#39) and how the composition evolved will be the addressed next week when I also overview print making.

“Day” and “Night” represents for me the duality of existence.  Dialectic opposites make up a whole, just like life and death together equate to existence.  They are just like different sides of the same coin. 

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UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #12

Title “Jewels in the Desert” (Acrylic) 90x120cm

ABOUT THIS PAINTING:

Figures 1,2,&3 show you, the viewer, the stages that the painting went through before I decided that it was finished. When asked when do I know when a painting is finished, I would say that, I experience an inner feeling of completeness...a feeling that there is nothing more to be added. I suppose that it is a bit like when a conversation is completed… the conversing couple just know that it has reached its conclusion.

This painting represents experiences that I had while traveling in the USA. There were many “jewels” in an overall experience that was best described as emotionally desolate as I was very homesick for Australia.

Artistic techniques used in the painting:

Cold colours underlie the final painting that is an overall russet colour…somewhat like the colour of the Australian central desert. The Australian desert appears to me as not red but more a soft pink colour… it is a place that I was home-sick for while I was traveling overseas. I think that the colour represented a wishful longing to be back home.

The “Jewels” are the experiences and people who I met while traveling. Their richness is represented by colours, that to my eye, are like opals in the desert.

Many of my paintings have flat planes of colour and this one is no exception.

This painting is an emotional expression of my homesickness but also an acknowledgement of the richness of experience.

UNDERSTANDING ABSTRACT ART #4

Title “UP” (Mixed Media - Acrylic with Silver Leaf on canvas) 90x90cm

THE IDEA BEHIND THE PAINTING:

“Up” is what it’s like growing up in heart of Surfers Paradise which is a resort town on the eastern coast of Australia. I lived in Orchid Avenue, in the centre of all the excitement and very close to the beach. Life in the 60’s was more balanced than it is today, and great fun…..

The painting is meant to engender positive feelings and a sense of well being. The title gives the viewer a clue to the overall feeling of the painting…an UP feeling of fun. It also alludes to positive health – both mental and physical.

I thought it would be a good painting with which to start the New Year. May 2012 be filled with positive and uplifting energy.

ARTISTIC TECHNIQUES TO ACHIEVE THIS:-

This painting’s composition is created within a square canvas. This gives a feeling of balance. The viewer’s eye moves up (along the silver splash), along the horizontal band near the top, and then around this square. This movement around the image suggests dynamic excitement. The centre of the painting is rather still and gives a sense of stability.

The colours used are bright and uplifting – up-beat – warm colours give a feeling of fun and joy. The use of Silver Leaf gives a feeling of opulence – another positive.

The painting is done in acrylics – flat planes of seductive colour that give energy and movement – there is nothing stagnant about this image.. An emphasis on the repetition of pattern together with the symmetry of the horizontal line at the top, leads the viewer to extrapolate beyond the bounds of the picture into the future. Repetition (seen across the top) also provides rhythm and movement to the overall painting.