"Fuego de Colores"

($125.00.......8" x 10".....Water Soluble OIls on 2" Depth Cradled Gessobord)

Today you are looking at "Fire of Color" (translated from the Spanish title). It is a palette knife oil painting using lots of paint. It's designed to represent my South Texas roots and inspire you with bright color.

All of my abstract palette knife paintings have gestural writing included, but actual, readable text is no longer a consideration for these types of works. I am reserving my lettering to canvases, watercolor or other mixed media works.

Design considerations are still a factor here. The orange is taking up just a bit more space than the blue, but the orange being such an intense color is definitely taking center stage. And even though all of these colors appear very intense, they are all diluted to some degree. Color is diluted by adding black, white, gray, or some of the complementary color. The darkest color is actually a very dark green created by mixing Phtalo Blue (Red Shade), Ult. Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Cad. Yellow Light. Yellow appears in all of the colors represented and this limited palette is why they all work together.

There is also a vast range of edges and line work going from totally blended to slightly blended and to a sharp edge. The writing also creates movement and energy along with some of the color shapes at slight diagonals.

The title was inspired by the flame looking shapes coming out of the orange. Integration was helped by allowing some of the base color (dark green) to be peeking through the entire piece. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.

"Flower Collection"

(sold)

"Flowers are the best collections." Whether they're in a vase, dried under glass, in a painting, or in a field...flowers remain one of the most popular images for all types of art and celebrations. This painting was inspired by a hibiscus plant by our front door.

This is an abstracted image and not meant to be totally representational. To arrive at the salmon colored flower, I really needed a bright red instead of Alizarin Crimson. A true red (like Napthol or Cad. Red) plus a bit of orange will achieve that salmon color, but alas, I was determined to paint this flower on this Monday morning!

The leaves are also very stylized, but that really makes it look even more contemporary. If I had it to do all over again, I would probably abstract it even more and simply create a design that projects the frilly and delicate nature of this particular flower. And this is the best part of abstraction. Any of the design elements in the realistic image can be altered and rearranged to create something totally abstract. In this case, I would keep the colors the same and the "frilly" edge in tact, but everything else would be up for grabs.

In fact, it would be nice to have a collection of images based on the same inspiration image and simply abstracted in different ways. Of course, my mind is absolutely on collections right now due to the fact that there is an upcoming exhibit called "Poetic Collections".  So there will likely be quite a few postings of quotes from or giving a nod to poetry.

The technique in this image was based on glazing techniques except for the first layer which was wet into wet. So maybe you can pick a flower from your collection in the yard and give this a shot. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"Textured Walls"

(unavailable.....6" x 6"......Experimental Piece.....Water Soluble Oils on Gessobord)

"History is layered in textured walls." At first glance, it might be difficult to comprehend what you might be viewing. It is a very old textured wall in Jefferson, Texas. If this wall could talk, I would love to know the stories it would tell. (If you look closely, there is a Texas Star.)

The patina and texture of old walls has long been a fascination to me. It looks like an abstract painting because of the layers and layers of concrete, mortar, repair work etc. Because of my struggles in painting this in oils, I would probably do it in acrylic if I ever chose to do this type of painting again. It is very difficult to achieve this many layers of texture in a wet into wet technique. (a word to the wise)

And that brings me to the reason why plein air painters and daily painters generally work small. The purpose is to work out the composition, technique, and other variables in a small version first before committing to a larger work. 

I came to another realization while working on this piece.  It  would be a good jumping off point for making it a totally abstract piece by not showing the brick work, the same shape of the building or sky, but simply using the same colors to create a grid format type of layout with hints of the same texture.

So there is a lot of "back and forth" thinking that goes on with these types of pieces. One could also do the reverse and take a totally abstract painting and add enough realism to bring it back a bit. There are always viewers who will bristle at abstraction unless there is something identifiable as an image in the piece.

The problem in combining realism with abstraction is that it can look contrived unless everything is well integrated. Color will probably be the best common denominator to integrate the two processes together. Another key point to keep ourselves out of the weeds is to make sure we are creating a pattern with our abstraction. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

"A Variation"

($50.00......6" x6".....Water Soluble Oils on Gessobord)

"A variation is a transformation of an existing image." This also has an application in real life if we consider ourselves or others as an existing image in the process of transformation.

This is my third variation of a hill country scene with a large bluff in the background and green water with reflections and a twig / tree in the foreground. The last time I painted this was on January 9th. The first posting was on December 3rd, 2012, just in case you want to see the progression.

This step by step "morphing" is an excellent way to step gingerly into the world of abstraction. I do believe I could do it one more time and lose even more of the bit of detail that is there. In a "nutshell", abstraction simply means to lose the detail. The color harmonies remain the same (although the bluish gray in the bluff is really a gray in the original) and the general placement of the color notes remain the same. It's the detail and blending that goes away. 

The technique of laying these colors down is a "one shot deal". One swipe of the palette knife...wiping off the knife...another swipe....etc. Trying to touch up anything is totally out of the question. I did use a rocking motion technique to create the relfections by keeping the knife in the same place to avoid over blending.

So I am quite sure that most everyone has enough reference photos to create many abstract pieces. The beauty of doing it this way is that you at least have a reference of what color notes to mix and where to place them on the piece.  And there you have it...just a few more things to think about. 

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.