This new painting evolved over many steps with the application of layers of acrylic paint. I first worked on a background which consisted of blending a number of colors very loosely with a wet brush:

The next two steps involved drawing lines of color across the canvas--first with one orientation, then turning the canvas 90 degrees and drawing more lines.

In the next stages of the process, I began filling in some of the shapes that were created by the intersecting lines. I used a pale beige, very pale yellow, dusky green, teal, and a reddish orange. These painted sections then popped forward from the background, providing a path for the eye to follow.

At this point I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but took the plunge and added some texture by drawing straight, zig-zag, and circular lines on several sections of the canvas.

Now I had no idea what to do next. I liked what was there so far, but the painting still felt "unfinished" to me. So I took a radical step. I mixed the pale yellow with water and gloss medium to make it translucent, and then painted over large sections of the canvas. Next, I dipped my brush into a thin, light teal and brushed that on the swirls inside the circular shapes. I also added it in zig-zag lines across some of the other shapes.

Finally, I took a deep cadmium red and drew somewhat random lines across the canvas. Wow. This turned out to be a painting unlike any I'd ever done! Here it is: Signs And Symbols.

Recently I created a series of abstract paintings using a modified pointillist technique. Pointillism was made popular by George Seurat and Paul Signac in the late l800's in France. They painted small dots of color in patterns to form images.

In my modified technique, I apply spots of color while the paint is still wet, letting them blend together so that the spots of color are not necessarily distinct. Here's an example:

Recently I added another layer to this process by painting the whole canvas in an undercoating of parchment and white. Then I added the dots of color while the undercoating was still wet.

Once I'd covered the whole canvas in spots of color, I took a larger, flat brush, and while it was barely wet, pressed it against the canvas. This process blended the surface colors with the background. To keep the colors from becoming muddy, I cleaned the brush often throughout the process.

You can see how the light background colors blended with the surface paint, creating a more muted effect.

Here's another impressionist landscape painting using the same technique:

Here's a square painting I made using this technique, with a denser collection of surface paint: