Painting A Garden

After covering the whole 48” x 48” canvas with a soft pale yellow, I drew lines in shades from dark red to orange, in horizontal rows:

Next, I painted in some of the oval shapes in white, red, orange and yellow for a random effect.

Each time I let the canvas dry completely before starting the next phase. This time I selected colors from a very dark green to a light emerald green. I drew a row of up-and-down lines horizontally across the canvas with each color, and then began again.

In the next step, I mixed four grays from a very dark gray to a pale gray. I began by painting in some sections between the green lines, using the dark gray for the dark green row of lines, and so forth.

In the next step, I painted over many of the oval shapes that had been covered over by lines. Thus, I emphasized some of the white, yellow, orange and red shapes so that they stood out.

Then, upon looking more at the painting, I decided that the gray needed to be broken up, so I painted over the grays with shades from lemon yellow to pale green.

In the final stages, I put back some of the gray in the first three rows at the top. I painted a pale yellow-orange row in the middle, and touched up some of the other rows. I also added some pink to the middle section and touched things up in general until I was satisfied.

Garden Medley, 48” x 48” x 1.5”

The Creation of CARNIVAL

My first step in this new painting was to give the 40" x 36" stretched canvas two coats of Titanium white acrylic mixed with a gloss medium.  After it dried thoroughly, I painted sections of it with Mars black:

Step 1

In my next painting session, I mixed some shades of pale orange, yellow, light green and aqua.  With a brush, I painted over sections, applying the paint in a very loose, expressionist manner.  I also added some cadmium red light, diluted with water and gloss medium.  Then I used a palette knife to make two slashes of Titanium white.

Step 2

When I worked on this canvas again, I realized I had lost a lot of the openness I'd created initially by filling in too much of the painting with color.  So I dipped my brush in the white paint mixture and began to selectively paint over sections in order to restore that sense of spaciousness:

Step 3

In this final stage of the painting, I first felt it needed more yellow, and added it selectively.  Then I gave myself license to add whimsical lines in white and black, which had a graffiti-like effect.  When I stepped back, I was satisfied:

Carnival, 40" x 30" x 1.5"

My Latest Painting: Signs And Signals

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:

Signs and Signals, Step 1

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. 

Signs and Signals, Step 2 and 3

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.

Signs And Signals, Step 4

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.

Signs And Signals, Step 5

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.

Signs And Signals, Step 6

The Evolution of An Abstract Painting

As I worked on a new 30" x 30" abstract painting over several days, I took photos of it along the way.  It was not a painting that came easily, and I'm still not sure if it's "finished."  I will let it sit for a while before I sign it. 

Here's the process step by step:

Step 1

I began by painting the whole canvas in a light lemon yellow, which comes across with a tint of green in this photograph.  I was working loosely, brushing on some cadmium red deep, green gold, and a pale green here and there, blending them in.

Step 2

I added a lot more color here:  cadmium red light, Prussian blue, and cadmium yellow medium.  I also added in more of the pale green.  Again, I painted loosely, working in an overall fashion to develop the composition.  Then I drew lines in Prussian blue and brushed over them lightly to soften the effect.

Step 3

At this stage I drew sketchy lines with burnt sienna, and then brushed over them to blend them a bit with the background colors.  I also used the pale yellow background color to soften a lot of the brighter yellows.  Finally, I drew more lines with the Prussian blue.  At this point I might have called the painting "finished."  It felt good to me in many ways.  But it wasn't quite there yet.

Step 4

I took a bold move here which changed the painting drastically and might not have worked:  I filled in spaces with small circles of color:  light Hansa yellow, medium yellow, and orange.  I also added more cadmium red light in places, and more of the pale green.  The image was now becoming more dense and solid.  But it felt like I'd gone in the right direction.

Step 5

In this final step, I first painted the outer yellow area with cadmium yellow medium.  That created a kind of "frame" for the central image.  Then I began to fill in some of the small circles of color--first some orange, and then some of the Hansa yellow.  Now I have to step back and study the canvas.  The outer more golden yellow may be too strong.  I might have contrived and controlled too much and lost too much of the sketchiness I had at the beginning. 

Fine Art Prints on Canvas

The technology of ink-jet printing has improved so much over the years that high quality fine art prints on canvas or paper are now available at very reasonable prices.  Many artists, including me, have made reproductions of their work available in this medium.  It means more people can enjoy our art even if they can't afford an original.

Tenderness:  Fine Art Print on Canvas from Fine Art America

Of course there is only one original, and a print--no matter how good the quality--cannot match it.  Anyone who loves an artist's work and can afford it, should buy the original if available.  I used to offer both on my website, but now only sell originals.  For reproductions on canvas, paper and other materials, my art is available at FineArtAmerica.com or RedBubble.com. 

Red Run: Framed Fine Art Print on Paper at Fine Art America

The first step in making a high quality print is a quality high resolution image file of the original painting.  I use a large format graphic arts scanner from Epson, taking from four to sixteen scans of the original and stitching the files together in Photoshop. It takes patience and care, but produces a very high resolution, accurate image file.  For my largest paintings, I have a professional art photographer take the photograph in his studio. 

Because technology makes it so easy to reproduce an image on a variety of materials, these companies also offer art reproductions on items such as greeting cards, mugs, throw pillows, towels, iPhone cases, and more.  I have to admit I find it cool to have a shower curtain with my own art on it.  These reproductions make great gifts, as well.

Tall Drink Eight:  Fine Art Print on Metal at Fine Art America

The Challenge of Painting Narrow Rectangular Canvases

I had always thought the shape that made the most sense for abstract paintings was a square, since it didn't suggest any particular subject matter.  In fact, most of my paintings are square.  But when the director of a gallery asked me to paint what he called "slice" paintings on narrow, 10" x 48" canvases, I gave it a shot.

Lush Life One

I found myself making patterned images that could be carried over from one slice to the next.  That would allow a collector to hang two or more next to each other, creating a diptych or triptych, for example.  This one is called Pecking Order Triptych.  I worked on all three panels at the same time so that the colors and designs would be similar, yet varied in each one.

Pecking Order Triptych

I think that sometimes a 10" x 48" painting might be just what is needed to fill a space, either horizontally or vertically.  I tried out this idea using WallAp by OhMyPrints.  It allows you to show a painting in various rooms to get an idea what it might look like in your own home.

Tall Drink Twenty Horizontal

Tall Drink Twenty Vertical

Now I'm in the process of stretching more 10" x 48" canvases, and looking forward to working on them. 

Painting On Demand

Over the years I've painted many commissions, and most of them have turned out successfully.  Often someone will like a painting that's already been sold, or want one in a different size or colors, and so forth.  I make it clear there will not be any duplicates because my abstract painting style is improvisational.  There is no way I can duplicate any of it.  What I can do is paint in a similar style and colors.

Here is an original painting called Open Focus:

Open Focus

And here is the commissioned painting made in a similar style and colors:

Commissioned Painting

Still, painting commissions is not my favorite thing.  The pressure to achieve a particular result creates a barrier to the free exploration I like to use in the painting process. It is rare when I like the commissioned painting better than the original. 

One time a client sent me a photograph of their hotel and its surroundings.  In this case I made two paintings--one more realistic and one abstract in my usual style.  Of course they preferred the abstract--that's why they hired me, after all, and not a realistic painter.  But in a way, I needed to do the realistic version in order to get to the abstract one. 

What doesn't work for me at all is when a gallery or dealer suggests something totally new rather than a version of what I'm already doing.  These paintings often come out stilted and lifeless.  It would have been better to save my materials and time. 

Periodically I say I will never paint another commission. But then someone really wants me to do one, and I start to see it as a challenge.  Sometimes painting a commission of a painting I've done years ago reminds me of what it was about that particular style that interested me.  I get re-interested and end up exploring it further. 

So, while painting on demand is not my favorite thing, I guess I won't shut the door on it altogether. 

Hanging an Art Exhibit

Over the years I have hung or helped to hang many art exhibits in galleries and other spaces.  The shows I hung were usually of my own art, but last week I helped a good friend hang her abstract acrylic paintings in a downtown coffee shop in Ithaca, NY, called The Shop.

I prefer showing in galleries where the owner or curator selects, arranges, and hangs the art, but throughout an artist's career, especially when starting out, we take what opportunities come our way.  My friend Linda Jaekel is restarting her career after a hiatus, so she was happy to have this opportunity at the coffee shop.

Linda and the barista at The Shop

Reviewing the space and the hanging mechanism is the first step in planning a show.  If you can put a nail in the wall, you have more options than other systems.  In The Shop, there are metal rods placed a few inches from the ceiling, an inch or two from the walls.  Metal hooks fit over the rods, and wire can be attached to the hooks at one end, then to the painting's hanging wire at the other. 

This meant that we had to have wired the paintings as close to the top of the canvas, and as tight as possible.  Otherwise the top of the painting would stick out at an angle from the wall.  We learned this on our first attempt to hang the show. 

Of course, before we got to that point, we decided where each painting would go on the walls.  It's important to make sure images work well together and fit the selected spaces.  Linda was very good at figuring this one out, and we only had to switch two paintings at the end to get it just right.  I'm more of a "trial and error" person, but even I would line them all up before I start.  Otherwise you could be at it all day.

It's a good idea to bring every tool you might possibly need, and a ladder, of course.  These fit in Linda's car, along with the eleven paintings we were hanging.  We found an empty table to set up our operation and began hanging in a section of the shop where no customers were sitting.  Using our skill strengths, we worked out a routine--I did the wiring and Linda got up on the ladder to hang the paintings. 

Two hours later, we looked with exhausted satisfaction upon the results of our work.

Linda and Lynne at The Shop with Linda's paintings.

Contemporary Paintings on Paper

Making contemporary paintings on paper instead of on stretched canvas takes some getting used to, since the texture of the surfaces is different.  The advantage of working on paper is that it is less expensive than canvas, but the final result then needs to be framed before it can be hung.

When I paint on canvas, I use gallery-wrapped canvases that are one and a half inches thick.  I paint the image around the sides of the canvas so that they can be hung without being framed.  Thus, I have no framing problem.

Paintings on paper are another story.  While I have made my own mats and frames in the past, this part of the process is really not my forte.  So I sell the paintings unframed, or use a framer downtown if my client wants their selection framed. 

Swept Away, 24" x 18" acrylic on watercolor paper.

Painting on paper is freer in some ways, once you get used to working with the painting surface.  By mixing the paint with water, you can get transparent and translucent effects similar to watercolors. 

Contemporary Art Twenty-Six, 24" x 18" acrylic on watercolor paper.

Recently I think I found a solution to the framing problem.  I found pre-cut mats and ready-made metal frames that work well with my contemporary art.  They would allow me to offer framed paintings at a reasonable price. 

Now I'm trying to figure out how to represent the framed paintings digitally on my website.  I'm still working on that one.

Update:  An hour after posting this, I figured out how to show the painting framed using Photoshop.  See pic below:

Swept away, matted and framed.  Outside dimensions 28" x 22". 

Abstract Pattern Paintings

Recently I've been interested in the patterns made with overlapping lines that can be filled in with color to draw the eye across a canvas.  I usually begin by painting a solid background color and letting it dry before beginning to draw the lines.  In "Concatenation," I painted the whole canvas yellow.  Then I drew lines in white, gray and black. 

I was conscious, while filling in spaces with white, gray and black paint, of the patterns and connections being made between shapes.  There are various paths set up, depending on whether you follow the white, the gray, or the black connections. 

Concatenation, 60" x 40"

In "Pecking Order Triptych," I painted three vertical canvases, each 10" x 48," in a light teal for the background.  Then I drew the lines in white, lime, teal and Prussian Blue.  I worked on all three canvases at once, developing each color pattern on all three before going to the next color.  By working on them all at the same time, I was able to ensure that the three panels would work together as a whole when hung side by side.  They also work if spaced further apart, depending on the room and space they are hung.

Pecking Order Triptych

In "Sea Escape," which is a very large canvas (72" x 46"), I painted the background a light blue.  Then I drew lines in white and Prussian Blue.  This painting was more problematic, perhaps because of its large size.  I filled in spaces with white, pale green, a darker green, a medium blue, and Prussian Blue.  Sometimes I had to paint over one color because it didn't work.  Finally, I felt I'd gotten to the point where the image worked as a whole as well as in its parts. 

Sea Escape, 72" x 46"

Which of the above abstract pattern paintings do you think is most successful?  Which one appeals to you the most?

Quintus Gallery

Quintus Gallery opened two years ago in Watkins Glen, NY.  It was started by Kathy Quinn and Joe Matus in a renovated waterworks building on Seneca Lake.  Kathy and Joe asked me to join them in their project, which I was happy to do.  It's a pleasure to see my art hung by expert curators in a fantastic space.

Interior main floor at Quintus

On June 15th, 2017, there will be a reception for the group exhibit I am part of at the gallery from 5 to 7 pm.  Artists include Linda Bigness, Ingrid Dohm, Diana Godfrey, Karen Kurcharsky, Kit Hevron Mahoney, Laurie Pace, Ron Throop, and Pam Steele. 

Here are some more interior shots of my art at the gallery:

A wall of my paintings at Quintus Gallery.

View of the stairs from one level to another with 2 of my paintings.

It's worth a trip to Watkins Glen to see the gallery.  As an added bonus, our famous Watkins Glen State Park with it's beautiful gorge trail is right outside of town. 

When A Painting Gets Stuck

Some years ago, after a long holiday break, I had trouble getting back into a painting I had begun earlier.  What was I thinking when I started this canvas? 

Who knows, not me.

The background on this painting was black with two-inch parchment stripes across it.  I had worked on it once or twice after that, and there was a design or pattern taking shape, but it seemed too amorphous.  What I like to do often is to bring order out of chaos while leaving in enough signs of the chaos to retain a sense of ambiguity or chance.  There is a delicate balance that I find if I'm lucky. 

The reason I bring "luck" into it is that you have to simply take the plunge and try something to see if it works.  If it doesn't, you can't simply "erase it" and start over.  Once you've made a major move on a painting, you are pretty much committed to making it work.  You're not going to be able to remove the last layer of paint without disturbing what was beneath it. 

Well, on this particular painting, I chose to use raw umber lines to outline the parchment shapes, thereby creating more definition and less chaos.  From there, I went on to feather those lines with a brush, and the painting did look much better at that point.  I could almost have signed it and moved on.

That might have been the wiser choice, but instead I kept working at further definition. That is, I went too far in the defining direction, which then left the amorphous background looking out of place or "wrong."  To sum it up, I destroyed the delicate balance I had going for me and now the painting was completely out of kilter.  There was no way to simply "tinker" with it to bring it into balance. 

I waited a day for the canvas to dry, and tackled it again.  This time, I had some success.

Here it is, finally finished: my "stuck" painting:

Ringed Migration, 40" x 40" (sold)

Abstract Artist Linda Jaekel

Linda Jaekel is an abstract artist living near me in Ithaca, New York.  Her work has a lot of texture, which she achieves by using various tools other than brushes to paint with.

Stratosphere, 24" x 18"

Linda grew up in the San Francisco and New York City areas and has been making art since she was a young child.  She won her first art contest at the age of five from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Linda says, "I explore the ways of creating a peaceful beauty out of chaos, but I leave a portion of chaos for the viewer to use to create their own story. "

Spring Lattice

Linda currently works with acrylic paints on canvas and paper.  You can find her paintings on her own website, or at Vangoart.com.

Using a Modified Pointillist Technique

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:

Abstract Art 631

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. 

Abstract Art Thirty-Nine

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:

Abstract Art Forty

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

Modern Art Twenty-Seven

How to Appreciate Abstract (non-representational) Art

In a non-representational painting, I am not attempting to capture the likeness of a landscape or figure. My subject is the painting itself.

What do you actually see when you look at the painting? Color, shape, line and texture are the physical elements that combine to make up the image. A selection of dark, heavy shapes may impress you as somber--light, airy images as mystical--balanced, temperate forms as peaceful. Shape, color and form have meaning in and of themselves. We react emotionally to these elements even if they create no recognizable object for us to hang onto. Thus, a painting of ragged, angular forms in deep reds will evoke an entirely different feeling from one in soft curves of yellow and white.

The handling of space--or the illusion of space--is another element in the artist's toolbox. Are you drawn into a world of three-dimensional space stretching beyond the framework of the painting, as you might be in a landscape? Or are you kept visually taut, as a skater on a pond, skimming across a two-dimensional surface? The impression of depth, perspective, airiness, solidity, and other spatial relations are created and controlled by the artist.

Looking UP

The overall composition or design of a painting is what guides the viewer's eye. Have you ever looked at a painting or photograph and felt it was off balance? One of the big differences between amateur snapshots and professional photographs is the quality of the composition. In an amateur photo, perhaps all the action is centered on the left, with nothing but empty space on the right. The lopsidedness gives you a sense of unease. (Of course an artist may use this unease deliberately as well.)

Composition is one of the fundamental tools an art student is taught. The goal is to have a balance of visual elements without making the weight so balanced that the art becomes boring. If everything on the left is exactly equal to the right, and the top to the bottom, you may have balance, but you lose interest.

Getting the composition right, or balancing the elements of color, line and shape while maintaining a dynamic tension is a major preoccupation of the painter. If you add a blue brushstroke to the bottom left-hand corner, for example, you may have to change something in the top right-hand corner because of it. You can't concentrate on one section at a time, ignoring the rest of the canvas, and expect to end up with a composition that works.

With Fresh Eyes

Energy is the life force that is present in all good art. This is not something that is easily defined, but it is the opposite state of static flatness. It is this energy that makes a painting speak to you, and makes an artist's work original and identifiable as the work of that artist. Energy is created out of the artist's materials and tools, but the end is more than the means in the same sense that a musical composition is so much more than a collection of notes.

The next time you look at an abstract painting, or any kind of "modern art," don't begin by searching for some identifiable object from your world. Instead, try to enter the world the artist created. Relax and let your eye leisurely wander over the painting's surface. Let your heart and mind react to its colors, shapes, and textures. Let yourself be drawn into the illusion of its spaces, the action of its lines, the mood of its atmosphere.

Step back and look at the painting from a distance. What is its impact as you approach it?

Move up close and explore the intricacies of brushstrokes, paint thicknesses and compositional details. See how the parts are woven together to form the whole.

Give the painting time. No artwork can be understood and appreciated in a ten second glance. Good art should grow on you, becoming more interesting and more enjoyable to look at as you live with it.

You may still see things in abstract paintings, finding birds and trees and animals hidden in the forms. This is as natural as turning clouds into recognizable shapes. But by opening your eyes to the possibilities of the world the artist created, you may see more than you ever expected to see in abstract art.

How to Select Art For Your Home

Selecting art for your home can be an exciting adventure and a source of enjoyment for years to come. Keys to success are figuring out what kind of art you like, how it will fit in with the rest of your interior design plans, and how to exhibit the art to the best effect in your home.

What kind of art do you like?

If you regularly visit galleries and museums, you probably already have a good sense of what kind of art appeals to you. If not, there are many opportunities to browse art within your community at local exhibitions and art fairs. Even small towns usually have a non-profit gallery space, and your local café or restaurant may exhibit the works of local artists. In larger cities, galleries often get together for monthly or periodic "gallery nights" where all the galleries hold open house receptions on the same evening. It's a great way to see a lot of art in a short time.

Today the internet provides the largest variety and depth of fine art available worldwide. You can visit museum websites and see master works from ages past, check out online galleries for group shows, and visit hundreds of individual artists' websites. One advantage of using the internet is that you can search for the specific kind of art you are interested in, whether it's photography, impressionism, bronze sculpture, or abstract painting. And when you find one art site, you'll usually find links to many, many more.

Should the art fit the room or the room fit the art?

As an artist, I'd certainly prefer that everyone buy the art they love and then find a place to put it. If you feel strongly about a particular work of art, this is certainly the way to go. But you may find that when you get the art home and place it on a wall or pedestal, it doesn't work with its surroundings. By not "working," I mean the art looks out of place in the room. Placing art in the wrong surroundings takes away from its beauty and impact.

What should you do if you bring a painting home and it clashes with its environment? First, hang the painting in various places in your home, trying it out on different walls. It may look great in a place you hadn't planned on hanging it. If you can't find a place where the art looks its best, you may need to make some changes in the room, such as moving furniture or taking down patterned wallpaper and repainting in a neutral color or a tint that matches a color in the painting. The changes will be worth making in order to enjoy the art you love.

Sometimes the right lighting is the key to showing art at its best. You may find that directing track lighting on the art is all it needs to exhibit its brilliance. If you place a work of art in direct sunlight, however, it may be affected by the ultraviolet light and fade over time. (Works on paper and other delicate art should be framed under UV protected glass or acrylic.)

How to pick art to fit the room.

If you prefer to do the room first and then find the art, size and color are the two major criteria for selecting art to fit its surroundings. For any particular space, art that is too large will overwhelm and art that is too small will be lost and look out of proportion.

As a rule, paintings should be hung so that the center of the painting is at eye level. Sculpture may sit on the floor, a table, or pedestal, depending on the design. Rules should be considered guidelines only, however, so feel free to experiment. One collector, for example, hung an acrylic painting on their bedroom ceiling so they could better view it while lying down.

When selecting a painting to match color, select one or two of the boldest colors in your room and look for art that has those colors in it. You're not looking for an exact match here. Picking up one or two of the same colors will send a message that the painting belongs in this environment.

Another possibility for dealing with color is to choose art with muted colors, black-and-white art, or art that is framed in a way that mutes its color impact in the room. A wide light-colored mat and neutral frame create a protected environment for the art within.

Style is another consideration when selecting art to fit a room. If your house is filled with antiques, for example, you'll want to use antique-style frames on the paintings you hang there. If you have contemporary furniture in large rooms with high ceilings, you'll want to hang large contemporary paintings.

There's no rule that says you can never mix styles, but be aware of the potential conflict.

How to create an art-friendly room

When you walk into a gallery or museum, what do they all have in common? White walls and lots of light. If a wall is wall-papered or painted a color other than white, it limits the choices for hanging art that will look good on it. If a room is dark, the art will not show to its best advantage.

If you want to make art the center of attraction, play down the other elements of the room like window coverings, carpeting, wall coverings, and even furniture. A room crowded with other colors, textures and objects will take the spotlight away from the art.

You may want to select one room in your house to focus on art. Paint the walls white or off-white. Lay hardwood floors or a neutral carpet. Install window coverings with clean simple lines and neutral colors (or no window coverings at all). Put up ceiling track lights that can be adjusted to focus on the art, or use individual lighting for each piece. For the furniture, follow the principle that less is more. Keep it spare. Let the art star. Then relax and enjoy it.

Selecting and displaying art is an art in itself. Experiment to learn what pleases you and what doesn't. You'll be well-rewarded for the time you invest by finding more satisfaction both in the art and in your home.