Abstract Painting - Progress in the Studio

This photo shows the early stage of a painting on wood panel I am currently working on in my studio.

In abstract painting, the process is like a leap of faith in that I don't have a specific vision of what the completed painting should look like in the end. This is what makes abstract art both challenging and intriguing. Early on, I do have an idea of what the next few stages will be in the painting process. That allows the current stage to be completed with confidence. This is important because if the painting is young and the next stage is unknown, the painting becomes lost and may remain in limbo forever.

The painting here is young but the next few stages are planned. First, large shapes of color were applied, wiped, and scraped to establish the underpainting. Second and third layers of cool (as opposed to warm) color have been applied again, in thin glazes. The glazing effect creates luminous colors and a sense of distance between the paint and the panel. Still, I am not too concerned with the shapes and colors at this point, as I plan to cover up most of the surface with subsequent layers and "fatter" paint using scraping and pulled-paint techniques. It has been planned that the luminous glazes of cool color should provide various backgrounds and areas of interest behind the subsequent thicker layers, where the thicker layers break up or do not cover the surface completely.

On the table you can see I am using a very limited palette at this stage -- just five cold colors, while also utilizing the white ground of the panel. Each color is translucent and perfect for glazing. Once this stage is complete, however, I will expand the palette and use several more colors, adding warmth, contrast, and more texture. The mission is to create a work of art that can stand alone in the end, holding the attention of the viewer by a striking presence and by ambiguities and prompting questions.

These are all techniques also used for painting representational figures (realism) and an example of how, to the artist, abstract painting is the same process.

Thanks again for following the works in progress, and the paintings, sculpture, drawing, doodles, and other art by Los Angeles artist Lucas Aardvark.

Glazing an Oil Painting

A favorite oil painting technique that I use is known as glazing. It has been a technique used since oil painting was first invented, yet it seems many contemporary artists have abandoned it. The glazing effect can be likened to placing thin pieces of colored glass on top of each other. So in painting terms, it is the process of stacking up thin layers of translucent color.

The glazing technique has several advantages, one my favorites being that it creates a glass-like plane while creating the illusion that the surface is further away. This works well, for example, when I want the color brown to have a luster rather than the simple flat brown created by mixing opaque colors from the tube. While glazing can be accomplished with any pigment, I prefer some more than others -- colors that are inherently translucent as opposed to those which are opaque. For example, translucent colors include burnt sienna, veridian, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, and payne's gray; opaque colors include titanium white, cadmium red, and yellow ochre.

Once the pigment is selected, it is important to then dilute it with a medium. Typically, I use one of two different methods: 1) my "trade-secret" mix of galkyd, linseed oil, and [secret]; or 2) straight liquin. Once the correct viscosity is mixed, the pigment can be applied to the canvas in various ways using different types of brushes, such as those for scumbling, wiping, or detail. And, once the layer dries, it may be ready for another "pane of glass"!

Examples of glazing can be seen in my pictures below where paint is applied over text -- this allows the text to be readable underneath different colors. However, more complex examples can be seen in the work of Jan Vermeer here.