Category: Abstract Oil Paintings

Wonderful things happen when children paint. Put paper and brush before them and they paint with apparent and complete happiness. It is for them just another means of expression. It is a medium that blends and naturally coordinates mental, physical and imaginitive imagery. It is a wonderful hand/eye experience for them.
When our children were very young I made a low table with a raised spool at one end. On the spool my wife and I placed a large roll of butcher paper. It came down through a metal guide and then could be pulled unto the table. When they would fill up one sheet, it was easy to tear off and then just unroll more paper for them. They would often use chalk or watercolor and so, the paper would often get quite wet – ha. We would put them out in the sun to dry. It was always so fun to see them express themselves with such bright colors, such bold dashes of line.
When children paint, we feel a certain freedom come over us, a certain exhilaration ourselves. There is no judgement. Every line and dash of color is its own expression. I always found it fascinating how one child would choose certain colors and another, very different hues to express themselves.
I feel thankful that even at my advanced age, i still fill a distinct exhilaration when I paint or draw myself. It is my favorite activity. I feel most free, most myself when I am painting or drawing in the studio. I must express gratitude toward my parents to provide the means when I was very young – it started me on the path.

There is no particular demand as an artist in switching styles.  Some artists feel that switching styles is a compromise position, whereas those artists who are selling their work feel they will lose clientele by switching styles.  Locking in a style for consumerism is probably good for sales but not especially good for authentic artistic expression – long term.

We can cite numerous examples on both sides of the fence, those who have stuck to one particular style and those who vary their expression without concern for keeping a consistent style.  Personally I don’t like being locked in to a particular style or genre of painting.  I might paint a series of drag paintings which are completely abstract and these might take me through a period of six months.  Then I might decide to paint a fairly realistic still life.  I find that what I learn in one will often translate into a new way of doing the other.  The discoveries I make with one style will positively affect another style or way of painting.  I think this is a clear advantage.  Locking myself to one set style seems highly restrictive.

I appreciate the fact that someone as famous as Gerhardt Richter has been willing to change his style.  He will go through distinct periods where new work is considerably different than a previous one.  I find this approach refreshing.

Creating a drag painting is a distinct departure from ‘thematic’ painting.  Pre-establishing a theme to a painting is a naturally restrictive process.  It is planned out with sketches and follows the artist’s guidelines.  A drag painting however relies heavily on chance effects.  A certain effect or image can be imagined and even anticipated but with a drag painting the artist’s hand is ‘hidden’ and the result can never quite be determined.  I will point out below a few drag painting methods.

    A drag painting relies on a hard, flat, primed surface.  A squeege presses the paint into the surface.  Large and smaller squeeges are used and so, a large surface is always more effective.  One of the challenges to this type of abstract painting is to keep the actual colors sharp and vibrant.  In the drag effect they can sometimes become muddled when mixed together.

For myself I will often complete the initial drag painting in a day or two at most.   Then after drying I might take another week or two to ‘play’ with certain effects by brush.  This is done to highlight an area that needs more punch and even to tone down an area.  I will also use strips of colored tissue paper which adds a layer of accent to the painting before the final coat of varnish is applied.  THese several drag painting methods can yield incredibly exciting results if you are willing to give up on elements of control and allow chance to be part of the creative process.

I don’t mean to sound like a prima donna with regard to the Making of Art, because I say that art just does not respond automatically. It is not mechanical as in drive in this many nails today, screw here and then over there. There is distinct gestation in the general process… periods where forms and ideas are considered and weighed. What is their particular significance? Do they relate at all to other influences that have recently been considered ? I repeat though, I am no prima donna. This should be understood as a very natural process in making art. We have moved beyond commercializing. Let the material keep stacking up, row upon row. Keep categorizing the paintings. Keep track, or try to. Follow some pattern. But in all that be sensitive to the need to isolate and experience a certain ‘coming together’ of influences. Making art…how to be true, how to be (that ambiguous word), authentic ? There it is. I have said it plainly enough. You can’t just barge in and steal the key. There has to be consideration, some reflection, understanding of the process required, a golden edge that in the mind’s eye is retained…all of this gets broiled, as they say, in the cauldrons of each and every individual soul. The heat thoroughly brings them irrevocably together. Forms merge whether they want to or not. They combine and that combination identifies a new reality, a new moment. This is the stuff of art.
It is the stuff of life. The artist does the consideration, does the reflection and the broiling together of the many components. It all gets processed but is rarely completely understood. HOw could there be complete understanding. The subjects and forms are too complex. Our responses are just suggestions that add to the many ripples that now arc across the universe. We are trying to just comprehend our small part. We hope that we tie on to something more universal, more dynamic, more ‘authentic’ to the experience. This kind of thing requires meditation but what I like to call, just typical gestation – the process of sitting on a concept or idea and letting it develop as it needs to.