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Abstract Art

10/26/2014

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Let's take some time out to put together what we've been learning about color.  We can do this by forgetting about content or representation and just think of color and values to create an abstract work of art.

There are many ways of working abstractly.  Here is a website of an abstract expressionist artist.  http://www.artistsnetwork.com/category/subject/abstract

I like to create abstracts in two different ways:  either by abstracting what I see in nature or by creating a color scheme and a mindset or emotion.

First the abstraction of nature:  In the piece above I painted a scene in Big Sur looking up the river.  I used watercolor on a yupo support.  The original painting is actually more representational and impressionistic.  For the above I photographed the painting, cropped small areas that I liked and then rotated the cropped area.  At this point I would like to do something similar in a very large scale.  Notice that I used both warm and cool colors to create a contrast as well as value.  What I liked about this particular section was the rhythm that was created across the surface.

Below is the original painting:  I could also do this with a photograph.
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Another way of abstracting I like is to set myself a color grouping, then add., a challenge such as to work in an organic manner or in an architectural one. 
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In this painting I set the colors as a type of monochromatic - one color plus neutrals.  Then, as I was painting, I thought about architectural shapes and worked the painting as a puzzle, adding value and color to balance.  You could turn the paper from time to time to further abstract the subject.  I worked in the same manner on the painting below using a complementary color scheme and thinking about organic images.  Neither of these two used a photo as a reference but were built as I painted.  So they were spontaneous and unplanned.
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Resources

10/17/2014

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I promised some websites to help you find information about what we talked about in class as well as extra help.  I'll be adding to this post as class goes along.

The following is a great site which you can download to your computer.
The crafty site has lots of information so have fun exploring!

Beginning watercolor:   http://www.craftsy.com/reference/world-of-watercolor?ext=NFB_Painting_Acquisition_Core_Free_Downloadable_LALxINT__wrldofWCNS#_=_
This site has information about composition:
http://artcomposition.blogspot.com/2009/07/degas.html

It's a blog so be sure you check out the other articles on the side.  There is
a lot of information about composition there, also.

This site is an advertisement for a book.  But there is a lot of information about Degas and his use of composition:
http://www.artistsnetwork.com/medium/pastel/lesson-composition-help-paint-like-degas?lid=CHarnnl101614&et_mid=697450&rid=236321145
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Warm, Cool, and Palettes

10/17/2014

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Some information about watercolor palettes:

Butcher Trays:  I like to use a butcher tray when I'm painting some of my more spontaneous work.  The paint is always fresh.  Mixing is easy.  Colors flow together to create new colors.  Its easy to make big puddles of color.  And finally, the color used in the painting flows to the sides of the tray and creates lovely neutrals based on the color used in the painting.

Stephen Quiller Color Wheel Palette: This is my favorite everyday use palette.  It has wells for colors arranged in a color wheel with 12 wedges.   It helps me remember what I know about color theory and I have an immediate idea of what every color is on the wheel.   This palette also helps me mix grays and has some little wells for off colors.

There are also several other square type palettes.  From workshops with other artists I've found some arrange the color according to value with the darks on one side and the lighter color on the other.    Another artist I know arranges the palette according to warm and cool color.  

Any of these work well according to the way in which you want to work.  While I prefer the top two above, I can certainly see lots of merit in other arrangements.  The final word is to experiment and find what works for you.






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Greens! and more Greens!

10/12/2014

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Hydrangeas and foliage
Let's talk about greens this week.   
As you can see in the photograph above a whole picture can be captured using only greens.  
So how many tubes of watercolor exactly will you need to capture all these greens?   Hmmm.  There's sap green, yellow green, permanent light green, emerald green, viridian, hunter green, blue green, winsor/phalo green......

Or maybe there is a better way?  And, of course, there is.  For those of you who are new to watercolor this will be a good way to learn to mix colors.  Because, unlike acrylics and oils, the artist can pretty much mix all the different hues of a color with very little different pigments. 

We're all going to try to capture the essence of this photograph this week. 
For beginning watercolorists, we'll be doing exercises to help learn to mix pigment.
For more advanced artists, use this as a challenge to put into practice the concepts of warm and cool greens to create your painting.  Don't be afraid to move a little more afield by using a turquoise which is technically a greenish color.  or a very cool yellow which is also almost a green.

Don't forget: you don't have to include everything you see here and you, as the artist, are very free to move things around or crop as you see fit.





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    Kathy Glenn
    Art Center

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