So, this is the final piece. I am generally pleased with how it turned out, although I still feel like I have more work to do. I really like the complementary colors I used, especially with the paint skins. Plus, the textured strokes were really fun to do. The perpendicular lines give the painting a sense of control, contrasting with the varying hues within each mark. I like to think of it as "controlled chaos." My only problem with the final piece is that there are still spots where the raw canvas peeks through. It isn't necessarily that I don't like this stylistic choice; rather, I would prefer to utilize more of the canvas space for actual paint. I will make it a goal of mine to add to the painting in the future, but I just cannot foresee myself working on it more in the next few days. I think I will have to contemplate it some more and schedule a long duration of time for me to work on it. I'm just not sure if the painting really elicits any particular emotions from the viewer, which may end up being important to its content, but I am not satisfied. I hope that deciding on a title will allow for me to better direct my thought process so that I can specify what kind of message I am trying to convey.
UPDATE: I have spent the past few lunch periods using watercolor and filling in the areas of raw canvas. I chose to mostly use yellow because I liked the way it enhanced the vibrancy of the reds / pinks while contrasting with the blues / purples. It's also optically challenging because it would seem as though the whole background is yellow, but upon closer inspection the viewer would be able to observe that the yellow was actually a later addition. I like the idea of the viewer being able to visualize at least part of my process while looking at my piece so that they may establish a better emotional connection with it. I also decided on a title: Perpendicular Cacophony. I chose this title because it is a much more interesting take on the theme of 'controlled chaos' that I was going for; 'controlled chaos' just seems like a paradoxical cliche. Perpendicular Cacophony, in contrast, is obviously relevant to the style in which I created my piece while also relating to its content. Incidentally, I plan on painting the sides before preparing it for the YAM exhibit. I haven't exactly figured out what kind of style would best coincide with the overall mood. Thoughts to consider... I was reflecting on my AbEx practice paintings, and I realized that, while all of the paintings I have done vary widely in style and techniques, there was one common theme: the colors. I seem to gravitate towards deeply saturated reds, blues, and yellows. I feel like there is some hidden message there about my personality or subconscious mental health, but I don't know what. The simple answer, though, is that I just really like the way the colors contrast with one another while also maintaining individual significance; the sum of the parts is equivalent to the details of the parts.
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I came in today and realized that the gel medium I had used was not, in fact, the clear - drying kind. Frustrated, I found the same can I had mixed the greens and yellows for my paints skins in and added some more yellow. Then, I filled in each part of the paint skin where I saw the shot gel. I really liked the contrast of the yellow with the purples and pinks, so I began to add them and slightly transparent shades of yellow in the negative spaces. It still done feel done to me, however. I talked to Mrs. Mosley for a hot second, and we decided that I should: 1. fix the large - ish blob of purple on the left - hand edge and 2. add some more of the neon pinkish color that I added in a few sporadic vertical strokes. I think that the use of neon colors and contrastingly dark hues emphasizes spatial relationship and establishes a foreground and background. I would really like to explore how this concept could be applied to abstraction. I will try to get into the studio before Wednesday, which is (unbelievably) our critique day!
I apologize for the low - quality picture! It is still obvious, though, that i added the paint skins. I’m not sure how I feel about the piece in its entirety yet, but I do like the contrast of the complementary colors. The paint skins kind of took a while to peel off of the plastic, which was frustrating because I really wanted to get working. I attached the skins using this foam - like gel medium, although I’m not 100% sure that it will dry clearly.
I don’t know exactly where I am going to go from here. I mean, I definitely still have work to do; the piece just doesn’t feel done. I think I am going to ponder it a bit and figure out how I can fill in the negative space without ruining the integrity of my technique. Today, I spent a lot of my time peeling the paint skins off of the plastic and figuring out exactly where I wanted to put them. The gel medium I used to secure them in place was light and airy, almost like cool whip or shaving cream. I am assuming that it will dry clear, I have no clue. I’m not sure what the next step is. I think I would like to add a few more colors in order to make the composition truly unique and engaging.
I made significant progress with my painting today. I began by layering blues and purples in alternating horizontal and vertical brush strokes. I altered the viscosity by adding gloss and gel mediums. I really want for this process to be continually expansive, so I have been mixing my paints with colors I have previously used. I feel like this technique will create a sense of subconscious cohesiveness, in addition to the other characteristics of my final piece. I will also be making paint skins in hues of green and yellow for layering and contrast.
I officially started painting my final AbEx painting today. My smaller practice paintings varied significantly in style, so I wasn’t exactly sure how I wanted to start. I got the idea to listen to the same song over and over while I paint so that I could “paint” the song, but I didn’t have any headphones today. I took that as an omen and decided to instead start with a thin, splotchy layer of the red house paint. I also mixed in some of the gloss medium with it. I want to continue using vertical and horizontal strokes in my subsequent layers, but I will explore different textures. I hoping to achieve a sense of optical illusion in my final piece, something that is aesthetically pleasing and full of depth, although I’m not yet exactly sure how I will go about achieving this goal.
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