By Popular Demand:
In the comments of a recent post I had a request for showing how one of my abstract paintings develops, from conception through completion. It is a bit difficult for me to remember to stop and take photos along the way, but here is my best effort. I’m not certain that this painting is at its final state, but I’m stopping for now.
I started with a couple of rough ideas:
- This would be another ‘Down on the Farm’ painting – an aerial landscape
- I wanted to emphasize the color red
- I wanted to utilize 3 simple shapes, inspired by an exercise in the Steven Aimone book Expressive Drawing
Here is my inspiration… an aerial view of my parents’ farm.
My rough drawing in watercolor crayon. A rectangle, a triangle and a roughly circular shape
Maybe you can see by comparing the drawing and the inspiration that I have chosen shapes that roughly represent shapes in my inspiration… they are just placed a bit differently and simplified.
My first wash, feathered over the lines with a dry hake brush
I used a combination of yellows, oranges and reds for this first wash, trying for lots of variation.
Adding secondary colors, ultramarine blue and cobalt violet light
more color layers – I love the green that went in here!
I decided to intensify the violet and re-orient the painting
I added a spray of bright green acrylic, laying cording down first to create a mask for line work
I also glazed the upper left corner to create a new shape by combining it with the triangle. I’m starting to add bits of line work… along the edges of the shapes.
Now I added black acrylic line work, and swooped through it with a credit card. More mark making to integrate it into the whole picture plane
A final added red glaze and some more pencil and crayon mark making
“Property Line” ©Ruth Armitage, Watercolor & Acrylic on Paper 22″x30″ Sold
I also added one more glaze to the upper left corner. I think this is finished. What are your thoughts? I’d love your comments.
Love the process, Ruth, as you’ve clearly laid it out. Reminds me that it’s important to have a rough plan of one’s shapes before you start the painting! And I like the spontaneous black line work that really puts the icing on the cake. Beautiful piece, wonderful series. Can’t wait to see more in this series. You’ve got a winner!
Thanks for sharing the process on this painting. The finished piece has a beautiful variety of marks and shapes and the colors are amazing. You’ve expressed your feelings connection to the land that inspired this piece, too. Brava!
Thanks for sharing, I enjoy your blog and you art. I am starting to experiment with abstraction, and it’s very helpful to see others’ process.
That’s crazy! As a non-artist, it is very cool to me to see how the paining develops. Love the line work.
Thanks Lucy,
I just saw another artist do a step by step in a slide show with fade transitions that was really cool. I may try to do that next time! It looked like the painting was just morphing into being!
Beautiful and compelling. Thank you for sharing.
I too enjoyed seeing the process you go through. What a wonderful talent you have Ruth.
Thanks Lois & Debbie 🙂
Lovely, Ruth and great job sharing the process! This is a luscious series and kudos on being a good blogger. You amaze me with how much you get done in a week! Keep ’em coming!