I’m going to start posting the occasional abstract painting on the blog. Currently my artistic focus is on the figurative photography and monoprinting I’ve been regularly posting. In addition, I’ve been working periodically on some abstract works using Sumi ink, watercolor, acrylic, stamps and pastel. I must admit that I find this work challenging and most of what I end up with doesn’t work for me. Some of this is poor technique and some of it is that it is just darn hard to compose an abstract piece that hangs together. And then there’s the age old question of when to stop. I tend to end up with no paper white left, which almost always means I did way too much.
The good news is that some of the pieces that “don’t work” end up being integrated into the figurative photography where the demands on the painting are perhaps less as it becomes an element that simply has to work with something else.
I think ultimately if I had my druthers, I would concentrate on this type of work but, so far, my success rate with it is not there. So, more hard work trying to get a little more consistent. The usual remedy for an artist when they are struggling.
By the way, just out of curiosity I looked up where the word “druthers” comes from – looks like it is a contraction of the phrase “would rather”. Well, I would rather do this type of art!
Bob Cornelis' Art Blog 
It’s a nice piece you got here, bob! I like the textures and the subtlety of colors and the diagonal composition… It’s varied (? my ? is for the ortography….), rich in color and texture, rich in what I call “graphic signs”… It corresponds amply to that definition of a painting that the good old Delacroix gave us: a good painting is a “feast for the eye”…. This is such a thing…
I think abstract painting could be interesting, as an experiment . Rather frustrating (I don’t know exactly why) when you do just that, but a interesting experiment for any artist…
Thanks, Danu! You may be right about doing just abstract art – I haven’t reached that point yet so don’t know the long term effects of it. I know some painters who became famous for abstract work ultimately returned to more representational pieces (like George Braques, often credited along with Picasso for starting the cubist movement).
I agree completely, this one is a feast for the eyes. I hear your frustration and can totally relate to the process of trying to achieve a certain something that just doesn’t happen. But, so far I think your work hits the mark of a beautiful thing to behold that does “hang together’. I got to thinking about the idea of abstraction and hanging together and was musing on the feeling that life is much like that. Maybe art is a reflection, a celebration of the moment in time when we feel the rhythmic-harmonic perfection of life as it all hangs together. I truly treasure your work and the deep thoughts about the process.
Well, I do not know if this piece is beautiful or not (:D), but I love it! It instantly provokes in me, feelings of positive excitement and energy ! I see movement and power and passion, but also more gentle tones in the lower part. What fun !
Interesting writing on your creative process. You ask some good questions, as usual. You say the abstract style doesn’t work for you and that question of “when to stop”. For me anyways, there is an inner sense of what I like and don’t like, I am sure you and every artist has a similar voice? I listen to that sense and just change what I don’t like. I change it until I like most every element in the piece and that is when I stop. The work is interesting, I also like the works you mentioned, the figurative monoprints, those are also very nice.