Anywhere you want to go....

john

Well-known member
Messages
831
After the last geometric method driven abstract I wanted to loosen up a little. It wasn't supposed to be representational but still ended up having a landscape look. I think. Is it a landscape? I was trying to make something interesting to look at.

It's anywhere you want to go...

Thanks for looking.

7x8 inches acrylic on cheapo Canson watercolor paper

1642303828130.png
 
Last edited:
I see a pure abstract. Miro meets Kandinsky really. Miro gestures and some Kandinsky type elements. You did a good job of not being literal or representational. I see no landscape or anything else here. Good compositional balance and great primary happy colors. ♥️
 
I love it!

I don't understand abstracts, but when I have a positive reaction like this, I feel compelled to comment. :) For me it's slightly representational; like snoball, I perceive a room. A room where many fabulous ideas are being hatched.

It's just amazing to me - beautiful work, I love it!! ❤️
 
Thanks guys. Kandinsky does hit a nerve with me. Wasn't trying to be like him but I guess it just came out. I'll take that comparison anyday, thank you. Miro too. I remember doing a sketch when I was teenager and only later I realized how much it looked like a Miro.

I can't believe I'm doing abstracts. Or maybe I can. I was getting bored of everything else. There are no boundaries with abstract.

I shouldn't be surprised. I've always found the contemp/abstract section of the forums the most interesting. Now the key is to make something that someone will put on their wall. Or I would put on my wall. That's easy with landscapes, not so much with expressionist paintings I think.

Anyhow, thanks again all. The blank silver section on the building was bothering me and was too shiny ( it's metallic paint) so added some gold "windows" to it. And I varnished it which made the painting pop a little more.

1642364651111.png
 
If you want to get away from any suggestion of figuration... especially landscape... perhaps think about employing a color scheme that doesn't suggest landscape: red, fuchsia, a green that looks artificial as opposed to natural, etc...
 
If you want to get away from any suggestion of figuration... especially landscape... perhaps think about employing a color scheme that doesn't suggest landscape: red, fuchsia, a green that looks artificial as opposed to natural, etc...

Good idea but I'm not sure that I do want to get away from it as much as just proving to myself that I can.
 
Perhaps you might want to give a look at the abstract paintings of Diebenkorn. These works are clearly inspired by the landscape... and yet marvelous abstractions as well.

View attachment 17396


Oh yeah, I love Diebenkorn. His abstract landscapes are something I would hang on the wall. If I could afford them.

But of his landscapes I might like this one best. Barely abstracted.

1642370892439.png
 
To me, that is a home run.
The result is stunning.
From the first abstract that you had created to this one. Light years. Congrats!
 
To me, that is a home run.
The result is stunning.
From the first abstract that you had created to this one. Light years. Congrats!
Thank you so much. Yeah the two are quite different. The first was my German disciplined engineering dad's side and the 2nd was the eccentric artistic Englishman from my mother's. Maybe I'm at war with myself. Maybe one needs the other.

But neither are going on a living room wall. Basement wall maybe. Love to see it at MOMA. I'll make a big one. :)
 
Love me some Diebenkorn too. I like every one of his series: figures, interiors, landscapes, and abstracts. I probably love his landscapes most.
 
What a great painting John! It's abstract but I immediately saw a house with a chimney and a blue above-ground pool in the yard. All the little circles above it are the neighborhood kids flocking in. To me the colors are upbeat and there is motion and energy. I hope there are more in the works.
 
Back
Top