Sept. Abstract Challenge (1)

[PaintBoss]

Well i will not need to go downstairs for a good long while now. I’ve never been much of a daredevil so I guess that was it for the year.
Thank you Hermes. I am glad you like it. I was just going with it. I did not know Morris Louis’s work. Thank you for the suggestion, and I can definitely see your point.

 

[JennieJo]

Welcome to the September abstract challenge!
This is to encourage artists of all levels to leap off from the ideas presented, and explore where that takes them in abstract form.
Any medium. Any size.
This is an open ended challenge for those who take a lot longer to finish pieces. This thread will remain open for any future updates so participants can add to the thread regarding their process/ work.
There are a variety of themes listed as jumping off points. It is wide open. And since some work faster, or if you are interested in more than one theme, you are welcome to do more than one theme if you like. Let us see your progress! Let us know your medium(s).
Themes are your choice from the list.
Let’s be supportive of one another.
Let us see what you’ve got!! Have fun!
THEMES:
Night- for ex. the mystery, the beauty of, etc
Change
Dreams
Claustrophobia
Mystery
Intensity
Life/Growth
Urban
Automation
Joy
OR
Magenta or pthalo green.
(Separate or combined)
OR
Angles and curves
OR
Dramatic
Dynamic
Tranquility
OR
For the love of paint
For the love of texture
For the love of colour
For the love of lines and shapes

Bit late starting. Great start, many thanks. I started 3 Ae on paper works tonight. Surely, I must be able to finish at least 1. My starting points. ... Life/Growth ... and For the love of paint, For the love of texture, For the love of colour

 

[PaintBoss]

That’s great Jennie. No rush. Look forward to seeing what you come up with. Have fun!

 

[JennieJo]

Welcome to the September abstract challenge!
This is to encourage artists of all levels to leap off from the ideas presented, and explore where that takes them in abstract form.
Any medium. Any size.
This is an open ended challenge for those who take a lot longer to finish pieces. This thread will remain open for any future updates so participants can add to the thread regarding their process/ work.
There are a variety of themes listed as jumping off points. It is wide open. And since some work faster, or if you are interested in more than one theme, you are welcome to do more than one theme if you like. Let us see your progress! Let us know your medium(s).
Themes are your choice from the list.
Let’s be supportive of one another.
Let us see what you’ve got!! Have fun!
THEMES:
Night- for ex. the mystery, the beauty of, etc
Change
Dreams
Claustrophobia
Mystery
Intensity
Life/Growth
Urban
Automation
Joy
OR
Magenta or pthalo green.
(Separate or combined)
OR
Angles and curves
OR
Dramatic
Dynamic
Tranquility
OR
For the love of paint
For the love of texture
For the love of colour
For the love of lines and shapes

3 pieces. First, under the heading of Free Play Time fits into "for the love of colour" heading. The other two fit into a few but I've chosen "Life/growth. Met up with old friends I'd not been able to sit down with for a while yesterday.

 

[JennieJo]

… wow .. I wish. .. it’s the alla prima .. been painting in one session so long I can’t do layers or selective spots as I work on the whole. Hopefully the piece still has hold of me tomorrow. I always get shocked as they seem better or worse but never so much in the same glow as when I finish the piece.

So true.

 

[JennieJo]

I love this Paul Klee quote: "A line is a dot that went for a walk. A drawing is simply a line going for a walk. Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see."

One of my forgotten favourites. Thanks for reminding me.

 

[JennieJo]

This is a great start. Since it's the 1st, I came to check out the thread, and I love how you made it open-ended, as Kay said. There's lots of great prompts to jump off from It gives endless trajectories, which is pretty much "anything goes." Abstract is all about freedom, so thank you!

For me, it's all about thinking and contemplating first. I imagine what it looks like in my mind, kind of like a lucid, drunken dream. Hard to explain. Then, I draw first. I may make a few drawings until it all comes into focus. Perhaps once I get a drawing I'm into for this, I'll share that as part of the process. Sharing my process makes me feel a bit vulnerable, but I'll do it! Ha ha. I seem to be attracted to "lines" from the list, which might be different for me.

Vulnerability is so challenging. That's why I use #BABBA Being A Brave Bold Artist when I post something that might be 'dodgy'. This one was created just after I'd signed off on an exhibition where "I knew people".I called it Vulnerability. Being anonymous was not an option.

 

[PaintBoss]

Jennie, you have dazzled me with your love of colour! Oh, I love those colours and it has so much vitality. Vivacious! Like the patterns in the piece too. And your Growth pieces are really cool with the writing and the arrows. Great job. When the post opened I let out a big “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh that went up and down a few octaves!
Really like your Vulnerability too. You’ve got a lovely range of ways to express yourself. Love the BABBA attitude.
Glad you got to see your old friends.

 

[Donna T]

Those are intriguing paintings, Jennie; each one has something interesting to offer. The color in the first one ... wow! I like how you layered images in the others (as you always do so well) and the layers fit with the theme of life and growth. Friendships evolve over time and they have layers too.

Well, I did another one after several failed starts. I was thinking of Life/Growth too and also Magenta and the love of color. I use magenta a lot and playing around with its transparent qualities is a lot of fun. I put some magenta collage pieces in and a tiny bit of a green accent. A limited palette was helpful; just magenta, yellow, black and white. There are a few scribbles with the Neo Color crayons. I was thinking that the vertical orientation kind of went with the growth idea, as in new things grow up from the old. Also, this was done over an older painting so there's new life for the piece of paper and I don't have to feel bad every time I see the old one any more. 7x9 acrylic on watercolor paper, collage, Neo Colors

 

[Hermes2020]

Jennie and Donna, I woke up a few minutes ago and residual sleep was blown out of my eyes by your powerful paintings. Seeing those real works of art gave me pause! I will just have to accept the fact that my contribution is most probably going to be weak in comparison, but I shall battle on and keep telling myself that I am experimenting and learning.

 

[PaintBoss]

Donna, great work! You understood the assignment. I like how you chose the magenta instead of green for life/ growth. It makes a great deal of sense to me. Seeing it where I think we would usually automatically think green is a nice surprise. Like all the little details.
Hermes, it has been great fun seeing everyone’s contributions. I’m sure we will really enjoy yours too. It’s great being inspired and challenged after seeing what everyone’s doing. I hope everyone sees how we can push ourselves a little more and do something different.

 

[Hermes2020]

In this challenge I am sticking to my usual strategy of devising a robust backbone for my colours and textures. The Angles and Curves theme appealed to me, so I've made a cobweb-like network of lines and then constructed curves in the spaces bounded by the lines. At the focus they are spaced closer together. As for the colours, I think I am going with magenta and phthalo green. I can foresee some challenges with that combination, since they are complements and could look quite garish when used together. I want to see whether I can exploit the contrast, but with some subtlety and interesting textures.

I think I will do the obvious and use magenta in the focal areas near the centre and phthalo green as the "background" to give an explosive effect.

 

[PaintBoss]

That sounds so promising Hermes, can’t wait to see it. Looking good so far. Those two colours do not have to be used together in a challenge, but I like that you’re going to try. I think they could work out great especially knowing seeing some of your other work. I think it could be quite striking too.

 

[Hermes2020]

That sounds so promising Hermes, can’t wait to see it. Looking good so far. Those two colours do not have to be used together in a challenge, but I like that you’re going to try. I think they could work out great especially knowing seeing some of your other work. I think it could be quite striking too.

Thank you for your encouragement, as always!

 

[Artyczar]

Jennie - I really love the first piece you did. It's very successful, and the other two, as Donna said, are very intriguing. Well done. I use patterns and pattern shapes myself, and they make for great compositions and meaning (for me, anyway).
Donna - I think your piece turned out excellent. You really have a knack for the abstract and the aesthetics of technique. It's just beautiful!
Hermes - We have a similar process. I'm truly looking forward to how yours will progress and what it will look like in the end. No doubt, it will be gorgeous.

 

[Donna T]

Hermes, I absolutely love the design of your piece and I look forward to seeing it in color! Your magenta/phthalo green combination might just produce some surprises. Are the big shapes squeezing the little ones into the center or are the big ones only there to support the little ones or do they exist in harmony? I’m already making up stories. Thanks so much for looking at my contribution/experiment. I think I might be finding a style that feels like me.

Christine and Ayin, thank you so much! I will gladly accept all encouragement because I’m really hoping to be able to keep going with abstracts. My plan is to figure out what works and doesn’t work for me and then do bigger pieces. I would feel awful if I wasted a ton of paint on a large canvas.

 

[KreativeK]

It’s glorious Wayne!

 

[KreativeK]

A favorite tool is the Zoomfinder sold by The Artist’s Magazine that will let you seek out squares or rectangles. Place it over any existing piece for a new abstract in the making.

 

[john]

You all are doing some great stuff. It's cool seeing the variety. I've had an idea for a while for a kind of urban abstract of an artist's studio/gallery that I have been to and I suspect that it may come out like Arty is doing. Not a full abstract. I was actually dreaming about it last night, I'm constructing it in my mind, which a dangerous place. I intend to use watercolor and gwash and some masking using frisket film. Hopefully by using the film and cutting out the shapes with a scalpel I'll get some nice clean borders. An experiment.

The funny thing is that I'm more excited about this than doing a painting for a juried show at the arts council I'm a member of. But I have a month for that. None of this is helping me assemble a cohesive group of ten or so paintings to present to a gallery owner for her consideration I'm all over the place. Having fun though.

 

[PaintBoss]

It’s glorious Wayne!

You all are doing some great stuff. It's cool seeing the variety. I've had an idea for a while for a kind of urban abstract of an artist's studio/gallery that I have been to and I suspect that it may come out like Arty is doing. Not a full abstract. I was actually dreaming about it last night, I'm constructing it in my mind, which a dangerous place. I intend to use watercolor and gwash and some masking using frisket film. Hopefully by using the film and cutting out the shapes with a scalpel I'll get some nice clean borders. An experiment.

The funny thing is that I'm more excited about this than doing a painting for a juried show at the arts council I'm a member of. But I have a month for that. None of this is helping me assemble a cohesive group of ten or so paintings to present to a gallery owner for her consideration I'm all over the place. Having fun though.

Oh I love hearing this John!
Yeah!
I have excited, happy, curious and bold artists here! Does my heart good.
I love my imagination and dreaming of work or going to bed thinking about it as the mind frees up. It’s our secret weapon, John!