Assignment #4: Abstraction

The making of a successful abstract painting is not as much creating or making a painting as it is finding it.  A successful abstract painting is said to be resolved.  The process of resolving a painting can be unexpectedly quick, or excruciatingly slow.  It demands brutal self honesty and patience, and it cannot be crammed.  An abstract painting has a mind of its own that must be coaxed, not forced.  For a painting to be resolved, EVERY element of it must mesh and balance well with EVERY OTHER element.  It must simply work.

Decide on the elements of painting that you are interested in—Color? Line? Shape? Ab-ex spontaneous marks? Minimalist hard edged marks?  Something else? 

You are to make two (2) abstract paintings: an Ab/Ex inspired one and a Hard Edged one.  Build formal compositions that are not recognizable as any specific subjects, but that utilize the elements of painting in which you are interested. Simply make paintings that are resolved AND that you like the way they look.

Ab/Ex painting: you are to embrace the process and aesthetic of the Ab-Ex (Abstract Expressionist) action painters.  You are to use thick, spontaneous, gushy “passionate” brush marks that resolve into a balanced, heavily worked painting.  Let the painting dictate each move (see the associated exercizes). Minimum size is 24x30.

Hard Edged painting: you are to embrace the minimalist aesthetic and design a hard-edged abstract painting.  This painting will necessarily be much more planned out.  The paint surface may or may not be layered and heavily worked.  Like the Ab-Ex, this painting is to be resolved, but the manner in which you do it will differ.  This is not an action painting. It will demand a lot more designing on your part.  DO NOT simply settle for the first solution that comes to mind.  Instead, find the best one.  For this one there are no size restrictions.  In order to help you come up with the best design, you are to make at least three different design compositions in your sketchbook using dry media. Once you’ve finished at least three, choose the best one to make into the painting, but try not to choose until the three are fully finished.

Look at Modern and Contemporary Masters who paint(ed) abstractly: Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hoffmann, Brice Marden, Cy Twombley, Helen Frankenthaler, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, and one of my personal favorites, Richard Diebenkorn.  Remember that honesty is most important.  A painting either works or it doesn’t.  Keep working on your painting until it is resolved. Don’t call it finished if it’s not. No matter how much you might want an apple to be an orange, it’s still an apple.

Hints

Experiment.  Embrace accidents.  An abstract painter might have no idea what the final result will look like.  Try not to have an image in your head that you’re working toward.  Instead, let the painting decide what needs to happen next.