Anatomy of an abstract-Steele style

Last Judgement ny Kandinsky 1912

It always surprises me just how misunderstood abstracts are in this day and age. The painting above is 100 years old this year. I am not knocking representational art, in fact I like much of it.

For me, as a painter, an abstract is far more difficult to paint. Say what you will about a three year-old being able to do it, the brushstrokes are simplistic but the composition is a bugger.

When I paint a picture of a person I know the end result, more or less. It should look like a human. An abstract on the other hand, has no defined end point, so to be successful is harder thing to achieve. This is a post about one of the ways I go about painting an abstract.

Here is how I start...

Starting with a plain. gessoed canvas, I just paint shapes with a general palette.

Brushstrokes and borders don't have to be neat at this point.

I often mix my own colors. Here, it is crimson and Titanium white. The blue on the painting is Phthalo Blue and Payne's gray mixed.

The pink is too dark so I add more white.

At this point my toddler says "I love all your colors Mommy." and you might think I am done but in my book my canvas is not yet "ready to paint".

I actually went outside! It is usually too windy here.

This is the point where my little girl says, "Mommy! Why did you ruin all my [favorite] colors?"

You might ask why paint over all of that? Why not just add color to white where you want it?

 I like the depth and texture that I achieve by doing it this way.

Here I have continued with Titanium white, Titanium buff white and hints of raw umber and neutral gray.

More white and a hint of yellow-green makes what I call a blank canvas. Ready to paint!

I start with partially mixed pink and a palette knife.
This is where it gets hairy! I have no real plan. I find that if I have too much of a plan things look oddly constrained and juvenile even choppy. If I just start and see where the painting takes me, it works out best.
The steps I have shown so far are fairly quick but things slow down to a crawl here.

I paint a few bits and stop. Not just to let a layer dry but to see what it needs next.

I have decided to soften the colors a bit

 I leave the painting out and just live with it. Sometimes I am in the middle of making dinner when it dawns on me and I whip out a brush and make a few additions. Sometimes it is only a few strokes in a day, especially if I am "not feelin' it".
Recently I took out two paintings I was working on and made a few small additions. It was a bad painting day. I nearly ruined both but luckily I realized that I should just let things be and get back  it the next day.

I have learned not to panic at this stage. Yes, it looks like S*** but this happens with everything I paint. It seems to happen in life too. Near the brink of disaster and and things turn around, one good thing at a time.

 This becomes ...

 this. A finished abstract.
You can only see traces of the original blue, orange, yellow, and pink but they are visible.
How do I tell when its done?
My personal litmus test is asking the question,"Do I like it enough to hang it in my own house?" and/or "would I spend money to have it?".
Whether or not you like it is a matter of personal taste but this is how I paint.