Exercise in Abstraction

"She Who Hesitates"
Artist: Cindi Moynahan-Foreman
My first plein air abstract 

This is the abstract painting that I completed on Day 2. It was my first time doing an abstract painting. I was clearly well out of my comfort zone. I do feel that this exercise taught me a lot.

The rules I had set for myself before starting that day were designed to take me as far out of my comfort zone as possible:

• Use Phthalo Blue (green shade) PB15 (COOL ) and no Indanthrene Blue PB60 (WARM). This rule for the day because I am not fond of Phthalo blue...it's too overwhelming and Indanthrene blue is easier and safer.
• Use grey formula #2: Quinacridone Magenta PR122 + Phthalo Green yellow shade + Titanium White. My go to grey formula (the easiest) is Burnt umber + Indanthrene blue + Titanium white
• Use a black gessoed board. I couldn't imagine how a transparent colour palette would work on black gesso?
• Chalk the sketch and do not paint over the chalk (chalk to be washed off later under the tap to reveal the black lines) Solid blocks of colour with no gradations whatsoever!

My french easel with the black gessoed board

I described the scene in my art journal, " Interesting log with woodpecker holes, in foreground there is a beautiful rock - smooth red/green and a gorgeous Georgian Bay white pine on the left....lots of underbrush."

My notes

I would love to try this exercise again without making some of the same mistakes that I made this time. 

For example, in my notes you can see that I stopped and started many times on this. I had created a value sketch and then converted it to a colour block sketch (top right) and I then developed the painting from there. I stopped and started several times. (Thus the name for the painting "She Who Hesitates")

Folks who liked this painting said it reminded them of the works of Norval Morriseau which I take to be a great compliment!

Photograph of the location

"She Who Hesitates"

Links

• Robert Genn's "Abstract Principles" 17/10/2014
• Mike Svob workshop using black gesso technique
• Brayered black gesso resist backgrounds
• Matt McLoud workshop

Killbear Mixed Media Collage

Killbear #2
Artist: Cindi Moynahan-Foreman
11x14 Mixed Media (on hardboard)

This started as a plein air piece that I began to paint in the late afternoon and (unhappy with the results) decided to abandon.

I loved the contrast of the hard, dark, grey/blue rock and the soft, sunlit, green/yellow grasses. I loved watching the movement of the grasses in the gentle wind.

Later that evening I attempted to salvage the painting by adding soft pastel. This helped a little but it still was not exactly what I wanted to achieve.

I then decided to tear strips of paper from some Killbear campground maps and paste them to the board to give structure to the rocks. I loved how this was developing on top of the acrylic and pastel background!

Finally, I took out my acrylic coarse modelling paste and applied it with a toothbrush to emphasize the beautiful rhythms of the sunlit grasses on the rocks.

Detail 1: Collage of campground maps.

Detail 2: Collage and coarse modelling paste

Detail 3: Collage and coarse modelling paste to show movement of the grasses

I am quite happy with the final result and this certainly reaffirms that there's no harm in playing or "moodling" (as Brenda Ueland would put it) when your Plan A (i.e. an acrylic plein air) fails to achieve the results you had hoped for!

Killbear #2 (unframed)

“The imagination needs moodling, 

long, inefficient happy idling, 

 dawdling and puttering. ” 

~Brenda Ueland~