Art is in very large measure an exercise in creativity. One continues to explore. It can be crazy from a marketing perspective as your public never knows what you’re going to do next. But so be that, ever pushing out into new territory is one of the reasons to be an artist. And so it should be all the life long.
Rose’s Sister, 32×26
This month’s explorations in paint involve the combination of abstract combined with realistic images. That all in this series happen to be images of women is coincidental (besides their being the more interesting subjects.) In each case the abstract background is put up first, in water-based acrylic, complete with drips and patterns, half planned and half random.
Rose in Blue, 32×26
It’s always a bit of a hesitation whether to carry on when the first layer is already appealing. But the idea is to include a figure, so I plow ahead. The figure is put up in oil paint, drawn straight on with a big calligraphy brush in red or some warm color. It’s real scratchy to begin with, but whatever isn’t working I wipe out with a rag. That’s the beauty of oil paint over acrylic, the slow-drying oil wipes off and the background isn’t affected.
White Wisps with Sweater, 33×27
You’ll notice (if you do) that these have all been made in series, sometimes in twos, sometimes threes. The colors and general patterns are more-or-less the same, as is the selection of figures. So is the size and shape. As such they can be displayed together or separately, either way.
White Wisps, 33×27
Another thing you’ll notice (if you do) is the hint of “printed” pattern included subtly in the background. These are from linoleum blocks Anne has designed and cut for use in her own craft. By now she has baskets of these and sometimes I wander over to her side of the studio to see what I might use. She would be rolling them with ink, but acrylic works too; I brush the paint onto the block and then press it right onto the canvas. Viola, another flourish of originality.
Anne’s unfinished print, several layers on textured paper (click to see larger)
Okay, so the first originality was Anne’s. Sometimes, musing on her side of the studio, I pick through the stacks of her work yet to be completed and marvel. I can rarely see what’s unfinished about them; but Anne will have some other idea in mind, or be waiting for such an idea to hit. Meantime, I’m thinking I could use these as inspiration for backgrounds for figure studies. That’s exactly what’s happened with this and all the rest to follow here. Note first (and you will) Anne’s print-in-progress above. Then note many of the same elements, applied in different ways, in the three paintings below.
Jade in Shoulders, 20×20
The figures then come from pictures I’ve taken or found, with whatever changes are suggested by the background shapes already painted in and dry.
Jade and Black, 20×20
Design considerations are a big part of it, with changes being made throughout the process . . . painting in, taking out.
Jade and Daydreams, 20×20
Sometimes letting the drawing show is part of the charm. It’s like life, more about process than perfection. More interesting, more approachable.
Two of Anne’s studies, unfinished (click for larger view)
Above are two of Anne’s prints-in-process. It was the color combination that intrigued, that and the patterns, the textures, and the miscellaneous whimsy of found objects comprising the “plate.”
Study in Black and Orange 1, 20×20
When I do these I call them “collaborations.” That’s whether Anne knows I’m doing it or not. Actually she enjoys seeing the new thing created. If I sell it I’ll split it with her.
Study in Black and Orange 2, 20×20
Not that we’ve not always split everything anyway. And that’s just one of the secrets to these brief 44 years together.
Study in Black and Orange 3, 20×20
As I said, the choice and placement of the figure has a lot to do with the design already there. Of course, anything can be painted out, but sometimes interesting things appear that never would have in plotting a painting. Like, is that a necklace, or just a repetition of design element?
Anne’s study in blue and red (click for larger view)
Some of the pieces on Anne’s pile aren’t even necessarily intended for finished use. Such was the case with the above, which was a very random exercise in clean-up. But when you’re a working artist, sometimes art just “happens,” and I was particularly drawn to this one as pattern for background.
Study in Blue and Red 1, 20×20
In the process, a blond became a redhead, her movement her mood, her closed eyes, her ecstatic moment. Is that a dove-like spirit hovering about? These are stories still in the writing. Art is as much about the “suggested” as the expressed, maybe more.
Study in Blue and Red 2, 20×20
That’s why I call these abstractive realism. The lines matter, but they drift off, figures move in and out of background. The stage as important as the play.
Study in Blue and Red 3, 20×20
All these are exercises in “less” being “more.” It’s not a lesson easily learned. (And I’ve already said more than I need to about that.)
Anne’s Wondering (preliminary title for unfinished piece)
Here’s another of Anne’s yet-to-be-completed works, already layered with multiple images, each partially covering the last. It was the colors and shapes that intrigued for my uses.
Wondering 1, 30.5×30.5
The figure that suggested itself here seemed pretty complete at the drawing stage. There’s a lightness, an ethereal quality, with limbs floating as if still in movement. It’s a moment in time; and that’s what a paintings captures, a moment to ponder.
Wondering 2, 30.5×30.5
This one is doing its own pondering. Again, half drawing, half painting. Half realism, half abstraction. Unfinished, yet complete. That is, after all, life.
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Upcoming Events
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Lecture: How to Start a Painting
Friday, June 18, 6:00-7:30
San Clemente Art Supply
1531 N. El Camino Real
To make an early reservation, call (949) 369-6603
$10.00
Lecture/Demo: Lots of Things about Painting
June 24, 7:15 pm
Orange County Fine Arts Society (open to all)
South Coast Plaza Village
3851 S. Bear Street
Santa Ana
Outdoor Exhibit & Sale: A festival with many other artists
Saturday and Sunday, June 26-27, 10:00-4:00
San Clemente Community Center on Del Mar Street
Loosen Up Workshop: 2 days of inspiration, instruction and application
“A great workshop, a must for painters to experience.”
July 10-11 in San Clemente, California
To make an early reservation, call (949) 369-6603
For more info click Loosen Up 5 web
Semi-Private Coaching for Painters
In Hyatt Moore studio
Mondays in Dana Point
Call for your two-hour slot, 949-290-8643
One week intensive: A first
As a unique opportunity, an intensive one-on-one workshop tailored to the individual
in the studio the week of July 5-9.
Limited to very few participants.
Hours are flexible: all or part of the day or the week.
Call for more information: 949-290-8643
Printmaking Classes
In Anne Moore studio
Call for info, 949-240-4642
or email: anne@hyattmoore.com
12:58 pm
You have re-inspired for some old lessons. Thank you
1:30 pm
Interesting and unique. Are these interpretive portraits of actual clients or from imagined faces?
1:31 pm
Love them all!
1:39 pm
Love these new images! It’s fascinating how the figure emerges and merges with the abstract part.
2:30 pm
Hyatt – these are fantastic!! you are such an inspiration !! Kim and I will be calling you to arrange for some further semi-private classes in July when I return from my current travels. Thank you for sharing these amazing pieces.
3:20 pm
Great bold new creations! I especially like “Study in Blue and Red 2, 20×20” and “Wondering 2, 30.5×30.5”
4:33 pm
You and Anne collaborate so well! These new paintings are so interesting in what they just suggest. I enjoy the sometimes contemplative and sometimes active moods of the subjects.
4:57 pm
More pictures from Hyatt! Yeah! No new news here yet but I just know it is around the corner! Great job on these new pictures, Hyatt! Love Lisa Hoyt
5:13 pm
Hyatt, you continue to inspire and amaze! These are awesome, both of you together are even more lovely. <3
7:07 pm
They are bold yet soft
8:23 pm
Beautiful work Hyatt and Ann! It makes me want to be an artist! I love the way you create things, very inspiring!
8:47 pm
Wow! love the combination of your’s and Anne’s works – a marriage made in heaven – of course, we knew that… love Jade and the two Wonderings best (I think.)
love, your favorite middle sister
8:51 pm
My favorites are White Wisps with Sweater and Wondering 2. How fun to experiment with the paint! And you are so good at painting figures. Someday I’m going to be there for that Loosen Up Workshop. I know I need that and would love to have your input in my work!
9:03 am
Hyatt, everytime I see your works it stirs an excitement in me I cannot hardly contain. You and your gift are such a blessing to me. Thank you for sharing.
9:24 am
Excellent work Hyatt! I especially like the patterns you have added.
10:53 am
Pat Mitchell
May 28, 2010
10:50 am
Hyatt/Ann
Now I have a much better appreciation/grasp of the abstract.
12:40 pm
Hello Hyatt.
Those first three or four new abstractive realism pieces you put up are just smashing! I feel lucky to have experienced them first hand having seen them up close and in person at your home/gallery/studio. The more I look at them them the more wonderful they get. If I still had a gallery I would exhibit them in an instant.
Judy
4:50 am
Hi Hyatt and Ann!
I really love the combination of your techniques!!! It’s like Lennon and McCartney—wonderfully unique in their own right but something altogether and magically different when combined. You two should explore this more!
12:13 pm
As always another beautiful step into beauty – so thrilled to see Anne’s work complement yours Hyatt. This is so what God intends for us to experience in marriage. The blending together of talents. So enjoyed this group of artistry.
9:24 am
Your work always make me think. I am such a fan, especially how you take thoughts, moments and suggested movements and place them onto canvas for all of us to ponder.
12:49 pm
I always admire your bold approach and representation things on your paintings…Your new images with drawing part, collaboration with Ann’s work are just something!!!
Me personally,love abstract realism so much and happy to see your painting in progression all the time.
1:18 pm
I just looked back at your work of this series. I just came up with the name of the lesson being taught that included similar combination. It was called “Ambiguity or Configuration” Your rendition is a little more configuration but it wouldn’t take much to make more ambiguity. You have inspired me again to include some of this type of thinking in my work.
Thank you