x

How to Make Abstract Paintings

 >^.' Xr-

m
HOW TO MAKE
ABSTRACT
PAINTINGS
BY

HUGH LAIDMAN

A STUDIO BOOK

The Viking Press NEW YORK 19 6 1

 COPYRIGHT © 1961 BY HUGH LAIOMAN
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1961 BY THE VIKING PRESS, INC.

625 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK 22, N.Y.

PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY IN CANADA BY

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA LIMITED

LIBRARY OP CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 61-6794

PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. BY THE MURRAY PRINTING COMPANY

'^^'
IVER C. RANtAO^fGH SCHOOU
DIST. #50 V/?r ,J5iER, COLO
LIB.i,.R/
To my wife
Acknowledgments

To Mrs. Bredemeier of the Carl Bredemeier Gallery (Buffalo, New

York) for the beautiful frames; to the Niagara Corrugated Container Com-
pany, Division of St. Regis Paper Company, for a full station-wagon load
of board; to National Aniline, Division of Allied Chemical Corporation,
for flexible foam and technical advice; to Savage Litho, Inc., for paper;

to Bob Blair, Larry Griffis, Bruce Horning, Jinx, Bonnie, and Cece for
their paintings; and especially to Pete and Jody Hill for their Fridays,
Saturdays, and Sundays.
Contents

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 11

STUDIO 17

MATERIALS 19

WATER COLOR 21

Projects (1-16) * 23

OIL AND MIXED MEDIUMS 56

Projects (17-36) 57

OTHER METHODS AND MATERIALS 102

IDEAS FOR PAINTING 105

SELECTING PARTS OF A PAINTING 107

STRETCHING A CANVAS 112

FRAMING AND MATTING 115

EXHIBITING 116

A GALLERY OF ABSTRACT PAINTINGS 118

How to Make Abstract Paintings
 0.-?A
&

Introduction

THIS book explains techniques employed in creating abstract paintings similar to those
currently being exhibited in galleries and museums. Few of the techniques employed
by the representational painter are discussed, because the aims of the traditionalist
and those of the abstract painter differ, and so do many of the materials they use.

It is a great pity that so many explanations of abstract painting offer little more than
double-talk. This disturbing tendency, along with the occasional press release or joke con-
cerning paintings hung upside down or stories about amateurs, monkeys, parrots, and prac-
tical jokers winning prizes for their work have made wary of abstract
the public a little

painting. The abstract-art movement is often confusing, more often obscure, but most cer-
tainly it is stimulatingly alive. It has a purpose and a place in the modem scheme of things,
and should be taken as seriously as any other form of art.
The keynote of modern painting, from the time of Goya, has been that of change. To
appreciate modern painting it helps to be aware of the tradition and to realize that no one
has really replaced anything, though many have added to it. Today's "action" painters are
contributing another step in the history of art. To understand and evaluate just what they
are doing, we should approach the subject with an open mind, and, coming still closer to it,
paint a few abstract pictures of our own.
Today's abstract painter is influenced by the world around him. He is not a reporter,
however. He expresses his emotions and thoughts, and leaves the chronicling to others. He
is not illustrating current events; he is creating a new art of his own which is in keeping with

the times.
the patterns of the past continue, the great artists of today have probably not yet
If

been recognized. If we follow further the pattern of the past, the artists most popular at the
moment will fade with time. The school of abstract art will become an additional stage in

11
the continuing story of painting. By participation, the neophyte can learn to appreciate this

present stage.
Everyone equipped by nature to receive and assimilate sensory expression. He is
is

sensitive to color, tones, touch, and space relations, and can become a creditable painter,
sculptor, architect, or musician. This does not mean that every man is capable of creating
fine art and being an artist. Art is the highest level of production in any form. Becoming
an artist requires more than following procedures in a book on painting, yet by following
procedures one may learn to distinguish a true piece of art from an exercise in paint
application.
The line is not always clearly defined between abstract and representational painting,
but often the confusion lies in labels and terms. Some consider abstract any deviation from
the realistic; others consider abstract only those paintings that have no relation to any objects.
While admitting the controversy concerning the merits of realistic versus abstract, traditional
versus experimental, and conservative versus radical, this book will concentrate on the
"pure" abstract, the experimental, and the radical.
Abstract painting is not reserved for the overly sensitive, the genius. Nor is it reserved
for the crackpot. Here we have an art form with such free scope that anyone can participate
and greatly profit by the results of his efforts — if not financially, then at least spiritually or
therapeutically.
Representational painting, being an image of something, is informational, while pure
abstract painting exists not as an image of something but rather as itself. When a person
views a representational painting, he reminded of something he has seen or done or wished
is

to do. When a person views a pure abstraction, he sees the painting as a complete state-
ment, with no reference to anything else. He may get an emotional response from it, he
may read things into it, but generally no recognizable object is meant to be depicted.
As a painting becomes less identifiable with natural forms, it becomes more difficult to
translate into words, and, as a consequence, more controversial. Frequently when an artist
is forced to explain such a work he confuses the issue by using a kind of cultural double-
talk. The simple fact remains that pat explanations arc not usually possible: and there is no
reason why they should be. Examples of abstract art can be enjoyed primarily for pat-
tern, color, texture, and the general atmosphere that each one imparts. Personally I am
against weighty psychological interpretations, which often do more harm than good to the
cause of the modern artist.

Most paintings used to be images of something. Now, most paintings are images of noth-
ing. A history of "isms," schools, art tempests, and turmoils lies between the two extremes.
Many of today's well-known artists have a personal history of art that is almost a capsule
of the history of modern art. Just as various schools, styles, and isms have begun with
variations on the realistic up to the point where a painting had no recognizable object, so
many of the artists have periods in their painting careers where their work was more or less

identifiable with images.

For example, a popular artist might have been educated in one of the traditional
academies, where he learned to paint realistically from casts and models; then he might
have been influenced by experiments in the light of the impressionists and next by the
geometry of the cubists. In turn, he might have worked in the action style of the futurists,
tried his hand at collage, and, after a violent period as an expressionist, painted pure
abstractions. The younger the artist, the more abbreviated the course. And it is possible that
the experiences of mature artists have shown where steps in this accelerated art-apprecia-
tion course could be eliminated.

12
 An interesting aspect of the history of taste in art is the rigid set of limitations imposed
by art buyers on artists. Painters, generally, fall into a number of categories — fine artists,

muralists, portraitists, commercial artists, and illustrators — as well as a number of sub-

categories. The fine artist has few limitations, and, unfortunately, even fewer prospective
buyers. Most muralists are influenced to tell a story realistically, although, once in a while,
a relatively abstract mural is commissioned — or accepted — usually from one of the dozen
best-established abstractionists. The commercial artist has the most affluent group of prospec-
tive buyers, although he may have to be content with a style of work not more recent than
that of the post-impressionist school. The portraitist has a more or less unlimited group of
prospective purchasers. The artists who sell to industry directly are, in most cases, fine
artists willing to sacrifice something to live and able to carry their expressions in paint very
close to abstraction.
This is best explained through the eyes of an advertising man. It is generally assumed
that the leaders of industry are aware of and receptive to new ideas that will not materially
hurt their interests. Possibly, if they were not aware, they would be reluctant to admit it.

Fortune magazine, whose editorials are aimed at executives, will go almost abstract in its

approach to illustration, being careful to balance this with photographs of almost unbeliev-
able clarity and detail. Holiday magazine, which appeals to a much larger group including
part of Fortune's audience, appeals to people who are intending, or would like, to travel.
The advertiser presupposes an amount of culture and wealth — not that they are inseparable
—and editorially may use a slightly abstract approach. The Saturday Evening Post, on the
other hand, having the most inclusive audience of the three, is limited to that which is

realistic, photographic or, if distorted, only in the tradition of the cartoon. This does not
restrain the magazine from printing work from the wildest schools of abstract painting.
These illustrations, however, are always in the nature of a report on the subject, not an
editorial component of the magazine. It is still considered radical for the Saturday Evening
Post to reproduce on its cover a portrait in other than the Norman Rockwell tradition.
For art directors, an acceptable safety valve from the continual stream of realism is the
cartoon. There seems to be no inherent danger to circulation in this minor field of
abstraction.
It is not to be inferred that a painting becomes better as itbecomes more abstract.
Abstraction is no substitute for quality. One of the reasons that more abstract paintings fill
today's shows, aside from the obvious one that more of them are being submitted, is that
it is relatively easy to hide mediocrity in an "abstract." Generally, it is more difficult to hide
inability in a realistic painting. In this respect, realistic painting is a bit like playing the violin;
it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the genius from the expert, but there is never any
doubt about the amateur.
Quantities of books have been written on how to paint. Most of these have dealt with
the naturalistic style. One reason given for this is that one must learn to draw realistically
before one can distort effectively. The academies of old went overboard on this theory and
thereby often succeeded in boring to distraction otherwise good prospective artists. It is pos-
sible that some more advanced schools today have swung too far to the other extreme.
of the
In painting, even the accidental must be controlled and in some cases made to speak louder
than the preconceived. As we get into the experiments on the following pages, we will see
how that seemingly contradictory statement becomes a fact.
Before we learn to draw in the traditional manner, we are inherently able to recognize
good design from bad, harmony from disharmony. If the teaching process dulls that percep-
tion, we have lost rather than gained in "learning to draw." It would seem better to stimulate

13
the perceptive qualities of the individual first, and then learn the tools of the trade; better to
take a variety of colorful shapes and arrange them in pleasing designs than to spend hours
with a piece of charcoal over a cold plaster cast.
Occasionally it is worth while to return to the world of strict realism. Some very fine
abstractionists paint an almost photographic canvas from time to time. This serves as a
control on the experimental and radical work. Artists usually notice that successive realistic
paintings are the better for their experience in the abstract.
Professional artists generally paint with the thought of showing their work in a gallery,
of selling it, or possibly of having the work find its way into an important collection.
Amateurs may have same aims, but these are not necessary for the rewards of painting.
the
There is —
enjoyment just in doing more especially if the doing is exciting
a great deal of
in method. There are innumerable walls that beg for framed paintings. A painting does not

need to win a prize or even to be accepted in a show to add something to a home.

Aside from easel paintings, abstract techniques lend themselves to murals, stage sets,
ceramic design, and practically any stable surface. The rewards are many first the doing, —
then the viewing, and then, as you continue to paint, the reviewing of your current work
in relation to your past paintings.
The methods outlined in the next pages will help you create these abstracts.
The conscious appreciation of abstract paintings will be accelerated by exposure to
good paintings in exhibitions and galleries only if you have some knowledge of the aims and

14
works of the artists. If you have painted a few, however ineptly, you will be even closer to

an understanding. The opponents of abstract art refer to this process as "brain-washing" and
usually refuse to enter into the process. This is an unfortunate and limited view of painting
and, like most narrow views, hurts the viewer as much as anyone else. I am suggesting that
you risk being "brain-washed" — paint a few abstracts and study more of them. Paint one
full of wild slashing strokes and compare your result with a similar painting in a gallery.
In the process you may recognize your painting's inadequacies; you may appreciate more
fully the effort of the artist in the gallery painting; you may even see weak passages in his
painting. You will certainly be closer to understanding abstract painting.
There is no suggestion here that you imitate the work of others. Attempts at imitating,
at best, can only flatter the original. Your best things will be those in which your own ideas and
thoughts and feelings appear in paint. In this book we are merely showing a variety of
painting methods and do not suggest for a moment that the results will be immediately
snapped up by scouts from some museum of modern Yet, who knows? art.

It isgood idea at first to follow procedures step by step, but your work will assume
a
real value only when you have struck out on your own. Most of the steps followed in making
the paintings in this book take minimum time for completion. This is to get into the busi-
ness of producing paintings as quickly and fully as possible. An abstract painter, like any-
one else, profits from experience. You will be most exceptional if your first attempts are not
somewhat restrained. Only by making one painting after another do most people relax, cast
off their inhibitions, and start painting with real pleasure and confidence.
With abstract painting it is not always love at first sight. On the other hand most
people, without realizing it, long before any formal exposure to abstract painting, have
accepted much that is The pages of our maga-
part of the entire abstract painting school.
zinesand newspapers are crammed with abstract patterns of type and illustrations. Television
commercials and programs have all degrees of abstract pattern. When the art directors have
done a good job the viewer knows it, although he may not be aware that he has seen abstract
design principles in action.
Artists of all ages employed abstract designs. Every art movement discovers one or two
ancient or primitive art forms and, after being influenced to some extent, translates these
forms into new discoveries. Any moment someone will discover the unlimited abstract pat-
tern in the Mitla ruins.

15
Studio

/\.MONG the assortment of painting techniques shown in this book are a few "action" paint-
ings. Action painting is not a tidy occupation. Chances are you will splatter your clothes, the
floor, maybe even the walls and the ceiling; but it is worth it. You will need space and light.
North light is the best but is not absolutely necessary. The advantage of north light is its
constancy without the disturbing rays of the direct sun. If you were painting from objects
and needed constant lights and shadows, as does the painter of naturalistic pictures, north
light would be necessary.

The area you make into a studio can be any large room, the attic, the garage, the barn,
or the back yard. Barns are ideal because of their size and the fact that they are usually
made without large windows, so that the artist-renovator has a choice of window size and
light direction. There
is also the obvious fact that no one really cares too much if paint

drips in a barn. Ifyou are worried about dripping paint on the floor, your concern may
show in the painting. Of course, there is nothing to prevent you from protecting the floors
with thick layers of newspaper and guarding the walls in like manner. In any event, when
painting begins you must be prepared to let yourself go.

17
 Materials

1 HE supplies and tools of the abstract painter are inexpensive and easily available.
Aside from the traditional tube paints, palette, easel, and brushes, the abstract painter often
employs "non-art" materials: corrugated cardboard, building board, burlap, house paint,
tinting colors usually used by decorators to produce custom colors for walls, lacquers, alkyd-
base paint, automobile enamels, dyes, and plaster. He may use paper picnic plates or muffin
tins for palettes, as well as spatulas, knives, colanders, screening, shingles, and any other
objects that come in handy as tools.
In making the paintings on the following pages, left-over house paint that otherwise
would have hardened on the cellar shelves was used. Nothing can be lost by experimenting
with similar "left-overs" if you happen to have them on hand. Their value is in the using of
them, in giving the artist an opportunity to throw caution to the winds and throw paint at
the canvas. Instead of making a large initial investment, learn how to use left-over or inex-
pensive paints first. Buy better, more permanent materials later. In the water-color section
of the book a set of poster colors (including black and white) was used, and a selection of
tubes of fine water colors, a selection of sponges (natural and urethane), rags, blotters,
facial tissues, a number of fresh eggs, India ink and pen, newspaper, wrapping paper,
'
seventy-pound water-color paper, printing paper, white corrugated cardboard, a cutting
knife, scissors, small rollers, a handy supply of fresh water, and a selection of fairly good
brushes (later used as oil brushes). Additional equipment included chisel-point camel-hair
sign-painter brushes ranging in width from Vi to 2'/2 inches, and pointed camel-hair water-
color brushes, sizes 4, 6, and 12. These were good brushes. The best brushes are recom-
mended even at the start. Occasionally inferior brushes come in handy, but the poor quality
is often too limiting. This is true for water colors more than for oils.
In the oil section of the book, materials included cans of liquid decorator colors, house
paint, enamel, and lacquer, tube oil paints, fine artist powder paint, sun-thickened oil, Venice
turpentine, and also cheaper, less permanent turpentine and linseed oil (this darkens with
time and should be used in work where permanence is no object). Equipment included paint
rollers, house-paint brushes from 1 to 4 inches wide, in addition to the good brushes used

in water-color work, and (as applicators) palette knives, sticks, spoons, sponges, and rags.

—
Many surfaces were used for the paintings canvas, paper, plywood, untempered
Masonite, Homosote, plaster board, cardboard, building paper, and a folding screen. Can-
vas stretched over a frame is the traditional surface for oil painting; it is also the most
practical for very large paintings. Unsized canvas can be prepared by first stretching the
canvas and then applying a gesso ground. This is a commercially available combination of

dry glue, titanium oxide, and you add water and apply as directed on the
gypsum to which
container. For less permanent work, any of the flat alkyd paints may be rolled over the
stretched canvas surface. Many of the ordinary "rubber base" paints make a good surface
for either oil or poster colors. Canvas may be bought already sized, in widths up to four-
teen feet. It is best to use either all-linen or all-cotton canvas. In these experiments, the
least expensive grade of cotton duck was used. Also on hand for these projects were a
supply of empty cans, various sizes of cardboard, egg yolks, a screw driver, a stapling gun,
shingles, sand, and colored paper. Almost any small object may be found useful as a tool for
achieving some interesting effect.

19
Composition #10. Water color. 20" x 30." HUGH LAIDMAN.
Water Color

It IS customary today for painters to specialize in either water color or oil. There have
been other painting mediums, such as tempera, and some artists have used a mixture of

mediums on the same surface. In the interests of availability, our first experiments in abstract
painting will be with a type of water color referred to as poster color, erroneously termed
tefmpera, and often referred to by experts as gouache or opaque water color.
Water-colorists traditionally fall into three categories. There are purists, who do not use
white or black or anything other than what is broadly referred to as transparent water color.
There are those who use white and opaque colors timidly. Then, there are those who just
don't care, and pile one type over another with abandon. For the time being, we'll be the
third type — a quite practical choice, since transparent colors are expensive, and for this rea-
son tend to restrain many would-be water-colorists.
First we will use the cheapest show-card colors, then graduate to better designers' col-
ors, and eventually use fine water colors. Good water-color paper is expensive, but rough
#65 cover stock, available at a paper-supply house, is good enough for the first experiments
and will prove economical.
In your first few paintings you cannot expect to have much control over the design. Use
your natural talent and taste, and simply let yourself go. If you have a definite shape and
color in mind, be prepared to try out a number of variations with the prescribed techniques.
In this type of painting the element of accident should be utilized, plus some known facts
about the quality of poster-color paints.

21
PROJECTSI
1

•.•«•. •»'-•

1. Strike a brush, heavy with black paint, against your

forefinger.

Ihis is an exercise in handling the brush and ob-

serving accidental effects. After some practice with
varying amounts, colors, and relative fluidity of
paint, a degree of control is achieved.
(a)Here a small square-edge brush full of India
ink was used, {b) The results of using a pointed
brush and India ink. (c) Crumbled paper (with
ink poured in it) was used instead of a brush, (d)
Ink was poured on the paper, which was held at
various angles to cause the ink to run.

flJI
 i his painting procedure takes but a few minutes,
and is completed while the paper surface remains
wet. The wetter of any two areas will run into the
drier. Paint that has a higher percentage of mois-
ture than that of the surface will run into the
slightly lessmoist area. Thick paint on a wet sur-
face will tend to restrict the spreading of the paint.
Paint applied to a completely dry surface will re-
main where it is applied. Varying the design, the
colors, and the wetness of the brush and paper
produces limitless effects.

• f
'<!-* C '

Should the painting be too involved or too

«• • (.M*,
large to finish atone time, limit the original wet
area to the size you can finish. Should you wish
to rework the entire painting, wait until it is com-
pletely dry. Then wet the surface once more bv
patting itwith a wet sponge. This will help to
retain the feeling of fresh, direct painting.
Another method of keeping the surface moist is

to wet both sides of the paper with a brush, or in a

tub or shower. Under certain humidity conditions,
any of these wetting procedures will keep the paper
moist for an hour or more.
Here are a few experiments.

24
1. Wet the surface of the paper with water. 2. With a large square-edge brush, dipped
first in black
poster paint, then in blue, enclose an irregular space.
(This took three sweeps of the brush. In some areas the
black and blue partially mixed on the paper.)

3. Dip another clean brush first in orange and then red 4. Dip still another brush in yellow and then orange paint
and make a smaller shape in the first irregular space. Do and make another shape.
not pre-mix the paint. When colors mix upon application
to the surface, the effect is fresher than when pre-mixed.

5. Pick up the original brush, dip it in either black or 6. Instead of using a colander, you can slap the brush

blue paint, and slap this paint through a colander. against the index finger to produce a spatter effect.

25
 >f,

.i
1. Wa ihc mrfwrr widi dsar wtOBr.

T
Tbex

The OK
 A

a brush full of yellow ocher make some spiral 3. Fill a brush full of black paint unul it almost dnps.
Keep the brush full enough of wet paint to avoid With quick, sure strokes separate the spiral
il of the ocher.

27
 Ihis time, some IVi-inch brushes, a sheet of
white-surfaced corrugated cardboard, and plenty
of poster color were used. The cardboard, spe-
ciallymanufactured for use in painting, is a product
of the St. Regis Paper Company and is available
through artists' material stores. It is impractical
to produce in small quantities; but in large lots it

sells for about two cents a square foot. It is made 2. Hold the cardboard up to allow the paint to run aiui
in very large sizes, works well for either poster disperse in interesting natural patterns.

color or and
is a good, cheap surface on
oil paint,

which Both its sides are usable and it

to practice.
is light and easy to mat or frame. When your work

becomes valuable to posterity, it is time enough

to use expensive materials.
If this board is not available through your local
artists' material or stationery store, you can use
heavy paper for the same experiment.
When wet (as in this experiment) the cardboard
will tend to warp, but this can be remedied by wet-
The side that absorbs
ting the opposite side, too.
more moisture will become convex. This applies
to plywood as well as wood boards, but the results
are not as immediate.

3. With a clean brush dipped in white, drip paint onto tfa

top area.

I. On a wet cardboard surface make slashing p;nnl

strokes, starting at the top.Here deep purple was used at
the top, blue in the center, and bright yellow at the base. 4. Hold the cardboard to allow the paint to run. (Proicc
The yellow mixed with the blue, forming areas of green. continued on page 30.)

28
The finished painting.

29
5. If the paint does not run, drip water into it and again 6. Slap a brush dipped in black at the base of the {
hold the surface at an angle. ing. Let the brush come in contact with the surfaca

7. Hold the surface so that the black will run. 8. Experiment with a frame or two.

30
vVater color, when dry, is much lighter than it

ippears in the painting process. It is, therefore,

4
jest to overdo amounts and intensities of paint.
Experiment with various paints on different
)apers and boards. Dip a brush in one paint, then
mother. Different combinations of paint applied
o a wet surface will produce a variety of effects.

!ome colors settle in the valleys of the paper;

)thers disperse, quickly or slowly. This is espe-
ially true, and predictable, with the better tubes
>f artists' water colors. Water-colorists for years
iiave made good use of this characteristic of water-
color paint.

1. Wet the surface with a very thin liquid paint, but

allow the center area to remain dry.

2. Dip the brush in black, then blue, and drag the brush
through the wet area.

31
3. Dip a small brush in India ink. Pull this around. 4. Pull the brush in and out of the wet painted ar^n

5. Rinse out the small brush. Dip it in the combination 6. Use this small brush to make quick linear eflfecis i

of black and blue and make shapes in dry section. the wet perimeter area.

32
 -.-i, -,i--.ii,4jup«j;\»rst=3it=

Make a number of these. Try the most uncon-

'entional Do not be in-
combinations of colors.
luenced by what you may have thought was good
)r poor color harmony. Once the paint hits the
vet surface, anything can happen — and the re-
ults are usually quite attractive. You learn some-
hing new with each experiment.

33
 Ihis is a simple exercise with ink, brush, and a Practice with various patterns of wet and dry
stick. I used a very thin solution of India ink and surfaces, variously shaped sticks and cardboards,
water to coat parts of the painting surface. A light matchsticks, toothpicks, hairpins, or small brushes.
tone of water color, poster color, or casein paint This exercise will help \ou control effects in later

can be used just as well. Each will react differently. paintings.

1. Painl a portion of a cardboard surface with quick

strokes, then dip a pointed stick into a bottle of India ink
and make a mark on the wet surface.

34
J

2. Make an arrangement of such lines.

3. With a 1
'/2-inch chisel-point brush, moistened with
clear water, make quick strokes back and forth a few
times over the surface.
 2. Pull a medium-dry sponge back and forth, from top to
bottom.

Tor this project a sponge and brush, cheap white

paper, and jars of poster colors were used. A muf-
fin tin was the palette.
Prc-mix the paint with water to the consistency
of light —
cream usually considerably thinner than
the paint thatcomes in the jar.
When you paint, swing your arm back and
forth. Do not be timid. It makes little difference
where the strokes go at this stage, as long as they
are forceful and direct. When you flick paint, have
the brush so full that it is ready to drip. Some may
drip off before you start flicking. This is all right;

it will spread or "spider" a little on the paper.

From step 3 on, any lack of confidence will

show. Be bold at all costs and put full action into

this painting.

3. Starting at the top, with a brush full of dark blue paint,

snake back and forth until the brush is depleted of paint

— about halfway down the paper. Continue with light
blue, starting at the bottom, and snake back and forth
toward the previous strokes.

^^W .

9
1. On a surface,wet on one side or both, flick some light 4. Using the brush in a chisel-like manner, with black
blue at the top and dark blue at the bottom. paint, outline the outside edges of the shapes you have
just completed.

36
i'ith another brush, full of white, flick a few globs of 6. Press your fingers into the wet painting a few times.
t onto the surface. It will spider into the dark areas.

1IIIII

flfi-*-
— .' iiWIlil
-

37
8

Drushes were not used at all in this painting.

There is little control other than the developing of
a pleasing composition once the initial impression
is complete.

1 . Pour a few blobs of black poster paint on a dr\ su

face: then pour on some white.

4. Pour a bit of brilliant red onto one of the surfaces. 5. Pour another color, then place either the other bit
painting or a third surface on top of this.

6. Take them apart with a slightly twisting motion. 7. Let the paint run or use a roller on the outer edges

38
,, lace a second clean painting surface over this and 3. Frame or mat either or both to get a quick impression.

I
5 the two together; then separate them. Sometimes, even at this stage, there is a design attractive
enough with no further steps. Let us assume that this is
not the case.

39
T,his is the first experiment where something Hke background. Many naturalistic designs are possible

an object is represented. It may suggest a burned- — mountains, sun and sky, a seascape, plant forms,
out forest or an undersea landscape. It is best done and so on.
on paper wet on both sides. When you apply paint to a surface, think as
In this kind of painting, graded tones are painted much about the shapes of the areas you do not
first. The definite forms are painted over this touch as about the painted areas.

«l I.

?> >^, )«*.-.

1. Slap some gray and blue paint onto the upper areas of 2. Slap some gray and green paint onto the bottom area,
your painting and lightly rub a sponge over the paint. and lightly rub a sponge over this. Pour a little white at
the upper pari of this area, and give it the sponge treat-
ment.

i
I
I

\ \
f ^'
\

,1 d
i. Dip a brush in a combination of the colors used so far. 4. With a brush dipped in black, make a few more upward
Starting at the bottom, make a few more or less vertical strokes, making no two parallel. Drag a number of sec-
strokes. ondary strokes off these major brush marks.

40
4
 \ V
V

5. Using your fingers as a brush, drag lines off the wet

paint to form more delicate lines. Cut similar patterns
^ with your fingernails.

^ 1

41
10

Ihis is an offset technique. We use dry paper,

poster colors, and scissor-cut shapes. The shapes
were fairly small and, because the painting was
finished in a relatively short time, we avoided hav-
ing one shape superimpose the next. Waiting for
one impression to dry and applying the next is a
similar technique and affords much more variety.
You can get variety also by cutting the shapes with
a razor, or tearing them.

42
1. Drip and smear a section of thick black paint on a 2. Press the paper, painted side down, on a white surface,
sheet of paper. If paint squeezes out around the edges this is fine.

3. Lift the paper off. You could cut this same shape into 4. Pour some white paint and two other colors on the
new shapes, or cut new shapes from fresh paper. In either original shapes and press them around the perimeter of
event, press a few more shapes on the surface. the painting.

5. Pour on white shapes and press onto the perimeter. 6. Frame or mat the painting and make final revisions.

43
11
!

r-.r^-MKf.^. ffMM.

I. Wet the surface with a sponge, brush, or rag.

i

It is altogether likely that a painter will have some another. Your attention should be mainly on your
inspiration with naturalistic form. This may be de- painting.As the painting progresses, you will pay
rived from a vivid recollection, an object, or the less heed to your inspiration and more to your
painting itself as it develops. creation. To copy is mechanical; to rearrange and
In painting a fish motif, it would be feasible to create something entirely new, even if reminiscent
have photos and other illustrations of fish within of the inspirational scraps, is worth while. Don't
sight. Use several illustrations, so that you are not try to imitate nature. The camera does this re-

overly influenced by any one. You might see colors markably well, but it is the tool of the artist, not
in one form, action in another, and texture in still his competitor.

4. Take a smaller brush full of greens, umbers, and yel- .">. With a sm;ill brush full of white, make twisted lines
lows and define details you remember about fish. in and out of the design. Do the same with another
brush dipped in India ink.

44
2. With a brush full of green and blue, quickly make 3. Strengthen the tops of the fish with deeper green and
some elliptical fish forms. Slap some white from another blue. Pat some white into these areas,
brush on the surface.

6. The resulting painting is abstract, but reminiscent of underwater life.

45
12

r^aint rollers come in several textures — pile, wool,

rubber, and urethane foam —and various sizes.

In this painting, we used a small roller with a

pile surface.

It is wise to experiment with the roller tech-

nique. It has limitations as well as advantages.
Rollers can produce graded tones, mottled effects,
and ragged lines (made with the edge of the rol-
ler). Used in conjunction with frisket techniques,
they are ideal. On the other hand, roller pattern
and technique can quickly become monotonous.
Here are a few of the effects possible with a
roller. (c) DiflFerent colors at either end of roller.

V f\ h
\^
(«) Paint is rolled over the edge of a frisket. ((/) A line is made with the edge.

(/)) A well-defined edge is made with the frisket. (c) Rolling action is stopped to make smear.

46
1. Wet the surface. Here board was used, wet on only 2. With a roller partially rolled in three colors, make a
one side. number of erratic patterns. This is merely to get a multi-
colored pattern on the surface.

#
13

r or variety, this painting was begun on dry

paper to give a crisp feeling. A l'/2-inch chisel

brush, a straightedge, and poster paints were

used. A number of applicators instead of the shot
glass could have been used — the top of a paint

jar. a cork, a Mason jar. a cup, nuts, or bolts.

1. Use a straightedge tokeep the application of paint in
Each one. or a combination, would have produced a series of straight but haphazard sweeps. Ahemate green
unique patterns. with light pink.

ftf
*^\ .

a pool of white paint onto a palette and dip

first
4. Pour
the rim. then the base, of a shot glass into the paint.
Apply the white onto the painting with a smearing, twist-
ing motion.

48
 it

2. a brush with deep blue. Outline the area painted

Fill 3. Dip your fingers in the deep blue paint and pat a pat-
in a succession of quick looping strokes. Use the brush tern around the surface.
recently used for green. It will retain some of the green.

49
14

Ihis method of "doodling" your way into a de-

sign is perhaps the easiest technique of all. Should
you find that the patterns are too restrained or
contrived, you can hang a ball-point pen from a
stringand swing it around the surface to be painted
to lose all semblance of control. We used Magic
Markers on strings and let them swing back and
forth from a balcony, and we punched holes in
cans and let the paint drip in a steady stream as
?. Concentrate your brightest colors in the smallc
the can described ever-lessening spirals. A pendu- shapes, and use subdued colors on the larger perimcit
lum describing the course gives great variety. areas.

I. With a pencil, crayon, or brush make a few curving 4. Dip a small brush in black and execute free loorm
lines. lines approximating the general design of the H.im
painting.

2. Fill in the areas, changing colors as you go. Limit your- 5. Slash a large brush with a mixture of white and oi he-

self to two or three colors and shades and hues of each. colors in the palette over the design.

50
). The finished painting
requently needs the ad-
lition of small, strong
elements.

;
15

In this series Robert Blair uses traditional water-

color paper and paints, but makes a painting that
begins as an abstract and ends as a naturalistic
portrait. Mr. Blair is one of today's best water-
colorists. He has been using the techniques he
demonstrates inthis book for some thirty years.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and a number

of other museums own examples of his work. He
has won numerous national awards and has re-
ceived two Guggenheim fellowships. Aside from
his proficiency in water color, Mr. Blair is an ex-
pert artist in oils and is at present concentrating

on experimental sculpture.

These were the colors used:

CERULEAN BLUE
COBALT BLUE
ULTRAMARINE BLUE
MARS RED
INDIAN RED
CADMIUM RED
BURNT SIENNA
CADMIUM YELLOW
YELLOW OCHER
GOLDEN OCHER
VIRIDIAN
OXIDE OF CHROMIUM
IVORY BLACK
LAMP BLACK

5. Use the next smallest brush to cut even more detin

patterns.

52
1. With a large brush, wet the paper on one side with 2. Wet the reverse side and press the soaking paper onto
clear water. a smooth working surface so that no air bubbles remain.

3. Use the model as an inspiration and with a large 4. With a smaller brush, cut more detailed patterns of
water-color brush make a simple over-all abstract pattern the general design. Fill the brush with a good amount of
of the subject. On the wet surface the colors will blend moist tube color directly from the palette. Should the
one with the next. paint disperse too quickly, squeeze the water from the
brush and use it as a sponge to pick up excess moisture.

6. Use a number 6 pointed water-color brush full of 7. Use the brush to continue the process of defining de-
moist paint to begin defining features, fingers, and other tail.Use fingernails to scrape out white or light linear
details. effects. Use a sponge or white paint to make alterations.

53
16

We used a large sheet of white paper, an egg.

and a bottle of India ink in this drawing. The ink
stopper was used for linear effects in black, and
fingernails for scratched line effects in white.

3. Use the point of the stopper lo describe a number of

lines.

1. Separate the while from the yolk of the egg and pour 4. Use the palm of your hand with a sweeping motion
the white onto the paper. to spread the paint into a simple flat pattern.

liiy;

2. Use the stopper to drip ink onto the egg white. Shake 5. With fingers dipped into the still wet painted surface,
the mixture around the paper. draw lines and patterns to finish the painting.

54
55
 PROJECTSI

Oil and Mixed Mediums

In the oil painting as in the water-color section of this book, quick methods of produc-
ing the finished painting arc used. This is to familiarize you with the materials and their pos-
sibilities, as well as to release inhibitions which are very restricting to abstract painting. After
completing a few paintings, you may go farther in rearranging, modifying, and finishing.
Worked-ovcr water colors usually have a "muddy" appearance, but oils can be repainted
again and again and are sometimes better for the overpainting. The addition of layers of
paint, if done correctly, gives depth and texture. In most of the following paintings we have
not used glazes, or under- or overpainting, but in practice you may find that painting trans-
parent washes of color over opaque surfaces may be desirable.
To avoid long waits for paint to dry, we used the quick-drying kind, usually flat rather
than glossy.
Many abstract paintings are large in scale. Since the cost of covering so many large sur-
faces with fine art materials would bankrupt most of us. less expensive materials are suggested
for your first attempts.
The brushes and miscellaneous applicators suggested are relatively large to force full ac-
tion in the painting approach. The liquid paints lend themselves to drip-and-run techniques,
popular at the moment.
In most cases, we limited the painting method to a single technique in each painting.
Combinations of techniques will result in an unlimited number of painting styles.

56
17

B efore she made this painting Jinx, a model, had 2. Drip and snap black paint directly from the can onto
painted nothing other than a ceihng and four walls. the canvas.

She used unsized canvas, Martin Senour liquid

colors in cans, one chisel-edged brush, and a num-
ber of sticks about the size of a pencil.
As the painting progressed, the blues ran into
the yellows, forming brilliant greens, and the reds
ran into the blues, making shades of purple.
In larger versions of paintings using this tech-
nique artists walked onto the canvas and the foot-
prints became part of the over-all pattern.
You can use sized or unsized canvas. You can
start with an over-all pattern or deep color, even
black. The thumbnail sketches here were made
with Magic Markers and India ink.

a 3.

the
With rapid swinging motion apply
same manner.
red, then yellow, in

.— J

1. Lay a couple of yards of unsized canvas on the floor

over heavy building paper. Use a stick dipped in blue

paint to flick the paint directly from a can onto the
canvas. Use a full arm motion.

4. As a change of pace, use a large water-color brush to

flick white paint onto the surface.

57
 H .

1 ' •<-

**^\'- _• ..m™ ->,.

Repeal the procedures of the first four steps until more 6. Tack the canvas onto a stretcher and nail four '/i-lnch-
nvai area is covered with paint than remains uncovered. by-2-inch strips of blaclc painted lumber to form a simple
frame.

5.
JiTT . -^^s^-^.*.
f
 ^.•a:,^
^^^^^'^^^^m^

7. Drip and flick

more paint onto
your painting.

59
18

R.luIcs and formulas when applied to painting

usually fall flat, but here is one that sometimes
helps.
Assume that all tones go from black to white.
The halftone in the scale would then be a medium
gray or about a 50-per-cent gray. In the tone scale
shown below A would be approximately an 85-
per-cent gray and Fa 15-per-cent gray.
Illustrations a and b. both roughly following
the basic tonal pattern of some well-known old
masters, are 85-per-cent gray and 15-per-cent
light. The 85-per-cent area has tones from black
to 75-per-cent gray whereas the 15-per-cent por-
tion of light has tones from white to about 20-per-
cent gray. If we carry this a bit farther and have
all the darkest darks in the light area become the
lightest lights in the dark area, we simplify the
basic design.
In illustration c. the same principle has been
used in reverse, with the 85-per-cent area light
and the 15-per-cent area dark. For emphasis, the
darkest dark
<tS
in the picture is placed near the
lightest light and we quickly have a center of inter-
est. In a portrait this would invariably be the
facial features, most likely the eyes.
The degree of brilliance of color, apparent de-
sign action, texture, and other factors will of course
affect the 85-per-cent- 15-per-cent theory, but it

still remains a good starting point and sometimes

even an adequate clue to faulty design.

60
1. Draw a series of more or less straight lines in charcoal 2. Dip black paint from the can with a large putty knife.

on canvas. You can use brush and a mixture of turpentine Apply the paint directly to the canvas. A piece of stiff
and black paint or pencil. cardboard is a good substitute for the putty knife.

3. Smear the black paint within the general outline of 4. Use a large cardboard as a trowel to define edges and

the charcoal sketch. change shapes within the black paint pattern.

5. Dip an old house-painter brush in white paint and with 6. At times some of the wet black paint will be picked
slashing strokes cover the remaining white canvas. up and, as the process of slashing with the brush con-
tinues, streaks of gray will become part of the design.

61
7. With another cardboard trowel scrape the surface to
drag the black into the white and the white into the black.
As an accent dip the cardboard edge in black and use it
to give linear effects in the over-all pattern.

62
19

2. Place %-inch masking tape over the chalk lines.

Ihis is a mechanical approach to a geometric de-

sign. This is not action painting, but rather an
exercise in tidy paint apphcation.
We've used Masonite (untempered) because
tape may be removed from it without damage to
the surface.A rigid surface of this kind has the
advantage of affording easier control of geometric
design. You can substitute tightly stretched canvas,
plywood, good illustration board, or high-quality
paper.
On this painting we used wall paint, a few scraps
of blue, yellow, and red paper, a yardstick and
chalk, a house-painter brush along with sign-
painter brushes, and masking tape. 3. Paint the surface white. Allow it to dry and apply two

Here arefew possible patterns using the tape-

a additional coats of white paint. You can apply this white
paint with a roller or a putty knife or a palette knife;
design approach.
either method lends texture to the finished painting.

1. Divide the smooth surface of the Masonite into a pat- 4. Allow the paint to dry and remove the tape.
tern of rectangles. Use chalk and a yardstick. Make a
number of designs until you have a pleasing cpmposition.

63
5. Cut a number of and red paper rectangles
blue, yellow, 6. Once you have determined by the paper experiment
the size of some of masking
the shapes outlined by the the arrangement you wish in the finished painting, fill
tape. Experiment with placement of these shapes until these areas with the chosen color paint. (This "pin-up"
vou arrive at a design that seems right to you. method is a simple way of eliminating time-consuming
painting and repainting.)

7. Allow the painted areas to dry. Paint with black the

lines leftwhen the tape was removed. If you have run
over onto these unpainted lines with the colors, the final
black lines will hide the ragged edges. A simple method
of painting a straight line is to use a straightedge and
pointed bri)*h.

64
I

65
20

In these paintings we started by pouring a good

amount of turpentine on a sheet of paper. Then
we poured a selection of colors onto this surface
and proceeded to rub it to attain a fairly even
1. On paper, wet with lurpenlinc. pour some liquid blacl
tone. and a few drops of red.

X.*^
4. On a second sheet of turpentine-soaked paper, apply a 5. With a smaller brush dipped in black and flame red
mixture of white and flame red. Paint with long, even paint a couple of stripes along one edge of the paper.
strokes until the surface is an even tone.
crub the surface with a cloth until it becomes an 3. With a screwdriver dipped in black, describe a limited
esting all-over tone. number of lines. See result at bottom of page 66.

N > ' •

"at >-^

n a third sheet of paper, moistened with turpentine, 7. Drip a thin line of white over this surface in an erratic
:a mixture of black, flame red, and white. Wipe the pattern. Drip black onto this line in a fewspots. Smear
jre off with a rag to get a blended surface. the line with your fingers for the result shown below.
21
txi ^^ t.

v^ece, the artist in this series, was given a few cans

of house paint, each with a cardboard stick.
little

Since each color had its own applicator, there was

little chance one color's being accidentally
of
mixed with the next. Cece was asked to make 1. With a cardboard stick about the length of a big
pencil, narrow at one end and wider at the other, apply
shapes she liked, in colors she liked. She took it an interesting area of muted yellow to a prepared paint-
from tiiere. ing surface. Mix (he yellow with white to cut its intensity.

4. Stand back from your painting and appraise what you 5. Oab accents of black and red next to portions you
have done so far. Turn the painting upside down and wish to make important.
look at it as a horizontal painting. Look at it in a mirror.

6.Frame the painting and

make final alterations and
improvements.
2. Paint two brilliant orange shapes, one next to the yel- 3. With a rag apply a mixture of blue, black, and white
low area and another a little distance away. around the areas already covered.

Here is a reproduction of
a painting by an adult using
the same paint, approach,
and technique.

I
 I *a.
22

Ihis is a quick method to create dramatic but

simple paintings.
The colors used were black, yellow, white, and a
tiny bit of red. Try a number of other combina-
tions. A pattern that might be considered a nega-
tive of this is interesting. Somehow this design ap-
proach calls for a large scale.

A more textural and richer effect can be ob-

tained by using a palette knife as an applicator.
Combinations of purples, blues, and blacks ap-
1. On a black-painted surface pour and paint white and
plied with paste-consistency paint, squeezed from
yellow along ihe upper border. The paint will run.
a tube and spread around with brush or knife,
give deeper, more interesting textures.
Homosote board, brushes and spoons, and
liquid house paint in cans were used.

4. Fill a brush with white paint. -'^. Spoon-pour shapes over the yellow areas.

7. Paint white shapes within the yellow shapes and add

a touch of red.
2. Turn the surface upside down. 3. Pour a spoonful of yellow-white on the top edge.

6. Brush these areas into more interesting shapes.

23

I. Cut out three paper shapes and outline them on a

painting surface. Remove them, dip a sponge in thick oil
painl. and pal with outlined areas. Replace original
shapes, pressing them into the wet paint.

2. Roll color over entire painting surface, paper shapes }. Outline patches of paper with a graded tone of black
and all. Don't be concerned with rolling a perfectly flat applied with a bit of sponge. Apply this in an irregular
pattern. pattern almost solidly at the edge of the paper shapes.
Allow it to blend into background. Peel off paper shapes.

4. Cut three small irregular holes in a sheet of paper 5. Use a roller-skate wheel as a paint roller. Dip this in
and. using holes as a friskel, pat black paint onto back- black and make irregular lines around these latest shapes.
ground as shown.

72
73
24

^IMM-M'

J~lere we have a combination of techniques. This

is permanent method; only the finest materials
a
were used. They were gesso board, powder paint, 1. Sprinkle a seleclion of powder paint onto a gesso
board and drop the yolk of an egg onto this surface.
copal varnish, fine artist's tube-oil colors, and
fresh eggs.

4. Cut into the dark sections of the design with a sharp 5. Mix some light powder paint with yolk-and-water mix-
instrument or fingernail. ture.

8. Sprinkle brightly colored transparent powder paint 9, Spread the mi.Mure over the entire painted area. This
over the varnished sections. In this instance we u.sed will be a transparent color. Make modifications with tube
golden ocher. colors.

74
 —

2. Mix another yolk with a few spoonfuls of water. 3. Dip a wide brush into this mixture and paint into the

sprinkled powder. The highly absorbent gesso board and

powder paint may require more of the yolk-and-water
mixture.

.'^I'V^'Sr-
'^ ^^^
.r^t*"'^
«
^W" ^Ji^^ ^
6. Apply to remaining uncovered areas as you would 7. Pour a mixture of 2 parts copal varnish to I part sun-
ordinary paint. Wait until this stage of the painting is thickened over the surface,
oil

—
dry about an hour or so under normal conditions
before continuing.

10. Use a palette knife as a pamt applicator and drip-

drag bright color onto this design. Continue the dripping
process and spread the paint where needed with fingers,
fingernails, and brushes.
25

Ihis project and the next two (26 and 27) rep- paper in a surface of wet paint. In the second ex-
resent collages. Although almost any two-dimen- periment (project 26) we have limited the design
sional material can be applied in collage, we have element to angular shapes painted on both sides.

limited our materials to application of paint-cov- 27) we have used black paint
In the third (project
ered paper or canvas. smeared on the reverse side of sized canvas as an
In this example we have embedded painted adhesive.

3. Press the largest white-painted shape into the neutral 4. Spread black or deep-color paint on a scrap of paper.
background and the remaining smaller shapes into the
neutral background and onto the large white shape.

'^

7. Slide these around until Ihis pattern pleases you. 8. Arrange additional shapes until you have a pattern
that pleases you.

76
 :<i

1. Cut a series of odd shapes from newspaper. Use a stiff 2. Cover the painting surface wiih a heavy application
cardboard or putty knife and smear these with white lead of thick paint. Use a trowel or any stiff cardboard as a
or any thick white paint. trowel.

5.Cut an assortment of jagged pieces from this dark- 6. Press the dark shapes into the light-colored shapes.
smeared area. Use a mat knife or a razor blade.

-inished painting
lone by the
ame method.
26

I. Cut straight-edged shapes and plaster both sides of

them with a selection of colored house paints.

2. The area used for this smearing process is the final 3. Embed the largest smeared shape of paper into the
painting surface. By the time shapes have been
the smeared surface. Slip this around until you have it in a
smeared with paint this surface will be fairly well position that you like.
plastered with a variety of color. Spread this mixture
around until it becomes a simple tone.

i^^^.^
Above: The finished painting. Below: Another painting in same techniqu
27
4. Pin a couple of the larger shapes onto a board. Ar-
range them until they appeal to you.
6. Replace them on the board in
termined by the pin-up method.
1. Cover scraps of sized canvas with painl. Use brushes,
painting knives, and your hands to get interesting textures.
5. Smear thick black paint onto the backs of these canvas
pieces.
the locations prede- 7. Continue pasting until the entire surface is covered,
or until you feel you have a painting. The black paint will
squeeze out along the edges of the bits of canvas, making
an interesting line pattern. If you need to tack the canvas
scraps to the surface, a stapler will work well.
80
2. Cut a variety of pleasing shapes from the canvas, some 3. Cut additional shapes from the scraps left. Some parts
large, some small. of the sized canvas may remain unpainted.

81
28

Another young man shown at work on the first

painting he ever made, following these instructions.

3. Use a one-inch, square-edge brush and fill a small

shape near center of canvas. Color one shape after an-
other, using more subdued color in larger areas.

1. Use a piece of flexible urethane sponge as an appli- 4. Use a sponge for the larger areas.
cator and smear paint over cardboard.

2. With crayon sketch angular design into wet surface. 5. Use fingers for detail.

82
 1

\
5. Use a brush for accents of deeper color. 7. After framing, continue painting, sharpening the edges.

83
29

/\ folding screen, painted white, was used as 1. Attach brushes to long sticks and swing an erratic pat-
We tern on the screen.
a surface. used left-over wall paint and liquid
colors in cans, sign-painter brushes, and a muffin
tin for a palette.

This is a variation of the angular-line approach

used in the previous painting. The colors chosen
were predetermined by the ultimate location of
the screen.
This method of creating a painting is useful for
a mural or stage set because it can be done by
more than one artist at a time.

2. Area by area, fill in each section.

i. In large areas use colors muted by the addition of

white, black or complementary colors: in smaller areas
use more intense colors.

84
t^'
30

I. On a neutral-toned surface of Masonite. cardboard, or

paper, make a few lines with a stick or brush to de-
termine the general direction of the ultimate design.

4. Repeat the process with a variety of tones. 5. Have no shapes parallel to the next. Crisscross them

or overlap them or connect them at angles.

86
 ^. .-^

2. Cut a number of pieces of cellulose sponge, '/z X Vi 3. Use another sponge stick, this time pressed into white
X one of these in a pool of paint deeper in
3 inches. Press or another tone lighter than the background.
tone than the background, and then press it onto this
surface. Continue this process to make an over-all pat-
tern. The edges will make minnow-like impressions.
31

Larry Griffis, the artist in this series, was presi-

dent of a nationally known company until a few

1. Make the first outline on a board in a water-thin
years ago. He found that this position limited his mixture of paint.
aims as an artist, so he resigned to give art his full

time. He has done the remarkable feat of support-

ing his wife and six children through his art efforts
ever since. He has had a number of one-man
shows and has taught and written about art. A
few months after making this painting, Larry left
with his family for a year's study and painting in
Europe.
The materials used in this painting were Mason-
ite painted with a white ground, Keystone Quick
Dispersing Shading Enamels mixed with water-
clear varnish to produce a glaze, and ox-hair oil

brushes.

2. Paint a mixture of painl and varnish in your chosen

colors within these outlines. Paint with easy strokes, al-
lowing patches of white to show through.

3. Wipe out additional sections of white with a rag.

88
4. Paint in the remaining background colors. 5. With brushfuls of black paint, direct the drips onto

these areas and continue adding color strokes and trails.

89
32

I. With a three-inch house-painter brush slash a com- 2. Use a piece of heavy cardboard to mix stronger
binalion of white, green, dark brown, and black onto the greens, blacks, and deep reds on a glass palette,
outside areas of a piece of white corrugated board.

5. Drag the sponge over sections of the remaining area

i
Keep plenty of paint on the sponge to avoid the appear-
ance of muddy, "worked over" colors.

6. Use a cardboard to apply heavy impasto technique.

90
3. Draw the cardboard palette knife in quick strokes 4. Use a cellulose sponge as an applicator and pick up
toward the center of the painting. more black, red, and white.

7. Alternate sponge and cardboard.

This was the second paint-

ing done by the young
man shown in project 28.
33

I. Use a piece of cardboard and push a pile of plaster

into a number of areas. As you pat the plaster moisture
will come to the surface and it will become softer.

"laster of Paris, mortar, or cement is often used

in combination with paint to maice heavy impasto

effects. These bases are also good for embedding
pieces of other materials for accent or interesting
texture. The plaster base can be allowed to dry and
painted later, or it can be worked on while wet,
as in this experiment.

2. Pour a metallic paint onto and around the plaster.

3. Pour black paint onto the plaster.

92
4. Embed nails into the wet plaster. Colored stones,
gravel, or bits of glass may also be used.

93
34

r aim — its tone and value, its gradationsin hue

and intensity —has a fascination and a pleasure-

giving quality. Enjoy these characteristics when , with a house-painter brush, paint about one-third of
you do the following experiment. your canvas evenly.

4. Use the big brush to blend the two different-toned 5. Use a different brush, or the same one cleaned, to
areas. paint with a dark tone or black around the outer edges.

8. If you wish, continue while the paint is still wet to 9. Blend the edges of these areas with your thumb,
paint a series of areas in a dark tone.

94
 2. To get a smooth surface with a bit of texture, drag 3. With a lighter tone of an analogous color, paint the
the brush first in one direction, then the other. remaining area.

6. Use a clean, dry brush to blend this new dark edge 7. This could be the finished painting,
carefully with the first areas. This brush will pick up the
paint of lighter areas. Wipe it on rags as you proceed.

ilO. With the back of your fingernails describe a pattern

, in the dark areas.

95
35

Ihis is a transparent method of painting in oil,

similar to methods used for transparent as op-

posed to opaque water colors. Paint was thinned
with oil and turpentine. Sure, crisp strokes were
used. The canvas was the one stretched in the I. Paint the canvas with a thin mixture of ocher and yel- (

series on pages 112 and 113. low paint and turpentine and oil.

2. Wipe the canvas until it has an even tone of color. It .*. Make sharp, quick strokes with the fine edge of a
will remain slightly damp. chisel brush. These lines were chartreuse, deep yellow-
green, and brownish green.

4. Paint two or three areas of deep brown and one of .S. While this wet. paint a series of almost black-
is still

bright green. brown and yellow lines over the last strokes, using
light
a water-color brush. Alternate deep colors and light
colors. Here a yardstick is used as a straightedge.

96
97
36

I. Stretch a very large unsized canvas to a frame and

paint it with a basic light tone as a ground. With a I'/i

inch brush in one hand and a can of Hquid white paint
in the other, slash at the canvas, bringing the brush

Ihe big painting surface is ideal for exercising directly from can to the canvas.

complete freedom and action in technique. No

matter how much time may elapse between the
actual start and finish, the work on the painting
itself is always done in a frenzy of speed and ac-
tion. The moment the artist lets up and starts to

"tickle" a section, this passage in the painting be-

comes noticeable for its "worked-over" appear-
ance. This does not mean that this much area must
be covered with paint in so many minutes. You
may, and probably will, come back again and again
to add, change, and take away sections.

4. Stand back and snap the brush onto the canvas to

slash areas of light blue, yellow, white, and black until
the canvas is full of action. This will be true in almost a
literal sense, since the paint will actually be running.

98
2. Switch to a can of black paint and another brush, and 3. Slap brilliant red onto the canvas with a smaller brush,
once again sling paint at the canvas.

5. With tubes of oil color, squeeze paint directly onto

the canvas as accents.

6. With brush, hands, the tube swing thinner lines and

splatters to bring out the larger areas.
(Continued)

99
100
7. After this stage the painting can be modified and,
sometime in the future, signed and varnished. This paint-
ing will need no frame, because the thickness of the
stretcher on which it is mounted serves to give it the
necessary effect.

101
Other Methods and Materials Three little girls were asked to pick their two
favorite colors, then to apply the paint along with
any amounts of black and white they wished.
The result was a delightful composition in bril-
liant, amazing color harmony. We all have an
Iwo favorite remarks made by first viewers of innate feeling for design and color until we are
action paintings are "I could do better with my "brainwashed" by rules and fears.
feet" and "It looks as though a child did it."

On you can't beat 'em, join "em" theory,

the "If
a small child was given a few jars of paint and a
working area, and was allowed to dance around.
The child loved it, of course, but soon started to
direct her feet and the paint. The result (shown in
the three photos below) — nothing too striking, al-
though a certain amount of apparent freedom is

evident. I doubt that many of us "could do better

with our feet."

This book has shown mainly oil and water-color

methods, but abstract painting lends itself to a
great variety of other materials. Lacquers and
casein paints have an equal number of possibilities.
Varicolored gravel, embedded in thick paint, may
be used to give interesting texture and pattern.
Broken bits of colored glass, glued or painted onto
a surface, producing striking effects. Fiberghis.
Celastic, and papier-mache can also be used in
collages with good results, and so can such old
standbys as wallpaper, bark, sand, and sandpaper.

102
 Sometimes a collage with objects of relative
thickness is pleasing, or, at the very least, startling.
Bits of wood, painted or unpainted, shavings, and
even mixtures of sawdust are occasionally used.
A shingle collage was made as follows.

An arrangement of variously shaped shingles was made It is possible to make interesting linear effects by
on a base of Masonite. pouring tar. Here is the beginning of such an experiment.

Some of the shingles were painted

Here is one of the final stages, using tar.

Tar good only as an exercise, since it never

is

dries properly and is difficult to handle. You can

get a similar effect with more permanence and less

All the shingles were tacked onto the Masonite in pre-

mess by mixing paint, sun-thickened linseed oil,
arranged locations. and turpentine to the consistency of heavy cream.

103
 Using a broom or a scrub brush to pat paint on a sur- Chisel out a design in plywood to gel a ragged effect
face will give a rather coarse stipple effect. about one layer deep. (Continue the steps shown below.)

Try laying chicken wire on a board and patting paint Rub a tone of paint over the unchiseled portions of
over it. Remove wire to leave a design in high relief. plywood.

A linoleum-paste spreader can be used to drag paint Pour paint into the low areas. Here metallic paint was
into fascinating patterns. used.

Cloth, parts of rugs, even floor tiles can be pressed into Rub the entire area again, to clean the drips around
(hick coatings of paint to make patterns. the newly painted areas.

Press paint ihroiijih .1 window screen or press a bit of

screen onto tacky paint.
Ideas For Painting

iiach artist has his personal approach to creating

paintings. This may be anything from pure inspira-
tion, a spontaneous feeling within him, to an idea
that he has carefully worked out in his mind be-
forehand. Whatever the approach may be, that is

the beginning of a painting. Even the most creative

person is sometimes devoid of ideas. For these
times, which professionals usually call "dry pe-
riods," here are a few ways to stimulate ideas.
Make some doodles in color, using Magic
Markers, pastel crayon, colored ink, or water color,
and see what designs suggest themselves for fur-
ther development.Or spatter ink, smear paint, or
arrange several small objects of different shapes,
colors, and textures and make a collage.
 If you have a magic lantern or can borrow one, project seems to lend authority. This method eliminates the more
your doodles onto a much larger flat surface. With magni- arduous task of enlarging a small sketch into a large-
fication they assume new importance; the change of scale scale experimental painting. Adjustments can be made.

Project color transparencies, holding the screen at image out of focus you will get still other effects. Make
various angles to get distorted effects. If you put the quick color notes following the design of the projection.

Even for abstract painting, the best source of inspiration is usually landscape or the human figure.

106
Selecting Parts of a Painting

lou will often observe artists appraising parts landscapes outdoors or any other real-life subject.

of paintings (usually those of other artists) by To speed up the selection process, you can make
holding up their hands and making a frame that two "L" shapes of cardboard and use these
large
sections offsome detail. This selection process is for your framing of details. The four illustrations
a good method to exercise judgment in matters of below show how a number of possible paintings
composition. Sometimes a painting in its entirety can be made from a single large one. This large
has a few poor sections, or just too many sections. drip painting (five feet square) and the paintings
By eliminating part of such a painting, you can ar- on the next four pages are part of a number made
rive at a much better finished product —and pos- to decorate a country club. They were flashy, lively
sibly more than one. The same "framing" process things with little content but lots of good accidental
is, of course, also usedwhen studying details of passages.

107
 "im^

^K
Six details from the painting at top left.

109
S^tv il.if'iilv friim th.> rt'iinlinn il tr\n tf>ft
Final example showing how a single painting
can be divided to make separate compositions.

Ill
Stretching a Canvas Woroodcn canvas stretchers come
in ready-made

sizes up to Even at five feet, they need a

five feet.

bit of bracing. Most stretchers larger than five

feet can be made simply and inexpensively with

lumber from the local mill. Study the construc-
tion of a ready-made stretcher, then cut four
|

lengths of wood to the size you want.

I. Join ends of the canvas stretcher pieces as

the
tightly asyou can. This can usually be done without the
aid of a hammer. The pieces of bought stretchers are
well machined, and when joined form a fairly accurate
square or rectangle.

4. Tack the canvas onto the center of one side of the

.\^.-,.Ai frame.

2. Checkthe right angles of the stretcher frame with a

triangle.Lay the frame on the canvas. Allow the thick-
ness of the frame all around and mark the frame to the
size needed. Here the two sides were used as a straight-
edge to scribe the canvas with a pencil.

Tack the canvas onto the center of the opposite side

.'>.

of the frame. Stretch the canvas fairly taut. This is the

easiest time to stretch it, but also the time when it needs
3. Cut the canvas to the size required. the least tightening.

112
6. Stapling or tacking the canvas from the centers toward
the corners, continue tacking, first one side, and then
the opposite until you reach the corners. The problem
here is to avoid wrinkles.

7. As you approach the corners you may find it neces-

sary to pull harder to keep the canvas evenly taut. Here
a canvas stretcher was used. Fold the final excess canvas
at the corners much like the corners of a hospital bed.

In the large painting shown on pages 96-97, a

1 X 4-inch common pine, finished on four sides,

was used. Corners were strengthened with tri-

angular pieces of Masonite. The size of the canvas
i.Small triangular pegs are furnished with the stretcher
Tame. These may now be used to tighten the canvas, as
made necessary the addition of a center brace.
.hown. The canvas will be almost as tight as a drum. Here is a working sketch of the construction.

113
114
 :

Framing and Matting By limiting your pictures to those dimensions

divisible by 2 inches when you are using water
color, you will save even the bother of having the
glass cut.
/\rt is limitation; the essence of every picture Many of the large oils do not need more than
is the frame," wrote G. K. Chesterton. At first you four strips of lath, painted and tacked on to be-
will think the expense of a good frame is high, but come a frame.
in time you will agree that money spent on proper
framing increases the value of the painting far be-
yond the immediate cost of the frame. Sometimes
the addition of a frame will lend authority to an
otherwise weak attempt.
Aside from the custom-made frame, designed
and produced by the professional, there are a
number of other methods of getting frames for
your paintings.
You can buy standard-size frames and paint
and refinish them. This is a good plan if you have
an exhibit in mind. In this case it is best to decide
beforehand on a standard number of sizes, and

then paint to fit these frame sizes. Frames bought Complete books on making frames have been
in quantity from any of the manufacturers are Frames for Your
written. Frederic Taubes' Better
relatively inexpensive. Pictures is a very fine one.
You can find old frames and re-do them by Many water colors look well just matted and
painting, scraping, and rubbing. Once in a while then shown behind glass. This is an accepted
you good buy in an old frame.
will find a method for showing water colors, pastels, and
You can design your frames to be built from drawings. There are a number of devices on the
standard cuts and designs of lumber and have a market to facilitate hanging pictures so matted.
local lumber dealer make them up. It is wise to A razor-sharp mat knife is most helpful in cut-
remember that inexpensive window glass comes in ting mats. I have used thick cane-weave building
sizes divisible by 2 inches. This glass is satisfac- board as a mat. It is easily cut with a Stanley
tory for most water colors. Oils are seldom shown knife, and it has the advantage of coming in much
behind glass. larger sheets than regular matboard. It can also
A would be to paint to standard
sensible plan be painted again and again and in the long run is

sizes so that, as you continue to paint, you have more economical. It comes under a number of
frames available for your latest creations. But trade names, but is known in the lumber trade as
i artists are impractical in such matters, and if you building board, as distinct from plasterboard or
;
follow the pattern you will not follow this sugges- hardboard.
'tion. Generally amateurs and masters paint any
I
size and then custom-frame their work and start

ion another odd shape.

I
Here is list of some standard sizes
a
8 X 10 inches 20 X 24 inches
9X12 " 22 X 28
"
" "
10X14 22 X 30
"
11X14 " 24 X 30
"
12X16 " 25 X 30
" "
14X18 24 X 36
" "
16X20 27 X 36
" "
18 X 24 30 X 40

115
Exhibiting

Once you have finished a number of paintings, you will want more than your closest
means of national and local exhibits
friends to see what vou have done. You do this by the
and one-man shows. The best approach to a first display of your work is the local show.
know the dates and requirements. Telephone the
The local art societies and artists will

local gallery and find out how to get an application blank.

116
 \

S--

ii /
ll
\

Generally, this is the procedure. You pay a fee. You send in pictures as directed, and
attach tags to them as directed. Your paintings are viewed by a jury, who either accepts or
rejects them. In either case, you lose the money. If you are accepted, you will become one of
the elite, to be invited to the opening, and usually, if you are rejected, your subsidy will en-

title to the same preferential treatment.

you
Once you are in a show, you are hooked, and will continue to submit, becoming more
and more knowledgeable, show after show. If you are accepted enough times, you may even
join the ranks of the invited. Should you be rejected, take heart, for you will still be in the

company of some of the best in the country. Don't forget that some of the best artists were
never recognized in their lifetime, one of the most notable among the moderns being Vin-
cent van Gogh. The most important piece of advice I can give is: Paint for pleasure, and let
everything else follow the natural course of events.

117
A Gallery of Abstract Paintings

vyN the following pages are reproduced a group of some of the finest examples of con-
temporary painting. Few of us will be able to approach the stature of these examples, but
in attempting to create abstract paintings of our own we will better understand and appre-
ciate the artists" efforts. The selection is of necessity limited, and in the interests of variety
of approach many great abstract painters have been omitted.
There reproductions might be said to compare to the originals much as a ten-page
synopsis of the King James version of the Bible might compare to the original manuscript.
If you would understand non-objective painting, go to the galleries, study the originals,
paint a few abstracts of your own, and return to the galleries to review the originals. You
will see more and more as you learn by doing.

Red and Blue. JOHN FERREN. (P.M.

Hall Collection. University of Nebraska.)

118
 Sea. Fish, and Constellation
(1943), MORRIS GRAVES.
(Gift of Mrs. Thomas D. Stim-
son, Seattle Art Museum.)

Liilworth. PETER LANYON.

(Gift of Seymour H. Knox,
Albright Art Gallery. Buffalo.)

Opposite:
Church Bells Rinning. Rainy
Winter Niahl. 1917. CHARLES
BURCHFIELD. (The Cleve-
land Museum of Art, gift of
Louise M. Dunn.)
 /^cV?/4 <^/

Courtesy iiini

Sea Piece — Boat Fantasy, John Marin. (Courtesy The Downtown Gallery.)

Structures. 1946. Mark Tohey. (Munson-

Williams-Proctor Institute. Utica, N.Y.)

Courtesy An Aoi
ry\
 ^ *V

Composition in White. Jean-Paul

t ^ Riopelte. t Pierre Matisse Gallery.)

Courtesy Time.

Dynasty, Kenzo Okada.

 Courtesy Time.

Red and Black, Clyfford Slill.

Exuberance, Hans Hoginan. (Albright Art Gallery.)
 ^

''/

Courtesy Time.

No. 23. Jackson Pollock. (Collec-

tion Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III.)

Mont-Joie Saint Denis. Georges

Mattilcii. (Museum of Modern Art,
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Kaye.)
 { \

Janis Gallery and Whitney Museum, New York.)

Waterfall. Arshile Gorky. (Courtesy Sidney
 WSfw-''

£/egv /o r/if Spanish Republic XXXIV. ROBERT MOTHER-

WELL. (Gift of Seymour H.Knox, Albright Art Gallery.)

129
Composition, HANS HARTUNG. (Albright Art Gallery.)

First Avenue. GEORGES

MATHIEU. (Gift of Seymour
H. Knox, Albright Art Gallery.)
3 Avril 54. PIERRE SOULAGES. (Gift of Mr.
and Mrs. Samuel M. Kootz, Albright Art Gallery.)

131
Painting (1953). JOAN MIRO. (The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.)

132
Jk^iiWJdT' .-r'

[MtXi

Odalisque. CORRADO MARCA-RELLI. (Albright Art Gallery.)

134
 W<:>;*(>^Y:)5-'*KS'

Study #3. JERRY TSUKIO

OKIMOTO. (Gift of Seymour
H. Knox, Albright Art Gallery,
Buffalo.)

New York, FRANZ KLINE.

(Albright Art Gallery.)
Collision 1956. JOHN HULTBERG. (Courtesy Martha Jackson Gallery. New York.)

IVER C. RANUM HIGH SCHOOU

DIST. #50 WESTMINSTER, COLO.
LIBRARY

136
^a&iuuiMiai