In painting an abstract or non-objective painting, I take a similar approach of free improvisation that I use in my poetry and music. I often have not specific idea of what I am going to paint but may use a chance splash of paint on the surface of the board or canvas I am working on to begin with. That splash has many properties, such as color, texture, shape, edges, which start the conversation. I may pay attention to one quality or several at once. Each property suggests alternative responses. With any one I could go off in different directions. But I chose one that looks promising and respond to that. Together these two responses lend to an exponential series of choices. Then the considerations of asymmetrical balances begin. A dark color needs to balance a light area. Textures may contrast with smooth areas. Shape considerations may imply other shape responses in figure/ground relationships.
In painting the Color Cliff above, I was mainly focusing on texture and color. I was trying to develop as many interesting textures as I could to create contrast. Acrylic paint offers many possibilities for texture. Moreover, I was trying to get a variety of shades in the many colors and find contrasts to them. Also I was interested in developing a variety of shapes and sizes of shapes. Random lines also added textural interest.
After I get into a painting I step back and assess it from a different perspective. I do close ups then backups many times during a painting. Stepping back and looking at the work from a distance is an important part of the work. I spend as much time looking and examining the ongoing work. I may turn the paint around 90, 180, and 270 degrees to see if the configuration is better in one direction than another. Often I run into an aesthetic problem. I may as the late watercolor teacher, Edgar Whitney, would say, “What is it too?,” that is, too dark, too light, too busy, too boring, etc.
That is where the fun and the challenge begin. The creative/aesthetic problem is really the beginning of the painting and solving those problems are what interests me. In the Color Cliff painting, it was not working until I realized I had too much texture and I needed a place of calm in the painting. I did not set out to paint a rock formation painting. But when I realized the need for calm, the idea of a flat soft blue that would contrast with all the texture might work, and the aesthetic problem was solved. AHA.