Here are some photos of the possibly complete, indigo blue 24"x48" ikat painting.

The painting can be hung this way as well:

Here are close up photos to show the textures:

 

The sides are a glossy black:

A chevron knife painting in progress

This is a multi-step painting that includes: 1.) making a stencil from scratch and, because it is a pair of paintings, a second, inverted stencil, 2.) knife painting in ombré gradation, and finally 3.) brush painting.

Here is a look at the finished gray and yellow piece:



Here is a close-up view under warm lighting:
















Some close-up views under cool lighting:

Originally, I used a dark umber for the blue and brown painting (as shows in the first painting below.) The photos show two alternate ways of hanging the piece so the designs align (although they could also hang separately instead.):

I changed the brown to lighten it a medium value and glazed over the lighter blues to deepen them slightly and to match the variegated look in the yellow piece:

 

This is how the pictures look next to each other now.  This photo best captures the current brown and current blues.

The next steps will be:
1. Choose whether to keep the brown as is.
2. Find out whether any of the knife painted colors need to be altered (this is still possible with tape and a second layer of knife painting.
3. Choose edge colors. Currently, the brown has a dark brown edge and the gray has a gray edge, but both could be painted black.

Here is another piece I did recently in the same style, but with a slightly altered composition and lighter blues:

A work-in-progress, Ikat abstract brush painting

Take a look "behind the scenes" at the layered abstract process. 

Abstracts are sometimes misrepresented as "simple" or "easier" than realism when they actually can be quite intricate. Hopefully, a look at the way these paintings are made can dispel such notions. 

I wrote this post to show some photos of a work-in-progress, Ikat abstract brush painting in a deep, indigo blue. 

The current commission is a larger variation based this finished, blue and white ikat original

Here are the process photos for the new, 2ft x 4ft variation:

These first, white photos show the texturing of the surface, before any paint is added.

The next step is a light glaze, with expressive, gestural brushstrokes that begin to structure to the piece.

 

The piece will eventually be hung horizontally, but for these first strokes, I can get better control by turning the painting to be four feet tall. Luckily, that pneumatic drafting chair pictured can adjust to quite a height, so it is possible to reach the top of the piece while still sitting.

 The second and third glazes continue to deepen the values. Opaque layers are also added at this point

Now, for some thick, textured brushstrokes and knife strokes. I love how the painting looks at this stage. In the future, I plan on doing another painting that stops at this stage with it's energy and drama, but, to make this piece a soft ikat as promised, I need to keep layering on top of this particular painting.

 This is how the whole piece looks when the darkest, translucent glazes are added. Texture hides beneath the color at this point and needs to be brought back out again.

The following four images are all closeups of the painting as it stands now, with white drybrushing over those darkest areas. There is still a week's worth of refining to go, adding lightness back into the picture by using soft, wide brushes that delicately graze the surface to make soft, subtle transitions from the lightest white areas.

I'll be sure to post a picture of the finished work soon. :)

Variations on my Emerald Abstract Painting

Instead of making exact, painted copies of artworks, I now am making variations on them, in order to create a series of original, yet related paintings.

Here are two variations I made recently. Each one is 24"X36"X3/4" on cotton stretched canvas:

(All images in this blog post:  Copywright 2013 Kirsten E. Gilmore. All rights reserved.)

Variation 1:

Here are close-up details of Variation 1:

This is one of my favorite parts. It reminds me of a tree-lined  mountainous landscape.

This image captures some of the painting's intense blue passages.

Variation 2:

This is the painting as a whole.

This shows the semi-gloss sheen to the piece that picks up the light and reveals more of the saturated colors within.

 Here are close-up details of Variation 2:

In stronger light, you can see more of the colors within. this area

3/4" profile sides are painted black, so there is no need for a frame.