Here is a painting that I’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks based on the Theory of Forms and Ideas Gouache Painting #18. Late last year I was asked to be part of an art organization that sells, commissions and rents out art work. There has been particular interest in the gouache paintings and was asked if I would consider making them bigger which I hesitatingly agreed to. I generally do not like to pollute the creative process with other peoples ideas but I find it necessary to explore other ways of making money besides handling art for museums. The original gouaches have a quality that is particular to both their size and the paper that they are made on and the thought of enlarging them ruins what was so nice about them. I decided to take the bull by the horns and make an example that employs the same techniques that I used to make Burning From the Inside and From Safety To Where…?.
I started by using one of the canvases that I had prepared for the last series that I had been working on that included Valis and Tone Float. I sketched the original plan onto the canvas and then painted the black areas using acrylic latex as a base color. Then I painted over the black acrylic latex with black non-acryla gouache and used FLP acrylic latex white for the back ground. I painted both the black and the white areas 3 times and also blended the edges to create a blurry and unfocused grey transitional space between the black and white areas.
I have to say I’m not super happy with the results and I don’t think that I’ll make any more until I hear something further about a commission.
Brian Higbee 