Composition and movement in abstract and figurative painting

The artist\u27s early work was executed rapidly with heavily defined charcoal lines. At that time, subject matter, usually figurative, was placed in situations which stressed the overall composition and design elements of the painting. The artist worked from dark base then to tighter value of the same color, not allowing the paint to build up. The brush was kept dry and only one color at a time was used. There was no mixing of the paint on the canvas, and the dry brush allowed the darker base color to sparkle through. The artist\u27s work then shifted attention to surface form and more thought was given to detail. Old techniques then reappeared adding greater variety of color, texture and form. The human figure dominates the work because of the endless variations which the form could assume. Figures are most generally only shown from the waist up. This Is alt of the human form desired at this time. The variation of skin tone, hair, beard, and the clothing which was possible kept the subject matter mostly figurative through most of the graduate study. It was then felt the need for change and a series of abstracts was started. By abstracting the painting, the artist found forms of color contrasts besides the heavy tine. As a result of experimentation with various media and learning done in the abstract series, discovery areas of transparencies that suggested jewel-like areas of color. The composition and movement again became the stressed objectives, but without the figure to support the subject matter it was found that often a painting was successful solely because the subject matter was identifiable. Working with no subject, just areas and forms of color, composition and visual passages became much more of a mental challenge as how to handle the problems found in the abstracts. This thesis Is only reflective of where my painting has been and some of the things discovered through my wor