How I Did It

Step by Step: Creating a semi-abstract landscape

Commissioned Painting: 36” x 36” Acrylic on canvas, titled: Starry Night

This painting was a commissioned piece. Not my first official commissioned work but darn close to it. What made this a special project was A: the collectors were a dream - and B: Semi-abstract landscape was not something I’d explored before.

My efforts up till now were purely abstract. Having to contend with a horizon line was a challenge. Rendering Fir Trees was the other.

All modesty aside, long ago in another lifetime, I was a pretty nifty graphic designer building brands and logos for small and midsize businesses. A commissioned painting struck me as a pretty similar process to creating a logo for a client. So I adopted a similar process here.

Step 1:

I asked the clients to send pics of paintings they currently enjoy, pics of paint swatches, the fabric on a chair - anything that would give some insight into their likes and dislikes, colors, and moods that move them. They did a great job!

From the above samples and discussions with the clients, I could see an affinity for moody greens, blues, and grays with splashes of brighter color. A dusk or night-time scene seemed a possibility. And a must-have was trees. Fir trees! (more on those later).

Since both myself and the client are home here in the Pacific Northwest, there’s no shortage of dramatic scenery. But I really didn’t want this to be a case where someone said, “Oh! that’s Mount Hood!.”

My goal was less about executing some kind of faithful representation of a location or specific geography (that’s been done) but more about capturing a mood and a sense of scale that captured the clients’ vision and our locale.

Step 2:

So instead of attempting to faithfully reproduce a vista, I compiled an amalgam of various scenes in a series of sketches I shared with the clients.

Example: Sketch of proposed layout.

Step 3:

Next, I created a pastel layout in order to share some sense of color.

Pastel layout to communicate color.

Step 4:

I also included a small acrylic/pastel piece depicting a nighttime scene and a loose abstract execution of a field of flowers.

Pastel/Acrylic mockup.

Step 5:

Next, I tried something new for me in my painting endeavor - I created a rough layout of the painting on my laptop so I could play with different color combinations. This was a huge help in dialing in the balance between light and dark colors.

I like to keep the eye of the viewer moving, and taking into account the balance are shapes, lines, and shifts from dark to light can help achieve that.

Computer generated layout.

Step 6:

Next is the beginning of the final 36” x 36” painting. This project phase is not shared with the client, and for good reasons.

We artists call this; “The Ugly Phase.” For me personally, this is the gut-wrenching part. Why gut-wrenching? Because it’s a million miles away from the vision in my head! And there is NO guarantee it’s going to get there either. This is where the artist (o.k. - this artist) questions all his life choices (Why didn’t I go to Welding School).

This involved many hours of underpainting; coats of paint - while not necessarily visible to the naked eye in final piece - generate a depth of field to the eye of the viewer. It’s also an effect that makes the colors more dynamic. This final painting really does have an almost 3-Dimensional effect that’s hard to capture in a photo.

Below you’ll see an initial layer of warm gray undercoats. Then a layer of bright magenta, or blues, etc. The contours of the landscape even shift and change. The paint was applied with rollers and brushes - often in thin washes of color, layer on layer.

The sky, in particular, was a series of washes repeatedly blended. I’d spray the surface with a spray bottle and allow the paint to run downhill (gravity is our friend).

You’ll also note bottom right is the first application of “flowers” - or are they Will-O-The-Wisps?

Step 7:

Those trees! So my clients wanted trees. And if you’re painting a scene in the Pacific Northwest, that means Fir trees. In other words: Christmas trees.

Of all the struggles making this painting work - those trees were the most vexing (Vexing!!!) aspect of all for a few reasons: depicting Fir trees - that you’ve seen depicted a million times already - in a way that implied a tree without looking too literal was a challenge. In a non-literal, (semi) abstract work, you can’t have one aspect that is a realistic depiction (see below) while the rest of the piece is pure whimsy!

Thumbnail of a Fir Tree.

The other challenge was figuring out how to depict these trees in a fresh way. How to depict them, in a way that’s recognizable, but also brings a breath of fresh air to the viewer.

In the end, I took the traditional colors one might use to depict a Fir Tree - greenish blues, browns, and broke them down to the base colors I’d mix to create those colors. Example: I’d mix a magenta, yellow, phthalo blue/green to get a blue-green color.

The fronds of the trees were built with a series of glazes (think thin paint like a colored film you can see through) of these colors. Glazes and how they trick the eye into seeing the colors mixed together is a big topic for another day. Here I was going for a deconstructed look - and in the end I think it really worked out!

Closeup: Glorious Fir Trees!

Like I do with every piece, I placed a final isolation coating over the entire painting. Then I applied a removable varnish layer if the painting needed to be cleaned.

Next, I built an edge frame out of Alder, stained it black, and applied a layer of satin polyurethane coating. Next, I installed hanging, hardware, a sticker on the back with dimensions, completion date, and a letter of authenticity.

I am happy to report the clients were very pleased (phew!), and here is the final painting living in it’s new home:

Happy painting. Happy Home.

And that’s that! It was a great process, and I learned a lot and stretched into some new areas. And I no longer fear Fir trees (thanks, Amy!). In fact, I’m thinking of Christmas cards!

I really feel confident about my ability to complete commissioned work now. I think the above steps help to suss out the client’s wishes and still leave plenty of room for artistic interpretation.

For clients, it’s important to not hold the reigns too tightly - as a team, the client - allowing the artist to wander in the wilderness - creatively is often where the magic is found.

The above process isn’t carved in stone. But from a clients’ perspective, there can be some anxiousness. If nothing else, by attempting to help them clarify their vision to the artist it also (I hope) helps the client feel more secure in their own desires. It allows for there to still be room to be surprised and delighted but not blindsided. Unless they like that kinda thing!

If you know of anyone who might be interested in a commissioned work of their own please ask them to reach out to me.

Also, Mother’s Day is coming up. I bet mom would really love an original work of art - those can be found here.

Cheers!

Garrick