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Larry Moore

Becoming A Better Realist Painter Through Abstraction

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Did you know that OPA has been sharing artists’ blog posts for over ten years?  We have an extensive collection available to the public on our website. This summer, OPA will be taking Deep Dives into our archives and sharing our favorite posts from years past. Please enjoy this Deep Dive by Larry Moore.

Family of Man by Larry Moore
48″ x 60″ – Oil on wood
The lessons I learn from abstract painting come into my representational work and vice versa. Hierarchy, eye flow, juxtaposition, edge, mark making, color and shape resonance, and variation, all apply to both methods of expression.

I have heard it said by more than a few realist artists that they have no connection to abstract art. It is not their thing, they do not get it, it is not real art, etc. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I believe that some of these artists are missing out on addressing a key component of individuality in painting: Trust. I teach abstract painting for this very reason.

The goal is not to convert realist painters into abstract ones, but to help artists think about what paint can do if they let it by employing dynamic symmetry, hierarchy, division of space, edge, paint handling and color relationships without basing it on a known source. Painting abstractly has helped my realist work grow in leaps and bounds. And to date, after 25 plus years of teaching, no one has jumped ship from their existing path, they expand their visual language and take the lessons to fold back into their process. 

Audubon Park by Larry Moore
48” x 36” – Oil on wood
My process starts with the abstract and then I figure out what and where the animals go. It’s the same as establishing a figure on the canvas and painting around it, just in reverse.

To build trust in one’s own process is to enable the unique voice of the artist. This voice is comprised of some combination of the key characteristics of painting: intent, drawing, value, color, edge, paint handling, mark making, composition, line, narrative and about 10 other devices in the painter’s tool kit. That is why there are so many wings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art — lots of unique voices in art equal lots of wings at the museums. And who do we go see when visiting such places? Those artists who exhibit that trust, that faith in their own vision, the pioneers, the masters of hand and medium. We seek those who are empowered by authenticity. 

I mean, let’s face it, if everyone painted the exact same way, it would be pretty dang boring.

Buffalo Spring Field by Larry Moore
40” x 40” – Oil on wood
In the past my work involved a lot of planning in the form of sketches and studies. Now I have no idea where they will go or even which animals I’ll be using, of if I’ll be using any at all. It makes each day exciting and I look forward to seeing what shows up.

The key to building trust is to venture out past the comfortable known areas of process and concept and hang out on the thin branches for a while. You would think it would be easy for artists to do this. What is the worst that could happen? But, surprisingly, it is not easy. The realist regimen incorporates a series of control measures to ensure a fair amount of accuracy: get your drawing right, get your values right, put something on the thirds cross-hairs, mix the paints just so… all to beautiful effect. Control on the front end.

Abstract painting is that process, only backwards. The control is on the back end. Which means higher risk and higher failure rates, and that can be uncomfortable. But the process of doing, even on a small scale, teaches an enormous amount about what paint can do independent of subject or content in a painting. This can be part of a healthy aesthetic training program, sort of like taking a day to do Argentine Tango if you are more of a Viennese waltz kind of a person. 

Past and Present by Larry Moore
40” x 40” – Oil on wood
These are part of a series I’ve been working on for the last 6 years called Intrusion. Originally the series had an animal or animals in a place, usually an interior, where they didn’t belong. Now the intrusion is in the form of realism in abstraction. 

I could rattle off a ton of realist deities whose work dances with the abstract: N. Fechin, C. Anderson, J. Sorolla, C. Monet, J. Twachtman, E.C. Fortune, G. Klimt, E. Dickenson, T. H. Benton, T. Thompson, B. Dugarzhapov and so on. If you put realist painting on the same spectrum as abstract painting, some of these artists are just a little closer to one end than the other. 

So, what is to be gained from this kind of exploration?

• You get unstuck in a hurry.
• You get more paint handling ideas.
• You get a better understanding of what the components of painting can do.
• You get more adventurous compositional ideas.
• Your creative thinking skills get a workout.
• Your critical thinking skills get a workout.
• Your significant other will find you more attractive.
• You will loosen up just a little bit.
• Your back won’t hurt as much.

You may not experience all of those, but I promise at least a few will happen. 

Flamingo Mambo by Larry Moore
40” x 40” oil on wood
These just make me happy

Let’s say that you are at least moderately intrigued. What next? How does one do this kind of playful study? The doing it part is pretty easy, it is the brain that you have to deal with. There are several secrets to getting your brain to go along with the plan. We are creatures of habit and change is not always easy.

• Give yourself permission to play.
• Spend a few hours making shapes on canvas with a brush and one color. Make compositional shape ideas.
• Change your approach. Change your materials, your brushes, tape canvases into quarters to disable the perfectionist feature.
• Work out from a reference source (see ink and wash sketches), put the reference source away and paint from the sketches. Repeat.
• Mix up some large piles of color that you love and just start moving it around. Come back in an hour or two and work on refining the paint into interesting compositions.
• Hide them away for a while. Be like Dr. Frankenstein and keep your creations in the cellar.

If you ever feel a little stuck or bored with yourself, this is as good a cure as I have found. And don’t worry, you will not suddenly start wearing a rainbow wig or anything weird. Trust me, you will learn something new about yourself, and may even grow as an artist.

New in Town by Larry Moore
48” x 48”- Oil on canvas
Occasionally the backgrounds are more representational than abstract for a reason. We’ve now been invaded by coyotes here in Charleston, SC and this piece is in reference to that.

The Necessity of Story

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The Last Train – by Larry Moore
48″x60″ – Oil on wood

I’ve spent a good bit of time breaking down the components of painting in order to become more thoughtful about my work and to help others do the same. To my way of thinking, the intent of the work is the number one consideration in any creative endeavor with the narrative/story next in importance. Yes, drawing, color, shape and all of the aspects of craft are critical for the realist painter but once that skill set is acquired, what do you do with it?
Every song has a narrative, every movie a storyline, every poem a scenario, each novel a plot, every song an emotion, and every picture tells a story. Why should a painting be any different?  The intangible thing that separates the greats from the pretty-goods is rooted in a deep pool of ethos that is mixed into every puddle of color and imbued in every movement of the brush. It’s the foundational idea of a piece that sets the tone for a poignant outcome.
You may be thinking that I’m referring to the Golden era illustrators or the cowboy and Indian paintings that fill every gallery in the west. I’m not, but that’s as good a place to start as any. A quick Google search of “golden era illustration” will give you a balcony seat view of some of the greatest storytellers of the last century; Mead Schaeffer, Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Dean Cornwell, Jessie Willcox Smith, the list is incredibly long. This, one of the most prolific movements in the narrative arts, housed the masters of story, design, style, and ability.
Reservoir
Reservoir by Larry Moore
30″x30″ – Oil on canvas

One of the tricks (beyond a brilliant design) to creating a powerful narrative in a painting is to think like a movie director. After all, a painting is a single-frame movie that speaks to a moment in time, but the outstanding ones hint at the preceding events and those that are yet to come. If you incorporate a figure or figures in your work, you should know them as a writer knows his/her characters. What are they thinking? What is their backstory? Why are they there? What do their expressions, posture, and the placement of the hands, say about them?
Go through a top 100 movie frame by frame, Citizen Kane or The Grand Budapest Hotel come to mind, and look at the construction of each scene. What symbolism does it hold? How is it designed? What are they up to and what’s coming next? That’ll fill your noggin with some new ideas.
I appreciate the skill in a great portrait or a well-executed nude but I, as a viewer, want more. If you’re going to paint a beautiful female nude languishing on a sun-drenched bed, put an easter egg in there to give the discerning eye something to think about, something that hints of events beyond the boundaries of the frame. The viewer wants to be included, let them fill in some of the script. Think like a writer, give them enough but leave room for the imagination. Tap into your inner recesses and tell your story.
Ys by Larry Moore
48″x48″ – Oil on wood

A painting doesn’t have to contain pirates or a well-heeled couple in high society to communicate a message. Even a simple still life should hint at a plot line. Who put the stuff on the table? What are the flowers feeling? What’s the relationship between the asparagus and the knife and who drank half the beer placed at a calculated distance from that nibbled on bread? The space between objects is like a pregnant pause in a conversation. It helps to create a compelling plot even if the characters in the play are just vegetables and dinnerware. Assign human characteristics to every piece in your static production. Use your friends and family as a reference for a more compelling dysfunctional still life.
If it’s a landscape, there’s always a story to tell. What is it about this place that you are painting that is important? Who lived there? Or died there? What would a pioneer have felt having seen this place for the first time? What would Thoreau say about this land? How does it feel on your skin? What memory does it spark? What is the message you want to convey about that bustling street scene? Even if it just stays in your head while you are painting, it may not be readily evident, but the lookers-on will feel it.
Untitled by Larry Moore
48″x60″ – Oil on wood

So, how does it make you feel? If you took 15 minutes before you ever lay brush to the surface to write about your sense of place you’d have a deeper understanding of what you are saying to the viewer because you have defined it for yourself. Your palette, your brushwork, drawing, design, and style all go to the story. Every mark and movement should be in support of the plot line.
Included are a few of my own pieces to show how I weave the narrative into a body of work. It took me a while to find it. The broad theme is that of environmental concern, but each piece has its own sub-plot. Sometimes the story is written before I begin and other times it unfolds as I go. I’ve come to view this series as stories that I tell myself. If other people get them, all the better. More often than not they make up their own. But, at least, I am telling my story.

Becoming A Better Realist Painter Through Abstraction

· · Leave a Comment

I’ve heard it said by more than a few realist artists that they have no connection to abstract art. It’s not their thing, they don’t get it, it’s not real art, etc. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I believe that some of these artists are missing out on addressing a key component of individuality in painting; trust. I teach abstract painting for this very reason.
The goal is not to convert realist painters into abstract ones but to help the artists think about what paint can do if you let it by employing dynamic symmetry, hierarchy, division of space, edge, paint handling and color relationships without basing it on a source. Painting abstractly has helped my realist work grow in leaps and bounds. And to date, after 25 plus years of teaching, no one has jumped ship from their existing path, they expand their visual language and take the lessons to fold back into their process.
To build trust in one’s own process is to enable the unique voice of the artist. This voice is comprised of some combination of the key characteristics of painting; intent, drawing, value, color, edge, paint handling, mark making, composition, line, narrative and about 10 other devices in the painter’s tool kit. It’s why there are so many wings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Lots of unique voices in art equal lots of wings in lots of museums. And who do we go to see when visiting such places? Those artists who exhibit that trust, that faith in their own vision, the pioneers, the masters of hand and medium. We seek those who are empowered by authenticity.
I mean, let’s face it, if everyone painted the exact same way, it’d be pretty dang boring.
Key to trust building is to venture out past the comfortable known areas of process and concept and hang out on the thin branches for a while. You’d think it would be easy for artists to do this, because what’s the worst that could happen? But, surprisingly, it’s not. The realist regimen incorporates a series of control measures to ensure a fair amount of accuracy: Get your drawing right, get your values right, put something on the thirds cross-hairs, mix the paints just so… all to beautiful effect. Control on the front end.
Abstract painting is that only backwards, the control is on the back end. Which means higher risk and higher failure rates and that can be uncomfortable. But the process of doing, even on a small scale, teaches an enormous amount about what paint can do independent of subject or content in a painting. As part of a healthy aesthetic training program, it’s sort of like taking a day to do Argentine Tango if you are more of a Viennese waltz kind of a person.
I could rattle off a ton of realist deities whose work dances with the abstract: N. Fechin, C. Anderson, J. Sorolla, C. Monet, J. Twachtman, E.C. Fortune, G. Klimt, E. Dickenson, T. H. Benton, T. Thompson, B. Dugarzhapov and so on. If you put realist painting on the same spectrum as abstract painting, some of these artists are just a little closer to one end than the other.
So, what’s to be gained from this kind of exploration?
• It gets you unstuck in a hurry.
• Enhances creative thinking skills.
• Enhances critical thinking skills.
• More paint handling ideas.
• A better understanding of what the components of painting can do.
• More adventurous compositional ideas.
• Your significant other will find you more attractive.
• You will loosen up just a little bit.
• Your back won’t hurt as much.
Don’t hold me to all of those but at least a few will happen.
Let’s say that you are at least moderately intrigued. What next? How does one do this kind of playful study? The doing it part is pretty easy, it’s the brain part that you have to deal with. There are several secrets to getting your brain to go along with the plan because we are creatures of habit and change is not always easy.
• Give yourself permission to play.
• Spend a few hours making shapes on canvas with a brush and one color. Make compositional shape ideas.
• Change your approach. Change your materials, your brushes, tape canvases into quarters to disable the perfectionist feature.
• Work out from a reference source (see ink and wash sketches), put the reference source away and paint from the sketches. Repeat.
• Mix up some large piles of color that you love and just start moving it around. Come back in an hour or two and work on refining the paint into interesting compositions.
• Hide them away for a while. Just be like Dr. Frankenstein and keep your creations in the cellar.
If you ever feel a little stuck or bored with yourself, this is as good a cure as I’ve found. And don’t worry, you won’t suddenly start wearing a rainbow wig or anything weird. But, trust me, you will learn something new about yourself. If you want to know more about really digging deeper, I can recommend a darn good book.
About Larry Moore
Artist, author, instructor, illustrator.
Larry has been a college and workshop instructor for nearly 30 years. From winning a Gold Medal at the Society of Illustrators in New York, to winning Best of Show in national plein air invitationals, inclusion in Society of Illustrators annuals, and Communication Arts design and illustration annuals, he’s employed and refined the essential creative process you’ll read about in his book on creative thinking, Fishing for Elephants. Insights and exercises to develop authentic creativity. Available on Amazon.com.