Compose two styles
Rather than blending two styles into a middle, this assigns them roles: one carries the structure, the other appears as an accent. Where the two fight, it says so before you start.
How to divide the work
- Composition
- Follow Abstract Expressionism: Refuse a center and carry stroke density to every edge
- Type
- Set in Abstract Expressionism's manner (Keep words to a few and place them clear of the paint), and let Color Field Painting's lettering (Set type small at the margin so the field stays unbroken) appear only where you want the eye to catch.
- Material
- Ground in Abstract Expressionism's material (Thick paint and poured washes on a large support, drips left visible); bring in exactly one thing from Color Field Painting (Thinned paint soaked into cloth so no edge ever hardens).
- Colour
- Build on #ddd4c5, #8d5541, #252221 and admit one accent from #d87963, #7e596d, #2b2938.
Where they fight
These two are already listed as related, so the join should come easily.
Caution
- Abstract Expressionism Scattering energetic strokes as decoration skips each artist's method, the postwar politics and the tie between scale and body, and with neither density nor a record of decisions it reads as a dirty backdrop.
- Color Field Painting Do not settle for a gradient background. Design how area, adjacent color, edge and viewing distance change the feeling, because big color at small scale never envelops and ends as a swatch.
Image prompt
An original image that takes its structure from Abstract Expressionism (Style, 1940s–1950s) and its accent from Color Field Painting (Style, late 1940s–1960s). Structural cues: Vast canvases; Bodily brushwork; All-over composition; Drips and stains. Accent cues, used sparingly: Vast color fields; Soaked contours; Few forms; Immersive scale. Composition: Refuse a center and carry stroke density to every edge. Type and lettering: Keep words to a few and place them clear of the paint. Let one material quality come from the second style: Thinned paint soaked into cloth so no edge ever hardens. Mood: Exhilaration, Rebellion, Calm, Luxury. Color: build on #ddd4c5, #8d5541, #252221 with a single accent drawn from #d87963, #7e596d, #2b2938. Constraints: do not imitate, reference or name any specific artist, studio, brand, character or copyrighted work. Produce an original composition in the general period languages described above.
Related entries
- Abstract Expressionism 1940s–1950s / Style / Postwar American Art
On huge canvases, with bodily strokes, drips, stains and broad fields of color, what stays on the surface is the act of painting and strong inner feeling rather than a depicted subject.
- Color Field Painting late 1940s–1960s / Style / Postwar Abstract Painting
Large continuous fields, soaked edges and few forms build a space of color that fills the entire surface and asks to be looked at for a long time.
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