CONCENTRIC STRATEGY

#1420 (Concentric Strategy), 36" x 36", Ink and watercolor suspended in polyvinyl resin glue on wood panel. SOLD

#1419 (Concentric Strategy), 24" x 24". At FRESH PAINT ART, Culver City, CA.

Analogous hue groups of varying cell sizes orbit a central point.

RADIAL/CONCENTRIC HYBRID

#1418, 24" x 24", Ink and watercolor suspended in polyvinyl resin glue on cradled wood panel

In a variation of the Radial Strategy, a circular pattern of cells is added for the first time.
Though it appears simple, creating a template for a circular arrangement of evenly-spaced cells was an unanticipated geometrical challenge in the planning stage.
Once mastered, it begged to be expanded - - but that's a story for next time....

NEXT:  The Concentric Strategy (Grand Finale, Season 2014)

RADIALS

#1412 (Radial Strategy 1), 36" x 36", Ink and watercolor suspended in polyvinyl resin glue on cradled wood panel. At FRESH PAINT ART, Culver City, CA. - SOLD

This strategy synthesizes variable scale and symmetry into a new approach that emphasizes dramatic stepping from center to periphery.

Various color criteria are explored within each format.

The theme of expansion is finally given play in the arrangement of cells itself, with microcosmic suggestions of molecular structure and macrocosmic suggestions of "Big Bang" cosmology.

.....And within this effusive pattern, a reminder of the joy of existence.

Radical new possibilities are opening up.

(Above) #1414 (Warm Radial), 36" x 36". At Michael Warren Contemporary, Denver, CO.

(Above) #1417 (Cool Radial), 36" x 36". - SOLD

Please click on images to enlarge.

SYMMETRIC VARIABLES

Arranging the variable grid (see previous post) in a symmetrical structure gives prominence to the larger expansion events and creates a hierarchy of of emphasis, with a kind of rippling echo effect from the center out.

Overall, this can be seen as something of a return to a more predictable grid, but with an important difference - it allows the "shepherding" of the viewer's attention along individual rows of cells.
Groups are now functioning as vertical columns, with hues changing gradually as they move up and down.

It also suggests the idea that a glue painting can have a "center". which presents a whole new realm of possibilities for inspiration....

NEXT: "Radials"

Please click on images to enlarge.

THE VARIABLE GRID

William Loveless, #1405, Ink and watercolor suspended in polyvinyl resin glue on cradled wood panel, 24"h x 36"w.

Early in the 2014 season, with new formulas identified, I begin work on the grid design itself.

For many seasons now, I've had a vague desire to diversify the grid format somehow - to allow more flexibility and make it more visually dynamic while retaining its research integrity.

I found that by dividing the format into alternating zones of measurement I could create a kind of visual counterpoint of scale, an optical analogue of musical counterpoint.

Expansion events could now be large, medium, and small and spaced accordingly - a more "punctuated" approach - - and a complex design challenge in itself -  a kind of puzzle in which all parts must fit and balance.

 William Loveless, #1404, Ink and watercolor suspended in polyvinyl resin glue on cradled wood pane, 12"h x 46"w. Painting at top (#1405) is SOLD.

As of this writing, these paintings are available through Fresh Paint Art, Culver City, CA. Painting at top (#1405) is SOLD.

Click on images to enlarge. 

EXTINCT FORMULAS

Formulas which are no longer active, having mysteriously ceased to function.

New color media will be tested and new formulas discovered and the old will give way to the new. It's the nature of research.

Glue paintings are a permanent record of these phenomena.

FRESH POSSIBILITIES - WET TESTS 2014

Wet tests, 2014

The season begins with new color tests. Once the properties of new colors are known, they can be combined with others to create an endless variety of new formulas. Fresh possibilities are pictured here, still in their wet state and in the process of expanding. Hundreds of tests like these will be made.

Their value to future research will be determined after they dry; but while in the process of becoming, anything seems possible.

I observe with anticipation and no small sense of wonder.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

WL, June 2014