Blog

I was having trouble deciding what to write about this month, so I put out a plea to my Instagram followers and they didn't disappoint! One of the suggestions was "backgrounds."

What is a background?

I googled "backgrounds in art" and found this great definition:

• "The background is the space in a piece of artwork that functions as a means to support and enhance [emphasis added] the main subject matter of the piece. It surrounds the objects in the piece and may include actual objects and people, or simply be empty negative space."*

I selected a few paintings of mine to illustrate the various ways I make decisions regarding backgrounds. In future writings I'll go into more detail with each method.

Waiting

The background in Waiting was painted intuitively, working back and forth between the subject and the surrounding areas.

Uphill Climber

In Uphill Climber, the entire composition was planned from the start, with a complete drawing including the background shadows.

From Above

From Above began with an underpainting.

The white of the paper is also acceptable as a background!

"Backgrounds should not be painted as an afterthought... When creating a painting, don't paint the entire subject and then think about what to do with the background. It will look like an afterthought because that is exactly what it is." ~Bev Jozwiak, Painting Life With Life

 

Paint. Love. Repeat.

 

*Backgrounds in art