Finding Form Through Colour
This piece is about what happens when you let a painting tell you what it wants to be. Blue Skull began without a plan — just paint on paper and the willingness to follow where the marks led. The central form emerged somewhere between a skull and something else entirely. I didn’t set out to paint death or mortality. What I found instead was a study in how colour can shift mood, how a dark circle can become an anchor point for everything around it.
Layering & Texture
The surface of this mixed media abstract on paper shows its history. I built up layers of acrylic, letting some dry completely before adding more. In other areas, I worked wet-into-wet, allowing colours to bleed together. The brown scratchy marks you see were added last — drawn directly into wet paint with the back of a brush. This acrylic layering technique creates depth you can only see up close. The heavyweight paper held up well to all this manipulation, though it did warp slightly in places where I applied paint thickly.
Context
Blue Skull belongs to my Paper series, where I explore what this surface allows that canvas doesn’t. Paper feels more immediate, less precious. I can work faster, take more risks. You can see that energy here in the loose marks and unexpected colour combinations. [Link to series page: https://adriart.ca/category/paper] This series has become a space for experimentation that feeds back into my larger canvas work.
Colour as Problem-Solving
The green wasn’t planned. I had too much blue-grey in the background and needed warmth to push back against it. Green became the answer — bright enough to vibrate against the muted tones, but not so saturated that it took over. The red areas at top and bottom frame the composition, creating visual weight that balances the dark centre. These weren’t symbolic choices. They were practical decisions made while standing in front of the easel, asking what the painting needed next. This is contemporary abstract painting process in real time — solving problems with colour rather than planning them in advance.
Edges & Boundaries
Where the green forms meet the blue-grey background, you’ll see both hard and soft edges. Some were painted with a brush, others scraped back with a palette knife. The central skull shape has a defined outline that separates it from everything around it. But look closer — that outline isn’t consistent. It breaks in places, allowing the background to push through. These boundaries between forms create the rhythm of the piece. Nothing is completely isolated. Everything connects, even when it appears separate. Read about the artist, Adrienne Fonda’s and her Bio.
