Episode 156: The Layering Mistake That's Making Your Abstract Art Look Flat (And How to Fix It)
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Why does Jodie recommend in‑person workshops for abstract painters?
Artists will spend hundreds of dollars on supplies that they may never use, but they'll hesitate to do the one thing that could actually transform their work, which is taking a workshop. Yeah, you can watch lots of tutorials online, but you can't raise your hand and get real-time feedback or feel the energy of the room with the other artist or have someone help you break through that one thing that's keeping your work stuck that you might not even need. No. So that's the magic of an in-person workshop. And I just released seats to my next workshops. They sell out very quickly. I would love to meet you and help you transform your work. You can find out more at the link in the show notes. Welcome back to the Unestart Podcast.
I'm your host, Jodine King. And if you are an abstract artist who is really loving layering your work, this is gonna be a great podcast for you because we're gonna talk about some um incredible artists that we can inspire, get inspired by with what they have done. And uh we can talk about how they've done it so that we can incorporate this into our work. Now One um caveat that I want to say is that I know I might be just speaking for myself, but sometimes layering is um an act of sometimes panic. Like we don't know what else to do with our work, so we just throw a layer of paint on it and That's kind of not what we're talking about because that when I do that sort of thing, basically what I'm doing is I'm kind of suffocating the layer that was underneath it.
And so we're gonna get out of that. We're gonna get out of suffocating our paintings or just killing the entire painting underneath it. We're gonna get out of that today. We're gonna talk about ways to layer our work that actually elevates it. So if you're ready, let's get messy.
Alright, so let's get into it.
How did Gerhard Richter use scraping and trowels to reveal hidden layers?
I was thinking it would be super fun to uh look at how great artists layer their work. And so um the first one we're gonna talk about is basically kind of how we can deconstruct the work and to elevate it. And I can't think of any artist um that whose work uh resonates with this, uh, other than our Gerard Richter. And I hope I'm saying that I hope I was saying every artist, um, correctly, but um there's no guarantees. Okay, so uh this is if you're not familiar with Gerard Richter's work, we're gonna place it on the screen. Um if you're looking at me, I'm holding it up, but oh my goodness, um I had the great honor of seeing this exact piece uh in New York City years ago. And it just it absolutely kept me captivated.
Now one of the things I I want to point out that makes um this layering work so well Is that that he Gerard was using or sh can I should I say Mr. Richter? Well just anyway, I don't think he cares. But anyway, uh he was using these layers in a way that he could play off of each other. So he wasn't completely obscuring the layer underneath it. He was using it to build on. So he did that through methods of of scraping. Um he would take big trowels and he would have the wet paint and he would trowel the whole thing so that the painting and the colors move together. You can see it um in on the screen. And when he did that it would reveal like fragments of the painting underneath It and um he allowed that destruction to become the painting, right?
What can Mark Rothko’s transparent glazes teach us about creating depth?
To become the design, and within that you just see so many nuances from what was before it. And you may have heard me say this before, but I've always talked about um I like my paintings like I like my people. meaning I want them to get more interesting the closer I get. And this particular painting um from Gerard Richter It's just ginormous. It's absolutely huge. And but as you get closer you can see more and more details and there's more nuances and um like I said you can see just fragments from the painting. um before it. So uh I I just think this is really, really inspiring. So the next time you feel like I just have to cover the painting completely, you might consider uh being able to scrape away and reveal some of the painting underneath that.
I like to do this.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why does Jodie recommend in‑person workshops for abstract painters?
0:00–2:08
2
How did Gerhard Richter use scraping and trowels to reveal hidden layers?
2:08–4:13
3
What can Mark Rothko’s transparent glazes teach us about creating depth?
4:13–6:20
4
Why are Vincent van Gogh’s impasto marks effective for intentional texture?
6:20–8:26
5
How does Cy Twombly’s “unfinished” marks engage the viewer?
8:26–10:43
6
What layering tricks does Julie Morettu use with mixed‑media collages?
10:43–13:04
7
Which three questions should you ask before adding another layer?
13:04–15:24
8
How can you stop over‑layering and keep your abstract work lively?
15:24–17:54
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Honest Art Podcast with Jodie King
Episode 161: Why Perfecting Your Art First Is Stalling Your Career
Episode 160: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Investing in Your Art Business
Episode 159: Turning Grief Into Gold: One-on-One Coaching with Erika Person
Episode 158: What Five Years in Tuscany Taught Me About Betting on Yourself
Episode 157: How to Build Real Buzz Around Your Art (Without Chasing the Algorithm)
Episode 155: Why Your Creative Block Won't Go Away (And Exactly How to Fix It)