5 Project: Towards Abstraction Exercise 5 Abstraction from natural forms

In the preliminary stages I went through a long succession of ideas and sketches before finally settling on a piece of textured bark.

simplified tonal sketch

The other items I tried out didn't have the same appeal somehow once I tried sketching them. Days went by, doing sketch after sketch, feeling I had made little or no progress, until I finally tried out a few versions of the flat edge of the tree bark. Out of frustration I left them all alone for a few days then returned for another look and it appeared that many had potential. I was still confused about how to proceed  - questions arose around issues of whether and how to make changes like simplification, flattening , exaggeration, distortion etc.
I cast my mind back to a collagraph project  I did with children at the school where I work not long ago and remembered how I drew a simplified image of guitar  then cut the image  into pieces, turned them around in various directions and stuck them down again using as a basis for collagraph prints. I did another tonal sketch (right), this time more angular and simplified than the others.

painting part complete

It eventually transpired that the final painting contains some of these elements, but not so much flattening - a final frontier I haven't been able to conquer yet. Simplification was also quite a challenge, more so than I expected. Aswell as textures I always feel I have to also describe tones. I guess it largely depends on how abstract the intention is.
Media and materials used for the painting:
acrylic, gesso mixed with all purpose pollyfilla, pva, corrugated card, sand, cement dust mixed with pva and used palette paper.

completed painting

I looked at the work of Jaap Wagemaker in the process of this project
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaap_Wagemaker#mediaviewer/Bestand:Jaap_Wagemaker_(1965).jpg

Accidentally found this image - no offence Jaap but I can't help seeing a uncanny similarity with my own, though I have to admit the palette works on this,whereas on mine the pinks look insipid.
http://www.simonis-buunk.com/sold/zoom/Adriaan_Barend_Jaap_Wagemaker_7879.aspx