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Improvisational Process
Improvisational Process
One of the most concise descriptions Edward Betts ever wrote about his creative process was in a submission to the National Academy of Design for their 1994 annual exhibition of academy members. He wrote:
"Coastal Maine is the source of most of my paintings, which are meant to evoke or suggest the feeling of natural forms through a largely intuitive improvisational process that combines observation, memory and imagination. The landscape imagery is discovered -- or revealed -- during the act of painting. Pictures of this sort should be viewed primarily as experiences in paint; only secondarily are they references to nature."
Below is a step-by-step process in the creation, and evolution of Sea-Meadow (1988). The descriptive text and images were from Edward Betts final book Masterclass in Water Media (1993), pages 132-133. Because acrylic media is a highly fluid media, and dries slowly, Betts' paintings take 6 months or more to complete. The evolution of this painting involved many interim steps that were evaluated every evening as Edward and Jane Betts critiqued each others work from the day.
NOTE: As you read the accompanying description that Betts wrote, notice that the subject matter was undetermined at the beginning, and through Step 3. It was not until Step 4 that he sensed a subject that eventually emerged from the imagery and was developed in the Final Step. This illustrates the improvisational style of Edward Betts painting.
Step 1
Step 1
"I began working on a prepared surface, mostly of white tissue paper brushed on haphazardly with diluted acrylic gloss medium, and also some areas of sand. This provided a textured surface that was ideal for color glazes, some wiped or rubbed, with others left as is."
Step 2
Step 2
Stepny of the areas seemed heavy-handed and clumsy, and I felt the surface needed to be lightened in order to receive fresh color. I used thin whites applied by the transfer method to get rid of much of what I had already painted, so as to open up the picture to new shapes and new ideas. It was largely a process of simplifying the many shapes and colors in Step 1 so that the picture would be less confusing and jumpy."
Step 3
Step 3
"More color was flowed and poured on; obviously I was in my Red Period at the time, but in any case I was gradually limiting the color masses to red (dominant), orange, and yellow (subordinate), with small accents of blue, purple, and pale green. The distribution of masses across the surface was more to my liking than anything that had yet appeared, but on the other hand nothing "spoke" to me in terms of what the subject matter might be. I concentrated on developing an abstract design with which a subject might merge at some point."
Step 4
Step 4
"Shapes were rearranged, yellows took over more of the surface, and some hot pinks and yellow-greens were introduced. I felt encouraged by both the design and the way the small color touches off the large color masses. By this time I sensed the presence of clusters of flowers, and the upper edge of the composition suggested either sky or water, or both."
Final Step - Finished Painting
Final Step - Finished Painting
Finished version of Sea-Meadow (1988) acrylic on Masonite 102x152 cm
"The upper edge of the painting was clarified by establishing a firm horizon along with ocean and soft clouds, the color being on with all the non-brush methods [I use]. Allowing paint to drip downward freely is a calculated effect I use fairly often, but only when it is appropriate to design needs or the subject matter; in this case it referred to grasses, stems, and stalks. The hillside mass dotted with scattered groups of flowers, all set against the distant sea, required organization as a readable, unified surface, executed in terms that were wholly painterly in spirit, not descriptive."
Articles Authored by Betts Writing About His Work
Articles Authored by Betts Writing About His Work
This issue of the magazine featured a six page article on Betts working in new acrylic medium, known by its early name polymer, in an article entitled Painting in Polymer & Mixed Media. It illustrated nine painting by Betts, two in full color.
In the article Betts wrote:
"About four years ago, I gradually changed over from painting in lacquers to a relatively new medium called polyvinyl acetate emulsion, or polymer tempera, that could be mixed with any water-soluble paints such as casein, watercolor, tempera or dry pigments."
"Simultaneously with my first experiments with plastic paints I began a series of collages, and in 1962, while on sabbatical leave...I combined collage elements with a newly-developed acrylic polymer emulsion paint. This led me in turn to my present work in mixed-media, in which the basically polymer paintings are enriched by the use of colored inks, wax crayons, felt-tipped pens, and stencils, as well as as various cut and torn papers, sand, metallic powders, and so on. What I hope distinguishes these pictures from conventional collages is that final effect of the picture surface is simply that of a painting, and that the spectator is not aware of the fact that collage materials have been utilized; they have been integrated into the picture areas to the extent that they are not unduly apparent."
Click on this link for the full PDF of the article: Painting in Polymer & Mixed Media.
This issue of the magazine featured a five page article on Betts working in the lacquer medium in an article entitled Edward Betts Discusses His Lacquer Paintings.
In the article Betts wrote:
"In June 1947, quite by chance, I went to Ogunquit, Maine, for the summer and have returned there to paint every summer since. It was with those first paintings that my work began to jell. I responded to to the forms and textures of the coastal region and fully indulged my love of the sea in all its aspects. Rocks and pines and surf and sky became recurrent motifs that still fascinate me. In Maine I filled a stack of sketchbooks with material and took hundreds of photographs, working not only in the vicinity of Ogunquit, but also on Monhegan Island, sixteen miles out at sea off Port Clyde. Although my visits to Monhegan were fairly brief, its rugged cliffs, dark pines and pounding surf have made a lasting impression on virtually all my work."
"I very seldom begin with a preconceived composition, and I never precede a painting with drawings or studies. Preliminary studies tend to decrease my interest in the actual process of painting and somehow inhibit any chances of allowing the picture to grow and evolve of its own accord.I painted directly from nature for over ten years all my current work is created in the studio and is an outgrowth of memory and experience rather than on-the-spot sketches." [ed. note: this changed over time, and many later paintings have early sketches, especially his realistic watercolors.]
Click on this link for the full PDF of the article: Edward Betts Discusses His Lacquer Paintings.
Edward Betts on Film
Edward Betts on Film
Two 20 minute color movies were made in the early 1970s showing Betts working and explaining his process. These were shot on film and lack the high resolution of today's videos, but they are a rare glimpse of Edward Betts at work, narrated by the artist himself.
Watercolor Painting: Abstract Designs from Nature With Edward Betts (Perspective Films, 1973) shows Betts on location, then working in his Maine studio creating abstract collage.
Watercolor Painting: Creative Color Collage With Edward Betts (Perspective Films, 1973) shows Betts on location, then working in his Maine studio creating an abstract collage.
Go to Page 4: Publications
Source materials and references for the content on this site can be found on these pages: Publications and References.
For further information about Edward Betts, or to sell a painting by Edward Betts, contact his son, John Betts at jhbnyc@aol.com.
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