What's Your Process?

When artists speak to artists, a familiar question is “What’s your process?”

As a writer and an artist, I love discussing all things process. The honing of craft as a creative fascinates me. How does an artist reach the fruition of a painting? What are they inspired by and how does it translate in their work? How does a spark of an idea become a finished piece?

So here’s a little behind-the-scenes peek of my process when I paint a large piece:

Start with Inspiration

I absolutely without a doubt have to start with inspiration. This may seem obvious, but as an abstract painter, it’s easy to be swayed into creating a composition without tangible inspiration. Beware! Learn from my mistakes. I’ve always had a more successful painting when I had a certain idea or inspiration in mind.

Some examples of inspiration for me are:

• specific color palettes (especially when working on commissions for clients)

• outer space and galaxies

• natural materials such as rock formations, stones and slices of agate

• specific assignments/prompts (I just completed one on trees.)

Now, it doesn’t mean my pieces have to look exactly like my inspiration. (It never does.)

Use a simple sketch as an outline

When doing a large painting, (I usually paint 4x3 ft. or 5x 4 ft.) it is helpful to get the major shapes and colors on paper before I start painting. I usually just dash pastels in my sketchbook to give myself a loose outline. Here are a few of my sketches for my paintings:

They are super rough, but they basically serve as a tangible representation of the inspiration and give me the general idea of where I am going. Once I can get the images out of my head and on paper, I know that I have an idea I can paint.

Make a wash + line painting



This has been a relatively new step for me that has made all of the difference. I use a big brush with lots of water and sweep the color across the canvas. Again, this is a guide when I start to pour and use fluid painting techniques. For example, in this painting I knew I wanted the colors to be sunset colors and flow from orange to purple. The base painting gave me a guide to where the orange should stop and the purple should start.

Create the final painting

It sounds so simple, right? Now, just paint your masterpiece. This obviously might be the hardest step, but when it follows the other steps, I am much more at peace. My mind focuses on the colors and composition of the pieces and stays away from the lurking dark corners of self-doubt that tend to visit when I paint without a plan. Here’s the final painting from the first two steps I showed earlier:

But, this is the step where it can change the most. I once had a painting where I was painting it horizontally, and it just wasn’t working. I flipped it vertically and it was much more successful. Sometimes abstract painters can get away with this, but I usually try to avoid any major changes.

But I am learning to I follow my intuition instead of the plan for the plan’s sake. Fluid painting has taught me so much about intuition and control. It has helped this control freak relax and allow for great, unplanned things to happen.

So that is a little insight into my process. What is your process? Do you start with inspiration photos and sketches? Do you do a base coat when you paint? I would love to know more. Comment below.

Check out my social media to see more photos and videos of my paintings in process at @brookeharrispaints.