While struggling to make the background of a figurative piece more interesting, I have dabbled in abstraction with patterns from nature, blinds, text, wallpaper, wet on wet flowing colors. I'm partial to the white background, and not just because it's easy. The figure stands out and gets all the attention. It's like an Avendon portrait that way.
But here is an artist who makes something in his backgrounds that I like:
Matthew Woodson is his name. You can find his stuff at www.ghostco.org
He's a professional illustrator. In these two examples he's used wallpaper patterns which certainly put the figure in a setting.
Perhaps my problem with backgrounds is that they put a person into a definable space and I'd rather leave them floating about.
Can you think of a piece of art that has grabbed your attention with the background?
Post a comment below! - Attach an image/ link if you can.
