Untitled 1974

This painting by Sam Francis is made with watercolor. It’s a field of white with stripes of color along the edges. The painting emerges through a process of staining, dripping, and splattering. Looking at this, I imagine Francis in his studio, maybe with the paper laid flat. The watery paint is applied with a brush, or maybe even dripped directly from a container. There's a controlled randomness here, a dance between intention and chance. Notice the juicy reds, the electric blues, and the sunny yellows, each drop a burst of energy. The whiteness is so crucial, it feels like breathing space, a kind of visual silence that amplifies the color. Francis reminds me of other painters who let the paint do its thing, like Helen Frankenthaler or Morris Louis. They were all part of this amazing conversation, pushing the boundaries of what painting could be. These artists show me that painting isn't just about making a picture, but about exploring the very possibilities of paint itself.