Output 9
2026 · Oil on canvas · 50 × 70 cm
Sold / in private collection

Color, grid, and densification

In Output 9, light greens and yellows meet orange, violet and turquoise. The individual colour fields remain partly recognisable, merge into one another in other places or disappear under new layers.

A dark concentration runs through the center. It interrupts the colorful order and at the same time connects different areas of the painting. Small traces of paint and irregularities remain visible.

Half an hour of preparation. A few minutes of painting.

The outputs of the Schmiertafel series arise from an unusual relationship between preparation and execution. Colours, tools and sequence are prepared for roughly half an hour. The actual painting process then takes only about one to two minutes.

The prepared order serves only as a starting point. During the brief execution, colors are shifted, layered, and connected with one another. Areas that were originally conceived as separate begin to influence each other.

In Output 9, the original grid remains visible – but only as a trace of what was once intended.

The plan does not disappear. It changes its form.

What happens between input and result?

One conceptual starting point of the Schmiertafel is communication with systems like ChatGPT: An input is followed by a process and finally an output.

In painting, this sequence becomes material. Colors, positions, tools, and movements can be prepared. What actually emerges from them in the few minutes of execution, however, cannot be fully predetermined.

The original specification remains present in the painting, even though the result diverges from it.

In this way, the output is neither random nor merely the execution of a plan.

It is what happened in between.

Original painting by Mark Hellbusch

Output 9 is a unique original oil painting from my studio in Wiesbaden. The work belongs to the Schmiertafel series and combines pre-planned color fields with a fast, experimental painting process.

The work is already in private ownership.

You can find more inspiration under

Smear board 
colorful paintings 

I have been a freelance painter since 1997. While my work up to 2007 was strongly influenced by expressive painting, my focus today is increasingly on experimental forms of painting. You can find my personal background as well as an overview of my artistic themes and series of works in the “About us” section.

Contact & Studio

0176-21916227
markhellbusch@web.de
Studio in Wiesbaden – visits possible by appointment.

Other available original paintings can be purchased directly via the website. Shipping is free of charge and usually takes place within 1–3 working days.