Perhaps Wayne Thiebaud's deadpan paintings of people against blank backgrounds were an inspiration. (nytimes.com)
The artist's subject seems to be the very task of painting, and his fundamental feelings of doubt about it, as tentative lines or shapes of colour appear almost hesitantly on blank backgrounds, avoiding any discernable genre of practice. (royalacademy.org.uk)
There's something bare, removed, piecemeal, even sad about his naturalistically painted scenes, which often involve groups of humans and animals depicted against starkly blank backgrounds. (artnews.com)