Beginning in the 1950s, while continuing to construct multi-layered paintings filled with small, irregular shapes and thin, fluid lines, Brooks transformed the surface of his pictures. He experimented with the thinning and drying of the medium and with applying mixtures of commercial enamels and oils directly from the tube to create a matte surface and to limit the viscosity of the pigment. Throughout his career, even when simplifying his works in the 1960s, color remained a constant ingredient, as can be seen in this gouache from the heart of the First Generation Abstract Expressionist period.
