Today I had a breakthrough...
...though may right hand man, thinks I may have had a breakdown!
I know abstract art is not for everyone...
though I think it may be because abstract art is not understood.
Abstract painting is an established art form...and it would be wonderful if viewers could be educated as to what makes abstract good. I listened to a podcast tonight about this very subject...
Liese does a series of podcasts about Abstract Thinking that are really very informative.
When painting abstract an artist is making decisions about color, design, lines, composition...all while working out surprises that show up along the way that can be unnerving or happy and often unexpected. Things happen with paint that are uncontrollable, leaving the artist to discover new options to work them out. Realizing that often times the artist is trying something new, taking risks, pushing into the unfamiliar is helpful for the viewer to understand.
With this piece I started out with a substrate of collaged papers, knowing I wanted to cover much of it up. I actually made a written list of elements I wanted to include in this piece...colors, lines, black and white, charcoal along with a few more. Letting go and covering up is the hardest part...though once I got started with my color selection and letting go of the details it started to move along...especially when I focused on the big picture and not getting caught up in details.
Adding in the unexpected red...and then pink over top of that was a surprise to me...I hadn't planned on either of these colors in my composition...they just happened!
As I mentioned before...being open to surprise is exciting!
Including black and white was easy here with a tissue napkin that I used matte medium to glue down...this added a strong design element/focus to my piece...just what it needed. I feel you can never go wrong with a touch of black and white, or polka dots for that matter!
To carry on with the black I used a big chunk of charcoal to draw lines and scribbles...you may think this is haphazard, though for the artist it is adding line, shape and movement. One of my favorite elements is mark making...in the photo above with black scribbles and the photo below, scratching through paint that's already been laid down.
Making sure to leave quiet areas for the eye to rest is also essential,
as in the upper left corner below.
I'm very happy and excited with how this piece has come along. I may not be finished, though pretty sure I am...I'll take another look tomorrow to see how it feels to me. Much of abstract is about feelings and emotions when working on a piece...it can be very intuitive.
As an artist who comes from a background of realistic, representational paintings...it's very exciting and a real breakthrough to get into the groove and create something out of my head and spirit that speaks to me and says...this was fun, this was real...this was really fun and enjoyable.
That's what I'm looking for and that's what you're looking at.
I hope that helps to understand and appreciate the abstract artist, excited to explore more!
Hello matte nice blog
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