Abstract Art Painting

Lets start with where i am coming from, I am not a professional artist in any form, the nearest that I have ever got to selling any art is through my business as a sign maker. Still I enjoy making pictures for my family and friends and for putting on my walls at home.

Recently I have felt unsatisfied with my work and very frustrated with my output or lack of it, so I have decided to change tack and start producing something completely different. Abstract art has interested and amused me for years, I have previously thought of it as a self indulgent art medium, a subject that only really involves the artist, everyone else is a confused on looker with so called intellectuals making out that they have the slightest idea of what they are looking at and understanding.

My opinion of abstract art at the moment is simple, it is a great way of filling an empty wall in an art gallery, or for some ones home. With abstract art you can enjoy the colour, texture and mood of a picture and that is about as far as it needs to go. It is what it is. Enjoy it for it's own sake, don't look to deep into it because you will find there is nothing actually there.

To produce an abstract picture for your home for a lounge wall or for a bedroom or other living space.

I have only recently started painting in abstract and one of the first things I found was that you do need to have some basic rules for the production of a picture otherwise the end result will be a mass of grey green splodge mess that just looks depressing and cost a lot in paint.

Now lets understand that abstract painting is self indulgent and probably therapeutic, the process of producing an abstract painting may not be enjoyed by your family and friends but you may still get great satisfaction out of the process of producing your own picture.

Technique 1. Volume Shapes.

The rules I applied for this technique were to Use a Knife and paint on paper. Paper size 300mm x 450mm. Art board. Acrylic paints, art knife used for painting with oil paints. no brushes to be used, no previous sketching or roughs to be made before hand. I applied the paint from the acrylic straight onto the art board and then spread it about with the art knife. I first wanted to cover the whole board and then defined areas for each colour, my choice of colours were red, yellow and blue, the green was made when mixing the blue over the yellow and the red appears orange as it was spread over yellow. I allowed the first layer to dry and then applied a second layer of mixed up paint over all the board and then removed most of it with the knife. This is a first go at abstract art using this method. my aim is to read various books and practice the various techniques that I find.

This Hub is a work in progress as I have only just started abstract painting and have a long way to go before I find out if it was worth the journey.

27th May 2012. I am reading a book called 'The Art of Abstract Painting' written by Rolina Van Vliet. I have to say it has some brilliant ideas and concepts about abstract art that may give inspiration and a better understanding of the subject. The artist has a number of books published on the subject of abstract art and I intend buying them all.

For those artists looking for ideas, her books are a must have.

As I have very little experience of abstract art this is a journey for me. My main aim is to play with colour and texture using the medium of acrylic paint onto canvas. I will experience other art media at a later date but at the moment I shall stay with what I am familiar with and understand.

This picture was produced on canvas using two colours, a large metal spatula and an image in my head that is always showing up. When I close my eyes I see this image, I dream this image, I draw this image repeatedly while doodling on paper. it is a vision I see when water goes down the plug hole, it is an image I have seen in rivers as they flow. The spiral or vortex, the movement of liquid.

Is it liquid or am I looking into something else, viewing into something. I don't know, I don't have the faintest idea what I am saying. It is just a picture made from acrylic and canvas, it does not mean anything.

When you close your eyes what do you see? if you consentrate you can see images, some abstract and some appear to have form and meaning. Use these images in your head to make pictures with, remember what you see when you close your eyes as a reference point to make an abstract art picture with. I find this works better in a dark room at night.