Archive for the ‘Abstract Art’ Category
Creating an Abstract Painting
A few days ago I felt inspired to create a new abstract painting and 2 ideas came to mind. One was for making rectangles (with a few quirks) float in a spiral, getting smaller as they circled. I drew the idea in my journal. The other was a variety of triangles with curved edges which I also drew in my journal.
They both seemed possible so today I tried them out on small 12” x 12” canvases. For the rectangles I used only blue, green and red with black shading and yellow background. For the triangles I used red, blue, yellow and purple on a white background. We’ll see how my class likes them on Wednesday.
Varnishing Abstract Paintings
Today Thelma and I varnished some of our abstract paintings – 4 each, to be exact. The formula is easy: Mix half gloss varnish and half matt varnish (we used Liquitex) in another container with a lid so that what is left can be saved for the next time.
Use a somewhat wide brush. Ours was about 1 ½” wide and only brush one way. This is very important. I am told that if you don’t abbey that rule, you’ll be very sorry. Anyway, when this is dry in a half hour or so, turn the painting ¼ way around and varnish again. Varnishing acrylic paintings really brings out their depth of color.
Doing an Abstract Painting
Yesterday in class, I chose an abstract painting by Hans Hofman to reproduce. It has a red slab and a green slab at the bottom of the painting, with black on top of each, giving the appearance of depth – large rocks. There’s blue in the upper left and red at top right and a big splotch or yellow in the middle, and in between is thick white paint.
I didn’t have thick white paint, but as I’ve looked at my rendition for a day, I decided I really want to learn to create my own. In speaking with my daughter, an artist, tonight, she suggested I look up the works of Alexander Colder, Gustav Klimp, Egon Schiele, Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miro and Paul Klee. The two I liked best were Colder, who first created whimsical mobiles, and Klee who has very whimsical paintings. I guess I go for whimsy!
Abstract Art Class – Winter 2012 – #4
The photo is my last painting which I promised 2 days ago. It’s a small part of another abstract painting, done in the colors I like.
For today’s class, teacher gave us a large sheet of paper with 6 squares on it, each about 4” on a side. She asked us to paint our emotions when she mentioned 6 words and gave us about 2 minutes to paint each one. The words she chose were: calm, stability, movement, excitement, buoyancy and confusion. Since I had never done anything like this before, I had to think a bit! At the end of the exercise when we put our papers on a table and looked at the paintings of the other class members, it was interesting to see what others had done.
Teacher then showed examples of abstract paintings done by famous artists. We could try to reproduce one for ourselves or create our own abstract painting.
Finishing My Abstract Paintings
Work needed to be done on some of my latest paintings to finish them. The last abstract painting, “Bubbles,” needed to have the white painted around the edges and a signature in order to be finished. I now have done that.
For the new painting which was begun last Wednesday, I repainted most of it because the paint, when dry, was just too sparse. Along one corner I tried to make it appear as if there were pipes or tubes with rounded surfaces. That’s difficult in acrylics because blending is not easy. It’s much easier to blend when working in oils. Anyway, I finished all that, but still have the finishing marks to add and a signature. Hopefully, I’ll post it tomorrow or soon.
Abstract Art Class – Winter 2012 – #3
Since yesterday I repainted the dark green to a lighter green on my abstract painting and changed one dark green circle to yellow. Everyone in class liked the white edge, so all I have to do is sign it. Oh – it really looks great hanging on a corner with the big blue circle down! Great for a kid’s room!
We used an interesting way to create an abstract painting today. Teacher gave us 3 x 5 cards with a rectangle cut out to use as a view finder and we looked at a variety of photos of paintings. The object was to use the viewfinder to eliminate all but a small area and move it around until we found a pleasing abstract. Then paint it as we saw it or alter it as we liked. Now, how easy is that for finding inspiration for a panting?
Abstract Painting from Lesson #1
The point of the lesson was to change the shapes seen in a photo. Stretch some, diminish or eliminate others and come up with an abstract painting. The attached abstract painting was done from the inspiration of a table set for dinner. The painting was painted inverted from the way it is shown here. The original photo showed fish on a platter, a bottle of wine at upper right, two glasses, and a basket with apples in the upper left of the photo. The tablecloth was white and the background black.
With alterations, the plate became enlarged, the fish became the long pink stripe, the neck of the bottle became the yellow stripe, the wine glasses are now two blue ovals and the basket might still be somewhat recognizable. The apples are pink circles. The black circles were added to hide an error, but did add some bling. Finally, it looked better hanging the way I have posted it!
Abstract Art Class – Winter 2012 – #2 (2)
The lesson today was on Design Composition. Teacher gave each of us a sheet of paper with 12 designs for abstract art – probably the only different kinds of design formats possible. For each there was an example of the basic design and a painting using that format. For me, some were easy to see, some, not so much.
The Cruciform, Horizontal, Vertical and Diagonal formats were easy to see. The Cantilever and Golden Section (at the crossed lines of a tic-tac-toe game) formats looked similar in the paintings. The Constellation format was a series of mostly dots, a little heavier on one side than the other, perhaps shaped like a spiral. Meander was more like brush strokes all over the canvas (think Jackson Pollack). Curves was shown by overlapping circles or spheres, Overlapping Frames was overlapping squares and rectangles, some just outlined, some colored. Tension showed imbalance, large on one side, small on the other. Spiritual showed an equilateral triangle within a circle. Your challenge: Try to think up something different!
Abstract Art Class – Winter 2012 – #2
Last week teacher promised to show us a method of creating texture in abstract paintings and she began the class with this demonstration. We will put tissue paper on canvas or on 140# or 250# watercolor paper and she passed around samples of each for us to feel. She also folded the 140# paper to show that 2 or 3 foldings are necessary in order to tear it successfully. Also a little water on the edge weakens it making it easier to tear.
When applying tissue to paper or canvas always use craft tissue, not the tissue used for gift wrap. Apply a coat of matte medium to the paper or canvas, wad up a sheet of tissue and put it on the surface, allowing it to wrinkle in many directions. Be sure to cover the entire surface, using more tissue as needed. Using the matte medium again, paint over the entire surface, pasting down any loose parts. Put it in the sun to dry and it is ready for paint.
Abstract Art Class – Winter 2012 #1 (2)
In this blog, I would like to expand somewhat the steps mentioned yesterday in the creation of an abstract painting. Step 1 is a detailed sketch of the view. This drawing could be done in pencil or other media. Step 1 helps you to recognize the detail, shapes, shadows and light areas that make the view interesting. You are learning to recognize the elements of the photo and how they interact with each other. Step 2 creates a “softened reality” of the drawing in Step 1. Fine details are eliminated and unnecessary shapes begin to meld with others nearby. The goal is a stylized work with a result that is still recognizable and has many similarities to the original detailed drawing.
Step 3 is where the true nature of abstraction begins to take shape. In Step 3, further simplification takes place and all semblance of recognition is eliminated. The predominant shapes take command and the lesser shapes and elements dissolve. In some situations, this could be the last step in the process. Step 4 is a full-blown personal interpretation of the elements of your design/scene/subject. The three steps previous to this final artwork help you learn ways to trim unnecessary details and clutter, to begin to express personal emotions based on the drawn designs. The freedom that is afforded the abstract artist can be very liberating and rewarding. Eventually you will be able to bypass Steps 1 through 3, perhaps doing only one quick study to lay out the design and visualize the end result. Think: examine, distill, express!