I have always preached to my students that I believe, “Art is not about skill or talent, but more about the individuals willingness to see”. This idea of looking beyond what you think you see was again reinforced for me when Jo Barby, Australian Pastel Artist was teaching at my Studio. I was her student and desperately wanted to impress the teacher. I love her attention to detail and how she creates these most amazing realistic images that practically jump off the page, but I knew I was struggling. She sat down with me and she watched me. That’s when she spoke most powerful and life changing words to me as an Artist.
Abstract Florals
A
– More than 12 video lessons
– Workshop videos are fully downloadable, streamable and just plain old watchable in the private classroom
– NEVER EXPIRES, FOREVER ACCESS
– Working exclusively in acrylics
– less than $14 a lesson
– No painting experience necessary
View course outline here
ABSTRACT ART CONSISTS OF PAINT ARRANGED ON A CANVAS
TO COMMUNICATE AND IDEA RATHER THAN DEPICT AN OBJECT.
In college I studied Literature. The indirect way Shakespeare played with words and the double entendre of the poets captivated me. The idea that there were hidden messages and meanings in the written word was my first introduction to abstract thought. I had no idea the roads I was paving for myself would lead me to art, but I am now certain that each path along the way was to help me “see” the world differently.
The magic within Abstract art is quite similar to those decipherable phrases and passages found in literature. Abstract art asks you to look beyond the object you think you see and put aside what you think you know to experience what the art makes you feel. Allowing you to be drawn in by the energy and get lost in the composition and the relationships of color.
I have always preached to my students that I believe, “Art is not about skill or talent, but more about the individuals willingness to see”. This idea of looking beyond what you think you see was again reinforced for me when Jo Barby, Australian Pastel Artist was teaching at my Studio. I was her student and desperately wanted to impress the teacher. I love her attention to detail and how she creates these most amazing realistic images that practically jump off the page, but I knew I was struggling. She sat down with me and she watched me. That’s when she spoke most powerful and life changing words to me as an Artist.
She said, “The reason you can’t paint what you want is because you are trying to paint what you think you see.” This may sound absurd, but it is actually the most profound gift of insight that has ever been shared with me.
I had chosen to paint a handful of my favorite brushes in a glass jar. I had never painted glass before and quite frankly had never attempted still life painting. So here I am go big or go home right? My problem was I was trying to paint paintbrushes in a jar. What Jo was trying to tell me was that I needed to know what I was seeing before I could paint it. I needed to look deeper and “see” the way the light reflected off of the glass and the blends of colors that were created by the shadows of the paintbrushes as they overlapped each other. I needed to “see” that the whites weren’t all white, that they each shared their own nuances of the pinks purples and yellows bouncing off of the colors around them; that the highlights, colors, shadows and shapes were what I was supposed to see and therefor be painting.
“Brushes in a Glass Jar” is one of the most powerful pieces of art I have created to date because it depicts the gift of “sight” I was given that weekend with Jo.
As an Artist I have always had the passion for bold colors and textures. What I will share with you in this course is how understanding abstract art is like being given a new language. It breaks the rules. It turns heads and incites the imagination. It tells a story using shapes, spatial relationships and colors that do not reflect the external reality, but the powerful meanings within.
THE GREATEST GIFT THAT ABSTRACT ART GIVES FOR BOTH THE ARTIST
AND THE VIEWER IS FOUND IN THE APPRECIATION OF THE PROCESS.
As a self-taught artist, I have entered into Art on my own unique journey, studying other artists, deciphering images, colors and textures internalizing them and putting them to canvas and paper in a way that represents what I feel on the inside, rather what appears to be seen on the outside. Over the course of the next 6 weeks I will share with you my process for painting from conception, through practice to finished canvas.
My focus will be to help you develop a better understanding of the intuitive relationship between the Artist and their art by giving you the tools to translate what you see and feel into your paintings. I will introduce you to the work of some of my favorite Abstract Artists that continue to inspire me and share with you how they have changed the way I “see”. Taking you each week through guided practice, tutorials and lessons that impart my passion for abstract art and allows me to pass along this same gift of sight that was given to me.
The downloadable delivery and forever access of this product makes it non-refundable
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20 Easy Abstract Painting Ideas
If you are a beginner in the world of art related to painting, then you are better of starting on projects that are relatively easy. If you happen to be one of those people who is tremendously talented, then you can ignore this dictate but for all the others, this piece of advice holds good. The thing is abstract painting offers you the chance to be creative without having to go to great amount of effort. Having said that we would like to caution you that it is not all that easy and you will need to get hold of some of the best abstract painting techniques and use them to good effect.
Easy Abstract Painting Ideas
There are many eye-catching abstract painting ideas that you can think of and use if you are so inclined. However, often the problem that many budding artists face is that of not being able to come up with nice ideas to use to start painting. You can go the simple route and pick up something conventional like painting flowers and do some creative abstract flower paintings. This is a good start and once you are into it, you may find that more creative ideas start flowing.
However, if you find that the creative abstract ideas are simply not flowing and you are hitting against blockers to the creative path, do not despair, we will give you some pointers to get you in the right direction. The best part about starting abstract painting projects is that it can develop as the painting goes on and you need not be limited by anything whatsoever.
Picking paints for wood
Next, I picked my paint palette of colors. I used Deco Art acrylic paints and selected a mixture of corals, peaches, oranges and fuchsias for the flower portion. Then I picked a few lovely jewel tone greens for the leaves (I ended up using a few lime green colors later on.)
I am a firm believer when painting abstract objects in using NUMEROUS paint colors. I love layering and mixing paints to create that loose look that so often goes with abstract painting. So be sure to give yourself the space to use a lot of paint and numerous paint brushes.
How to paint Abstract Flowers on a wooden racket?
When painting abstract flowers, I always start with the flower’s base color. I did a deep orchid color, a dark orange and a softer coral color. I then use those colors and paint a loose “cup shape” on the lower right hand corner. This is the darkest shade area of your flower. If you like abstract flower painting, you should check out how I painted abstract Peony bags.
Do a similar painting technique for the greenery, creating loose shapes using your darker green colors.
Next, simply begin to layer on paint colors for both the flowers and the leaves. For each of the flowers, I choose a lightest coordinating color and completed the loose “cup shape” on the upper left hand corner. As that paint dried, I was able to start filling in the flower shape with a third complementary color (see second image below).
Note : It is important as you continue to layer on your acrylic paints that you allow some dry time in between. Your paint doesn’t need to be completely dry, but if you layer on wet paint, it can easily start to get muddy looking.
After I had my dark lower right hand corner, the lightest upper left hand corner and the third complementary color, there should only be one small center section that is still unpainted. Find your darkest color in a completely different color and this will be your flower’s center.
Continue adding layers and colors to your greenery. Think about where light may hit your leaves and add small spots of lime green paint to reflect that.
Painting a Wooden Handle
The final painting step for my wooden paddle Abstract flower project was deciding if I should leave the fun yellow handle color or paint it. Although I loved the cheerfulness the yellow brought to the project, yellow is not a color that you can find much of in my home. So, I decided to let the colorful flowers be the show stopper and painted the handle black.
I allowed the paint to fully dry and then did some rearranging in my dining room for a fun springy feeling display. I love the colorful pop it brings to the room.
And I may eventually install some sawtooth hooks to the back of my wooden racket and hang it on the wall. But for now, my abstract flower paintings work perfectly in little plate stand sitting on my thrifted buffet.
