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Copyright 2009-2015 Lynne Taetzsch
Do you want to create abstract art, but feel that you don't know
where to begin? Here are some ideas to get you started:
Begin traditionally by copying from life and gradually move into
abstraction. When I was young, I drew and painted portraits,
still lifes, and landscapes. Sometimes I copied from a
photograph or a reproduction of someone else's art. The goal at
that time was to represent what I saw as closely as possible. It
wasn't until my late teens that I began to "abstract" or move
away from reality. I still began with a subject, but I did not
feel bound to represent it, only to use it as a starting-off
point for my own purposes.
All art is abstract in the sense that it is not the object
itself. Many who call themselves "abstract artists" are indeed
painting a subject, but freely stylizing that subject. If you
want to paint "abstract" but have trouble figuring out how to
approach the canvas, try taking a subject you have painted
before and abstracting it.
If you are painting from life, for example, try squinting your
eyes until all you can see are the blurry outlines of your
subject. Forget the details. Take your brush or pencil and
sketch in the broad shapes and contours. Or take a very small
section of your subject and blow it up to cover the whole canvas.
Now stand back and see how your composition unfolds, how the
shapes take form and become interesting in and of themselves,
without reference to your subject. Keep playing with your
composition, adding and subtracting shapes, modifying color,
strengthening lines. Follow what draws you in, scrap what
doesn't. Work fast, and then stop and study what you have.
Another way to begin to paint abstract art is to use your
emotions to get you started. Listening to music is one way I
enhance my emotions when I paint. Sometimes I choose music to
reflect my current mood: new age, jazz or classical for
reflective moods, rock for strong, driving emotions, and so
forth. Sometimes a particular mood develops as I listen to and
empathize with the lyrics of a song.
Music's rhythm and tempo can also have an influence on the
quality and speed with which you apply a paintbrush or palette
knife to the canvas. How you apply the paint will be reflected
in the result, leaving a trace of the musical rhythm you were
listening to as you made it.
Try this experiment: think of yourself as an instrument or tool
of the music in your head. Relax and let the music select
colors, control the movement of your hands, and create the
content.
Aside from music, emotion itself can drive the painting process.
Non-representational art is the best way to directly express
emotion because it isn't constrained by attempting to be "true"
to a particular subject matter. If you wake up mad at the world,
you can paint a jagged swath of red across the canvas, directly
expressing your anger. Color, line, form--everything in your
painter's arsenal is available to say exactly how you are
feeling.
One day when I was in a particularly dark mood, I kept feeling
"bloody secret" as I painted. Yet I wanted this feeling to be
both exposed and hidden at the same time. The result was a
painting I titled, "Tied in a Bow." I painted the bloody secret
in thick red paint in the center of the canvas, but I tied it in
a bow and framed it prettily in pink. Thus, the blood was there,
but it was my secret.
If you are feeling a strong emotion of any kind, try expressing
it directly through color, line and form on the canvas. But
remember that whatever method you use to begin an abstract
painting, you'll need to pay attention to composition, interest,
energy, and focus in order to complete it successfully.
About the author:
Lynne Taetzsch is an artist and writer whose contemporary
abstract paintings have been exhibited throughout the world.
Lynne writes extensively on art in her blog and works out of her
studio in Ithaca, New York. See her dynamic and widely-acclaimed
paintings at http://www.artbylt.com
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