exercises in abstract art

It has been several days since my last post, this is because of two factors. The first is that I have just loaded IE8 as my browser, it appears to have a problem with Blogger and I ( and many others) keep getting error messages when trying to load blogs. It is really frustrating and all that the techs can say is "leave it with us". this is one reason why I have been making fewer posts recently.

The second reason why this week I am so late is that I have been away for a midweek break. I did manage to do a few exercises in a new book which I have just bought, called "Learn to Paint abstracts" by Laura Reiter. A simple little book and I was amused to find that she discusses the principles of composition and how to use these to effect in painting an abstract. I have always realised this but without proper training in art I don't always find it easy to remember to plan when to use these. But starting from the bottom, I decided to simply follow some of her examples and create some simple, small paintings to get into the abstract frame (no pun intended) of mind. I actually did about 13 I think over the two nights so you can see how simple and small they were.



diagonal elements imply movement



harmonious colours imply tranquility



repetition guides the eye of the viewer



contrasting colours create an exciting image



interweaving shapes creates unity



a grid format



gradation of tone or colour also guides the eye of the viewer



horizontal strata implies a landscape and/or creates stability in the painting



another version of a grid format



a less geometrical interlocking pattern



small coloured shapes catch the eye



more interlocking shapes with repetition



using text to break up an image by extending lines.



I am not claiming any great artistic merit in these sketches but they do offer a starting point(s). When I tried to get my fellow art group members interested in painting abstracts, one of their main concerns was, " where do I start?" Another was, "what colours do I use?" These simple exercises do at least help to answer some of those concerns. Like me most of the members have had little formal training in ART, and have learned to paint what they see. Even trying to get them to "loosen up" is difficult so I never pushed them too much. I did give them a model for starting which included much of the advice from Ms Reiter, and I will perhaps include that in a future post.



I have used it myself since but of course formulaic methodologies tend to produce fairly staid results. However , I have a kind of hankering to be able to paint good, exciting abstracts so I will persevere with this thro' the near future and see where it takes me