How Do We Abstract Painting?

[MooreJake]

Hello

Recently, I have developed an interest in paintings. I am not that good as I am in the learning process. I started with water colors and now I have switched to oil paintings. Well, my first oil painting turned out to be really good. I painted an old lady sitting in a garden. Now I want to do some abstract work. Tell me, is it OK to do abstract painting on my own or do I need to take the help of an expert.

[Sledge71]

Hello

Recently, I have developed an interest in paintings. I am not that good as I am in the learning process. I started with water colors and now I have switched to oil paintings. Well, my first oil painting turned out to be really good. I painted an old lady sitting in a garden. Now I want to do some abstract work. Tell me, is it OK to do abstract painting on my own or do I need to take the help of an expert.

My 2 1/2 year old daughter can teach you everything you need to know about abstract painting. PM me if interested she's 300Baht per hour..

[eek]

I would suggest looking at some of your favorite abstract artists first and reading up about what they were trying to achieve. (also reading some general info on abstraction may give you some ideas/more ideas. ie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction) I wouldnt recommend diving straight in before knowing what you want to 'say' in your work, and what you are setting out to try achieve. Preliminary sketches of your subject(s)/concept should help. Break down the image in various ways and play around a bit first before hand. Remember too that there are various ways to play around with oils depending on your mix as well as using various tools for applying paint (not just brushes) to achieve different effects. The key factor here is exploration to find out what you most enjoy and suits you best. Seek advice from a tutor by all means of course, but if you seek out a tutor/art class, i would recommend starting with life drawing and/or still life classes, rather than straight into painting classes. As no matter what style or medium you choose, drawing, observation, and awareness skills will be your foundation.

Best of luck with it.

[orang37]

Well, Khun Jake, if you'll tolerate some advice from an expat (not an "expert") who is an artist in another medium (with words : he says, he thinks, he hopes) ... said advice given with the disclaimer that, as John Ruskin said : "the worst form of vice is advice" ...

Find a way to allow yourself to play

the same way children do every day;

let the mind's control take a holiday

while your heart's colors sway

I personally think you are in no danger from allowing yourself to experiment; in fact, I think the more you experiment, the more you will enjoy your art, and the sooner you'll find within your art the direction you wish to go ... or the many directions you need to travel.

While there are many psycho-physical "starters" for enabling the creative process to "flow"

... and I use the word "flow" here in the sense with which it is used by Mihaly-Csikszentmihalyi in his research on creativity and artistic and athletic excellence : for example see :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi

... some of my favorites for "loosening up" are :

1. fifteen minutes of yoga breathing

2. listening to music. certain music definitely assists me in entering the "state" of "creative flow."

3. more rarely : I use my left hand (I am right-handed) and write a while with that hand only.

Certain thoughts seem to help me get "in the mood" for creative writing : I like to say aloud (imitating his unique voice as best as I can with my damaged vocal apparatus) what Salvador Dali is quoted as saying to himself every morning :

"When I wake up in the morning, I say to myself : 'What wonderful things is this Dali going to do today ?' "

That usually, at the least, brings on a smile

The Sufi poet Kabir said "where there is a garden, the flowers will come" (in Urdu : "rahi gulzar to phool khilenge") : seems to me there is no way to make a garden without creating some chaos first.

This offer may be "void" in your state, however.

happy Arting, ~o:37;

[james891]

Moore

First of all congratulations on your first oil painting! Being a painter myself, I would suggest that you first study the popular abstract works done by legendary artists. What I personally do before starting a new painting is go through the online art galleries. They have good collection and there you can study the paintings for hours. I mean it; this has helped me a lot to understand abstract paintings. Why don't you give it a try? It would help you in understanding the art form. Better still see if you can afford to buy one. Nothing like seeing it live in front of your eyes and drawing inspiration.

For more information visit the website SouthAfricanArtists

James

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

moorejake............Suggest you might find wetcanvas.com interesting it is full of good stuff and all forms of art.