Welcome back to another BobBlast!
And yes - I am at a workshop and you are a fly on the wall… watching a group of painters practice abstract concepts in a short painting exercise.
My thoughts on Abstract Painting
Abstract art is about communicating an idea, an image, a story, a point of view. It is meaningful!
For me, abstract painting is classical music played by a jazz musician - Improvisation and Play Time!
#1 - What are your intentions? Your goals? Why are you doing this painting?
•Write down your goals first - the concept
•Pick a theme, a subject, a word, a mood
•Do many small paint sketches - your series
Meaningful Intentions = a Goal, a Good Idea to Paint.
What’s a good idea, you may ask… if you’re excited by it - it’s a good idea! You can relax, because it has all been done before - but not by you!
Warm-up Suggestions for Visual Themes
Paint a word - your own interpretation of that word in 2 minutes. 10x10 inch paper, one color paint. In this exercise, we used Holbein’s Lamp Black acrylic paint.
After warming up with the word exercises, you are ready to jump into your larger abstract paintings. Keep going with #2.
#2 Decide on your color combination - place only those colors (plus black and white) near you.
Choose from your color wheel:
•Analogous
•Monochromatic
•Complementary
•Triadic
•or from the Goof-Proof Burridge Color Wheel!
#3 Decide on your composition and stick to it.
#4 Stay committed to your original concept.
I hope you enjoyed watching this video of the Six Words… Starting Abstract Concepts. This is a fun exercise to watch - as well as do yourself. Having a two-minute deadline keeps you in the flow and action of the words, instead of getting too cerebral about it!
Thanks to Art Center Sarasota for hosting and organizing this workshop!
