Abstracts and Acrylics

I have yet to complete my first “realistic” acrylic painting. I have one in progress, and I’m hoping to finish it soon. My second acrylic attempt turned into my disastrous, but somewhat charming Study in Black and White which will forever serve as a reminder to have fun with art, whatever I’m doing.

But while I haven’t yet done much with realistic scenes, I am having fun with abstracts and acrylics. They seem to go together quite well, and while I’m having fun, I’m also learning a lot —  about color, about composition, and about acrylic techniques.

Instead of fretting over realistic details in painting, I’m letting loose and just painting big bold lines and colors. I’m not thinking about things — my abstract art could be many things all at once. Instead, I’m considering the various elements of art and composition, then figuring out how I can put them to use in abstract design.

• Lines
• Value
• Form
• Spaces
• Balance
• Repetition
• Harmony

Although I’m still working at learning brush strokes and techniques for the medium, doing abstract designs with acrylics gives me opportunities to try new things without worrying too much about “messing it up.” And without worrying too much about wasting materials!

I love that acrylics are reasonably priced. And for now, I’m working on sheets from an fairly inexpensive pad of canvas. I like that. I can play to my heart’s content and have fun seeing what acrylics can do. Creating abstract art allows me to approach painting from a different place, a place where anything goes, and mistakes can become meaningful elements in a finished piece.

It’s especially fun to play with colors. I loved the combination of colors I put together for this abstract painting:

I’m calling this “Spring Bloom” because to me, it felt like a colorful flower. I didn’t begin with the intention of painting a flower, of course. I just wanted to create shapes, so I drew a few organic shapes, starting at the center. As I began applying colors to the shapes, my brush started wandering around a bit, swirling, dabbing, poking.

In the end, I liked what I’d done, and for once, I had sense enough to walk away rather than keep tweaking at it. There isn’t anything “right” or “wrong” with an abstraction, so I could allow it to simply be what it was.

It feels good to look at a painting I’ve done and smile. I do like the bright yellow. I love the lavender. I love the way the teal blue holds all the other colors together.

All in all, I think acrylics and abstracts make a very good pair, don’t you?