Painting abstract art has been fashionable since the 1910s.
Modern abstract art was invented during the first decade of the 1900s. Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque laid the groundwork for pure abstraction with their development of Cubism. The first abstract works were painted by Franz Kupka, Robert Delaunay and Wassily Kandinsky. They were non-objective works, painted without direct reference to concrete objects. Abstract art is not about subject matter, it's about the arrangement of colors on a flat surface. Abstraction is not concerned with verisimilitude or classical draughtsmanship and proper perspective. It's more about color relationships, pure formal arrangements of line and the act of painting itself.
Instructions
1. Draw some ideas out on paper for an abstract painting. Painting abstractly does not mean anything goes and preparation can be skipped. Work out your design and composition before you begin to paint. Draw on your knowledge of representational artwork to distill out its universal design principles. Suggest the essence of things rather than the thing itself. Use patterns you see in nature in your drawings.
2. Prepare your canvas ahead of time by priming it with gesso. Apply a thick base coat, and sand it smooth when it dries. Apply at least three more successively thinner coats, sanding between each one. Using your reference drawings, draw out your final composition on the canvas. Draw a detailed framework to hang your colors on, or just sketch in some linear guidelines.
3. Tone your canvas a single unified color by applying an imprimatura layer of thinned out paint. Try using an orange or reddish earth color for a vibrant look to your finished picture. Let some areas of your first layer of paint show through to the surface of your picture. Draw with the paint as you go, using the technique of pentimento to show where you have altered your previous work.
4. Work towards an overall color scheme, whether harmonious or discordant. Make all the colors work together or against each other to achieve your final affect. Build up the colors to form relationships with the other colors. Contrast complementary colors against one another for added intensity. Play off warm colors against cool colors. Cool colors recede while warm ones appear to move forward. Use this phenomenon to establish a push and pull of colors on your canvas surface.
5. Stand back and frequently look at your work to see what is working. Make your painting agree with itself and stand as a unified whole, since your are not trying to copy anything. Each part of the painting should relate to each other part. Stop painting when you cannot add or subtract anything that does not upset the balance between elements of your picture.
