Welcome to Painting

Getting Started in Abstract Painting

Abstract art evokes many different types of reactions in people that include derisive remarks such as "even a ten year old could have done that," to "the artist may think that it requires some degree of mental ability to appreciate abstract paintings". What an abstract painting should contain is matter that will hold the attention of the beholder and it should also evoke an emotional response. It is generally not created for the audience but rather as an expression of the artist.

Viewers of abstract paintings should try to figure out what the painting represents or looks like instead of finding something that ought to emerge out of the painting. Also, one needs to comprehend the elements as well as color and textures used in the abstract painting and also understand how all these elements interact with one another. Also worth considering is whether the title is appropriate to what the painting is all about.

Abstract Painting Is Not Just Beauty, But Rich in Content

On the other hand, the abstract painting artist should not only worry about making the painting look beautiful but also make the intentions of the abstract painting convey something special. The abstract painting should also be able to get the beholder to view the abstract painting and extract a meaning from it and also try to get the anticipated interpretation of the painting conform to the title.

As of the present times, abstract painting is a form of art in which the objects in the real world are not depicted and instead use is made of color and form in non-representational ways. Abstract paintings may elucidate real forms in simplified or reduced ways that keep only the illusion of the original subject and are often claimed to set in color something of the immutable and intrinsic aspects of the depicted object.

It may not be widely known but abstract painting is not an invention of the twentieth century as one would imagine, but has been known to Jewish as well Islamic religion in which depicting human beings was not allowed. This resulted in Jewish as well as Islamic cultures developing a different standard of decorative arts and calligraphy is one example of this.

Some artists place emphasis on visual sensations in their abstract paintings and also include harmonious arrangements of colors. Abstract painters have been known to have been influenced by theosophy that concerns itself with thought forms that are used to illustrate the psychic forces that are a result of emotions, music and other events.

Abstract art may be the most difficult to understand but that is part of its beauty. Not created for a specific audience or person, the abstract artist creates art to express himself or herself or to evoke an emotional response. Abstract art may be extremely beautiful or bizarre (or even grotesquely ugly) but in art "beauty lies in the eye of the beholder."

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Abstract Banksia - WA today

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'Wifredo Lam' at the Museum of Latin American Art - Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

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