Pieces of Eight: The Challenge for May: Abstract

Our challenge for this month is to do an abstract work of art.

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Donna Vines

I have always enjoyed looking at Abstract art but painting it is not easy. It has to evoke an emotion, a feeling, something beyond a recognizable thing. The more I thought about how to approach this the more I realized it is all in the colors to me. I looked at several artists then looked through my photos to find a mood. I finally chose a fall mountain scene because it looked so vibrant, alive and hopeful.

Vermont in the Fall
9x12 oil

Donnavinesart.Etsy.com

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Jean Thomas

This is an abstract landscape that I made up from a sketch. My purpose here was to experiment with watercolor and try to get a wide range of value. The original is about 7" x 9".

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Abstract was a totally new idea in the art world when painters attempted to render a piece with no recognizable subject matter. The goal was to provoke a certain feeling and most art enthusiasts just didn't get it. "Radical, my kid could do it, just paint thrown on" were some of the oft heard reactions. While times have changed I'm one who will tell you that good abstract art is much harder than painting something we can all identify. Try painting an emotion (and no fair using flowers or a sunshine.) I can't really get there but it is fun trying. My piece definitely has discernible objects in it altho my husband and I see totally different things. Maybe I got closer than I thought!

14 x 11, acrylic
Cindy Michaud
art@cindymichaud.com

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"Love in the Time of Coronavirus"
6x8, acrylic

I am not an abstract artist, so I employed a little Jackson Pollock to this and dropped the paint on the board from about four feet. Then I enhanced the round blobs to resemble COVID-19. It was fun.

Carmen Beecher

carmenbeecher.comcarmensart.etsy.com

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Mary Warnick's Abstract

"Ocean Motion"

I have admired the work of John Salmonen for many years, especially his beautiful cityscapes. Several years ago he gave a workshop in Melbourne and I signed up. It turned out to be an abstract workshop. It was very intensive and complicated. I think he was trying to incorporate a few techniques into the process, including line drawing and the grid method of transferring an image. Over time I tried simplifying, but stuck to his advise "if it starts looking like something, get rid of it before you fall in love with it". This little watercolor is a very simplified version.

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Kathy's response to the challenge:

I love to doodle and when I have nothing in mind to draw, that's what I do. One of my favorite methods is to randomly draw two lines across a page or canvas and then fill them in . Below is my progress from start to finish on canvas. Then I took it into Photoshop to finalize it. Click on any image to expand it.