How to Paint Abstract Art By Lynne Taetzsch Do you want to create abstract art, but feel that you don know where to begin?
Here are some ideas to get you started: Begin traditionally by copying from life and gradually move into abstraction. When I was young, I drew and painted portraits, still lifes, and landscapes. Sometimes I copied from a photograph or a reproduction of someone else’s art. The goal at that time was to represent what I saw as closely as possible. It wasn’t until my late teens that I began to “abstract” or move away from reality. I still began with a subject, but I did not feel bound to represent it, only to use it as a starting-off point for my own purposes. All art is abstract in the sense that it is not the object itself. Many who call themselves “abstract artists” are indeed painting a subject, but freely stylizing that subject. If you want to paint “abstract” but have trouble figuring out how to approach the canvas, try taking a subject you have painted before and abstracting it. If you are painting from life, for example, try squinting your eyes until all you can see are the blurry
