Archive for category Subject: Abstract
Abstracts – 50 Inspirational Projects || Rolina Van Vliet
Posted by henry in Author: Rolina van Vliet, Medium: Acrylic, Medium: Mixed Media, Publisher: Search Press, Subject: Abstract, Subject: Techniques on June 13, 2011
This is a nice change of direction in the literature of abstract painting. When it comes to abstracts, it’s the ideas behind the work that mainly count and it’s difficult to come up with a strictly instructional approach because you’re not simply representing a subject but interpreting it and, if you don’t have something to say, there’s not really any point in even getting started.
However, there are various muscles you can develop and working from a set of ideas and exercises based on what other artists have done will help you get the idea of where you’re supposed to be going and how you might get there. Rolina has come up with a good range of approaches such as the interplay of lines, monochrome working, even painting from photographs and to music. This latter is something that’s cropped up before and is an intriguing idea – you use a favourite piece to put yourself in a specific frame of mind and then simply (well, I say, “simply”) transfer that creativity to paper.
As well as the projects, Rolina has some useful comments on where you might look for sources of inspiration and, in her conclusion, a list of do’s and don’ts that every artist should have taped to their studio wall.
Abstracts in Acrylics (Ready to Paint) || Dani Humberstone
Posted by henry in Author: Dani Humberstone, Medium: Acrylic, Publisher: Search Press, Series: Ready To Paint, Subject: Abstract on December 14, 2010
Dani Humberstone has already given us a rather excellent introduction to abstract painting in Search Press’s How to Paint series and now she’s pulled off the rather more tricky task of transferring this to the Ready to Paint series with its pre-drawn tracings.
Abstraction is a way of telling your viewer how you feel about your subject rather than simply portraying it realistically. The whole idea is to provoke an emotional response by using colours and shapes that recreate what you saw rather than what the viewer sees. It should, therefore, not be possible to produce a book that essentially allows you to copy another artist’s work – the objection is that you’re reproducing their view, not creating one of your own.
So far, so nitpicking. The thing about abstraction is that it requires a completely different technical approach. Shapes are not necessarily organic and colours don’t always blend into each other; it’s often the stark contrast and the hard, even jarring, edges that make the point. All this is technical stuff and this is what Dani has been teaching in both her books. We already know that the Ready to Paint approach works superbly for other subjects, so it comes as both a shock and yet no surprise that it works for abstracts too.
No, this book won’t tell you about the intellectual approach to abstraction, but it will help you with the methods of getting paint onto paper and, if you’re full of ideas but not sure how to get them down, rush out and buy this now so that it can come to your rescue. It also helps that the paintings featured are genuinely abstract and really rather good. I think Dani has an altogether bigger and more advanced book in her that could be quite exciting.
Creative and Abstract Painting Techniques || Brian Ryder
Posted by henry in Author: Brian Ryder, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: David & Charles, Subject: Abstract on October 27, 2010
First, a word of caution: if you already have Brian’s first book, Beyond Realism, this is the same thing, but in paperback and with a new title and cover illustration. I’ve trawled the blurb and the copyright page and I can find no mention of this and that’s naughty.
Beyond Realism first appeared in 2001 and was the first really effective book on non-representational painting. One or two had appeared before (one from the same publisher actually managed to reproduce the back-cover illustration upside down, thus confirming the perpetual joke about abstraction), but they were never really aimed at the practical end of the market assuming, along with most of us, that abstracts weren’t something that were going to interest the amateur painter.
And weren’t we all wrong? Demand was huge and the first edition sold out quickly and paved the way for a regular supply of books on the subject, with sales remaining refreshingly buoyant. So has this one stood the test of time? Well, it’s all there and Brian provides demonstrations of a variety of landscapes and waterscapes that move from distorted reality to pure abstraction and he explains both the theoretical approach and the practical techniques you need. If the book has a weakness, it’s the page design which doesn’t always make the demonstrations easy to follow, but this is something you’ll overcome after a short while and the book remains one of the best introductions to this style of painting.
Realistic Abstracts || Kees van Aalst
Posted by henry in Author: Kees van Aalst, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: Search Press, Subject: Abstract on October 26, 2010
Say what? If the title isn’t a contradiction in terms, then I haven’t seen one before!
But wait: it’s the perfect title, because this is, indeed, a book about painting in a style that falls between impressionism and abstraction while carefully not managing at the same time to fall between two stools. In all the many paintings here, mostly landscapes and townscapes, but with a few natural subjects as well, it’s easy to see what the subject is. From here, though the author has produced extensions of reality in a variety of ways that add to the viewer’s understanding. I’ve said before that abstraction is about telling the viewer how you, the artist, felt about your subject. In pure abstraction, colour and shape are used to create an intellectual and emotional response on their own. Here, the original subject remains in view but seen through a filter.
If pure abstraction isn’t for you but you fancy the idea of getting away from simple representation, then this book is packed with ideas and technical advice. Some of the illustrations, especially in the earlier sections, are somewhat on the small side, but they fill the page when it gets to the meat of the demonstrations, so it’s not a serious problem.
Painting Accessible Abstracts || Laura Reiter
Posted by henry in Author: Laura Reiter, Publisher: Batsford, Subject: Abstract on January 26, 2010
It was Laura’s previous book, Learn to Paint Abstracts, that started the current trend for books that go beyond representation and also proved that the concept of abstract painting, as well as some of the practicalities, can be taught.
In this much longer book, she has the chance to expand and to look at how far you might want to travel from reality (How Abstract Do You Want To Go?), the use of composition within abstraction, sources of inspiration and also ways of putting paint on paper or canvas.
Abstraction is much more than just painting random shapes (even if, sometimes, it’s hard to tell that!) and all the usual rules of composition, colour and perspective apply – indeed, they are often more important than in representational painting because the viewer’s normal sources of reference (a recognisable subject) are missing. It’s in this area that this book is particularly strong because Laura combines both the philosophical aspects of abstraction and the practical matter of using materials that applies to any painting. This is very much a book for the practising artist and deals with the concerns that will affect you, rather than dealing with just the concepts of abstraction which are as much the realm of the viewer. In short, it’s a book about how to paint abstracts rather than one about how to understand them.
Abstracts: How to Paint || Dani Humberstone
Posted by henry in Author: Dani Humberstone, Medium: Mixed Media, Publisher: Search Press, Series: How to Paint, Subject: Abstract on October 13, 2009
At first sight, the idea of including abstracts in a basic series that’s mainly aimed at the beginner with little or no previous experience seems a bit optimistic, to put it mildly. However, with previous books on abstraction concentrating more on the creative and philosophical aspects of the style, it’s rather good to find something that deals with the actual process of getting ideas down onto your surface. The author’s mixed media approach means that you’re not tied to one particular style and she’s absolutely sound on the techniques you need. As well as the basic introduction, there are also four demonstrations showing how the final results are built up.
The Art of Abstract Painting || Rolina Van Vliet
Posted by henry in Author: Rolina van Vliet, Medium: Acrylic, Publisher: Search Press, Subject: Abstract on July 21, 2009
This is Rolina Van Vliet’s second book and pretty much picks up where Painting Abstracts left off. The subtitle, A Guide to Creativity and Free Expression slightly begs a question, but emphasises that this is very much a series about the creative aspects of abstract painting rather than the practical matter of getting paint onto paper or canvas.
This, it seems to me, is a very reasonable approach and it’s unlikely that you’re going to tackle the non-representational route if you’re not reasonably comfortable with your materials. Indeed, it’s probably not to be recommended at all. The matter of begging the question is simply, can you teach creativity? On balance, I’d have to give that a qualified yes. Abstraction is very much about ways of seeing and it’s really not unreasonable to say that you can introduce the ideas of a different vision just as you can explain that, in a straightforward landscape, you need to decide which elements of the picture you’re going to concentrate on, which are going to be just suggested and which you’ll probably leave out altogether. In a word: composition.
All painting could be said to be chiefly about shapes, colour and balance and the basic principle of abstraction is that this is all you give yourself to work with: the normal points of relativity, the recognisable forms, are removed so that the viewer can only work with what you give them. As such, they have to find your point of view and abandon their own and it’s this, as much as anything else, that makes abstract art “difficult” and frequently uncomfortable.
Working backwards from a wide variety of finished paintings, Rolina takes you through the techniques that are available, from visual cues to colour, texture and composition, giving a very practical approach to what is, well, an abstract subject.
Painting Abstracts || Rolina van Vliet
Posted by henry in Author: Rolina van Vliet, Medium: Acrylic, Publisher: Search Press, Subject: Abstract on July 28, 2008
This is a book of ideas for working in a purely abstract style, but also one which suggests ways of seeing and working by means of a series of exercises that introduces 65 different approaches.
These exercises are the heart of the book and each one is arranged across two pages with a finished painting on the right and, on the left, notes which explain the artist’s intention and the techniques used to achieve it.
Abstraction is as much a state of mind and a way of seeing as anything else. It doesn’t really have techniques of application that are any different to conventional painting. so what it comes down to is structure, shape and colour. As such, it’s a difficult subject to teach – and an even more difficult one to teach through a book – because you either understand the mindset behind it or you don’t. If you look at an abstract and think, “my dog could do better than that”, then it’s a reasonable assumption that this is not for you. If, however, you’re intrigued by the subject but don’t feel you know where to start, then this book will help you a long way towards the end of the road. The simple, straightforward, approach removes pretty much all the mystique and the rigidly standardised layout means that you’ll feel at home pretty quickly and won’t have to spend a long time re-acclimatising yourself every time you turn a page.
Search Press 2008
£12.99
Abstract & Colour Techniques In Painting || Claire Harrigan
Posted by henry in Author: Claire Harrigan, Medium: Acrylic, Medium: Collage, Medium: Gouache, Medium: Oil, Medium: Pastel, Medium: Watercolour, Publisher: Batsford, Subject: Abstract, Subject: Techniques on August 7, 2007
Coming after Laura Reiter’s excellent introduction to the techniques and working methods of abstract painting, this book takes the study on several further stages.
There is, or has been, a tendency to view the abstract as simply a few daubs that can mean pretty much anything the artist (and that word can become controversial in this context!) says it means. Taken to its extreme this might be true, if the dictionary definition of abstract as the essence of a subject drawn out and abstracted from it is taken to its logical conclusion. However, it is perfectly possible to keep one’s feet fairly firmly planted in reality and to maintain a recognisable representation of a subject while, at the same time, recording only those parts of it that seem most important to the painter.
Done in this way, abstraction becomes about seeing rather than being about technique. Indeed, Claire’s working methods, the way she applies paint and uses colour, are really no different to those of a more conventional style. The book even includes well written and well illustrated sections on structure and composition which have a relevance that go beyond the immediate topic.
All in all, this is a worthy addition to the growing canon of books on non-representational painting. Claire will show you how to see and visualise your subject just as much as how to capture that vision on paper or canvas. And, yes, she does also have a look at works where the original subject as all but been sublimated out of existence.
Batsford 2007
£18.99
Learn To Paint Abstracts || Laura Reiter
Posted by henry in Author: Laura Reiter, Medium: Various, Publisher: Collins, Series: Learn To Paint, Subject: Abstract on May 9, 2006
The question is, can you teach abstract painting? Actually, the question is, can you teach painting at all? There are people who argue that art is something you’re born with, that it’s not a series of technical skills that can be learned by rote and that a taught painter is like a monkey with a typewriter. On the other hand, there’s the atelier method, which was the one favoured by the Old Masters (who did not wear mortar boards and have leather patches on their elbows, stop sniggering at the back there!). In this, students spent years filling in body colour and copying other paintings before they were ever let loose on a composition of their own. Whenever an art historian says “school of”, what they mean is that it was painted in the artist’s studio, possibly with some input by the artist himself, but largely by a student. The style is there, but that extra brilliance that betokens the master himself is missing.
Anyway, none of that, you’re all wrong. Art is, essentially, the ability to put down on paper or canvas a representation of what you see in a way that tells the viewer something they couldn’t get just from looking at the scene itself. It’s the “artist’s eye” and that is something you do have to be born with at least a spark of. That’s not to say you can’t develop it by talking to and reading other people or just looking at other artists’ work, but it’s a million miles from the mechanical process of applying paint and that, at least to a certain level, is something that can, indeed has to be, learnt.
Anyway, what of the Abstract? Well, it’s largely a way of seeing. Once you move away from straightforward representation, you start not merely to tell the viewer what you saw, but what they should see. In an abstract work, the viewer doesn’t just see the subject, or may not see the subject at all, but is rather given a set of instructions and visual clues that allow them to assemble the image for themselves. In a way, it’s a bit like reading a review rather than reading the book itself. In this piece, I’m not going to tell you what’s in the book (at least, not in page by page detail); rather, I’m going to give you an idea of what the book feels like. I want to create the impression that you own it, except that you won’t have it, so you’ll have to make up your mind whether you like the feeling of ownership and want to buy it.
So far, all I’ve done is waffle on and tell you what the abstract is (and made a faint attempt to tell you what painting is, too). So, let’s refine the question: can you teach abstract painting in a 64 page book? The answer is, rather surprisingly, that you can, indeed that it may very well be the best way of doing it. Abstract painting is, as I’ve been trying to explain, a state of mind and you really need to have got that before you start trying to do it. What Laura Reiter does here is give you some clues to applying this in practice. She’ll tell you about design, shapes, composition, the use of colour and how to use those visual clues evoke an emotional response. And the great thing is that she won’t labour the point.
Collins 2006
£9.99
