Focusing in on images can inspire ideas for abstract paintings.
Watercolor paint is the abstract artist's best friend. Everything about watercolor painting lends itself to abstraction: not only is it easy to create thin washes of color with watercolor paints, but the wetness of the paint is difficult to control upon application. An aspiring abstract artist can close his or her eyes, put a loaded brush of watercolor paint onto a surface, and create a blind abstraction in just a few moments. Sure, watercolor is a great medium to work in for more realistic renderings, but its looseness makes it even more viable in abstract painting.
Instructions
1. Decide what type of abstract image you want to paint if you prefer to have a defined plan. Most abstract paintings have no plan, but are painted in the moment as the artist improvises directly on the final canvas. If you are painting a pure abstraction such as this, think about an idea, emotion, or something that you have seen that will serve as inspiration for the piece. Again, you do not have to have any idea at all to paint an abstraction, but having some form of theme can help unify the whole work later when it is being painted.
2. Gather your watercolors and thin them down by mixing them with water. Load a brush and go to work on the canvas. Watercolor is spontaneous, as the wet paint will often run anywhere it chooses. This is beneficial in creating pure abstract art, but if you have a plan and want to decrease the spontaneity of the watercolor, use a towel to soak up unwanted paint.
3. Continue to add layer upon layer with your watercolor paints until you get a fair amount of depth between the first and last layer. This will make the abstraction more visually engaging and less flat. Ultimately, you should paint until you are satisfied with the composition and the entire work surface has been covered.
