Understanding Abstract Art!...
When faced by abstract drawings, paintings and often sculptures we often do not know what to quite make of it! They often appear sort of far removed. What we actually see may be a spiritual form of the artist expressing him or herself.
So we are often left to decide ourselves what we might or might not see in the painting as we do not know how the artist arrived at this. Quite possibly the title was arrived at once the painting was finished, because the artist got lost somewhere in what he was doing.
Choosing titles can be very hard. In some cases you may find it interesting to ask some of your friends and see what answers they come up with. More eyes sometimes helps you to make a decision. Therefore, you might say, abstract work is difficult to describe, particularly when they often do not seem too real!
Imprinted on the artists mind may have been very definite colours, interesting shapes and formations, but in many scenarios their work may not have a base of something that is real. It is far more likely to be base on intuition.
Abstractionism, I always think, relies on great insight. It is peculiar in many ways with airy fairy types of impressions and other variations so plain, strong and bold. Is it any wonder then that we often cannot understand it? Are we expected to?
If you take a peek at Jackson Pollock's work, he seemed to show abstract expressionism so well. Yet he used his paint in many ways. He was not afraid to throw it on the canvas, smear, or even let it just drip! He even spattered it and dropped it. He was a visionary! So, if it is a form reached by artificial means, it would be classed as abstractionism.
How sensitive you need to be to appreciate this art form when half the time it only shows a mere fraction of the original subject, but can still extract emotions from within you.
Nevertheless, this art works well in many situations. Let us say, as an example, you are in a hotel reception waiting to be attended to. You find your eyes straying to a painting on the wall. It holds your focus and you find that you do not want to avert your eyes. It has got you drawn in and you have responded to it. It has succeeded and kept you interested!
So, when abstracts are your choice to paint, you maybe have to answer your own questions! Was the end result what I originally intended? Perhaps I just thought I was on a winning streak with a knockout painting!
Does my buyer decide what it is supposed to be? What was I actually envisaging when I did this, and did I have an original thought for this, in fact? Maybe I was on one, getting carried away again? Now the question is "what is my title?" Furthermore, do I need one?
One way or another, often it does not have to be understood and maybe yes, we can relate to it somehow. Now, where to actually sign it?
A decision also has to be made on which way up your painting goes. If you sign it on the front you take the choice away from the buyer as many paintings could be shown any way up. I find that if you sign the back it can be hung any which way you like!
The author of this guide, Anna Meenaghan, operates an interactive online art community where artists and art enthusiasts alike have a meeting point. There you can find almost everything about art from canvas art [http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_16_canvas_art] through to abstract paintings [http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_21_abstract_paintings] as well as vast amount of "Help" guides for budding future artists.
So we are often left to decide ourselves what we might or might not see in the painting as we do not know how the artist arrived at this. Quite possibly the title was arrived at once the painting was finished, because the artist got lost somewhere in what he was doing.
Choosing titles can be very hard. In some cases you may find it interesting to ask some of your friends and see what answers they come up with. More eyes sometimes helps you to make a decision. Therefore, you might say, abstract work is difficult to describe, particularly when they often do not seem too real!
Imprinted on the artists mind may have been very definite colours, interesting shapes and formations, but in many scenarios their work may not have a base of something that is real. It is far more likely to be base on intuition.
Abstractionism, I always think, relies on great insight. It is peculiar in many ways with airy fairy types of impressions and other variations so plain, strong and bold. Is it any wonder then that we often cannot understand it? Are we expected to?
If you take a peek at Jackson Pollock's work, he seemed to show abstract expressionism so well. Yet he used his paint in many ways. He was not afraid to throw it on the canvas, smear, or even let it just drip! He even spattered it and dropped it. He was a visionary! So, if it is a form reached by artificial means, it would be classed as abstractionism.
How sensitive you need to be to appreciate this art form when half the time it only shows a mere fraction of the original subject, but can still extract emotions from within you.
Nevertheless, this art works well in many situations. Let us say, as an example, you are in a hotel reception waiting to be attended to. You find your eyes straying to a painting on the wall. It holds your focus and you find that you do not want to avert your eyes. It has got you drawn in and you have responded to it. It has succeeded and kept you interested!
So, when abstracts are your choice to paint, you maybe have to answer your own questions! Was the end result what I originally intended? Perhaps I just thought I was on a winning streak with a knockout painting!
Does my buyer decide what it is supposed to be? What was I actually envisaging when I did this, and did I have an original thought for this, in fact? Maybe I was on one, getting carried away again? Now the question is "what is my title?" Furthermore, do I need one?
One way or another, often it does not have to be understood and maybe yes, we can relate to it somehow. Now, where to actually sign it?
A decision also has to be made on which way up your painting goes. If you sign it on the front you take the choice away from the buyer as many paintings could be shown any way up. I find that if you sign the back it can be hung any which way you like!
The author of this guide, Anna Meenaghan, operates an interactive online art community where artists and art enthusiasts alike have a meeting point. There you can find almost everything about art from canvas art [http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_16_canvas_art] through to abstract paintings [http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_21_abstract_paintings] as well as vast amount of "Help" guides for budding future artists.
