If you thought abstract art was just slapping a bit of paint here and there like you did when you were 5 … think again …

If you thought abstract art was just slapping a bit of paint here and there like you did when you were 5 … think again ….

These are my learnings from taking an online course with Fibre Arts Take Two and tutor Artist Nicola Bennett with her Edible Abstract course.   

You can be an artist and sit down at your desk and paint from a photo. Paint from an image on your phone , grid it up . Paint it as you visually observe it.

Or you can draw and paint using all of your senses.

Let’s look at this one of Mojito , my first abstract artwork that I am happy with . You can see my blind drawing studies of my composition,  of the lemons and limes , they are there if you look closely . There are different qualities of line , some thick some thin , some dark some light , but there is a very loose drawing in there and I like that because I like to draw .

There are obviously lemon and lime colours but look closer , peer down through the layers of transparent paint and you can also see  more of my drawing marks based on what I hear and taste as I’m making the cocktail .. zig zags for my representation of the sourness of the lemon and lime  , lines for the cut marks as I slice the limes,cracks for the ice cracking , little seed shapes from the lemon , the colour to represent mint and swirls for the beautiful smell when I walk to the garden and pick it fresh ,there are little bubbles as I hear the fizz of the soda .

I’ve also learnt techniques such as colour mapping to guide your eye up and through the artwork so that it doesn’t get trapped in any one area   ,  the importance of Gesso and how it can build the foundational layer of the artwork . Not just as a primer (especially on paper which I had never thought of) but also as a painting technique to create line and pattern .

I’ve incorporated the rich buttery texture of oil sticks alongside the zingy freshness of liquid inks .

I’ve paid attention to the transparency of some pigments and used  layers like the old masters did to give a luminous look rather than just all dull  flat layering of opaque layers on top of each other  .

I’ve revisited the technique of sgraffito - scratching through layers of paint to reveal what’s underneath , and Scumbling with a dry brush to give a contrast in tone .  Ive used tools such as soft brushes and a colour shaper to move paint in swirling motions and to soften the paint out giving it a more transparent quality  .

I’ve drawn marks , smudged them and erased them with Charcoal until my fingers were black , fixative sprayed it and then used the pure clean acrylic liquid with transparent brush stokes on top .

As I said there is a bit more to the process than a 5 year old armed with their paintbrush , but now that I’m here I don’t know if I will ever go back to representational art again.