When painting abstract art, don't worry too much about creating a composition that is perfectly symmetrical or balanced from every direction; simply ensure that everything works harmoniously together as one whole piece.
Explore various lines and marks to add texture and visual interest in your paintings. Try different thicknesses of lines to add rhythm, energy and movement.
Warm colors
A painting's combination of warm and cool hues can profoundly alter its mood and energy. A composition featuring vibrant reds and oranges may feel lively and energetic while one featuring cool blues and greens may bring serenity and calm. Experiment with various combinations to find what best matches your artistic vision.
Color can tell a powerful tale about its creator. Skilled abstract artists understand how to harness color's transformative powers to elevate their work, stirring emotions and activating imaginations. How different hues interact has an enormously profound effect on its meaning and feeling.
Integrating warm colors into a painting can bring balance and unify it, as their combination creates harmony and unification. Rich reds contrasted against soft orange hues can form an aesthetically pleasing visual symphony while earthy browns and yellows provide coziness and warmth to a room.
Warm accents in the background of a painting can add warmth and enhance its visual appeal. Contrasting complementary colors like orange and blue against cool tones such as green or purple can help draw the eye of viewers and provide focal points within an abstract composition.
Color intensity or saturation levels have an enormous influence on how we perceive them, creating different emotional responses or conveying different stories through them. Highly saturated hues appear more vibrant while desaturated ones seem dimmer and subtler; different saturation levels of colors can also evoke diverse emotional responses and convey narratives within compositions.
Color contrast is one of the key elements to consider when creating an abstract painting. By employing different hues to highlight specific components within their compositions, artists can make their artwork stand out and become memorable.
When selecting the color palette of your abstract art, take into consideration all existing hues in your space, including any predominant tones. Select an abstract expressionist painting whose hues complement these existing tones to ensure an harmonious environment.
Neutrals
Neutral paint colors may often get forgotten in favor of bolder color combinations or timeless classics, yet they provide much-needed versatility. When used for abstract paintings or when designing any form of decor using them as the basis, neutrals provide an effective backdrop that allows each tone in the piece to pop more effectively while communicating its message more powerfully. Neutrals also work well with various decor styles like traditional farmhouse, modern and industrial settings.
Some of the most sought-after neutrals include shades of white and gray. These colors provide a clean, crisp aesthetic that pairs nicely with both light and dark furniture, making for easy decorating options throughout any home. Other popular neutral shades include tan, ivory and taupe; not only are these versatile but their shades are easy on the eyes too - ideal for any setting in which they may be placed.
Green is another neutral hue, providing an organic yet natural aesthetic. Sherwin-Williams' Monet Moonrise provides an elegant example, pairing muted green tones with warm wood tones and crisp white accents for an exquisite appearance.
Sherwin-Williams' Sea Salt is an earthy neutral with subtle green, blue and gray undertones. This shade works especially well in sunlit rooms where its reflective properties create the impression of larger spaces.
Shades
Color is one of the primary tools abstract artists use to express themselves and create visual impact in their works. A successful abstract painting can be defined by its harmonious palette as well as how these colors affect us as viewers.
Some abstract artists prefer limiting their palette, while others like to explore a wider spectrum. No matter which path you take, your hue choices can have a tremendous effect on how viewers respond to your art - from calm and serenity to excitement and energy.
Similarly, if your painting is predominantly neutral, inject a splash of color with complementary hues through small accents of opposing hues. Their interaction can create dynamic tension and visual interest; blue and orange may work together to evoke feelings of warmth and joy in your audience.
Tone-on-tone painting - using different shades and tints of one hue - can produce breathtaking effects in abstract paintings. By employing subtle variations in hue, this style makes compositions appear more elegant and harmonious than if the entire canvas were filled with vibrant hues.
Even though it can be tempting to add every shade that appeals to you into an abstract painting, remember that less is often more. Too many hues can overwhelm a piece and diminish its meaning or emotional impact.
Black & White
Add black-and-white abstract works for an understated aesthetic in your collection. Black-and-white pieces can elicit powerful emotions in the same way that colorful abstracts do, from solid forms that ground you to wild splatters which excite and upbeat the room. Black-and-white abstracts also pair beautifully with modern decor elements like metallics, white washed wood and matte finishes; for an alternative approach you could frame an abstract work in a traditional decorative frame for balance and harmony in the room.
