In all of my years teaching art to adults, my students' most often asked questions are about composition -- specifically what makes a string composition and how to execute it. Second is how to know if their waiting is finished and when to put down their brushes.
While there are many resources on the web that address composition, most of the resources and examples show composition in representative (realism) art. So how do you create a strong composition in abstract art, especially if you want to paint loosely and freely without the constraints of hard and fast rules? This video addresses that. You'll see me demo an abstract painting, and then spend time assessing the composition and discussing the choices I made that led to a strong composition, giving my painting interest and eye flow. I'll discuss 3 key factors:
1. Contrast in Value
2. Contrast in Color
3. Contrast in Texture
For those of you who are curious, here are the colors and materials I used in this demo. You can also use the affiliate links I have provided in this post to buy many of these products for yourself:
Paint colors (all by Liquitex):
~ quinacridone red orange
~ quinacridone magenta
~ green gold
~ ultramarine blue
~ parchment
~ Payne's gray
~ Naples yellow
Tools:
~ Princeton brand Catalyst silicone wedge
~ Puppy training pads
~ Sumi brush
~ Filbert brush
~ Gold leaf
~ mop brush
~ Neocolor II water soluble wax pastels
Please note that this video is a demo, not a tutorial, and the copyright to the paintings in my video are owned solely by Kathleen Rietz. Please do not copy or reproduce my paintings in any way unless for private use/practice only (NOT to sell or enter into competitions). There has been some confusion about the purpose of the videos I share on my channel. I offer lots of great tutorials in my online art courses, which are available here: https://kathleenrietzartist.thinkific... There is even a FREE private Facebook group for anyone taking a paid online art course authored by me.
Chapters are as follows:
0:00 Intro
0:23 Introducing the painting
2:00 Painting demo
2:12 Establishing the darkest values
3:23 Establishing the lightest values
4:50 Introducing color into my painting
6:06 Adding blues
7:13 Why turning the canvas helps
7:54 Adding textural details with my sumi brush
8:28 Enhancing the composition with Naples yellow
9:11 Adding deeper purples
9:37 Finishing with small details
10:08 How to use Neocolor II water soluble pastels
10:35 Discussing Composition
11:22 Contrast in Values
12:23 Contrast in Colors
13:44 Contrast in Textures
14:30 Defining Areas of Rest
15:18 Knowing when a painting is finished
17:15 How I use my intuition
19:00 Using my phone's camera as a tool
Visit my website for original paintings, prints, scarves & to sign up for my mailing list: https://kathleenrietz.com
My online art courses can be found here: https://kathleenrietzartist.thinkific.com/