Here is an original 4" X 6" abstract landscape watercolor painting. Say that fast five times. For most of my life, I did not like abstract art. I didn't get it, I didn't want to get it. It looked like a mess of colors with no purpose. Then I started to create art. Once I started to create my own art, some abstract art started to make a little more sense to me. This painting here for example. This is obviously a landscape painting. What I did for this look was to paint the whole piece wet into wet. I wanted blurry edges in some places and hard lines in others. I wanted soft light in one area and deep color in others. I wanted to exaggerate nature. To me, abstract art is taking something and exaggerating its characteristics. The degree of exaggeration is completely up to the artist, but make no mistake about it, there will be exaggeration. In this painting, I wanted the colors to define the different elements, not the shapes. Yes, depending on where one color starts and stops defines a shape, but that is the job of color in this instance, not the shapes themselves. Ironically, I find that abstract paintings take less time to paint, but more time to plan. They really are not as spontaneous as they may appear. If you miss a little on a realistic painting, chances are you can save it. Miss a little with an abstract painting and it throws everything off. I still paint abstracts less then any other type of paintings I create, but lets just say, I have found a whole new level of respect for the artists that produce abstract art.
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