How to create luscious abstract art by Zinia

Hi Everyone,

It is always a red-letter day when we are privileged to feature one of Zinia’s, of Abstract Inspiration, pieces of art. She brings such beauties and her videos are always packed with fun and creative techniques. This month’s project has rich, luscious colors that just jump off the page! Take a look at how she makes it happen, then pop over to her blog to see much, much more!

Hello everyone! It’s Zinia here and today I wanted to dive into the world of intuitive abstract painting.

I’m ashamed to admit that when I first started painting I was an abstract art snob. I was looking at the finished paintings and my untrained brain couldn’t see beyond “It’s not so special, I could paint it too”. Of course, abstract painting is not the same as painting real life but it has its own tricks and traps.

The first time I tried to create an abstract painting I ended up with the muddiest and boring canvas I could ever imagine. When you get rid of any outlines and elements, you can’t get away with any mistakes in the color selection or composition. There is nothing to distract the eye.

Now my point is not to scare you away of abstract painting but to actually inspire you to give it a go. If you are a big lover of color or mark-making this is definitely for you. For me, the most magical thing about abstract painting is the process. Most of my abstract pieces start with leftover paint from other projects. I don’t have a plan, I just start putting paint on my page and let my hand mover freely around to create all sorts of random shapes and marks.

When most of my page is covered with paint, I start refining some areas and fixing some “mistakes” to balance my composition. One of my favorite techniques is adding random marks with different paintbrushes or even with a palette knife.

Another cool technique that compliments abstract pieces is adding texture. There are a ton of different texture tools out there or you can just use random household items like a hair comb to create texture on wet paint.

I’d really encourage you to give it a try. It’s an extremely fun and therapeutic process and as I said you can totally make it work just by using leftover paint from other projects ♥

Supply List: