Abstract
Abstract art uses shape, colour, line and texture as its subject. Early pioneers include Wassily Kandinsky, Hilma af Klint, Kazimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian. Good abstract work still relies on the same design principles as representational art.
Step by step
- Start from a source if it helps — a landscape, music, a feeling — and simplify until it stands on its own.
- Decide on a dominant: one main colour, one main shape type and one main direction, with smaller contrasts.
- Vary scale: large, medium and small shapes are more interesting than equal ones.
- Explore mark-making: palette knives, scraping, dripping, stencils, collage.
- Step back often and turn the canvas to check balance.
- Know when to stop — make several small studies so no single piece carries too much pressure.
Common mistakes
- Even distribution of every element so nothing leads the eye.
- Too many colours at full saturation.
- Believing abstract means 'anything goes' — composition still matters.
Practice exercise
Make six 15 × 15 cm studies using only three colours plus white, each based on a different word (calm, tension, rhythm, heat, silence, growth).