How to Paint Abstracts from a Photo

The Final Painting, with the Power of the Dark

Don't forget to consider tonal contrast.

Image: © 2006 Marion Boddy-Evans. Licensed to About.com, Inc.

When you look at the painting as it was in the last photo and as it is now, can you see that the one evolved from the other? That this final painting was built on what went before?

What's happened to it? Well, for starters, it's got a far more intense dark, which makes the other colors seem more intense too. Then the paint's more watery, free-flowing, splotchy, rather than linear.

So, what do I hope this demo has shown? That you shouldn't expect to go from photo or idea to final painting in 60 seconds. You work with it, you play with it, you let it evolve, you wrestle for control. That you need to allow it be a work-in-progress for some time, rather than stressing about it being a perfect, finished painting.

Now take a look at some more abstract art ideas and get painting!

• Using a Reference Photo as a Starting Point for Abstracts
• Look at the Negative Space for an Abstract
• Shapes and Patterns from Negative Space
• Filling Negative Space Shapes With Color
• Another Way to Start at an Abstract: Follow the Contours of the Shapes
• Don't Forget Tone (Lights and Darks)
• Another Way to Start an Abstract: Look at the Lines
• Repeat with Other Colors
• Keep Going and Build On What Went Before
• The Final Painting, with the Power of the Dark