Abstract Art: A Step-by-Step Painting Demonstration

Abstract art is not the kind of art Karen Day-Vath (view personal website) had foreseen herself creating, but her painting has developed in that direction and the results have been well received. Here Karen provides insight into how she creates one of her pieces of abstract art, entitled Universal Ties. In her own words:

"I am a self-taught artist and have been painting with oil on canvas now since 2002. I never thought I would do anything in conjunction with abstract painting. I painted mostly florals, landscapes, and I guess you would call it self expressionism. I played around with a couple of paintings, using bright colors, different forms and swirling shapes and I thought that they came out quite well. They were also well received by my peers.

"When I start an abstract I never know where it will take me. It depends a lot on the mood I am in at the time. I love to play with color and forms, it seems to bring out my inner self and the creativity which I was born with and never knew about until I started painting. I love the freedom it gives me; to create something from nothing is a total high. Writing this step-by-step article was a challenge because I'd never thought at the steps in a painting, I just painted. But it's been a great learning experience."

Follow Karen's explanations through the various steps involved in creating this piece of abstract art, called Universal Ties. Go to next step...