Question:

How do you create a good composition in an abstract work of art when there is no focal point?

-Patty R.

This is a great question as so many students and working artist grapple with as they create abstract paintings. Abstract painting can be so freeing because you are creating a work of art that doesn’t have a reference to replicate. That is the same exact reason why abstract painting can be so hard, what do you do when you don’t have a ‘roadmap’ to get there?

My thoughts are that when you are just beginning to paint abstractly, don’t focus on the end result at first. Get to know your paints. Find your rhythm in the painting process. Enjoy the ride and just paint and paint a lot. Once you’ve grown comfortable with that process, and you are at the stage of ‘I can paint backgrounds all day, but how do I finish my painting?’, that is the point when you should start thinking about a few things to bring your painting towards the finish line.

1. What is it that you are trying to say in this painting? Is there an emotion you are trying to convey or a place you are trying to replicate a feeling of? When you stand back and look at your work, do you get those feelings or emotions? Find questions to ask yourself that help evaluate your work in a way that leads to you towards completion of your work. At some point, we must take ownership of our work and make decisions that force us to either put down the brush or make moves that will bring us closer to the final chapter of our work.

2. Familiarize yourself with the Principles & Elements of Art and Design. Those are the building blocks and ingredients you should be looking for in your work. The goal is to make your painting interesting to the viewer by leading them on a journey of sorts. That journey should travel through your painting and draw your viewer in to a focal point. The focal point could be a shape, a contrasting color, or a grouping of design elements that stand out ever so slightly from the rest of your painting.

3. It is helpful to start with a color palette you are excited about or a design question you want to explore. Get excited about discovering all that’s possible with these things as it will help you complete a story in your work of art.

4. Knowing when you are finished or when you should walk away is part of this question as well. There is now easy answer to this but one thing that I look for in my own work is the desire to start cleaning up edges, fine tune details, add shading or highlights, I slow down and use smaller brushes. It’s like putting the last of the decorations up for a party. It begins with parts and pieces everywhere until you’ve done your job well enough to stand back and admire your results once you’ve put all the finer touches on your design.

5. Recognize that when you are a beginner, your road to the end is going to change over time. Chances are that the more you paint, the more complex your designs will become so you will come to a pattern in your work where you not exactly do things the same each time you paint, but you follow a general path from start to finish. You evolve as an artist just as your painting evolves. To me, that is the beauty and fun of working with this genre of painting.

Lastly, I hope that you strive to improve your process every time you pick up a brush. It’s not exactly a linear path but the more you focus on your art and growth, the easier these types of questions are to answer. Enjoy the journey!

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