“Painting an abstract is kind of like climbing Mt. Everest. Everyone who does it is one part crazy, one part eccentric, and two parts creative. Those creative parts have to do with having a vision and a craving of a creative challenge so difficult that most people shake their heads and will never-ever try ‘the ascent,’ or, more importantly, even try to understand the attempt.”
— Melinda Cootsona

INTRODUCTION

Five Elements of Design

In this e-ssentials eCourse we are focusing on five elements of Design: Line, Value, Color, Shape, Texture. Depending on who you read there can be anywhere from five to eight elements, including three dimensional design elements, but for our purposes we are starting off with the most basic and fundamental five. These concepts are keys for all visual artists to unlock doors of understanding, inspiration, cohesiveness, creativity, composition, and so much more. They are the foundations of our art-making, much like the alphabet is to a novel.
When working with abstraction it is essential that we understand these elements and the potential that they offer to our work.

Why Abstract?

MELINDA COOTSONA, “GENIE”

Many artists agree that creating pure abstraction successfully is the most challenging of all ‘subject matter.’ When painting a still life you can look at your reference and say, “I need an ellipse here” or “the side is a dark value,” or “the table is a rectangle made of Ultramarine blue with a dash of Cerulean.” Even if the still life is imagined, many of those ‘rules’ can apply. When creating an abstract, however, ALL DECISIONS ARE IMAGINED AND DETERMINED BY YOU. There is no reference to guide you in your decision making like there is with a coffee cup, for instance, where you can see if an ellipse is off or the handle is crooked.

With an abstract painting you are constantly making choices: Dark or light? Red or Green? Large or small? Warm or Cool? Hard edge or soft edge? Push back or pull forward? EVERYTHING IS UP TO YOU. THERE IS ALWAYS MORE THAN ONE ANSWER, and on top of that, MOST OF THE CHOICES ARE SUBJECTIVE. And, honestly, it is just plain exhausting…but oh so exhilarating when you get it just right!

So if you are up to the challenge of creating something completely unique, out of your own imagination, while making it balanced and harmonious (or dis-harmonious) with rules that are all made to be broken, then you are in the right place! Welcome!

 
 

ABSTRACT ESSENTIALS BASICS

Please feel free to use whatever medium you feel comfortable with. I have tried to create videos with a wide range of mediums from charcoal to oil paint to digital. The concepts presented here apply to all mediums.

All rules can be broken. For every ‘rule’ that I give you in this course, there will be a time when the opposite is true, or when you can manipulate the rule and break it. This flexibility of the process is what makes us both crazy (full of doubt and frustration) and excited at the same time. It is helpful, however, to know these ‘rules’ (shall we call them guidelines?) so that you can control and manipulate your work with intention.

HAVING TECHNICAL OR INTERNET ISSUES?

The videos in this course are now DOWNLOADABLE! If you are watching them via WIFI, however, every now and then the videos may pause or not reload. This can happen because of slow internet speed or because several people may be using your internet at the same time. To run the videos smoothly you will need a fast internet. Periodically it has to do with Vimeo and their technology. If the latter is the case, be just a bit patient. Try refreshing your browser or possibly changing your browser. Wait a few minutes and/or try watching a different video. If it is on Vimeo’s end, this problem typically resolves itself within a short amount of time.

ONLINE ART STORES AROUND THE GLOBE

I list here several options for your painting supplies. Obviously there are many more, and I cannot list one for every country; however I try to list one for almost every continent to get you started!

USA   Dick Blick, Jerry's Artarama  

UK   Jackson's Art , Ken Bromley  

AUSTRALIA   The Sydney Art Store    

NEW ZEALAND     Takapuna Art Supplies   

EU  Boesner ,  Van Beek Art , Le Géant des Beaux-Arts     

CANADA   Curry's Art,  Aboveground   

SOUTH AFRICA  Loot   

STORE LOCATOR

← Click on the logo to locate stores around the world that carry GAMBLIN products.

Let’s Get Started!

Limitations

MELINDA COOTSONA, “HONEY”

Because of the overwhelming and infinite choices in pure abstraction, many artists use limitations to help guide their work. Limitations can mean many things from a limited palette to limited emotional content, however, in this course we are going to focus on five design elements as our limitations.

  • LINE

  • VALUE

  • COLOR

  • SHAPE

  • TEXTURE

Hopefully the results will be two-fold; to help you narrow your choices, and also to help you focus and explore each specific element in order to better understand how it could enhance your personal work.