How to Find Inspiration for Abstract Painting
I have always loved color and movement, so I was naturally drawn to abstract painting when I began my journey as a professional artist. But when you come from a background of representational art, as most of us who studied art do, it can be hard to loosen up and follow the intuitive flow of abstract painting. In this post, I’ll be sharing how to find inspiration for abstract art so that you can paint confidently in this freeing, expressive style.
Many artists want to try abstract painting, but get stuck when it comes to finding inspiration. Unlike representational art that uses reality as a reference, abstract artworks rely on the artist’s inner vision, creativity, and intuition.
So how do you find that initial spark of inspiration for an abstract piece? Today, I’ll share four ways that I find inspiration for my abstract artworks, and I hope they’ll help inspire you too!
#1 Find loose inspiration from nature and your experiences
One easy way to start is to pull inspiration from your own experiences. I love to take photos when I travel, and I’ll use my travel photos to help gather inspiration for new pieces. Whether it’s the movement, the color palette, or the textures in the photo, I will draw certain elements into my painting.
For example, I loved this photo of a colorful door framed by floral branches, so I decided to paint a piece inspired by it.
I sketched out a composition using the dappled shadows on the door as the inspiration for the movement of the piece. I also knew I wanted to add some flowers to tie in the floral branches from the photo.
Lastly, I sketched out a color palette based on the colors in the photo. I love colorful compositions, so I added more of a rainbow palette to my piece, but I used the photo color palette as the base.
This is how the final piece turned out!
Additionally, you can use a natural phenomenon to inspire your work. Here are a few examples.
This piece drew inspiration from lush, tropical monstera plants. While I painted a few leaves to tie the inspiration in, the piece is still mostly abstract in its representation of tropical, jungle vibes.
This piece is entitled “Happy Galaxy” and I drew inspiration from a magical swirling galaxy of stars. Of course, the “real” night sky isn’t filled with gold stars and hot pink accents, but that’s where the magic of art can come in and transform something mundane into something magical!
This piece was inspired by cotton candy skies and spring flowers. It’s entitled “Spring Sky”, and just like with the galaxy above, it doesn’t represent a sky exactly, but the movement of the brushstrokes, the colors of spring, and the floating flowers help give it that fresh springtime essence.
#2 Take inspiration from emotions and feelings you wish to evoke
Abstract art has the power to evoke strong feelings, like peace, energy, confidence, joy, and so much more. One of my favorite ways to find inspiration for my paintings is to think about the emotions that I want to portray with the piece.
My mission is to make bold, colorful art that brings a sense of joy to everyone who sees it. So I use that as my north star when I’m painting. My bold brushstrokes and bright colors tell the story that you deserve to be confident, vibrant, strong, and happy.
Think about what message or emotion you’re trying to convey, and use that to guide your intuitive abstract painting process.
#3 Be inspired by color
I am a color-lover through and through. I started my brand, EttaVee, during a gray winter in Paris where color was hard to come by. So I started painting with vibrant hues to lift my spirits. There are certain colors that really sing to me (like fluorescent pink and periwinkle!), so sometimes when I’m looking for inspiration, I’ll build a composition around a color that is particularly inspiring to me at the time!
If you want to learn how to build cohesive color palettes with my favorite color - hot pink - check out this blog post!
#4 Utilize a realistic motif
Sometimes it can be helpful to stick within the confines of a recognizable motif like leaves or an animal. But there are still ways that you can use realistic motifs and portray them in a more abstract style. I wrote an entire blog post about how to paint realistic motifs in an abstract style if you want to learn more about it.
I hope this helps spark some inspiration for your next abstract painting session!
xo, Jessi
Want to learn more about my process for planning a piece and painting it from start to finish? Check out my class, Joyful Abstracts!
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