Happy Work in Progress Wednesday! Wait, it's not a thing yet? Don't worry, it will be soon.

In Between Days - Abstract Art by April Bern

This week, I worked on something completely different. I tried abstract art! I'm so used to painting what I see and from reference photos and I want my paintings to be as close to photo realistic as possible. But I LOVE abstract art. I've always to be more "free" in my paintings. I am a "tight" painter and I tend to blend the heck out of everything (this isn't a bad thing.) I think painting abstractly might be a way to achieve that "freedom" in my painting.

This painting was fun. I had a canvas that I whitewashed with gesso and I thought to myself "Why not? What have I got to lose?" and I plopped a few colors down. I did blend the paint a little bit, but I made sure to leave some brush marks showing.

I put it down and came back to it a few days later and added a little more color, and I added those splotches. The splotches are my favorite part of the painting so far.

I'm not sure if I'm finished or not. That's the problem with abstract paintings, I think. You aren't ever quite sure if it's finished. I could go back and play with it some more, but then I worry about "ruining" it. It's at a good place right now. Who knows, in the future I might think "why not" and play with it again.

WIP Wednesday - Trying out Abstract