Try Painting with Abstraction

Out of the Blue
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
12 x 12 in/30.5 x 30.5 cm
Copyright Byrne Smith 2017

Note, I didn't say abstract painting but painting with abstraction. There is a difference, and that is that an abstract painting can be just about whatever the painter says it is--a purple banana, an eyeball on an elbow, mere blobs/drips, no problem.

Painting with abstraction is the art of painting with less realism, sometimes much, much less. It's what many call painting "looser" or maybe more impressionistically. Whatever you call it, it's what I have been attempting to do lately.

Why? Because I like it, for one. I have recently been admiring some of the more abstract paintings that have been pinned on Pinterest. I also think it makes a painting that much more engaging for the viewer. You don't have to put in every little brushstroke so there's no question you're painting leaves on a tree.

Try giving it a little mystery and let the viewers imagine what they will--whatever that is. Try painting with abstraction.

I hope you enjoy my work.