Love My Little Cottage

Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit- John Steinbeck

 

 

lovemycottage

celebrate every season and occasion with original art

Good Vibes Abstract Heart Painting

by 14 Comments

*This post contains affiliate links.

Good Vibes Abstract Heart Painting
Good Vibes Abstract Heart Painting
my folk art galleria wall

After beginning The Artist’s Way, a book by Julia Cameron, I’ve been trying to step out of the box and try new things. I bought a 12 by 16 inch pack of black canvases with the idea of making a few Valentines Day-themed paintings. My Good Vibes Abstract Heart Painting turned out differently than what I originally planned.

My inspiration was a Valentine’s Day faux stained glass flag.

My intention was to paint a faux stained glass heart collage, and add a few chocolate-dipped strawberries for good measure. I guess the paint and brushes had minds of their own. After I painted the big abstract heart in the middle, there was no going back. The greens and yellows and oranges and reds were so vibrant. The strawberries, the good vibe conversation hearts, and the background all became abstract. The process was so much fun! I’m in love.

What is abstract art anyway? At its core, I think abstract style is about breaking away from realistic depictions of what we see. It is about exploring form and color. I like to compare traditional art to Literary Realism and abstract art to Romantisicm in literature. I definitely prefer the latter. Give me Frankenstein over Tom Sawyer any day of the week.

I made outlines of stained glass shapes, but painted over them as I abandoned that idea.

I traced the main elements onto the canvas, then base-painted everything in the midtone of each color. That is what painting with acrylics is all about. In general, you begin with the color in the middle, shade with a darker tone, then highlight with the lightest one.

I chose positive words like inspire and dream for my conversation hearts because they are the opposite of words emerging artists often hear from the well-intended but lacking-in-imagination people they often love and live with.
The words were hand-lettered in a courier/typewriter font. Typewriter fonts remind me of murder mysteries. The detective discovers the identity of the murderer because she/he has a typewriter that drops its Ys-and so do the anonymous letters…
The colors in the strawberries made me feel happy! I never added the chocolate-dipped part, but it would have been lots of fun to paint oozy goozy, shiny milk chocolate. Maybe next time.
My frame is tragic, but don’t worry, I have a better one on order.

I hope you enjoyed my Good Vibes Abstract Heart Painting, and I dare you to Hope, Dream, Inspire, Explore, Love, Be, Enchant, Imagine, and Create this week!

Happy Valentines Day!

Kristie

Subscribe to Love My Little Cottage here.

Read Little Queen of Hearts Acrylic Valentine’s Day Portrait

Little Quenn of Hearts Acrylic Valentine's Day Portrait

Comments

  5. Decor Craft Design says

    Funny, sometimes you don’t know what your hand would do with the brush. Your painting is gorgeous, surely vibrant with love. That’s why I will be featuring you for this week Happiness Is Homemade Month Of Love! Have a lovely day and thank you for linking up every week.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *