Awesome Abstract Art!

   Composition VIII,  1923

"Open your eyes to painting... and stop thinking!..."

       ~ Wassily Kandinsky

Awesome abstract art begins with Russian artist Kandinsky, at least in my mind. He had a deep understanding of the power of color, shape, form, and the beauty found in art. 

He is considered the pioneer of  abstract art; and I love the huge variety of  non-objective imagery found in his work!

To create our own Kandinsky inspired abstract art, we first examined some of his paintings, especially the shapes and images in Composition 8, shown at the top. 



Then we took turns choosing images, shapes, and forms that will drawn in our paintings with black Sharpies, along with any specific instructions, like thickness of lines, large or small, overlapping, etc.  



After everyone had a turn to be the "art boss," we continued our work with colored Sharpies, adding our own details and colors. 





Next, we filled in additional areas with oil pastels, and blended a few of these colors for an element of softness.






We then painted our masterpieces with cake tempera, being sure to thin our colors like watercolor to create a resist when painting over our oil pastels.




Although every artist followed the exact same instructions from the "art bosses," every abstract piece developed differently.

Each artist's personality and unique style emerged from the art he or she produced. 

Some pieces were quite delicate or minimalist.








Other artists used a limited palette with very interesting results.

Still others made very bold use of shape, line, and color. 








These pieces were done in the opposite way. We randomly painted first, then we added patterns and outlined various shapes and forms that we found within the painting. Some shapes were abstract and some were objective, like hearts, a bulls-eye, and an octopus. 

“The artist must train not only his eye but also his soul.”

~ Wassily Kandinsky