1. Start with Bold Color Play
Begin by applying bold colors to your canvas. Don’t overthink or hesitate—just start putting down colors you love. Your goal at this stage is to cover most of the canvas with different shades and marks, using a variety of tools.
This is just the beginning, giving you a base to work from. Allow yourself to experience joy and freedom in this part of the process.
Whether it’s collage, stenciling, stamping, scribbling, journaling, or dripping paint, let loose. You might even incorporate tissue paper, charcoal, or corrugated cardboard. Whatever makes you feel alive—go wild and crazy!
2. Work with Intention Behind the Chaos
Even though you are working in a spontaneous, free-flowing way, it’s essential to have a sense of direction. You don’t need a literal plan, but hold a feeling in mind. It’s the clarity behind the chaos that allows you to relax and experiment on the canvas without feeling lost.
Have some key ideas and clarity in the back of your mind, allowing you to let go and play because you know you can pull it back when needed.
3. Stay Luxurious and Playful with Paint
When you begin, use more paint rather than less. You want to feel abundant and treat yourself to a luxurious experience. Apply colors in a playful manner—paint large areas, create lines, shapes, and marks.
Include a range of dark, light, and medium values, letting your work evolve naturally. It doesn’t have to make sense. In fact, that’s the beauty of it.
Art doesn’t need logic—it’s about feeling. Just as in life, things might feel chaotic, but you’re always in control.
4. Allow the Ugly Stage
At this point, your painting might not look great. This is the messy, uncomfortable stage, but it’s also the most fun. It’s liberating because nothing is set in stone, and everything can change. Let the process teach you that you can’t control everything.
This is your time to experiment, play, and stay in this phase longer without feeling the pressure to move on quickly. It’s when accidents happen that you might discover something unexpectedly beautiful.
5. Introduce Spaciousness
Once the canvas is full of colors and layers, start creating space by adding neutral tones—whites, blacks, or other muted colors. These neutrals will bring out the vibrancy of the colors beneath.
Use broad tools like trowels, mop brushes, or spatulas to cover larger areas. As you do this, decide which colors you want to reveal and which ones to conceal.
Little bits of the underlying layers will peek through, creating depth and richness.
6. Embrace Discovery and Refinement
As you cover up parts of the painting, you might find sections you love. Keep doing more of what feels right—trust that intuition. This stage is about narrowing down and refining the piece.
Now is the time to focus on specific areas, bringing in smaller accents of color and adding smaller brush marks. You’re starting to see the painting take shape, but remember, nothing is permanent yet.
Stay open to changing it again.
7. Don’t Fall in Love Too Early
One of the most critical lessons is to avoid falling in love with parts of the painting too soon. If you cling too tightly to a certain section, you risk losing the freedom to keep evolving the piece.
When you know where you’re going, you can confidently mess up parts you like because you trust the process. You know that you can transform and improve it, and with this mindset, there’s no pressure to be perfect.
Each layer and change leads to something richer.
8. Trust the Mess and Find the Balance
As your canvas fills with layers, it might start looking chaotic or overwhelming. This is a normal and necessary part of the process. Trust that the mess is part of the journey toward creating something beautiful.
When it feels chaotic, pause and observe what’s working and what’s not. This is where balance comes in—knowing when to stop and when to add more. It’s okay to let some areas rest while other sections get more attention.
The balance between mess and refinement brings out the richness and texture of your final piece.
9. The Emotional Roller Coaster
As you progress, expect a range of emotions. You might feel excited, frustrated, surprised, or in love with one part, only to hate another. This emotional journey is part of the process.
Lean into the areas you love and work on adjusting the ones you’re unsure about. Keep changing things, but stay open to evolving those areas, too. Don’t get attached too quickly.
10. Embrace the Emotional Journey
Creating abstract art is not just about techniques and aesthetics, it’s deeply emotional. You will go through highs and lows, moments of doubt, excitement, frustration, and joy. This emotional rollercoaster is part of the artistic process, and it’s what gives your painting its unique depth and meaning.
Stay connected to your feelings and allow them to guide your decisions. Your personal emotions, thoughts, and reflections will show up in the art, making it a true expression of yourself.
11. Refining with Intuition
As you move towards the final stages, begin to slow down and listen to your intuition. This is the time to make more deliberate decisions about what to keep and what to change. Use smaller brushes and tools to refine details, adding marks and colors that resonate with you.
Scrape through layers to reveal bits of the early stages, allowing those hidden moments to surface. If you find a color from earlier that works, embrace it, but don’t try to replicate it exactly. The key is to respond to the history of the piece and let it guide you.
Trust your instincts—if something feels right, lean into it. At this stage, the painting will start to narrow in focus, becoming more cohesive and aligned with your original vision, while still embracing spontaneity.
12. Let the Painting Evolve
The painting will go through many stages as it evolves. Don’t get too attached to any one part because there are many possibilities waiting to emerge.
Keep experimenting, adjusting, and allowing the piece to change.
Stay open to the process and trust that every step leads to something new and better.
13. Freedom from Perfection
The key to creating meaningful abstract art is not striving for perfection. Let the process unfold without the fear of making mistakes.
Even if you completely wreck a section, you can rebuild it into something better. With practice, you’ll find that this freedom transforms both your art and your mindset.
The ability to let go and keep exploring is what leads to the best work.
14. Tapping into Your Best Self
When you’re free from second-guessing, judgment, and fear, you create art that reflects the best version of yourself. Everyone has this ability, but it’s a skill that you can learn and nurture.
The connection between your inner self and the art is what generates your creativity.
15. Find What Interests You
Spend time figuring out what excites you in art. When you have a clear direction, you’ll feel more confident, and your energy will increase. This excitement will reflect in your work, allowing you to create better and more engaging pieces.
This process celebrates freedom, exploration, and letting go of perfection in favor of discovery. The key is to trust the process, enjoy the emotional journey, and allow the painting to evolve on its own terms.
