The Elements of Abstract Art

What are the elements of abstract art?

1. The Element of Colour

Colour is probably the most significant element of abstract art that carries a powerful emotional response. Colours can and do affect our moods, consciously or subconsciously. Colours in a painting create different energy and evoke different emotions.

Other artists argue that the prime element of art is the line. I do not dispute the powers of line in abstract artworks, but I still believe the emotional powers of colour has far more influence on our moods.

The prime example I always look at is Cave Paintings that were created some 40,000 years ago. Although many of them were created with lines only, however so many other paintings were also made with lines and colours.

Our ancient ancestors most probably felt the need to add colours to lines to tell their stories more effectively. They probably went through a long tedious process of finding and making colours as they, most likely, identified the importance of adding colours to their line art. 

Red ochre is probably the first and oldest pigment ever discovered. Prehistoric pigments were created from a combination of animal fat, chalk, soil and burnet charcoal creating the basic colours of red, brown, yellow, white and black. This is absolutely amazing to demonstrate the strive for colours in our lives.

Many works of representational artworks attempt to replicate the real world realistically the way we see it as we identify it and experience it. Nevertheless, many artists, particularly abstract and non-representational artists embrace a different world.

In the 1950s and 1960s, many colour field artists highlighted the emphasis of colour on canvas as painted colours on a flat two-dimensional surface. They created huge, expansive paintings that used one or two colours. Their artworks did not attempt to represent the real world, but perhaps to demonstrate the emotional power of colours on a flat surface, such as a canvas. They had no intention to represent anything else with the strong, vivid colours they used.

Mark Rothko was well known for using this style of large colour fields in his paintings.

This is perhaps a way to prove the strength of colours on their own and acknowledge the immense effects of colour on us.

Colours are an amazing science. Colours are extremely important as one of the main elements of abstract art.

We see colour depending on the materials an object is made of. Some lights will be reflected and some will be absorbed by the object.  What we perceive as an object’s colour is the light that is reflected off of it.

In the art world, red, yellow and blue are known as the primary colours because they cannot be made by mixing other colours. However, these primary colours can be mixed to make almost all the other colours we see.

Mixing equal quantities of two primary colours will produce other colours known as secondary colours. For example, mixing yellow and blue will produce green, red and yellow will make orange and mixing red and blue will create violet.

Furthermore, mixing a primary colour with secondary colour produces what is known as tertiary colours or intermediate colours. For example, mixing red and orange produces vermilion, orange and yellow makes amber, yellow and green makes chartreuse, green and blue create teal, blue and purple make violet and purple and red produce magenta.

I know that might be too much to take in, but do not worry about it. You will be able to figure it out as you practise more colour mixing.

The value of each colour can be changed through toning, shading and tinting. Any colour can be tinted by simply adding white to it, turning red into pink, blue into light blue, green into light green and so on.

Black is then added to any colour to produce a shade. The tone is created by mixing black and white with a colour.

A piece of abstract artwork may occasionally be composed entirely of the shades, tones and tints of a single colour. This is referred to as a monochromatic colour palette.

By developing their own distinctive colours, tints, hues and tones, artists can add their own distinctive touches to their work. And this is one of the ways to create your unique abstract art.

Another way to categorise colour is by using temperature. We are all familiar with warm and cold colours. We link warm, sunny days to warm colours, e.g. reds, oranges and yellows. We also link cold colours, to cold, cloudy and rainy winter days, such as blues, greens and violets.

It is interesting to know what is your overall mood or feelings when you mix warm and cool colours. Try it and let me know your answer.

Colours can evoke a wide range of associations and emotions in addition to the weather. Colours can be personal or cultural influences. Is there a certain colour or group of colours that immediately brings up a memory or thought for you?

It will be easier for you to appreciate any abstract artwork and create your own interpretation if you are aware of how colours affect you. Knowing how colours affect each other will also help you to create the messages you want to send when creating your own abstract paintings.

This is also true for non-artists. For example, when you decide to buy an abstract painting for your living room. What are the colours your will be looking at and choosing, not only to suit your living room colour scheme but also to create a great comfortable emotional response for you?

You buy an abstract painting for a reason and that reason could be that it brings you happiness. It evokes your emotions for certain things. It makes you feel good.

If you are looking to buy an abstract painting, find the painting that elicits your emotions and adds meaning to you personally. Do not buy an abstract painting just because the colours suit the decoration of your living room. It should be the other way around. A good abstract painting is a statement of its own and everything else follows.

A couple of articles may provide further tips about selecting your abstract paintings for your living room – “7 Tips to Successfully Choose Your Abstract Wall Art” and “Best Abstract Painting For a Living Room”.

I have also discussed the subject of colours in more detail in the following article – “How To Make an Abstract Painting”.

You may also be interested in this article to learn more about our personal preference for certain colours – “What Does Your Favourite Colour Say About You”.

2. The Element of Value

Value is another element of abstract art. There are two distinct elements to a colour. Hue is the colour itself and Value is the lightness or darkness of the colour. It indicates how light or dark a particular hue or colour is.

You can understand values better and easier when they are represented as a scale or gradient. A scale from light to dark exists for every colour. By lightening the colour, i.e. adding white to it or by making it darker with black, other values can be produced.

Low contrast in an artwork is identified when there are many tones between white and black. For example, you would see how many various shades of grey there are in particularly any black-and-white painting.

Artists pay a lot of attention to simulating light in their artwork by creating a wide variety of tone and colour values.

On the other hand, there would be very few tonal values between black and white in an image with strong contrast.

Value perception may be also influenced by an object’s surface texture. How we understand value can also be influenced by the many ways that artists depict suggested textures and lines.

Have a look at the paintings here on this page and try to see the different values. That could be helpful if you are making your own painting and practising developing value scales using a variety of mediums and colours.

It is also helpful if you are looking to buy an abstract painting for your living room or any other room. The more you know and appreciate abstract art, the easier it becomes to look at and choose your favourite abstract painting.

You may find the following article of interest as it talks more about Living Room Wall Art.

3. The Element of Shape

A shape is an enclosed two-dimensional space. Other elements of abstract art, like colour and line, are used to define the appearance of a shape. Although there are limitless types of shapes, they all fall under two main categories of shapes, organic and geometric.

Organic shapes are free forms created without specific structures and are often unique. While geometric shapes are clearly defined by straight lines, curves and angles creating precise structures, such as rectangles, squares and circles.

In any painting, shapes are flat and are only defined by their length and width. A shape is created when the beginning of a line links to its own end or crosses another. A shape takes on the characteristics of the lines that were used to create them.

With the understanding that all shapes are either geometric or organic, it would make it easier to learn how to create effective shapes of various objects in your painting.

It is also helpful when you are viewing an abstract painting to pay close attention to the shapes in the painting and how the artist used them. Try also to interpret your feelings about seeing different shapes.

How do organic shapes make you feel? Do you prefer geometric shapes?

Personally, I prefer organic shapes and rarely use geometric shapes in my abstract paintings. This preference is linked to my inspiration from Nature. For some unknown reasons, Nature does not create geometric shapes or straight lines.

4. The Element of Form

Form is another important element of abstract art. A form represents a depth of a shape in a three-dimensional object. As such, a form has a width, length and depth. Similar to shapes, forms can be organic or geometric.

Organic forms are free-flowing without any specific width, length or depth. The best organic forms can be found in nature, e.g. leaves, clouds, flowers, stones, seashells and animals.

Geometric forms have regular and precise angles and dimensions. For example, squares change to cubes and circles change to spheres. These are usually man-made forms.

It is possible to use both types of forms in the same artwork. In paintings and drawings, for example, forms are implied because they create the illusion of three-dimensions

Artists create forms to convey a sensation or meaning of the form itself. In a painting, artists create the appearance of a three-dimensional object using dark, light and shadow values to define the form.

Understanding the effects of light on an object helps us to create more effective forms. However, forms can be made using colours to create the illusion of three dimensions.

The next time you are viewing a painting, for example in a museum or an art gallery, look closer at the forms. Are they geometric or organic? Can you notice the highlights and shadow areas of the form? Or perhaps you can see how the artist used different colours to create the illusion of depth and a three-dimensional object.

5. The Element of Line

Lines can represent movements in a painting and can define the edges of a shape or object and describe its details. There are several types of lines, thick, thin, straight, horizontal, diagonal, vertical, curved, etc. They can also be rough, smooth, dotted, dashed zigzag or even implied. Lines communicate different meanings and directions.

As I mentioned earlier, some artists consider lines as the prime element of abstract art.

A mark having length and direction is called a line. A line is a route that is drawn when an object moves between two points.

The characteristics of a line (thin or thick) and its value (light or dark) are vital in providing more information about itself and its role in the painting.

Lines are also used to create shades by drawing or painting several lines close to each other. There are many other methods to create shades of dark areas and lighter areas.

Almost every artist uses lines in drawings and paintings to create interesting objects. An artist may have their unique styles of creating lines as a way of expressing their unique thoughts and ideas.

Lines are everywhere and it is almost impossible to create a work of art without lines.

Examine the lines and how they are used in the paintings on this page. Can you see how lines add interest to the painting? What do lines in these paintings make you feel?

6. The Element of Texture

The texture is the visual feel of the overall surface of the painting or its element(s) and it is one of the elements of abstract art. It appeals to our sense of touch. Artists create texture to elicit the feelings of smooth, rough, soft, etc. Those feelings could be further interpreted into possible pleasure, happiness or sadness.

The texture could be either implied or actual. Texture in any painting adds a great sense of interest and depth.

Similar to form, texture can be real or implied and there are many ways to create texture on the surface of your painting.

I spend a great deal of time thinking about creating texture in my paintings, both actual and implied textures. Because I believe texture can add a lot of interest to our feelings and stimulate our other senses.

To create an effective texture, it is important to be aware and knowledgeable of the other elements of abstract art. Which other element(s) should you use to create the sense and feel of texture?

This is one of many questions that comes to mind when creating textures in my abstract paintings.

Texture is, simply, the look and feel of the surface of your painting. It is also possible to create actual texture on a painting. For example, one of the methods I use to create actual texture is by applying several layers of thick paint. Thick layers of paint can create three-dimensional objects.

Another method I use to create actual texture is to show brushstrokes. The use of a sponge could also create a rough surface.

Other artists use textiles, fabrics or even sand to create realistic textures.

Texture can definitely enhance the qualities of a painting, such as movement, contrast, emphasis, etc.

7. The Element of Space

Space is the area in the painting between and around different objects. Space can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, deep, shallow, closed, open, positive (used/active) or negative (unused/passive).

Space is one of the elements of abstract art. In abstract painting, space is usually contained within the borders of your paper or canvas. The main objects you create in your painting occupy positive space, while the areas around the objectives you created are known as negative space.

Artists use many techniques to create different effects using space. Some artists can create the illusion of three-dimensional space in a two-dimensional work. Other artists could cleverly link both positive and negative spaces to add significant interest to the artwork. Similar to all the other art elements, space is used to convey a message and attract the eyes to it.

Some artists may also use object size to create the illusion of space. For example, smaller objects may seem further away from larger objects. Another method is to use sharply focused objects with a soft blurry background. This technique creates fantastic depth in the artwork.

The use of different colours and values could also give the illusion of real space in a two-dimensional work. Other artists use space combining clutter, dense, shallow, flat, symmetrical, etc.

 Each artist attempts to create their own unique style of space in the artwork to emphasise their ideas and thoughts.

All the above elements create different emotions but they all remain subjective as they depend on personal and cultural experiences.

This is only a short sample of the definitions, characteristics and importance of the elements of abstract art. There are a lot more details, but I hope you will find the information helpful and useful.

In the following section, I would like to briefly explain the importance of the elements of art in creating not only good abstract art but also a great one.

What makes a great abstract art painting

A great abstract painting must be (or at least should be) created by a great abstract artist. You might be wondering what makes a great abstract artist.

Creating a great abstract art painting needs a lot of time and practice to develop your knowledge and experience in this type of art. You will need to master, not only the art tools and techniques but also how to connect deeper with your artwork throughout the entire creative process.

The elements and principles of abstract art play a vital role in the entire process.

The Technical Phase

All beginner artists start by paying attention to learning the art tools and techniques. Like everything else we start learning about, we use our brains. You learn about the elements and principles of art. You then apply them and practise them over and over again.

You also learn about the tools you will be using to create your abstract paintings. Tools such as mediums, paints, brushes, palette knives and whatever other tools you wish to use.

The Creative Phase

I believe almost anyone could learn the technical phase if they wanted. It’s similar to any other skill we learn. However, the creative process needs you to dive deeper inside.

Remember, abstract art is an expression of emotions, feelings, etc. and the best way to express those is by using them to create your abstract painting. To create your expression using your feelings.

Is it possible to paint your feelings?

A great abstract painting begins with the artist’s intention to create an abstract painting. The second thing is the successful ability of the artwork to evoke the viewer’s emotional response. The emotional response doesn’t necessarily mean knowing exactly the artist’s emotions and feelings.

A great abstract painting leaves you feeling something special and stays with you long after you have seen it.

A great abstract painting starts with distinguished elements of abstract art. The way an artist uses the elements of art can differentiate between good artwork and a great piece of art. And that is the very first step in creating a magnificent painting.

A great work of art is a special statement in itself. It creates a distinct deep sensation. It enriches the past and present and it also suggests new directions for art exploration in the future.

I am not sure if there is one straightforward answer to the question of what makes a great abstract art painting. I have examined many answers of which some highlight the importance of technical skills, the quality of material, and applying or skilfully breaking all the art rules. Others highlighted the importance of consistency, meaning, colour, texture and complexity.

I am not disputing any of them. All these are essential, but they do not necessarily lead to creating a great piece of artwork alone. There must be something more that affects our deeper emotions without any external influences.

A great abstract painting, in my opinion, can truly touch my innermost feelings and stay with me for a long time or cause to create a meaningful change.

What do you think? What makes a great abstract painting?