Book Club: Beginner's Guide to Abstract Art by Laura Reiter

During yesterday's Book Club, we tackled Beginner's Guide to Abstract Art by Laura Reiter.  The short version of the video is: I share my impressions, highlighting the book's shallow but useful content, the absence of detailed instructions, and its value for adventurous beginners.

You can watch the replay below:

Here are some of the things I shared during Book Club:

And here are some takeaways for you from the video:

• Keep a Notebook: Maintaining a notebook of some kind is crucial for artists to capture and process ideas, thoughts, and inspirations.  Use your notebook to document what you see, think, and dream.  Document your creative journey and take notes on what you've learned from your art experiences and experiments.  Continuously reflect on your work, ask questions, and evaluate your compositions to refine your skills and improve your art.
• Experiment with Symbols: Incorporating symbols in your artwork can add depth and personal meaning to your pieces.  Building your own art vocabulary and using symbols to convey ideas and concepts in your work can help you communicate with viewers.
• Design Elements: Familiarize yourself with design elements such as line, shape, toner value, color, texture, and pattern to enhance your work.
• Balance and Composition: Understand the principles of balance, contrast, and composition to create visually appealing and engaging artwork.
• Join Art Classes: Consider enrolling in art classes, workshops, or programs to deepen your artistic knowledge and skills.  Boot Camp can help you. Developing a vocabulary for understanding and discussing art is an essential part of the creative process.
• Abstract Everyday Objects: Consider abstracting everyday objects to explore new perspectives and interpretations in your art.
• Stay Curious and Adventurous: Embrace curiosity and adventure and be open to trying different exercises and techniques, even if they lead to unexpected results.

As I mentioned during the livestream, I'm putting Book Club on indefinite hiatus.  I want to focus on serving my membership community in 2024.  I share a ton of free content and have done so for years.  If you're not interested in paying for membership or not able to, you can still find hundreds of videos and blog posts in the archives to inspire you.

Happy arting!