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by Einstein Nephew

Famous abstract paintings

Abstract art is the best way to capture the imagination and personality of an artist. This fun, detailed way of painting creates completely different results each time and is a way way to add depth to your creations. There have been many great abstract paintings created over the years, so we may end up creating some level of controversy! Here are some of our favourite abstract paintings. Piet Mondrian - Tableau I. This painting was created in 1921 from oil paints onto canvas, which is 96.5 cm x 60.5 cm,. It is currently displayed in Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany. This iconic painting created Mondrian’s iconic style which continued throughout his abstract art from then on. The hard, clean black lines indicate the level of precision put into his work and created a style used by many today to create stand-out, block pieces. Jackson Pollock - Full Fathom Five. This was created in 1947 and features oil on canvas yet again, except this time with various other materials including nails, tacks, buttons, cigarettes and matches. It is 50 7/8 x 30 1/8 in and is owned by Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS) in New York. Pollock was an abstract expressionist who was also notorious for alcohol. His work expressed modern, post war feelings via his subconscious which used a visionary drip technique with added elements which changed the way abstract art was seen completely. Agnes Martin - Night Sea This 1963 oil and gold leaf on canvas painting is 72 x 72 in and owned by © Estate of Agnes Martin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Similar to Pollock, Martin’s work was very free-flowing. She was known for her lined grid paintings at the time and this monochromatic blue painting quickly became a popular style for her. When speaking on the painting, Martin expressed that the lines represented innocence. She hoped her paintings would bridge the gape between Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism. Helen Frankenthaler - Mountains and Sea This 1952 oil and charcoal painting on canvas is 86 5/8 x 117 ¼ in and once again, owned by © 2014 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS) in New York. Her paintings stood out in the Colour Field Movement of the time, introducing a process she called ‘soak stain’. She used turpentine to thin the consistency of her paints and poured this onto unprimed canvas on the floor, allowing the paint to soak through. This created a texture that hadn’t been seen before and became the vision for her later work.

by Einstein Nephew

Artwork on aluminium canvas

Aluminium panels are often very thin and light yet sturdy to work with. Here’s everything you need to know when creating artwork onto an aluminium canvas. One side of your canvas will often be a smooth, classic style and the other will have much more texture to give you options to work with. Clean your surface It’s important to clean aluminium surfaces properly before painting as fingerprints and other marks are picked up much easier by this material. Clean with alcohol to remove oils from the surface and improve the adhesion. What does aluminium work best for? Paintings using acrylic wash often look great on aluminium canvas.It is easy to build up texture on aluminium and doesn’t allow cracking to occur, which is prominent in both canvas and hardboard paintings. Water based paints set really well on smooth aluminium surfaces without primer. It is difficult to create a smooth transition of transparency with acrylic but is much better with oil. Aluminum is good for creating metallic paintings After painting a base, it is possible to scrape back some of the paint to reveal the original aluminum surface. This will allow for a ‘shinier’ look - perfect when creating metallics or lit objects such as headlights. You can also use solvents to reveal the metal which creates highlights on the work. Ease Aluminium panels are so thin that it is easy to find frames that will fit, giving many options for the finish you want to give your painting Be aware… When using aluminium, you won’t achieve the whitest of whites due to the colour of the base! You can use dibond aluminium which is covered in a white powdered coating, however you will need to be very careful when working with this as the surface is so smooth that colours do run easily. Sanding between layers can help to maintain the smoothness of your surface but create a canvas that is much better to paint onto. Fineliner, graphite and compressed charcoal works well on aluminium for creating smaller details.