So, I decided to dive into this whole black and white abstract art thing. You see it around, right? Looks kinda cool, maybe even a bit… easy? Just black, white, swish it about. Yeah, that was my first thought. Spoiler: I was pretty wrong on the "easy" part.
I went out, got myself some basic black paint, some white paint, a cheap canvas or two. Figured I'd be making masterpieces in an afternoon. My first attempt? Man, it was awful. Looked like a confused zebra had an accident on the canvas. Seriously. I just kinda slopped the paint on, hoping for magic. No magic happened.
Hitting a Wall (and Making a Mess)
Okay, so that first one was a total bust. But I’m stubborn. I tried again. And again. I remember I would just:
- Smear black onto the white canvas, hoping for something deep.
- Try to make these perfect, sharp lines, which just looked shaky.
- End up mixing everything into this one, sad, muddy grey color.
Nothing really clicked. It felt forced, or just plain messy without any good reason. My little workspace, which is basically a corner of my room, started looking like a paint bomb went off. My dog even got a white paw once, trotted it through the house. That was a fun cleanup. Not really.
I was getting pretty down about it, looking at actual abstract art online and wondering how they made it look so… intentional, even when it was wild. Mine just looked like I lost a fight with my materials.
Then, something shifted, kinda by accident. I was wiping up a spill, just a blob of black paint I’d knocked over, with an old rag. And the way the black dragged across the white of the rag, the way it feathered out… it looked more interesting than anything I'd managed to do on purpose on a canvas.
That got me thinking. Maybe it wasn't about trying to force an image. Maybe it was more about just letting the black and white do their thing, playing with them. I know, sounds a bit out there, but it made sense to me. I started to focus less on what I wanted the end thing to be, and more on what happened if I used, say, a stiff piece of cardboard instead of a brush. Or what if I really watered down the paint? Or used it super thick?
Now, when I try to make something, I just grab my black, my white, and whatever tools feel right – old credit cards are great, sponges, bits of string sometimes. I put on some music and just start. Sometimes it's big, bold movements. Sometimes it’s tiny, scratchy lines. Sometimes I just tilt the canvas and let the paint run where it wants. It’s still a gamble, for sure. Plenty of times I step back and think, "Nope, that’s not it." But it’s way more fun. I’m not pretending I’m some great artist. I’m just messing around with two colors and seeing what comes out. And honestly, sticking to just black and white takes a lot of pressure off. No stressing about which blue goes with what yellow. Just light, dark, and the shapes in between. That’s plenty to keep me busy.
