Color is a simple tool for abstraction. It is relatively easy to exaggerate colors to make your subject look unrealistic, but be careful! Don't overwhelm the viewer or create a clashing color palette that isn't aesthetically pleasing. Look at the following artworks and study how the artists used color to abstract their artwork.
Click on each image to enlarge it and study the caption to learn more about using exaggerated color to create abstraction.
Yellow Seacoast by Georges Braque, 1906
Overwhelming color can make it difficult for someone to want to look at your artwork. This piece has a lot of colors, but most of them are toned down to contrast the brighter yellow. This helps create a focal point for the viewer, and it ensures that the artwork isn't overwhelming to look at.
The Orchard by Maurice de Vlaminck, 1905
This artwork contains a lot of bright colors that are all part of the same color family. This creates an analogous color scheme that is harmonious. To keep the colors from becoming overwhelming, the artist inserts areas of cool colors to offset the warm reds, yellows, and oranges. This creates breaks in the composition and also adds variety.
The Bridge View on the River by Andre Derain, 1905
This artwork is less busy than the other two, but it is still exaggerated. The greens and blues of the water are contrasted by the orange in the sky. Since the rest of the artwork is relatively simple, the split-complementary color scheme adds energy and interest to the composition.
Using color to abstract your subject can be really fun! It gives you the opportunity to work with bright, bold colors that may not be seen in a realistic landscape. Just make sure to work within a color scheme or to mute some of the colors so that they don't overwhelm the viewer. Now, try drawing your tree again but using an unrealistic palette to abstract the tree.
Look at your trees and decide which one you like best. Which style would you want to use for your final project? Would you want to combine two styles, as in Kirchner's The Amselfluh?
Look at your three plein-air landscapes and think about which one would work best as an abstract composition.
