Abstract Art - My Explanation - MHO

Abstracts can be based on real things... many are. But abstract pieces most often do not related to reality in obvious ways.

As far as having a good shot at being a good piece in most viewers eyes an abstract piece needs all the same good qualities as any non-abstract piece does; form, color, texture, composition and anything else that makes it work. That's not to say it will always be successful or appreciated.
Two key words I use are subjective vs objective.

The best way I can guide you in what I personally see as a good abstract piece is reverse the learning process of drawing objects.
Here's an example using a sentence.

Use less to describe more.
U L T D M
UL2DM
U2M
u2m

Also don't confuse abstract expressionism with a pure abstract.
Abstract expressionism, from my point of view, is where symbols and recognizable objects start to appear without much interpretation needed. I see it as an evolution from abstract or a retraction from objectivism or even realism.

So in my opinion if I was to do a huge painting of great interest of a number "2", personally I think it's not abstract. But that doesn't mean it can't be a good piece.

Of course this is all my opinion based on looking at a lot of art and reading and listening to a lot of other people's opinions. I do the pieces I do because they come naturally to me. I've always been a fan of abstract and expressionism, before I knew they had a name for it.

There are a lot of people out there that think a lot of negative things about abstract art and the artists that create it. Luckily for me I never did care what people thought about my pieces. But I was still curious about what I did and I'm always surprised to find people doing work that is similar to mine or mine being similar to theirs depending on how you look at it.

Here's something that just came to mind how to describe abstract art. Abstract art is an interesting blob on the canvas, expressionism is an emotional blob on the canvas, and a objectivism is a painting of a specific blob on a canvas.

I have a 19 month old little girl. Let me tell you... if want to see real abstract art, look at kids drawing before they learn how to draw objects. It's all about color shapes and textures. And let me tell you they do see color value too. But adults will always be looking for objects in all the scribbles and scratches!

I love this subject and could go on and on. So if you or anyone else would like to discuss it more I'm always game.

jaems 1964

PS
Just got this off Wikipedia... thought it summed up abstract art fairly well.

"Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which exists independently of visual references to the world. "

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Abstract_art