A Study of De Stijl and the Piet Mondrian style of painting

Over the years I have come across a number of De Stijl style painting in various galleries, usually by Piet Mondrian and although I understand that as an art movement the De Stijl group has an important part to play in modern abstract painting, I have never fully appreciated or gained from my exposure to this style of painting. It just seams to lack feeling or passion as it dose not provoke a reaction in me.

The De Stijl art movement developed during the first world war, Dutch artists isolated from the rest of the art world due to the Neutrality of the Netherlands during this conflict began exploring New art and founded the De Stijl art movement.  Artist such as Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg and Bart van der Leck all experimented with this style for several years.  Mondrian named the movement (Neo-Plasticism) However today we commonly refer to this artistic technique as De Stijl, meaning “The Style” which was the name of the journal published by Doesburg about Neo-Plasticism. The De Stijl philosophy proposed total simplicity and abstraction using only straight horizontal and vertical lines and limiting themselves to the primary colours, red, blue and yellow and  three primary values of black, white or grey.










A painting in the style De Stijl
#30 acrylic paint on paper
9 x 9 inches approx







As part of my ongoing study into art and the different ways to make art I added De Stijl to my list, partly as a method of discovery and understanding this particular artistic group but also to expand my own visual vocabulary and although as you can see in this piece I did not fully follow the principals of the De Stijl, I still feel that I gained a great deal from this painting.  I freely admit that I am not totally happy with the colours mixes that I made or the level of care in its execution as some of the lines are not as strait or even as they could (should) be which I feel lets down the panting in terms of composition it is however a good start and has proven that further work in this area will be of huge value.

In conducting my research I discovered a number of sources that threw a huge amount of light into the De Stijl art movement and the lives of its principal artist such as Piet Mondrian which I found very helpful and have included these links for your interest which I am certain you will find of great value.

Mondrian / Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Empty Easel The De Stijl Art Movement

The tate.org

drip and splash technique of painting like Jackson Pollack’s early work

Some years ago I remember seeing some of Jackson Pollack’s early work in the Guggenheim in New York which seamed at the time to make a lot of sense of the abstract style of painting that he employed. Just seeing his later works alone I had always struggled to find any understanding and had been quite dismissive of this style of drip and splash technique of painting. As a result I thought it might be a good idea to explore his work and this style of Painting in more detail and this piece I feel explores it quite well.

#21 9 x 9 inches approx
Ink painted and splashed on paper

The Ink was applied to paper with a wooden coffee stirrer ether directly or as dips and splashes and despite what on the surface might appear simple and child like it proved far more complex and difficult as controlling the media leaves you with a deep feeling of frustration and fear that it will just end up being a confusing mess.

The circular motif is also a departure for me form my normal angular style and is reminiscent of a happy face that despite its obvious monotone application brims with colour and energy. Please feel free to leave your valued comment which is always appreciated Thank you.

Painting a better picture

#13 Mixed media painting/drawing
9 x 9 inches approx, Oil pastel, water colour and acrylic paint on paper

Being a big fan of all things BAUHAUS I decided to produce this work with that in mind.. Having no initial concept other than considering the work of Lyonal Feininger and Paul Klee I allowed myself an hour to complete this art study.

Oil Pastel is not a medium that I like or enjoy working with as I have often felt that lacks subtlety and finesse… However with this piece I applied several rough layers and with some heat and used a tissue to blend and smooth the colours crating a subtle base… The water colour and acrylic paint was added to test the effects.. The water colour was repelled far more than the acrylic but still made some interesting effects, with some fine lines that have a broken and bobberly feel or a thin textured wash… # 13, Unlucky thirteen not a chance that’s right…. as I feel very pleased with this piece, but please let me know what you think and leave your comments.

Franz Kline style of abstract expressionism

#10
Modern abstract painting
9 x 9 inches approx
Acrylic paint on paper

This is the second picture Painted in the style of Franz Kline. I found letting myself go the difficult aspect in this style of abstract expressionism painting.  With this painting I painted the rough form first then added the white before defining the black as an over painting… Better result, Note I did not use black from the tube but rather mixed a black and added some (lamp black) to darken it…please feel free to leave your valued comments which are always appreciated.

Kline style Modern abstract painting

Painted in the style of Franz Kline #9 (9 x 9 inches approx.
Acrylic paint on paper) is an abstract expressionist painting that sets out to capture and understand his approach to modern action painting.
Making a decision to explore Kline’s calligraphic technique, The hard part for me in this painting was painting the white… Franz Kline himself pointed out when asked about his black paintings said  “I paint the white too”.  Despite being termed action painting he worked from compositional drawings and studies, often executed on the pages of old phone books which he referred to often throughout his process.

I however did not make a parliamentary drawing, I just let myself go blank and let the painting happen. as I got close to finishing I Just felt that it needed some colour and even this small amount of colour, I feel enlivens and deepens the piece. although I have to admit that getting the right colour of white might have made a difference. Please feel free to leave your comment on what you think !

Making abstract or modern art Fun interesting and diverse!

Making a list of 50 fun, simple and interesting art ideas started as a torrent of creative ideas, however things started to get more challenging as time went by and by the time I got to 42, I was struggling to keep the ideas fresh and unique. However I am confident that the list will continue to grow as I am still adding to it and examining a number of exciting ideas that are showing real promise. And have already made some obvious conclusions about the recording whole art project.

Publish often: make regular posts alongside a photos that have a direct value to the subject.
Study different styles and art movements: making short descriptions of the art movement and links.
Explain each piece:  how it was made, the media used and what was learnt or gained in the making of it...
Keep it simple: make my descriptions straightforward and rewarding as far as possible
Record the good the bad and the interesting: by concentrating on those pieces that offer the most interest or value 
By following these points, I should make it easy for me and better for you as even in the two weeks that this art project has been running I already have 30 pieces in this growing body of artwork. However, it is proving time consuming recording and writing about the successes and failures which is almost as important as the making of the abstract and modern artwork itself, as it is forcing me to consider and evaluate far more deeply than I had originally imagined. I have also have realised that this project offers clear benefits to artist, students or anyone with an interest in art. Sadly I recognize that to document every piece of artwork would be just too time consuming and in some cases pointless and have chosen to include only those pieces that present worthwhile interest or value to my mind.

This simple list of fun painting techniques, covers every sort of medium raging from acrylic paint, water colour, oil pastels, crayons, inks, mixed-media, film, photography, found objects, and even “Installations”. admittedly I understand that different subject are at times more suited to one media more than a another, but trying to use unusual medias will add to the interest and diversity throughout the project.

Along side the different media and techniques I have also considered exploring some modern art movement and styles that are both familiar or unfamiliar to me, along with a brief explanation and references for further study, adding to the value gained in the making art from this list...

Recording the failures and successful pieces of artwork along side those that I think add value to the body of work that this art project represents, offers a chance for others to develop and gain an appreciation of modern and abstract art however I fully understand that you might have more questions or require further explanation and I openly welcome any comments or suggestions you might have to the information or how make this site better or easer to navigate.

the first painting

#1 Abstract modern art
Acrylic on paper 9 x 9 inches approx

This is the first painting of my ongoing artist project, painted as a monochrome painting in acrylics with a rapid and broken finish, as I had set myself a shot time frame to complete the piece of half and hour.  I do not normally like painting with acrylic paint as find the rapid drying time a distant limitation, however with this artwork I used this to my advantage allowing each layer to semi-dry and become tacky so as when the bush was drawn across the surface new colour was picked up creating a sense of depth and movement.

Monochrome painting forms a valuable part of modern avant-garde in art movements right through the 20th century, like Abstract Expressionist and Minimalism.  Artists and painters use the single colour monochrome style as a means to convey a variety emotions, sense and value that such painting can provoke through the play of light and texture.

This simple painting technique is both subtle and dramatic way to consider the emotional value of colour on the human psyche, that any artist or painter regardless of skill can employ to create a high impact painting. however to truly understand and execute a monochrome takes some expertise and knowledge.

For further study take the time to look at the work and motives of artists such as Rodchenko, Kazimir Malevich, Ad Reinhardt and Yves Klein to list just a few of the artist who have produced notable monochrome paintings.