Cut Out + Keep

Abstract De Stijl Portrait

From an original painting to an abstract portrait.

https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/abstract-de-stijl-portrait • Posted by Hella

For school I had to make an 'abstract' piece of art. That was the assignment. It could be any kind of artwork but I decided to make a painting. I will show you the process but first a little bit of information about De Stijl. De Stijl (The Style) is a Dutch artistic movement founded in 1917. Members were Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondriaan (my hero), Vilmos Huszár, Bart van der Leck, J.J.P Oud, Jan Wils, Robert van 't Hoff, Gerrit Rietveld (amazing man) and Georges Vantongerloo. They wanted to change art. That's why they only used primary colours; red yellow and blue in combination with white, grey and black. More information on wikipedia.

You will need

Project Budget
Reasonably Priced

Time

3 h 00

Difficulty

Nice & Simple
Medium girl with the pearl 002 Medium girl with the pearl 003 Medium paint 006 Medium paint 006

Description

For school I had to make an 'abstract' piece of art. That was the assignment. It could be any kind of artwork but I decided to make a painting. I will show you the process but first a little bit of information about De Stijl. De Stijl (The Style) is a Dutch artistic movement founded in 1917. Members were Theo van Doesburg, Piet Mondriaan (my hero), Vilmos Huszár, Bart van der Leck, J.J.P Oud, Jan Wils, Robert van 't Hoff, Gerrit Rietveld (amazing man) and Georges Vantongerloo. They wanted to change art. That's why they only used primary colours; red yellow and blue in combination with white, grey and black. More information on wikipedia.

Instructions

  1. Small test 1

    First, take a picture and accentuate the important lines in 'Paint'. I coloured the boxes (?) with a hue from the picture. This worked out pretty well but it wasn't IT. It wasn't finished yet.

  2. Small test 2

    So I tried it again with 'Het meisje met de parel' van Johannes Vermeer (Girl With The Pearl Earring).

  3. Small test 5

    And with a self-portrait of Vincent van Gogh. But I didn't like this one.

  4. Small test 3

    So I coloured The Girl With The Pearl Earring with primary colours. And I liked it very much. Now your subjects is finished.

  5. First paint your canvas white. It already is white but it's better to cover it anyway.

  6. Then you draw the picture on the canvas. You can make a grid first but make sure you erase the lines because you need lots of paint to cover them. You might not see the lines on the picture but I can see them on the painting!

  7. Small paint 003

    Then start colouring the boxes. One colour at a time. Let the layers dry before you put on a new one for the best result.

  8. Small paint 007

    When you are happy with it make black lines to separate different colours.

  9. Small girl with the pearl 002

    Sign it, it's your work now and you finished your abstract portrait. I think there is something wrong with it but I still really like it. I got a 9.5/10 so my teacher liked it too. Of course you can use any picture but what I really like about this one is that you still recognize 'The Girl With The Pearl Earring' even though she doesn't have a pearl.