• Abstract painting is an opportunity to release your imagination.figure abstraction abstract it image by Pali A from Fotolia.com
  
  Abstract art is limited only by the boundaries of your imagination. Using acrylic paints, it can be brilliant and shocking, dark and brooding, tiny, enormous, or anything in between. The use of acrylic paints leads to a different effect than oil paints; acrylics are brighter, more contemporary looking, and have a harder, more surface-specific sheen than do oils. Acrylics dry much faster than oil paints, so fading effects and color mixing are more difficult to achieve with acrylics.
  
  

Pallet Knife Painting

• You can achieve a thick, buttery effect in a painting by forgoing the brush altogether and applying paint with a palette knife. This technique was used to great effect by the Quebec artist Jean-Paul Riopelle, although he worked in oils, not acrylic. By applying small dabs of color in repeating patterns with the palette knife, you can achieve brilliant pointillist effects similar to an Impressionist landscape.
  
  

Drip Painting

• If Jackson Pollock is more your thing than Claude Monet, grab a bucket and follow in the steps of Jack the Dripper. Lay a canvas on the floor and experiment with the effects of acrylic paint that you pour, splatter, fling and drip onto the canvas. You can accomplish many different effects with this technique. Thin the paint with water and flick it off of a stiff brush by running your finger over the bristles. Pour it directly from the can. Tie a small can to a piece of rope, poke a hole in the bottom of the can, fill it with paint, and swing it over the canvas.
  
  

Color Fields

• Create a quieter, more contemplative painting by experimenting with the color field style made famous by Mark Rothko. Rothko made enormous paintings consisting of rectangles of color that faded into surrounding frames of different colors. You will need to work quickly to achieve these fading effects with acrylic paint. Use a large brush and apply the paint thickly onto the canvas to speed up the painting and slow down the drying time. The thicker the paint is, the longer it will take to dry. Create new colors by mixing some of your acrylics in the can.
  
  

Minimalism

• If you are looking for an easy-to-create abstract painting, go for minimalism and create a monolithic conversation piece for your living room wall. It's easy. Make or acquire the biggest canvas that will fit on your wall. Paint it black, and you're done. It may sound crazy, but in certain decors the effect of such a simple statement can be quite beautiful.