Minimalist artwork

When it comes to accessorising and adding decorative flourishes, minimalist artwork looks right at home in contemporary spaces. It’s an emerging trend in contemporary interior design, and can be an effective way to create a unique atmosphere. The goal of minimalism is to reduce and simplify elements down to the most essential parts, allowing them to be more impactful. This type of artwork offers a modern and minimalist aesthetic to a space, while also creating a striking visual statement. You’ll often see it in the form of abstract shapes and so it must be carefully chosen to match the overall design style of the room. Some paper, leftover board or a canvas, and some spare wall paints are all you need to create your own.

Firstly, you’ll need something to paint on. A canvas is ideal if you can get hold of one, but anything will do, including existing pieces of art. If it’s something old or left over, maybe just give it a little wipe down beforehand so that your paint properly adheres to it. Start by preparing your painting surface with a layer of primer, then if you’re painting over an old canvas with an existing design, go over it with a base layer of white paint to give yourself a clean slate. Then leave it to dry so that it’s ready for your own artwork to go on top.

Now that it’s ready, it’s time to pick your colours and just start painting. In terms of colour, you want something complementary to the rest of the room. If you’re aiming for dark contemporary, black or navy on a white background provides a start contrast. With the design, it doesn’t have to be anything crazy or complicated. Just go with the flow with loose shapes and see what you can come up. Remember that it’s meant to be minimalist, so embrace the philosophy of ‘less is more.’ Aim for a couple of blobs or shapes that take up a good amount of your workspace.

It’s worth experimenting with more specific elements of design too. If you want to include something, whether it’s an outline of a shape, some lines or something like a plan, draw it on with a pencil first. If you’re happy with it, then you can trace your pencil outline with paint and a tiny paint brush. You need one that’s small enough to carefully trace the line without affecting the rest of your design. Again, avoid too much additional design if you want to keep in-line with the minimalist theme.

You can pull elements from other design styles to influence your own minimalist artwork. Things like Scandinavian design feature a lot of minimalist aspects, so think about how other parts of that aesthetic could feature. Whether it’s using the same natural tones, or mixing up the textures in a similar way. If you’re struggling for ideas, take inspiration from things you find online to influence your own styles and designs. The best part about minimalist art is that it’s simple, so it can be easily replicated.