Top 16 'Frame-Worthy' Abstract Art Styles to Try for Beginners Decorating Their First Apartment - Goh Ling Yong
Congratulations, you did it! You’ve signed the lease, wrangled the moving boxes, and assembled a surprising amount of flat-pack furniture. You’re officially in your first apartment. But after the initial excitement wears off, you’re left staring at the biggest challenge of all: the vast, intimidatingly blank walls. How do you fill them with personality without emptying your wallet?
Store-bought art can be expensive, and finding pieces that truly feel like you is a journey in itself. The solution? Become the artist. Before you say, "But I can't even draw a stick figure," let me stop you right there. We're not talking about photorealistic portraits. We're diving into the wonderfully freeing world of abstract art—a realm where emotion, color, and texture reign supreme, and there are no "mistakes," only unique expressions. Creating your own art is not only budget-friendly, but it infuses your space with a story that is uniquely yours.
This guide is your personal art class in a blog post. We’ve curated 16 stunning, beginner-friendly abstract art styles that are practically guaranteed to produce a "frame-worthy" masterpiece. So, grab a canvas, pick a style that speaks to you, and let’s turn those blank walls into a personal gallery.
1. Geometric Abstraction
If you love clean lines, order, and a modern aesthetic, Geometric Abstraction is your perfect starting point. This style uses simple shapes—squares, circles, triangles, rectangles—and crisp lines to create a balanced and visually striking composition. It’s the art equivalent of a perfectly organized bookshelf; it just feels right.
For beginners, the beauty of this style lies in its control. There's no frantic, unpredictable splashing. Instead, you methodically plan your design, choosing a color palette that complements your apartment's decor. The key tool for this style is a roll of good-quality painter's tape. Use it to mask off sections of your canvas, creating razor-sharp edges between your shapes and colors.
Pro-Tip: Start with a simple grid or a series of overlapping triangles. Don't be afraid to leave some of the canvas white for a minimalist feel. For a cohesive look, choose three to five colors, including a neutral like gray or beige and a bold pop of color like mustard yellow or teal.
2. Color Blocking
A close cousin to Geometric Abstraction, Color Blocking focuses on large, solid fields of color. Think of it as a deconstructed puzzle where each piece is a bold, beautiful hue. This style is incredibly impactful and can instantly set the mood of a room. It’s minimalist yet powerful, perfect for making a statement without creating visual clutter.
The process is straightforward: sketch out your "blocks" with a light pencil and then fill them in with solid color. The challenge (and the fun) is in the color selection. You can go for a harmonious look with analogous colors (colors next to each other on the color wheel, like blue and green) or create a high-energy piece with complementary colors (opposites on the color wheel, like orange and blue).
Pro-Tip: Use a flat-head brush for clean edges and apply two thin coats of paint rather than one thick one to achieve a smooth, even finish. Let each block dry completely before painting an adjacent one to prevent colors from bleeding into each other.
3. Action Painting (Controlled Splatter Art)
Ready to unleash your inner artist and have some serious fun? Action Painting, famously associated with Jackson Pollock, is all about the physical act of applying paint. It’s dynamic, energetic, and expressive. For a beginner, this means letting go of control and embracing the beautiful chaos of splatters, drips, and pours.
Of course, you don’t want to redecorate your entire living room floor. The key is controlled chaos. Lay down a large drop cloth (an old sheet or plastic tarp works great) and get to work. Use different tools to achieve different effects: load up a brush and flick your wrist, use a stick to drizzle thin lines of paint, or even use a turkey baster for larger blobs.
Pro-Tip: Start with a base color on your canvas. Once it's dry, choose 2-3 contrasting colors for your splatters. Thin your acrylic paint with a bit of water to get the perfect consistency for flinging. And most importantly, do this outside or in a very well-protected area!
4. Minimalist Line Art
Elegance in simplicity. Minimalist Line Art often involves a single, continuous line that forms a shape or figure. It’s sophisticated, modern, and incredibly chic. This style proves that you don’t need a canvas full of color to make a powerful statement. It's about the beauty of the line itself.
This is a fantastic style to try if you're nervous about painting. You can practice your design on paper dozens of times before committing to the canvas. The subject can be anything: an abstract face profile, a simple botanical shape, or a cluster of overlapping organic forms. The goal is to convey an idea with the fewest lines possible.
Pro-Tip: Use a paint pen or a permanent marker for ultimate control and a consistent line weight. If you're using paint, opt for a fine-tipped "rigger" brush. Start with a white or off-white canvas for a classic, clean look.
5. Acrylic Pouring (Fluid Art)
This technique is pure magic and one of the most popular DIY art styles for a reason: it’s almost impossible to mess up, and every single piece is unique. Acrylic Pouring involves mixing acrylic paints with a pouring medium to make them more fluid, then pouring them onto a canvas and tilting it to let the colors flow and interact.
The results are mesmerizing, often resembling marble, galaxies, or psychedelic waves. You layer different colors in a cup, flip it onto the canvas, and lift. What happens next is a beautiful, unpredictable dance of pigments. It's a science experiment and an art project all in one.
Pro-Tip: You’ll need a "pouring medium" (like Floetrol or a professional medium from an art store) to get the right consistency. Watch a few online tutorials to understand the basics of different pouring techniques, like the "dirty pour" or the "flip cup."
6. Watercolor Bleeding
If you're aiming for a soft, dreamy, and ethereal vibe, look no further than watercolor. The "bleeding" or "wet-on-wet" technique is incredibly forgiving and produces beautiful, organic results. It involves applying water to your paper or canvas first, then dabbing watercolor paint onto the wet surface and watching the colors bloom and blend.
This style is perfect for creating abstract washes of color that feel light and airy. You don't need to control the outcome precisely; the beauty is in letting the water and pigments do their thing. It’s a meditative process that can be very calming.
Pro-Tip: Use thick watercolor paper (140 lb or 300 gsm) that can handle a lot of water without buckling. Experiment by dropping different colors near each other and seeing how they merge. You can also sprinkle a little salt onto the wet paint to create interesting, star-like textures as it dries.
7. Textural Art (Impasto)
Abstract art isn't just about what you see; it's also about what you can (almost) feel. The Impasto technique involves applying thick layers of paint to a canvas, creating a three-dimensional texture that pops right off the surface. The final piece has depth and character, catching the light in interesting ways.
You don't need special paint to do this. Simply use your acrylic paint straight from the tube or, for even more dramatic texture, mix it with a "modeling paste" or "heavy gel medium." Apply it with a palette knife instead of a brush to create thick, sculptural strokes and peaks.
Pro-Tip: Don't overthink your composition. Focus on the physical motion of applying the paint. Scrape it, spread it like butter, and build up layers. A simple monochromatic (single color) impasto piece can look incredibly sophisticated.
8. Scraping Technique
This technique is incredibly satisfying and yields professional-looking results with minimal effort. The idea is to apply dabs of different colored paints along one edge of your canvas and then use a flat edge—like a squeegee, a ruler, or an old credit card—to scrape the paint across the surface.
As you scrape, the colors blend and streak together in stunning, unpredictable ways, creating smooth gradients and sharp, layered lines. You can do one big scrape across the whole canvas or do multiple smaller scrapes in different directions to build up a more complex composition.
Pro-Tip: Choose your color palette carefully. A mix of a few complementary colors with white or black often works best. The speed and pressure of your scrape will change the outcome, so play around on a test piece first.
9. Stenciling & Masking
Similar to using painter's tape for geometric art, stenciling and masking allow you to create defined, repeatable shapes with ease. This is perfect for creating patterns or focusing on a single, bold graphic element. It's a foolproof way to get clean, professional-looking results.
You can buy pre-made stencils with all sorts of designs—from botanical leaves to intricate mandalas. Or, create your own by cutting shapes out of cardstock or acetate sheets. Simply hold or tape the stencil down and paint over it. When you lift the stencil, you're left with a perfect shape.
Pro-Tip: Use a stencil brush or a sponge and apply the paint in a dabbing or "pouncing" motion rather than a brushing one. This prevents paint from seeping under the edges of the stencil.
10. Monochromatic Painting
Limiting your palette can be incredibly liberating. A monochromatic painting uses only one color, but you create variation by mixing it with white (to create "tints") and black (to create "shades"). The result is a sophisticated, cohesive, and harmonious piece that will effortlessly match any decor.
This style forces you to focus on composition, texture, and value (the lightness or darkness of the color) rather than being overwhelmed by color choices. A textured, monochromatic blue painting can evoke the sea, while a smooth gray one can feel industrial and modern. Here at the Goh Ling Yong blog, we believe that constraints like these often lead to the most creative outcomes.
Pro-Tip: Choose a color that you love and that features in your apartment's decor. Create a palette of at least five variations of that color, from very light to very dark, before you even start painting on the canvas.
11. Drip Painting
While Action Painting is about energetic splatters, Drip Painting is a more controlled, gravity-assisted technique. It creates a strong sense of vertical movement and can be both dramatic and serene. The process is simple: prop your canvas upright and apply thinned paint to the top, letting it drip down the surface.
You can control the length and thickness of the drips by varying the amount of paint and how much you've thinned it. Layering drips of different colors after the previous layer has dried can create a beautiful sense of depth.
Pro-Tip: To get the paint to the right consistency, mix your acrylics with a small amount of water or an "airbrush medium." Let gravity do the work! Tilting the canvas slightly forward or backward can change the direction and speed of the drips.
12. Abstract Landscape
You don't need to paint every leaf on a tree to capture the feeling of a landscape. An abstract landscape simply hints at nature using color, shape, and a horizon line. It’s about evoking the feeling of a place—the warmth of a sunset, the calm of a misty morning, or the drama of a stormy sea.
Start by dividing your canvas with a horizon line (it doesn't have to be straight or in the middle). Use colors inspired by nature for the "sky" and "land" sections. Blend them, scrape them, or add texture. The goal isn't realism; it's a personal interpretation of a natural scene.
Pro-Tip: Look at photos of landscapes for color palette inspiration. A simple palette of blues, grays, and whites can suggest a coastline, while warm oranges, reds, and purples can create a stunning abstract sunset.
13. Hard-Edge Painting
This is for the perfectionists who love precision. Hard-Edge Painting is characterized by abrupt transitions between color areas. Unlike the blended gradients of other styles, the colors here are distinct, with sharp, well-defined borders. It’s clean, graphic, and bold.
Like geometric abstraction, painter's tape is your best friend. The process requires patience: you'll need to tape off one section, paint it, wait for it to dry completely, and then tape off the next section. The meticulous work pays off with a stunningly crisp and modern piece of art.
Pro-Tip: After you’ve applied your tape, run your fingernail or a credit card along the edge to seal it and prevent paint from bleeding underneath. For the cleanest line possible, remove the tape while the paint is still slightly wet, pulling it away from the painted area at a 45-degree angle.
14. Lyrical Abstraction (Expressive Scribbles)
Remember doodling in the margins of your notebook? Lyrical Abstraction is the grown-up, frame-worthy version of that. Championed by artists like Cy Twombly, this style is based on free-flowing, calligraphic, and scribble-like lines. It's deeply personal, expressive, and captures a sense of pure, uninhibited movement.
There are no rules here. Put on your favorite music and let your hand move across the canvas. Layer your scribbles, vary the pressure, and switch between colors. It’s a raw, honest form of expression that I find, much like Goh Ling Yong often emphasizes, connects directly to the artist's state of mind.
Pro-Tip: Try using unconventional tools like the wrong end of a paintbrush, a graphite stick, or an oil pastel to create different types of lines. Work in layers, letting some dry before adding more on top to create depth.
15. Collage with Painted Elements
Why limit yourself to just paint? A mixed-media collage is a fantastic way to add texture, depth, and personal history to your artwork. This style involves gluing down materials like paper (old book pages, sheet music, magazines, patterned scrapbooking paper) or fabric scraps onto a canvas and then integrating them with painted elements.
You can paint over parts of the collage, letting the original texture show through, or use the collage elements as the focal point within a painted background. It’s a wonderful way to recycle materials and create a piece that is rich with layers and stories.
Pro-Tip: Use a clear-drying medium like Mod Podge or a gel medium both as an adhesive and as a top coat to seal everything. Start with larger background pieces and layer smaller, more interesting elements on top.
16. Gradient/Ombré Painting
There is something universally soothing about a smooth transition of color. An ombré or gradient painting features a seamless blend from one color to another, or from a light tint to a dark shade of the same color. It’s a minimalist style that packs a huge visual punch and can bring a sense of calm and serenity to your space.
Achieving a smooth blend is the main technique to master here. You'll want to place your colors next to each other on the canvas and then use a clean, slightly damp brush to gently feather them together where they meet. Work quickly while the paints are still wet.
Pro-Tip: Use a wide, soft-bristled brush for the smoothest blend. To make blending easier, you can add a "slow-dry medium" or "glazing liquid" to your acrylic paints, which gives you more time to work with them before they dry.
Your Walls Are Waiting
There you have it—16 paths to becoming the artist of your own home. The most important thing to remember is that this is supposed to be fun. There's no pressure to create a "perfect" masterpiece on your first try. The goal is to experiment, to play with color and texture, and to create something that makes you happy every time you look at it.
Pick a style that excites you, put on some music, and allow yourself to make a beautiful mess. Your first apartment is a blank canvas, and now, you have all the tools you need to start filling it with pieces that are 100% you.
So, which style are you most excited to try first? We’d love to see what you create! Share your artwork on social media and be sure to tag us so we can celebrate your new, beautifully decorated space.
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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