Abstract Watercolor Play

After watching an art journaling video by Nicki Traikos, of life i design, on creating abstract vignettes in an art journal, I felt the glow of inspiration and decided to try her process.  I taped watercolor paper to a piece of stiff cardboard, added washi tape to make different sized "windows," and gathered some supplies.

I used watercolors in Prussian blue, New Gamboge (yellow), & burnt Sienna.  I also used indigo and yellow ochre Neocolor II watercolor crayons & a sepia Inktense watercolor pencil.  

I began by making a few marks with the Inktense pencil and watercolor crayons, then started laying in areas of color. I mixed the New Gamboge and Prussian blue to make a lovely, soft green.

Once I got started, I simply played!  I painted washes.  I painted areas with clean water, then dropped intense watercolor blobs. When an edge felt too harsh, I sprayed the area with a water spritzer to loosen things up.

My focus was on listening to that little voice within, my intuition, and trying out each nudge and idea. 

After the paint dried, I added little marks with the Inktense pencil.

After the first page was done, I started the same process with a fresh piece of watercolor paper.

Here's the finished page of vignettes.  I used white acrylic ink and a dip pen to create little marks over darker areas of paint. 

 

When I stepped back to study the finished creations, I realized that the abstract paintings looked like little maps of the landscapes we visited in the United Kingdom, with herds of white sheep dotting the earth. 

Art helps us process the experiences of our lives.  

I'm always amazed at how we can create images and symbols of things that are on our minds when we make abstract works.  I hope you'll give this technique a try.

You can see Nicki Traikos' video here: https://www.youtube.com/live/rSv8EvFy-8o?si=HtAAKjX4qwWedqnX

Happy  Creating!

Find Your Joy Taster Course with Louise Fletcher

I've begun the Find Your Joy Taster Course -- a free online class offered by abstract landscape artist, Louise Fletcher.  The assignments are exciting to do, and they uncover so much within me -- what I like, what I don't like, how I feel about failure, why I paint.  

The instructions for the painting above were to take a 22" x 30" sheet of heavy paper, tape off the edges and tape off 6 "windows," and then paint as if the whole paper was your canvas.  For our palette, we were to choose one each red, yellow & blue plus black and white.  Then we were instructed to set a timer for 30 minutes and paint what felt good.  If it didn't feel viscerally good & make us happy, we were to stop and choose some other approach.  

Louise said to act like Kindergarten children and simply play with the paint.  Let go.

I gessoed up my sheet of illustration board, squirted out some paints, and let loose.

Holy cow!  The experience felt fully engaging, empowering & joyful.  I loved the sensation of swirling the brush thick with paint over the illustration board.  Bright color contrasts and quick scraping back with the brush handle felt natural and expressive. I fell in love with this form of painting.

I recommend that you check out Louise's YouTube page here and her website here.  Watching her YouTube videos has helped me shape my own art.  Maybe it will help you too.

Coffee Shop Fridays: Icelandic Volcano Cards & The 87% Rule

 

I never know what will come out of my Coffee Shop Friday night painting sessions.  Often, I experiment with abstract images, letting colors interact with each other and the brown paper that serves as my canvas.

After the paint dries, I take a viewfinder -- just a piece of cardboard I cut a rectangle out of -- and search my paintings for interesting sections to make into art cards.  

I used to be far more precious about making cards, taking hours to get everything "perfect."  But I know there's no such thing as perfect, and that attempting to create to that standard steals my joy.

So, I've developed The 87% Rule:  get the design to about 87% of what you think ideal is, and glue it down.  Move on.  This approach frees me up, helps me tap into my intuition, and keeps my creative flow going.  

And it's way more fun!

I have been watching videos of the Icelandic volcano, with golden & crimson lava shooting like a geyser, and flowing over the purple-black volcanic rocks.  White clouds of vapor often enshroud the volcano.  

I realized about halfway through creating this series of cards that my paintings expressed the heat and drama of the volcano.

Flames lick. Vapor rises.

Lava coils in the heart of the volcano, ready to explode.

By letting my intuition lead me in choosing paint colors, patterns, and card designs, I allowed my soul this visual discussion of the volcano, the power of nature, and the creation of a new landscape -- a new reality.  

Our minds express themselves in symbols and imagery.  It only makes sense that allowing our intuition to lead us opens the doors to express whatever we are processing internally.