Pastels and Watercolors (and a few other art media)

[terri]

Abstract is hard, I agree. My brain really wants to move in a representative way and forcing it to do otherwise causes inner fighting between left and right sides.

But it can be gorgeous when well done, so I'll be playing over the weekend, too. Maybe just start with shapes or something.

 

[terri]

Fun with new gel plate. Looked at a Golden 2-3 minute video about using Golden Open acrylics, which have additives to make them slower to dry, and I wondered if they were ok with the plates. Of course they are! Which means you have a few extra minutes to mess around with stencils, stamps and the like, before worries about the paint drying on the plate. (It will come off, just ruins what you've prepared at that session.)

This is the first "pull," just using Canson XL mixed media paper:

There's a near-undetectable "ghost" imprint that can be pulled with fresh paper, so I had one ready. As you can see, the stencil pattern is identical but the colors are much softer since the bulk of the paint was removed from the first pull off.

I only used the primaries: started with yellow, then red, then blue. As you can see, I have only small square stencils. It would be fun to have 8x10" to cover the plate. But for now, in learning/playtime, I'm using what I already have.

Apparently these gel plates need to be worked several times to get them broken in, or the invisible top layer of factory coating pulled off. I had to use a couple of different brayers to spread the paint, because it was smearing at first. It's now stopped so I have a little more confidence that I won't screw up the new plate.

 

[SquarePeg]

Fun with new gel plate. Looked at a Golden 2-3 minute video about using Golden Open acrylics, which have additives to make them slower to dry, and I wondered if they were ok with the plates. Of course they are! Which means you have a few extra minutes to mess around with stencils, stamps and the like, before worries about the paint drying on the plate. (It will come off, just ruins what you've prepared at that session.)

This is the first "pull," just using Canson XL mixed media paper:

View attachment 279780



There's a near-undetectable "ghost" imprint that can be pulled with fresh paper, so I had one ready. As you can see, the stencil pattern is identical but the colors are much softer since the bulk of the paint was removed from the first pull off.

View attachment 279781


I only used the primaries: started with yellow, then red, then blue. As you can see, I have only small square stencils. It would be fun to have 8x10" to cover the plate. But for now, in learning/playtime, I'm using what I already have.

Apparently these gel plates need to be worked several times to get them broken in, or the invisible top layer of factory coating pulled off. I had to use a couple of different brayers to spread the paint, because it was smearing at first. It's now stopped so I have a little more confidence that I won't screw up the new plate.

This is a very cool addition to your bag my friend! I love the creativity you bring to things like this.

 

[SquarePeg]

Abstract is hard, I agree. My brain really wants to move in a representative way and forcing it to do otherwise causes inner fighting between left and right sides.

But it can be gorgeous when well done, so I'll be playing over the weekend, too. Maybe just start with shapes or something.

Abstract is impossible! Even when I set out to create an abstract, I still end up with what looks like flowers. Is it just me? Do I have flowers on the brain? This looks like flowers to me and that was not my plan. I was trying to practice the wispy edges that you can get with alcohol inks but I have not been able to get there. I think my hair dryer that I’m using to move the inks around is too strong. I’ve ordered a new one - the cheapest one I could find that had a bunch of reviews that it’s not powerful enough to dry their hair lol - we will soon see if the problem is my equipment or if I just need more practice.

Here’s my abstract / more flowers.

This is just one color ink - pitch black and some metallic fixative in gold on a 8x8 ceramic tile. Even though it wasn’t supposed to resemble flowers- I really like the end result. This might be the first thing that I’ve painted myself, not from a tutorial, that I would consider hanging in my house.

 

[terri]

Applause! This is beautiful! I don't care if it's supposed to be flowers or just a concept of flowers. You achieved a lot of subtle color here for just using a black and a gold fixative.

Take a look at Georgia O'Keeffe's florals. They're flowers, but oftentimes referred to as abstracts, with her huge flowing lines. She was clearly very comfortable moving in and out of representational art. Don't sweat it, just do your thing.

About the hair dryer. Do you have one of those wide, shallow, round diffuser attachments? Not much air comes from them. Might be something to try.

 

[SquarePeg]

Applause! This is beautiful! I don't care if it's supposed to be flowers or just a concept of flowers. You achieved a lot of subtle color here for just using a black and a gold fixative.

Take a look at Georgia O'Keeffe's florals. They're flowers, but oftentimes referred to as abstracts, with her huge flowing lines. She was clearly very comfortable moving in and out of representational art. Don't sweat it, just do your thing.

About the hair dryer. Do you have one of those wide, shallow, round diffuser attachments? Not much air comes from them. Might be something to try.

It’s one of the ones that is like a wand and has a round brush on the end. I just removed the brush.

 

[SquarePeg]

Another abstract attempt. I like the color combos and the gold veining but the shape needs some work. I’m thinking of adding to the bottom left a bit to bring it around -about a quarter if the way up and a little less than halfway across.

 

[terri]

Beautiful blues and greens here! I like the shapes and textures. It does suffer a tiny bit from the empty right lower corner - though it's also a nice diagonal line. You definitely have something lovely going on here! I'm interested in seeing what you might do with it.

Happy Friday!

 

[snowbear]

Have you tried rotating it 90 or 180 degrees?

 

[SquarePeg]

Beautiful blues and greens here! I like the shapes and textures. It does suffer a tiny bit from the empty right lower corner - though it's also a nice diagonal line. You definitely have something lovely going on here! I'm interested in seeing what you might do with it.

Happy Friday!

I had a few ideas overnight - might try one of them today. This is on plastic poster board and I haven’t sealed it yet so it’s erasable.

Have you tried rotating it 90 or 180 degrees?

It’s upside down now lol.

 

[snowbear]

I absolutely love the veining. I might have to get some metallic paint and try it.

I started on attempt #1. I should have something to post in a few hours (waiting for second layer to dry enough to continue.
MLW is working 24 tonight/tomorrow and MLSIL decided to stay home, this weekend, so it's just me and the cat. Though I do have to run to Western MD tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to try and play with paints this weekend.

 

[snowbear]

Is it abstract? Maybe. The snapshot could use better lighting.

Using the Crayola watercolors - blue, some green, some purple, and red. Dabbing cool colors wet-on-wet using a smooth sponge. Red area was masked with tape, then painted with a #6 round brush when the rest was relatively dry.

 

[SquarePeg]

Is it abstract? Maybe. The snapshot could use better lighting.

Using the Crayola watercolors - blue, some green, some purple, and red. Dabbing cool colors wet-on-wet using a smooth sponge. Red area was masked with tape, then painted with a #6 round brush when the rest was relatively dry.

View attachment 279815

I like the contrast. Getting a good photo of the art is half the battle!

 

[snowbear]

Thanks.

 

[SquarePeg]

Here’s what I came up with to finish off the blue/green abstract. Second photo tried to get a good shot of the metallic ink. It’s hard to work with - it either clumps or completely blends with the colors and disappears so I ended up adding a lot of the veining with a brush. Trying that gold leaf stuff is on my list at some point!

Open to suggestions on a different orientation or crop?