Experiments in Abstract Watercolor

I've been taking an abstract watercolor class which is challenging for me because I am a realist and not an abstract painter at all. But it has been fun experimenting and loosening up in my work. Seeing abstract work doesn't come easy to me, I found a good starting point is to take an image or scene and attempt to abstract it. These two pieces are from reference photos I took at an aquarium of jellyfish swimming in a tank. The sepia toned top piece is by far my favorite of anything I have done in this class. I like the shapes, dark and light values and the lines I have added. 

As a class we are focusing on: 

Composition • Value • Color • Line • Shape • Form

As well as techniques using watercolors, acrylic inks, watercolor pencils, watercolor papers, yupo papers, 

The lionfish is also a reference photo from an aquarium. I have experimented with just the patterns of the fish itself. Not sure what I am going to do with the bottom piece, the negative shapes of the lionfish. I am still contemplating changes. 

These next two pieces are also the jellyfish swimming around at the aquarium. The top is the first layers of color and the second piece is after more colors were added. I like seeing them together, both are really fun exercises.

This watercolor is of seaweed flowing underwater. I played with four color schemes (clockwise): Monochromatic, Analogous, Double Complementary and Complementary. I think I would like to try this one again but without the dividing lines, letting them flow into each other. 

For this exercise our instructor brought in slices and leaves of green and purple cabbages. We looked at shapes, how lines intersect and form shapes and patterns. In my experimenting and painting, I am finding that I often use colors right from the tube or slightly mixed with other colors. Apparently I like a bright colorful palette.

 

Last one for this post is working on Legion brand Yupo with acrylic inks and watercolor added afterward. I am still trying to figure out this Yupo surface which is very slick. It accepts inks and watercolors very differently than regular paper as it doesn't absorb and takes a long time to dry.

Working with Acrylic Inks & Gouache

I have a beautiful handmade sketchbook that was given to me and recently decided to start putting artwork on the pages. I have been a follower of Dina Brodsky on Instagram and like her method of creating small paintings or sketches using gouache over acrylic inks. Dina's work is amazing and she teaches workshops and classes on sketching and painting birds. 

I decided to try experimenting on my own. To begin, I created a small drawing in pencil then went over it with black ball point pen. 
 

I have plastic wrap taped under this page in order not to get the acrylic ink on subsequent pages. I wet my page with water on a brush, then randomly add drops of acrylic ink. I am using Ultramarine Art Spectrum Liquid Ink  because I had it in my studio. I push the random drops around with a paint brush and then spritz the ink with a spray bottle of water to create the starbursts and patterns. Its really fun just to play and see what kind of outcome I get. 

Using my Winsor Newton brand gouache, I paint the bird and berries using small brushes. Dark to light, applying dark colors first then adding lighter colors on top. 

For the Bluejay painting I drew him in black ball point pen and added some journaling in the background, writing about Bluejays and their characteristics. 

This photo shows more of how I have put plastic wrap under the page, secured it with clips and tape so the ink doesn't get on everything (which it did anyway). The clips help keep the pages from curling but I have to move them around so I get an even distribution of inks. For this piece I am using a mixture of Golden High Flow Acrylics in Green Gold and Golden Permanent Violet Dark. I wet the paper with a brush and water and then randomly add drops of the two colors. I move the colors around on the page with a wet brush and then added table salt for the texture. 

Next I paint the bird and branches in gouache. I really like the purples coming through behind the Bluejay.  I'm not really sure I need the writing behind, I think the texture of the colors and salt is interesting enough.

For this painting I drew the Cardinal and branch in black ball point pen and again added some journaling about Cardinals. I then used Burnt Umber and Prussian Blue Liquitex Acrylic Ink for the background. Misted with water before painting the Cardinal and branch with gouache. If you would like to see a more detailed video of this process, I found Marianne Vander Dussen's video Gouache Sketchbook on YouTube. She explains this process more in depth.