Karen Rice: Abstract City Skyline

Karen uses cut up credit cards to create abstract designs. One of the easiest and most fun is a city skyline reflected in water.

For class, we created a loose sunset and reflection, then let it dry.

Then we practiced making marks with credit cards. You need to be sure your paint is right from the tube. Just three of four colors you really want to try together. On mine, I tried it on rough paper, hot press, and cold press. 

On the practice, we wet a strip across the paper where the horizon line would be. Then we practiced pressing the card edge into the paint, making marks, scraping across, making semi-circles, all kinds of marks to indicated buildings. Then we sprayed the bottom of the buildings and allowed the paint to drip down, using a wide soft brush to drag down some drips to look like reflections.

This one was one rough press paper.

After our "sunset" wash had dried, we did the same thing to that. I was born in St. Louis, so I wanted to create the Arch on my skyline. This was on cold press. I think I needed more practice doing an arch.

Here is Karen Rice's tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GokfkBPIj2M

She makes corrections after it is dry, sometimes using gouache (opaque watercolor) to create 

lights. 

Karen has a lot of YouTube's with this process, including some seascapes and landscapes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hs_tsT-5ag

She does have a Patreon, and I believe it is $6.50 a month. 

I like the idea of adding things in the foreground: sailboats, a shoreline, docks, ships, etc.

Have fun with this!!!!