Creating a Painting from an Abstract Background

 Creating a painting from your abstract background

I chose this background:

I turned it vertically and drew this picture of Ringling Art Museum in Sarasota:

You can see I took some cobalt blue and lightly began to put in some shadow color to "find" the objects in the picture.

It's important that you try to put in your darks first. You already have light values and white values, and some medium. You need to get in those darks to see your way around the painting. You may evaluate later and make them darker or lighter, but getting them in to see the overall pattern of shapes is important in this process.

Here I've begun to add some colors to the greens and the pots. This paper is a softer paper, and I was having trouble getting my paint to be dark enough. I resorted to using some water color pencil on the red flowers and to straighten some lines in the columns.

I continued to work on the darks. I pushed the greens, probably darker than I wanted.

I wanted to show two or three things that people could try. Below are three products: watercolor ground, Dr. PH Martin's Bleed Proof White, and a matte medium.

Below I showed a method of stamping that Karlyn Holman recommended in her book. Instead of stamping directly on the watercolor paper, stamp onto some Unryu rice paper. Tear around the piece, then apply it wherever you want with matte medium to the painting. It gives you freedom to move it around before putting it on, and adds a little texture from the rice paper. I have never had any trouble painting over it if needed.

(Pardon my stamp, I only have a few)

Here is the stamp on a column...See the extra texture from the Unryu paper?

Here the stamp is on the floor. 

  

Another product is Dr. Martin's Bleed Proof White. (There are other brands of bleed proof white that are fine, but sometimes not as thick)

Just for demonstration purposes, I applied it with a sponge and tissue over some of the greenery.

This product can be very helpful for getting back whites without looking too chalky. I sometimes use white gouache, but it can be dull and mix with the paint beneath that layer, looking dull gray instead of white. You can apply the bleed proof white thickly and get back to white, or thin it with water to just calm an area down. Dry it completely--24 hours-- if you want to try to paint over it. (More dry time if it is humid)

One note: if you are putting it over BrushO, the paint crystals might activate and make a mess. They will reactivate with any wet product, including matte medium.  Just dry that layer and add the bleed proof white again. 

If your paper has been damaged or you have a large area you would like to paint over, you can cover it with watercolor ground. White ground will bring it back to white; transparent will leave the color, but repair some of the damage. Ground must be dried 24-48 hours before painting over it.

So this is how far I've painted on this picture of the Ringling Art Museum in Sarasota. Lots more to do.

I'm really pleased with the paintings everyone has come up with, using the method of painting background first. Only a few are completely finished.

Sarah

Shirley

Pam

Bev

Meg

Jackie

Kerry

Barb

USING STENCILS

If your under-painting is very busy or dark, dry uniting it with a stencil. You can lightly stencil over the painting or trace the edges of the stencil and color those lines in with a black pen. 

Here is an example of the first idea. 

This was a David Rogers tutorial. It started with a random wash of pale ochre. When it was dried I painted the leaf patterns and the birds. It felt a little blah, so after a while I decided to cover all except the birds with a leaf stencil. (The blue you see in the background)

Repeated patterns, such as stencils, can unite an otherwise chaotic--or boring-- picture.

Making fun backgrounds

CREATING BACKGROUNDS BEFORE YOU SKETCH

We started this session with a fun free-for-all, using all kinds of textures to create backgrounds.

First, however, we made thumbnail sketches (about 2 " by 1.5) with simple patterns or designs, no lines, just shapes. About 1/3 should be left white. You should see a connecting path of either white or dark. Shapes should touch at least 3 edges of the paper.  They looked a bit like this:

When you do your background, keep the shapes very soft edged. Use your ideas to create a general pattern In your background.

Here is a really good article by Amanda Walllace that discusses basic composition in abstract art. (cruciform, radiant, diagonal, tunnel, circular, etc.)  It will give you some great ideas in creating an abstract background. If you challenge yourself to make a thumbnail using each of several of these basic compositions, you will be amazed at what you come up with.

maybe like this:

Amanda Wallace article

https://www.culturefrontier.com/abstract-art-composition-examples/

Playing with textures:

Some of the textures were created using: Saran wrap; bubble wrap; salt; cardboard; napkins; alcohol; combs; gauze; and Brusho.

Some of these I've talked about before, so I'll put links for them in here.

Here is a summary of a lesson done last year to show possible texture making. All are done on wet paint except for the bottom right spattering, which is done on dry then sprayed with water. When doing these techniques, remember to dry completely before removing things like salt, Saran wrap, wax paper, etc.

Here are some that were demonstrated in class: The top shows Brusho sprinkled on dry, then lightly spritzed with water. You can also dissolve some in a palette and paint it on like paint. The bottom is Brusho sprinkled onto wet paper. Some is moved around with a brush.

Here is a link to making Christmas cards with Brusho with some tips on using it.

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8812132386157895665/7016926043826876870

 BrushO is very staining. If something gets too dark, you can lighten it with bleach, either watered down or straight to get back to white, using a brush or Q-tip.

A link to Amazon's 8 color Brusho, about $38.

https://www.amazon.com/PanPastel-BASS08-Crystal-Colours-Pkg-Assorted/dp/B079NNLDSS/ref=sr_1_2?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HLeZceZt08oKTa03ku-0CN_7gNU-JyXLLoM01tnhZ9WrtMIW-Umq6gFFzstU9rHryFvHgbNshJFdPvuCrryFNn8u7jPdd5-ZRs-oRF2j7tB12QVsdoW0oJaYFHbq52u_FR4mmwSTl5aGaEMaATksFzacwa31owwMNC9tJQETL3-st2-UOmnkmP8EZNE3Usic4zjtTnp7n_mj9YStSWMMt4_m9rqhLqJocMvGGcYsX9utItuCZsQtpjXX7Zcg209w9rtKO6CKoM20dl3PMDB7ZCl4m-_AYLIP_IxdMdkF2SY.xmewMNMaWAjNf8K8EFO3hYereIQFgkyohYhbH-MSibU&dib_tag=se&keywords=brusho&qid=1749311149&sr=8-2

A 36 min video with tips on Brusho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T-Vu1PV1y0

Paper towel and spraying wet on wet.

Below I wet the paper, then dripped colors, tipped the paper to let them run, and then in some sections, laid paper towel over sections and gently added paint over the towel, let it sit awhile, then lifted the towel. We did discover that you should use a cheap paper towel...our beloved Viva is too absorbant and lifts the paint rather than stamping it into the paper. That is here, about minute 1-10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Do9ijMjzAk

and alcohol are in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en2wW_OnoV8

This video shows gauze, bubbles, dip pen, and others:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFfU4ON3ch4

 

This one used spattering of Miskit, blowing it with a straw, painting wet into wet , salted. When dried I removed the miskit.

This one is just Miskit. I spread it around with a credit card, and while wet, picked some of it up with a paper towel.  When the masking dried, I rubbed through it with my finger to create some patterns.

THEN I painted cobalt blue and magenta. When dried I removed all the masking.

Spattered masking and dripping paint on with dropper

Loosely following this pattern.

 Painted wet into wet, dropped a few drops of alcohol with a dropper, and covered with Saran Wrap.

Trying to make the background light enough to take almost any picture I want to put over it.

Here are some books I got ideas from:

Love this book if you love texture!

Another by Karlyn Holman

Here is  a painting done doing the Brusho first. It actually started as a large piece of Bristol paper

that I randomly played with Brusho. I turned the paper in all directions, looking for something that I liked.

I eventually settled on this section, which was really 1/3 of the piece I started with. Then I negative painted the face area. I eventually called it "Emergence," because it felt like moving forward from a chaotic situation.

This one began as a wet wash of transparent pyrol orange, magenta, and yellow.

I sprinkled it with pretzel salt.  The next step was to place the drawing over it and draw

the picture. (This is San Jose Mission in San Antonio, TX, which I visited about 18 years ago).

The next step was to paint in the shadows and darkest darks, then modify the mid tones.

After making several backgrounds, choose one you really like. Find a reference that you believe would look good over this background.

I often draw my picture on tracing paper. That way I can move it around on the background to see if it looks more interesting one way or a different way. If your background is light enough, you may be able to trace it with a window or light box. If not, you will have to use graphite paper, like Saral, to trace your image.