HAVING FUN WITH COLOR SCHEMES

With a little tape and a well chosen color scheme, you can have a lot of fun and make an abstract.

On the picture below, I began with the steps below and had an abstract. In November, I had just a few days to come up with a painting of a river boat to put in our local art show. I picked up this abstract, added a riverboat into the background, and changed my abstract to this.

In one of these, I created an abstract of some cats. I had this page of yellow, and I put some vertical strips of masking tape. You place them at odd intervals and make the tape different widths. You can use different widths of tape or make it smaller by cutting it with a craft knife.

(IN class everyone started with white paper)

I used a craft knife to cut cat ears in the tape.

I painted the background in blue bc I decided to have a complementary color scheme of orange and blue.

When it dried, I removed all the tape. and to my dismay, some of the washi tape bled through. Lesson learned: just use regular masking tape on the cold press paper.

I started painting in some more cats. I changed my original idea of complementary to a tetrad that included green and magenta. I added some black. Blacks and browns don't change your overall color scheme, since they are neutrals.

Then I used Posca Pens to add details to my cats.

For one like the trees, just place tape from top to bottom, not evenly spaced, different widths . I chose an analogous color scheme with magenta, blue, and violet. I used salt and spattered water to create some textures, plus a bit of bubble wrap. 

I removed the tape.

I could have done a lot of things, such as paint in silhouette, draw in a scene, etc. My daughter thought it looked like an undersea scene, and wanted me to put in some jelly fish. I decided to keep it simple, and painted the taped areas as trees. Then painted with black some thin branches in the background. Here is how I started it. I used a cut credit card point to scratch bark not the trees.

 

This student work is in different stages of completion, but shows the versatility of the project. Each person tried hard to utilize the color wheel to choose a color scheme.

Here is Angie's pour. 

Finishing Touches

 Finishing touches to the pour

Here is what the painting looked like after I removed all the masking fluid and the contact paper.

I was really pleased with the way the contact paper responded on this hot press paper. Very little of the color was accidentally lifted, as it often is with masking fluid, and the paint bled just a little under the edges to give it a realistic, not too hard edged, feel.

So here are some things you can do to improve your pour. (Sometimes you don't need to do a thing)

#1: For edges that seem too light or hard, you can just brush lightly over the area with water, and let the loosened paint flow over those edges. (Like in some of the hexagons in the background.)

#2: Soften edges with a lifting brush to push them more in the background. Or use the lifting brush to lighten an area, such as the leaf below. When that was dry, I also darkened the area behind the leaf to make it stand out better.

#3: Paint over an area to make the paint brighter, suh as the yellow and pink added to this leaf.

#4: Paint some shadows into the veins of the leaves to make it more realistic. Also in the picture above.

#5: Paint some small soft edges into glaring whites, so they don't look so flat. (see the white flowers)

Before and after:

Hot Press Paper

Below is a description of hot press paper. I wanted to use it on this project because the colors will stain the paper a bit more, and there is less paint seaping through tape and contact paper. The edges are very crisp., and the colors a bit more vibrant. Floral painters often use it, and it's amazing for pen and wash...the surface is much easier on pens.

I usually use cold press for every day because it is such a workhorse, and it takes any kind of technique I want to try. 

Hot press watercolor paper is a smooth, hot-rolled surface with no tooth, allowing for precise, detailed work, vibrant colors, and easy lifting. Ideal for illustration, calligraphy, and mixed media (ink/pencil), it dries slower and keeps pigments on the surface, requiring careful blending. It is best used for high-detail, graphic, or scanned, digital-ready artwork. 

Key Characteristics & Best Uses:

• Surface: Extremely smooth (similar to Bristol paper or hot-pressed cotton).
• Painting Behavior: Water and pigments sit on top, resulting in brighter, more intense colors.
• Best For: Detailed illustrations, pen and ink, technical, and high-detail botanical art.
• Techniques: Excellent for lifting color, creating hard edges, and dry brush techniques.
• Considerations: Difficult for beginners to achieve smooth, large washes without streaks. 

Using a color wheel

Here is a video on using a color wheel that is really helpful. It outlines what it is, how to use it to find a color scheme, how to use it to mix color.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfKx7MjSEK0