I've been taking a fabulous abstract painting class at Portland Community College. I plan to write more about it later, but every day I am inspired by something I am learning. One of the lessons involved creating images from calligraphy. So, using my best handwriting, on 24x30" canvas, I wrote a word that is meaningful to me - in two directions, reversing across themselves.
The other part of the assignment was to use a limited palette, so I chose colors so contrasting they seem to vibrate off of each other - adding black or white, I got a full array of shades to work with.
I find the results are fascinating - no matter which direction I turn the painting, I marvel at the variety of figures and creatures I see in the painted shapes - and the funny thing is, they are totally related to the word I chose.
I drew one of my favorite flower photos on good quality watercolor paper - using the outline pencil in the set. Then I began to color - mixing three reds, and orange and yellow for the blossom, greens and browns for the stem and leaf. The background is a mixture of blues to emphasize all the colors with a strong contrast. Then I added water. All I can say is WOW! The colors are so vibrant. I will definitely be continuing to experiment with these cool tools.
