Thursday, March 8, 2012

Paint Party Friday - Abstract Flowers

Yay for Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin!

One of the things I worked on this week is a tutorial from Carla Sonheim that I've been meaning to try... Abstract Flowers

I started by painting blobs of color on my watercolor paper (140# cold press watercolor paper). After it dried, I circled the flowers with white gesso, immediately scratching marks with the point of the brush handle. 
This is not the best photo, but you get the idea. 

After the gesso is dry, you loosely circle the flowers with pencil... you can check the rest of the steps on Carla's tutorial

This is my finished piece. I made a few mistakes, but not too bad for the first try. tee hee! 

I had so much fun playing with this that I've started working on more abstract flowers, including one in my journal. And not to worry, I've worked on my WIP canvases also, I just haven't completed quite yet. Perhaps by next week. :)


Be sure to see what the other Paint Party Friday artists are working on here.  


Also linking to Artists In Blogland 
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48 comments:

GlorV1 said...

Hi Helen. That is a beautiful piece. What a great job you've done. I like what you've done with the soft colors. Very nicely done. Happy Paint Friday and weekend.

Anonymous said...

Such an interesting technique! I think you did a great job Helen! Happy PPF anniversary :-)

Tracey FK said...

I hope we see more of these next week as they have turned out great and they look like they would be lots of fun to do... thanks for sharing the link I am going to head over and have a look...xx

peggy aplSEEDS said...

i want to try this! it looks simple but the results are great! happy PPF!

Ayala Art said...

Your flowers turned out very pretty and cheerful, thanks for sharing!

Maria Ontiveros said...

I saw carla's posts but didntbwatch the tutorial. I love your variation on it.
Rinda

froebelsternchen said...

wonderful!
xxx susi


Monthly :Art-Journal-Journey-Challenge

Šolanje na domu-Waldorf said...

They turned out lovely. :)

Abela said...

The watercolor is a very difficult art to handle, must practice much and above all have fun without fear. Saludos

Nordljus said...

You did a wonderful job, these are looking great and so cheerful!

Lesley Edmonds said...

These are lovely and thank you for linking to the tutorial - I am off to investigate.

Unknown said...

These are GREAT! I think I may borrow this for my students to try- I've been having them stretch/explore/experiment with different media and I think they would LOVE playing with this!
Thanks for sharing!
Happy PPF,
Stephanie

Debbie said...

Thanks for sharing this fun exercise. Your flowers look great!

EVA said...

Cool technique and beautiful result!!

Kristin Dudish said...

Such fun flowers - it is a great tutorial too... I can't wait to give it a try :)

xo
Kristin

Ginny said...

Helen, this is a beautiful piece. I can see why you had fun with it. Thank you for sharing a wonderful idea.

carlarey said...

What a great technique. Love the yellow background you added at the end. It makes the whole piece so delicate, it reminds me of a piece of antique embroidery.

Unknown said...

Love the technique and great painting... :)

Unknown said...

Love this very much!

kat said...

Your flowers have a stlye all of their own, lovely!

carol l mckenna said...

Lovely, colorful, creative and unique creation ~namaste, carol (A Creative Harbor) ~ Happy Weekend ^_^

Victoria said...

Hi Helen..totally gorgeous..so beautiful..a wonderful energy and vibrancy in your flowers..also a sense of movement speaks to me which i love..powerful and beautiful work!
Shine on
Victoria

Robin Panzer Art said...

Helen thanks so much for sharing the technique you learned to do these abstract flowers, I love them, beautiful work. I can't wait to give it a try. Maybe you should host an abstract flowers postcard swap over on atcsforall to help me with the impetus...LOL!

Mary C. Nasser said...

Love it!
And just in time for spring! :)
♥♥♥
Happy PPF!!
Mary
Mixed-Media Map Art

Yvonne said...

Looks like fun! Love the abstract look of it. Happy PPF.

Faye said...

That's a fascinating technique. Worth remembering for me to try some time. Lovely flowers. You commented on my tulip. Tulips don't grow well here where I live. I think it must be the soil (and also the deer eat up any that do bloom).

Cameron said...

This is not the first time I've seen someone give this tutorial a try.....but, every time I lay eyes on them, I smile!

I must try these for myself....they look like so much fun!

Happy PPF!

Annabelle said...

Interesting technique, it turned out beautiful.
Love the cheerfulness of the flowers.

Heather Foust said...

This is so fun!! Love all the colors! Happy PPF!

Lynn Cohen said...

this did look like lots of fun. HPPF!!!

Fallingladies said...

Great job, isawthistutorial too and plan try it somtime.

Valerie-Jael said...

Love the flowers, what a great idea! Hugs, Valerie

lynnsie said...

I love you painting Helen. It's so colorful and cheery. I saw abstract flowers, but I also say clear paper wrapped candy pieces. Looked luscious enough to eat.
Good job. Lynn

lynnsie said...

I love your abstract flowers. I also see clear paper wrapped candy. Look luscious enough to eat.
Great Job! Lynn

Christine said...

I love your abstract flowers, such a great effect! Would love to see more next week!

*jean* said...

good job! love her work too! happy PPF!

Gloria j Zucaro said...

What an interesting technique. It came out beautifully, too. I like the element of surprise, because even if you did the same flower shapes every time, it would come out differently, evoking "OOHS & AHHHS!" from the artist herself. Happy PPF!

Carol Creech said...

What a fun technique! The flowers are fresh and colorful. I love it.
Carol

Daniele Valois said...

love these!!!

DVArtist said...

wow this turned out so pretty. Wonderful colors
Nicole/Beadwright

rebecca said...

loving these circles of happiness!

Sarah Sequins said...

What an interesting technique, and you did such a lovely job with it!

I'm on a fabric painting kick lately, so now I'm wondering how to achieve a result like this on muslin. :)

Geckostone said...

Wow this came out wonderful Helen!!!I love all the fun shapes and colors in your flowers!!Deb

Michellem said...

I saw that Carla Sonheim tutorial and pinned it to one of my boards in Pinterest. You did a great job on it!!

Linda Starr said...

Wonderful, thanks for showing your technique.

Anne Butera said...

I love these! What a fun idea/technique!

Happy (late) PPF!!

Thanks for your kind comments!

Unknown said...

What fun! The flowers turned out beautifully. I think I might give it a try sometime. Cheers and happy painting!

Cheryl said...

Love your abstract flowers. I think you might have something there.

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