Hello, hello! Welcome to another edition of Mark Making Monday on Orange Spiral Arts!
This past weekend I treated myself to taking an art and creative movement workshop in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. I had THE best time. The workshop was led by LuLu Bea (intuitive painter & life coach) and Teresa Reid (creative movement instructor). The workshop talked about how similar the process is between creative movement and intuitive painting. For both activities, there is trusting your intuition, being fully present in the moment, and a spiraling in and spiraling out that occurs. These are just a few of the similarities, as both are about deep creative expression. It's so powerful to let yourself go and free up your mind, body, spirit, and soul. My work as an Expressive Arts Coach is about the very same things. Through Orange Spiral Arts, I focus on offering creative expression workshops through writing, mixed media art, photography, and movement. All of which rely on the participant reaching inside of themselves and pulling out their inner creativity, inner wisdom, and self-love that's always available. I am sharing about what I do to reinforce the idea that there's always more to learn, and there's always room to grow. That's why I step into the student role sometimes, so that I may be a better leader/guide/facilitator in my own small business. (I am going to post an offer for local Twin Cities folks at the end of this post, so be sure to read to the end).
First, let's take a look at Mark Making Monday: Playing with Paint on Canvas.
The intuitive painting portion of this past weekend's workshop was similar to Flora Bowley's Bloom True online course. (If you think you'd like to sign up for Flora's course, which I highly recommend, I'd love for you to use my affiliate link. The cost is the same to you, but I receive a little kick back, so that I can buy some new art supplies! Thank you in advance if you choose to use the links from my site, which are on the right-hand side bar and/or the links within this post.)
I am going to share several steps of my painting process and the marks that I made with paint on the canvas. Although it may seem like I am sharing ALL of the secrets to Flora's painting style, I definitely am not. There's nothing that replaces watching Flora paint. (Bloom True is jam packed with completely inspiring videos of Flora painting on large canvas, plus much more. Honestly, it's a fantastic online course. I can't say enough good things about it. I also highly recommend Flora's monthly Studio Diaries.)
Okay, back to today's Mark Making Monday: Playing with Paint on Canvas
Let's Begin by Gathering Supplies
- a blank canvas (16x20 or larger)
- acrylic paint, including red, blue, yellow, black, and white
- Golden Fluid Acrylics
- 6-8, 1-inch foam brushes
- a paint palette
- an art apron
- a recycled yogurt container for water
- paint rags or Bounty paper towels
- a few markers
- Various mark making tools, such as: a milk jug lid, a wine cork, a dried up pen, a foam pool noodle, etc.
Anytime you step into a slightly vulnerable activity, it's wonderful to set an intention. Your intention can help you let go of unrealistic expectations, and also remind you to enjoy the creative process.
That's what we did first in the intuitive painting process with LuLu.
We also set up our paint palette. I chose to set out only cool colors first (greens and blues), plus black and white.
I covered nearly my entire background with the cool colors.
One of the benefits of using acrylic paint is that the layers dry pretty quickly. Once this first layer was nearly dry, it was "safe" to add some warm colors. I say "safe" because certain colors across the color wheel will make brown when mixed together, which might not be what you want to see on your canvas. : )
Pictured below, there are many marks that were made simply by playing with what the foam brush can do. The yellow lines were made by tapping the foam brush. The darker yellow "sun ray" shapes were also created by tapping the foam brush around an imaginary circle.
The white circles were created by twisting the foam brush counter clockwise.
The magenta dots were created by tapping my finger tips on the canvas.
The orange drippy sections (below) were created by using Golden's Air Brush paint, that I believe is discontinued. It's similar to Golden High Flow Acrylics. Caution: Some of the Golden High Flow sets are transparent colors. Be sure to read the label carefully to see if you are buying opaque or transparent paint, depending upon what you wish to purchase.
Next, I added more black and white layers to create some contrast. These will likely get painted over. However, when using Golden Fluid Acrylics or Golden High Flow Acrylics, you can often see some of the layers underneath. It's all about the layering, that keeps the eyes interested and moving throughout the painting.
Below you will see some black circles throughout the painting. Those circles were created with a foam tube (sort of like a small pool noodle).
Some of the black and white dots were created with wine cork.
There are so many ways to create marks on canvas. I suggest having fun scrounging around your home and begin a collection of possible tools. Keep them in a plastic ziplock baggie, which might be well placed near your recycling bin. Caps are one of my favorite mark making tools, as I simply love circles!
I love how Golden Fluid and High Flow Acrylics look over white paint, so I really started building up this layer below. I made dashes, dots, spirals, and Xs.
It's time to get out that Golden Fluid Acrylic and start covering up most of the layer below. Leaving a shape open here and there is fun to do. I often end up with circles, and some sort of abstract fish shape.
Once I got things covered up the way I wanted, I went back in with black paint to accentuate abstract and geometric shapes. This was all a random, go with the flow, trust your intuition kind of process. There was not any planning or much forethought. Do you see how the under layers of white paint sort of peek through that magenta color? I love that!
Lastly, since I didn't have enough circles already, I decided to make some marks by dipping a milk jug lid into paint, then stamping it all around the canvas. Many of those circles ended up with little spirals painted inside of them.
Although I am not completely done with this painting, I am happy with where it is at the moment.
I like to prop my paintings on the mantle in my living room, where I often glance at them to see what else they might need.
Thank you for reading this Mark Making Monday post! I hope you got some ideas for how to make marks on your canvas paintings. Remember, it's all about enjoying the creative process. Painting is relaxing and fun to explore!
UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES:
SUPER DUPER SPECIAL OFFER FOR THE FEBRUARY 20TH SESSION OF THE BEAUTIFUL BEing PROGRAM at courageous heARTS in Minneapolis, MN.
If you are local to the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, USA, I'd like to invite you to the second session of the Beautiful BEing Program happening this Saturday, February 20th, 10am-2pm, at courageous heARTS. We will gather in a circle to write on the topic of authenticity. What does it mean to be authentically you? How can you live and BE more authentic each day? For the second half of our time together, we will move to the tables for Spontaneous Painting. All paints are provided, but you will need to bring your own brushes, water container, and large pad of paper. I recommend an 18x24 inch pad by Strathmore, either watercolor paper, or Bristol Vellum.
For those reading this post, you have the opportunity to try out the Beautiful BEing Program on Saturday, February 20th, 10am-2pm for only $50. The full cost is usually $80 for the full four hours, or $45 for writing only, and $45 for painting only. I am offering this deal today to give people a chance to sample the Beautiful BEing Program. If you like it, which I think you will, I hope you'll decide to join us for the March, April, and May sessions, as well, as your schedule allows.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20th
BEAUTIFUL BEing PROGRAM
at courageous heARTS
10am-2pm Writing + Painting
Try it out for only $50
