Adventures in Blooms
Expressive Flower Painting
I recently started looking back on some of my very first still life paintings and was reflecting on how I began that journey. You see, I used to mostly paint abstract paintings and still do on occasion. But I love remembering my journey as a way of honoring it. Some of those beginning pieces were pretty awesome and I am still proud of them today. The work that I created for the course, Gathering Beauty is some of this early work! In the process of looking back, I thought that I might re-envision some of that early work and play with some mixed media painting. But I also wanted to challenge myself by going big and bold. What better way to do that than working on large mixed media paper! Anytime that I am feeling stuck in my creativity, it helps to switch up my process and mediums. I also love that feeling of challenging myself to work in new and different ways, even though I feel stretched to the max.
Lately, with all of the heaviness in the world I have been thinking about how much we need beauty now more than ever! I know from personal experience, that beauty has the power to transform our hearts and offer healing. I truly hope that by doing this course, it will be a glimmer of light and hope into the world. The world needs your art right now!
During this course, Adventures in Blooms- Expressive Flower Painting, we will explore painting large expressive mixed media flowers. I will be sharing start to finish process for 5 large paintings. We will be focusing on acrylic layers, simple linework, still life painting, composition, working large and color theory. Each piece will be a unique different style.
Materials and Supplies:
- 18 x 24 Mixed Media Paper (White, Black or Grey)
- *18 x 24 Acrylic Paper by Strathmore (optional)
- Acrylic paint in your favorite colors
- Acrylic markers by Molotow or Liquitex
- Acrylic ink (optional)
- Gel pens
- T-square ruler
- Paintbrushes with one large wide brush, and a fan brush of any size
- Black Gesso
- Glazing medium
- Smaller sheets of mixed media paper for practice
- Any of your favorite mark making tools (pens, markers, pastels, Gelato's, or Woody's)
I will be making one to two pieces on black mixed media paper. If you don't want to purchase black mixed media paper, you can also use a coat of black gesso on a white piece of paper. If you want a heavy duty paper that doesn't buckle, I recommend Acrylic Paper by Strathmore.