Abstract watercolor paintings

When I'm tired of sketching and painting detailed botanicals or when I'm feeling stumped, I turn to abstract watercolor. It's a great way to loosen up and to get rid of limiting rules and expectations. I may use a sheet of watercolor or mixed media paper or paint away in my sketchbooks. Here's one from 2024:

I used the Gansai Tambi paints by Kuretake and the Strathmore Visual Journal for Mixed Media. I sealed this painting with Mod Podge gloss just to see how it's going to look like when finished. I totally loved it. 

By the way, I've curated my favorite mixed media sketchbooks for art journaling. 

Mixed-Media Portraits in My Paper Bag Journal

I haven't blogged for a week! I've been so busy with weekend family and school affairs + I've been suffering from seasonal allergies. It's never easy having to deal with cough and colds while trying to get on with the daily grind. But what is life without a few challenges, eh? Anyhow, I'm here again to share with you two portrait studies done on the pages of this brown paper bag journal that I made last time. I love how this handmade journal turned out. The pages are lighter in tone and they're sturdy enough to take in acrylics and other water-based medium.

Here's the first portrait study that I made:

I was experimenting with skin tones here. I wanted to try beige but I didn't have that color in my acrylic collection. So I used white mixed with warm gray instead. Then I colored her hair with a mix of greenish yellow and olive green. I used Inktense pencils to outline and add details.

And here's the second portrait study:

She's one of those vintage dolls that I like to make. For this portrait, I thought to experiment with acrylics, gelatos, and distress ink. The hair and the dress are mostly acrylics with a little dabbing of distress ink. The face and the background colors are acrylics and gelatos combined. I normally use gelatos toward the end of my painting process as I prefer to use them for adding depth and drama.

Painting on a brown paper bag is almost like painting on toned paper. I enjoy the experience every time, and I love how my creations turn out. I prefer to use acrylics over a gessoed page. However, feel free to experiment with watercolors, charcoal, pastel, and other mediums.

Canvas Art: See The World, Travel Travel

I haven't had the chance to do canvas work since the Christmas break commenced. But that's not because I don't have the time; it's because I ran out of gesso! Well, I finally got a new tube of gesso yesterday, so I'm hoping to begin a few mixed media canvas projects during the holiday break. In the meantime, let me share with you this collage painting that I made sometime in November, about a week before my birthday.

I did this one on an 8" x 10" canvas board panel. I love doing collage on canvas boards because the surface is sturdier and more flat than a stretched canvas. I don't get a lot of unwanted warped parts. (It's not the kind of texture that I like.) Plus, canvas panels are cheaper than stretched canvas. I'm still a practising artist so I try to avoid experimenting on costly substrates.

I used various art supplies and mediums to create this collage painting: acrylics, Inktense pencils, archival ink, gelatos, drawing pens, gel medium, rub-ons, designer papers, and embellishments. To be honest, this is one work I'm really proud of. I learned so much in the process and I believe I was able to make real the vision that was in my head. It really means a lot to me.