Thursday, March 19, 2015

Abstract flowers with Color Burst

During a recent jaunt around the Internet I discovered the gorgeous art of Sandrine Pelissier and in particular her abstract flowers.

Take a few minutes and look around her site and you will not be disappointed!  She has an amazing grasp of color and composition and the way she adds texture with inked patterns makes me so happy!!
For her flower pictures Sandrine has been using YUPO paper - I had some in my hands at Blick one day but then ended up putting it back on the shelf - guess I'll need to drive back to the store and pick some  up to play!  I ended up using regular cold press watercolor paper that I taped to my board before sprinkling with Color Burst by Ken Oliver and then liberal amounts of water to make the background.
I drew a design and then started to paint the background white but had problems with the Color Burst soaking through so I took a few minutes to spray a fixative on the background and then added a thin layer of Liquitex Matte Medium to seal everything in place.
Used a variety of spray inks to paint more intense colors and to differentiate the flowers, leaves and pot.  Finished up with my favorite part - the ink work with gel pens and black markers.  Doesn't look anything like Sandrine's flowers but I am still tickled with this piece!!  The bright cheerful colors are a great way to welcome spring on Saturday!
Linking to Paint Party Friday and
Art Journal Every Day

Any hints on how I can straighten up my warped paper??


ETA:  Had so much fun with these flowers that I made some more - check them out here.

20 comments:

Marji said...

The colors are crazy beautiful. So clever to think to seal it all and go on top once you were experiencing bleed through. You should be tickled. This one is really beautiful

Ayala Art said...

yummmm this is beautiful!

Unknown said...

These flowers are fabulous-thanks so much for sharing your process and I can't wait to go check out a new artist.

froebelsternchen said...

looks fabulous! Happy PPF!

Giggles said...

Gorgeous I love these!! Off to check the other site out!

Hugs Giggles

denthe said...

This is gorgeous! I love painting around shapes, it gives such a great result every time. Off to visit her website now!

My name is Erika. said...

I've never used YUPO paper. I will need to check that out. I think you did a fabulous job with your abstract flowers. They are bright cheery and a lot of fun.

Lynn Cohen said...

Very beautiful! I've used that paper once. Interesting.

Neesie said...

You should be tickled with the results Michellem, it's gorgeous
Happy PPF to you

Dreaming of Vintage said...

Love the flowers! So pretty!

Alexandra MacVean said...

I've never heard of Sandrine so will definitely be checking out her work. Your flowers are absolutely stunning and have the perfect amount of detail. You should be proud of yourself. They're beautiful! :)

Viola said...

Beautiful work both of you and Sandrine. I fancy the fresh colors.

Tammie Dickerson said...

I love the way your colors mingled and spread - so cool and free flowing! It is wonderful to see the layers, and so creatively done, too! Happy PPF :)

Lisa Lara said...

AHmazing. Love how you used color.

Gloria j Zucaro said...

Wow! Your work is beautiful! I have never used any of the supplies you used except fixative and matte medium, and I guess regular watercolor paper. Really a beautiful project!

veronica said...

Great technique ! Love ur color choices!

Janet said...

Thank you for introducing me to a "new" artist. I love the way you interpreted her flower paintings. Truthfully, I like yours better than hers!! This piece is gorgeous!

JKW said...

Wonderful colors, hadn't heard about color burst by Ken Oliver! I have a huge, heavy, oversized book (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance) that I use to flatten my work. Blessings, Janet

Ken Oliver said...

Michelle, your work is beautiful! I love your process and how you've used Color Burst!

Unknown said...

I love your painting. I have taken Sandrine's online courses and learned so much. Your colours are so bright and vibrant. You can unwarp watercolour paper by spraying lightly on the back side and weighing down the painting with a heavy book or such. Protect the painted side with paper towel or a sheet.