DAY 9: CHOOSE YOUR PALETTE

Welcome to Day 9 of the Painting Challenge!

It can be liberating not to paint a subject at all and simply paint abstractly. Professional abstract artists may have structure and intention behind their work, but today we’re simply focusing on choosing a palette and seeing where it takes us.

Below you’ll see two of my abstract paintings, each with its own color palette. Today’s challenge is to choose the palette you want to work with and create your own abstract painting.

For these paintings, I mostly used a palette knife, and the back of a brush. I think my hand too. There are pencil lines in the green painting and I slightly used a brush in the pink painting. I used other tools to create a different type of texture.

You can also create abstract by adding more water to your blends and let them ‘pool out’ or run off the page. If you use too much water your canvas paper will get wavy so this is best to do on a stretched canvas.

The Painting Practice

Remember to turn off your phone notifications before you start.

  1. Draw a square measuring 4×4 or 8×8 inches on your canvas paper.
  2. Choose your color palette to work with and add the colors onto your palette.
  3. Grab some water and your brushes and other tools you want to use today. Maybe use paper to clean off your palette knife (if you use one) instead of wiping chunks of paint off of your towel.
  4. You can use the painting of the same palette as your inspiration, or you can simply allow inspiration to come through you. Add some darker tones first to ground the piece. Maybe add a larger area of a certain color or shape. Add some lighter colors. And so on until your whole square is full of colors.
  5. Don’t forget to playfully paint for only 20 minutes to keep the focus on meditative joy.
  6. Claim your creativity and honor your journey of showing up for yourself by signing your art work.

 

SHARE YOUR CREATION:

Take a photo of today’s painting and share it with your community. I’d love to celebrate your progress with you.

As you share, I’d love to hear:

  • Have you ever painted abstractly before?
  • Which color palette did you choose, and what drew you to it?
  • How did it feel to create without having to paint a specific subject?

If you feel inspired to continue painting beyond 20 minutes, please do. I’d love to hear about that, too.