This lesson is a balance of negative and positive painting. Blending the background with your subject or blending one shape into another will add variety to your composition. A lot of this relationship is actually a spontaneous and intuitive process. Just let it happen. This first lesson will focus on semi-abstraction. My love for realism and my love for abstraction comes together in this lesson. To begin, study your subject and decide on the shapes, colors and textures you want to use in your painting, Some parts of the subject may be painted more realistically and other parts may be more abstracted. Push and pull the tension to arrive at a semi-abstract interpretation. This lesson allows us to focus on the elements of design and to express ourselves in a very personal way. The key focus in this lesson is the balance of negative and positive painting and lost and found edges. We are trying to capture the essence of a flower, both familiar and sometimes made up. We will start with a spontaneous, free underpainting and later try to pull in a bit of realism. We will push and pull this tension to arrive at a semi-abstract interpretation. Blending the background with our subject or blending one shape into another will add variety to our composition. A lot of this relationship is actually an intuitive process. So, just let it happen. This lesson will focus on semi abstraction. My love for realism and my love for abstraction comes together in this lesson. To begin, study your subject and decide on the shapes, colors and textures you want to use in your painting, Some parts of the subject may be painted more realistically and other parts may be more abstracted. Push and pull the tension to arrive at a semi-abstract interpretation. This lesson allows us to focus on the elements of design and to express ourselves in a very personal way.

Process: 1. This lesson starts with a wet into wet underpainting. While the surface is wet, take some risk and add BRUSHO and salt and even throw some sprinkles of water onto the surface. This breaks up the surface and makes it possible for you to find floral shapes. Just for fun, cut up wax paper and let it drop onto the wet surface. Taking some risks in this early stage will result in these lovely textural surprises. Let this underpainting dry.

2. Begin finding your flowers and either draw in those shapes with an HB pencil or negatively paint around the shapes. The biggest challenge is that you do not paint around the entire shape. This will kill the fresh look you are trying to attain. Select about three places to define the flower and leave the other sides without definition.

3. When you paint the flowers keep the petals light against the dark background and paint the petals dark against the light background. Leave much of the background as the underpainting, try not to overwork your composition. Remember we are trying to only capture the essence of flowers and leave some of the areas as abstraction.

4. The final touch is to add your darkest darks. Remember to not overdo this path of dark, just get in and get out and lose the edges.

• Watercolor Paint

• BRUSHO. (These are highly-pigmented, transparent watercolor/ink crystals. You can sprinkle the powder with a dry brush or dissolve the crystals in water or simply sprinkle from the jar. They are non-toxic and non-hazardous. They have been around for over 35 years.)

• Arches 140# paper

Paints Used:

• Scarlet Lake
• Quinacridone Gold
• Antwerp Blue
• French Ultramarine Blue
• Cobalt Blue
• Winsor Orange
• Quinacridone Burnt Orange

Download instructional PDF Click Here

DRIZZLE ZEBRAS

1. The first lesson is to learn how to “drizzle” a line using GLOSS black acrylic. We will use a satay stick to drizzle the paint. Drizzling creates a line with character that varies from thick to thin and swings from in control to out of control. When you choose line the main means of expression, you can create an exciting and unique linear interpretation of just about any subject. Lines, either passive or dynamic, are an element of art that can pack powerful emotion and strong design. These black and white subjects are very popular. When framed, they fly out the door. The Gloss acrylic found at Walmart is the only acrylic paint that I have found that will drizzle off a stick. I have tried many brands and drizzling of a stick is not one of the qualities found in acrylic paint. The good new is that there is one a new product called “Tar gel” available that will make any acrylic drizzle. One of the brands is Golden Acrylics. This image used the drizzle method primarily, but the eyes, nose and the circular dots were created with the gutta bottle for more control.

PAINT THREE ROOSTERS ON A FENCE OVER GUTTA BOTTLE LINES

2. The second lesson is these roosters perched on a fence using the Gutta Bottle filled with acrylic. I used the number 5 tip on my gutta bottle. My goal is to capture them in the early morning as they begin their busy day and to make them really colorful and full of personality.

PAINT ZEBRAS OVER GUTTA BOTTLE LINES

3. Gutta bottle: Any acrylic paint can be used to fill the gutta bottle…GLOSS or Matt. I used the number 5 tip on my gutta bottle. After four trips to South Africa, I find zebras a very appealing subject. They love to cuddle. We will paint the zebras with a wet into wet approach. Draw the lines that define the zebras using the gutta bottle. Allow to dry. Wet the paper back and front and paint the subject wet into wet. I painted the stripes with Quinacridone gold, Quinacridone burnt orange and cobalt blue. I added manganese blue for a cool background. When the underpainting is dry, finish with a few hard edges.

• GLOSS acrylic paint to drizzle. Find at Walmart, Amazon or art&craft supplier.
• Any acrylic for the gutta bottle.
• Satay stick. A tool used to drizzle the paint.
• Gutta bottle.  *includes tip.
• # 5 tip for thinner line – #7 tip for thicker line using the Gutta bottle.
• Tar gel (to make any paint drizzle) *optional
• Gloves in a bottle. (Apply to your hands, it is like an invisible glove.) *optional

Download instructional PDF Click Here

Zebra Reference Photo CLICK HERE

Roosters Reference Photo CLICK HERE

Abstracted buildings

We will take liberties with painting buildings in a semi-abstract design. We will take the rules we learned in one and two point perspective, understand them and just do our own interpretation.

We will superimpose building shapes over a fun and free abstract underpainting. We will welcome textures and surprises and unpredictable happenings. We will work spontaneously, instead of meticulously and rejoice instead of render. Starting the painting with a wet surface creates a spontaneous spirit.

The wet paper also takes away some of the intimidation we feel when we look at a dry, white paper. As you add color, it flows, moves and creates energy all by itself. Painting actual realism can be tedious and not inspiring, but by working with the suggestion of reality and not allowing yourself to get bogged-down with the precise depiction of reality, this is a big step in breaking the boundaries of realism.

This is a perfect time to show paintings that relies more on emotions, feelings, shapes, colors or anything the artist conceives to represent buildings. Many of these artists are painting their emotions more than reality. This “sense” of the subject is what I am interested in today….not the precise image. 

• (Old) Credit card 
• Mat board pieces
• Scissors
• Paint roller
• Fine Mister
• Watercolor paint
• Arches
• Wax paper
• Table Salt
• Kleenex or tissue paper
• Stencils
• Watercolor pencils
• Mr. Clean Eraser

Lesson Description  CLICK HERE

This technique is an exciting experience because you paint on a surface that has magical qualities. As you apply color, textures just happen. After the paint dries, you can lift the paint very easily. The surface is similar to YUPO, except YUPO never absorbs the color, it simply dries on the surface. Gesso actually absorbs the color. I find this surface user friendly and very desirable.

 1. Select either a new piece of watercolor paper or a “failed painting”. I enjoy using a failed painting because gesso is a water-based paint and it draws out some of the color from the failed painting and leaves beautiful soft tonal areas. You can gesso the other side of the paper after it dries, this gives you two choices and also keeps the paper from curling.

2. Begin by applying gesso onto the surface using a flat brush. If you want a more interesting surface, add more gesso and troll the surface with your painting knife to create textures.
Use the tip of your painting knife or a sharp object to make thin lines, optional. Press leaves, burlap or any texturing object onto the surface for additional textures. I also like to spray water with my fine mister to soften the edges of the paper, similar to a vignette style of working.

3. Allow to dry, preferably over night. It is Ok to use a hairdryer to speed up the drying. Painting the other side when this dries will keep the paper from curling.

4. Draw your subject with a pencil and begin painting on this exciting surface.

5. Your final painting must still be presented like any watercolor by placing it under glass. You can also finish the surface with Krylon acrylic spray, either Matt or gloss. Another option is to apply a coat of Dorland’s wax.

• Arches
• White Gesso. (Comes in clear, white, black, gold, I prefer white)
• Painting knife (aka Palette Knife) or Matt board scraps
• Flat brush
• Any paper, canvas, Masonite board, mat board or a failed painting
• Any texturing tools
• QOR watercolor medium. Optional choice to use, adds a shine to the finish. (Available on Amazon)
• Daniel Smith Ultramarine Turquoise watercolor (new color I chose because it is transparent,non-staining and granulates)
• Magic Eraser

Colors Used

• Ultramarine Turquoise
• Winsor Yellow
• Winsor Orange
• Indigo
• Antwerp Blue
• Scarlet Lake
• Cobalt Blue

Lesson Description  w/ Photos CLICK HERE

REFERENCE PHOTOS

Coneflowers CLICK HERE

Improvisation with control using gold gesso, spray paint and watercolor.

Daniel Smith Gold Gesso
Stencil
Metallic spray paint

Lesson Description  CLICK HERE

Semi-Abstract Themed Watercolor.

When painting an abstract that contains some realism, this impressionistic style of working leaves a lot of interpretation to the viewer. You want a subject that excites the viewer, that contains little recognizable material and actually forces them to use their own interpretation. I think looking at an abstract is like listening to poetry…the experience portrays just the essence and often this touches the viewer more than pure realism.

Select a theme like Africa, any travel experience, fall leaves, grapes, etc, and start observing what colors represent this theme and what textures reveal the essence of your theme. Then collect labels, napkins, papers, event tickets, any mixed media that can enhance this theme. These collage materials breathe in a new reality to your painting.

Step by step instructions:

1. Start with a small sketch of shapes. Wet your paper on both sides and start laying in the color.
2. While still wet, add paper, labels, napkins and anything that will perk up the soft color.
3. Add gauze for lines. Allow to dry and glue any collage materials in place with YES Paste.
4. Use stencils and watercolor pencils for additional color and texture. Be sure to wet the surface before and after you sand.

• Selected materials like napkins, event tickets, labels, etc.
• Unryu Paper
• Ogura Paper
• YES Paste
• Stencils (I am using African themed stencils)
• Watercolor pencils
• Gauze for linear effects
• Sprayer to loose edges
• Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to lift out whites

Lesson Description CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

STEP 1
A full sheet of Ginwashi is around 25 x 35”. So, cut a piece approximately 12 x 17″”. This size is actually a bit larger than the actual painting which allows you to tear the edged down to actual size. A torn “deckle” edge is very attractive if you ‘float’ the finished painting onto mattboard so that the edges show.
Begin by tracing the design onto the rice paper. Just place the design underneath the rice paper – the rice paper is transparent, so you can see the design through it. You may tape it with masking tape to hold it in place, be aware that it can tear the paper a bit when you remove it. Using the Pigma pen, trace the design onto the smooth side of the rice paper.
Once the design has been transferred to rice paper, it’s time to tear off the extra around the edges. “Draw” just inside the outer edges of the paper with a wet brush. Use a drop of water, enough to wet only a thin line. Now the paper should tear easily along that wet line. Even if the paper is torn unevenly, it only adds to the look of this project. As a matter of fact, I prefer an uneven edge.

STEP 2
Melt the paraffin wax to around 180-200 degrees. This is very important. If you allow the temperature to go above 200 degrees, a fire may occur. Also, have adequate ventilation when melting the wax because if the wax gets hot enough to smoke the fumes are harmful. If you keep it below 200, it will not smoke.
When you being the waxing process, it’s possible the wax will stick the rice paper to the surface on which it’s lying. To prevent this, place a piece of waxed paper under it. Leave the wax paper in place for the entire waxing process. I also leave underneath while painting.
I’ve included diagrams to help you in the waxing process. The inked areas in each diagram show where to place the wax. With this in mind, begin by waxing all of the inked areas in Diagram 1. (HINT: The diagrams are ‘to size’, so you may simply place them under the transparent rice paper and you can actually see where to wax)!
To wax, simply dip the brush into the hot wax and spread it onto the paper. Careful now – too much on the brush and it can surge out onto the paper, so start with just a bit until you get the hang of it. Oops! Did it drip? Great – drips are fantastic and I always put on a few anyway! The wax dries almost instantly on the rice paper. When you’re finished waxing, leave the brush sitting in the hot wax, ready to go for the next layer.
After the first layer of wax in on, begin to glaze paint onto the paper as specified on each diagram. Pick up only a small amount of paint. The rice paper has not sizing, so the less wash in your brush, the more control you will have. However, in some cases, the paint will run no matter what you do. Don’t worry; expect it to happen. It’s OK for soft color to edge out onto other areas – what you don’t want is a sharp edge of color. When paint edges outward, simply take extra water in your brush and soften the edge. As long as there’s not a hard line, it’s all right for color to go anywhere and everywhere.
Be sure the paper dries thoroughly after each wash before you put wax on top of it. This is so important. Think of dropping wax into a pail of water – when it hits the surface of the water it hardens instantly. That’s exactly what happens when hot wax hits any wet paper – it dries instantly and doesn’t actually go into the paper. That means the paper is not protected from the next layer of paint.
You may use a hair dryer, but beware, you could melt the wax! Use a low speed and keep it moving. If the wax melts, don’t worry! Keep painting and, at the end, when the wax is removed, you can “tickle” on paint where you need it. It’s easy to do.

STEP 3 – FINISHING STEPS
When you’ve completed through all of the Diagrams, stop and do the following:
When you’re sure the paper is dry, give it one more coat of wax over the entire front – to be sure everything has been waxed at least one time. After it has cooled, peel the waxed ricepaper from the waxed paper. Gently crinkle it into a ball. Small cracks may form i n the wax. Flatten the paper back out, being careful not to brush or shake off any excess wax pieces that may have loosened. Then apply a wash over the entire paper once more. (I usually use any mix that has already been used in the painting. In this case I used Quinacrindone Burnt Orange. The wash will bead up on the surface of the wax. Don’t wait for it to dry – go to Step 4 below.

STEP 4
Coat the entire front of the rice paper with wax, going right over the wet beads of wash. Seal them in with the wax!

REMOVING THE WAX
Put down several sheets of newspaper, place your batik on top, then three or so pages on top of that – your batik should be ‘sandwiched’ in between the newspapers. Heat up the iron to the hot (Cotton) setting and press it down on top of the pile. The heat will melt the wax from the batik and the newspaper will begin to soak it up. When the newspapers are fairly well saturated (you’ll see it begin to come thru), replace them with clean papers and continue to iron. Eventually, after maybe three or four times, you’ll see the newspapers are mostly clean and the wax has been removed. Don’t forget to iron the outer edges!
Surprise! It looks great, doesn’t it? It looks more like a fabric than paper. You may now paint any areas that were missed or you feel need a bit extra color. Painting on the rice paper now is completely different than before the wax was removed. A tiny bit of wax remains on the surface, so you must coax the paint into the paper by wiggling your brush a bit.
I also love using Cretacolor Pastel Pencils on a finished piece – anywhere that you may need to clean up an edge, or add a bit of color. These pencils are softer than colored pencils and work well on the rice paper. You can also smudge the color with a finger, to soften it a bit. Fun!

BRUSHES
Use old brushes for waxing, because the wax can’t be removed from a brush. I wax with a round brushes size 3, 8 and a one-inch flat that I use only for batik.

For painting, I use assorted flat brushes, which include a one-inch flat, and a 1 1/2″ flat (which I carry on my website).

SURFACE
I use Awagami Ginwashi rice paper for most all of the batiks I paint. However, any transparent or semi-transparent oriental paper can be used, so experiment. Each one gives the painting a different look. We carry the Awagami Ginwashi on the website: www.kathiegeorge.com

SUPPLIES
Electric frying pan with temperature control or wax pot iron
Masking tape newspapers paraffin wax (also used for canning)
Permanent and waterproof ink pen – I use a Micron Pigma .05 black
Waxed paper
Optional: Cretacolor Pastel Pencils or other good-quality pastel pencils.
Most of these supplies can be found on my website: www.kathiegeorge.com

Lesson Description CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Reference Kit W/photos  CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

For the Full Kit (11×17) CLICK HERE

The key focus in this lesson is the balance of negative and positive painting and lost and found edges. We are trying to capture the essence of a flower, both familiar and sometimes made up. We will start with a spontaneous, free underpainting and later try to pull in a bit of realism.

We will push and pull this tension to arrive at a semi-abstract interpretation. Blending the background with our subject or blending one shape into another will add variety to our composition. A lot of this relationship is actually an intuitive process. So, just let it happen. This lesson will focus on semi abstraction. My love for realism and my love for abstraction comes together in this lesson. To begin, study your subject and decide on the shapes, colors and textures you want to use in your painting, Some parts of the subject may be painted more realistically and other parts may be more abstracted. Push and pull the tension to arrive at a semi-abstract interpretation. This lesson allows us to focus on the elements of design and to express ourselves in a very personal way. The images below have no pencil lines.

Process:
1. This lesson starts with a wet into wet underpainting. While the surface is wet, take some risk and add BRUSHO and salt and even throw some sprinkles of water onto the surface. This breaks up the surface and makes it possible for you to find floral shapes. Just for fun, cut up wax paper and let it drop onto the wet surface. Taking some risks in this early stage will result in these lovely textural surprises. Let this underpainting dry.
2. Begin finding your flowers and either draw in those shapes with an HB pencil or negatively paint around the shapes. The biggest challenge is that you do not paint around the entire shape. This will kill the fresh look you are trying to attain. Select about three places to define the flower and leave the other sides without definition.
3. When you paint the flowers keep the petals light against the dark background and paint the
petals dark against the light background. Leave much of the background as the underpainting, try not to overwork your composition. Remember we are trying to only capture the essence of flowers and leave some of the areas as abstraction.
4. The final touch is to add your darkest darks. Remember to not overdue this path of dark,
just get in and get out and lose the edges.

Download PDF (Click here)

• Watercolor Paint
• BRUSHO. (These are highly-pigmented, transparent watercolor/ink crystals. You can sprinkle the powder with a dry brush or dissolve the crystals in water or simply sprinkle from the jar. They are non-toxic and non-hazardous. They have been around for over 35 years.)
• Arches 140# paper

Elements of Design PDF DOWNLOAD

1. Birds and surf. I plan to paint busy shorebirds with breaking waves. This subject is exciting to watch and even more fun to paint.

Water is a marvelous subject because this transparent liquid reflects light, creates dynamic contrasts and moves. The best approach to painting water is to put down the color on a wet surface and then lift it away.

Wet-into-wet is a fun process of discovery. The way the colors meet and mingle creates a glowing effect. This birds and surf lesson uses wet-into wet and randomly dry paper. Each surface gives a very different effect and ultimately looks like waves breaking. You actually are in charge and by throwing, dropping and lifting you can create the movement of water. I plan to show you an approach to create this movement in the water and as you try this process, you will discover your own approach.

Using Arches 140# or 300# paper is the best choice. This paper has good sizing on the front of the paper and this allows the colors to move around and be lifted to form the surf. The sizing in Arches keeps the paint from soaking into the paper and allows lifting. A paper that is not properly sized will not work.

This is an alla prima or “all at once” experience. You need to let the colors intermingle and then lift the colors without any interruptions or distractions.

Enjoy this magical time because when you are finished, you should not go back and do more to your painting. This will destroy the “alla prima” look.

I finished the painting by mixing Quinacridone burnt orange with ultramarine blue to form a dark black. I like this color because it is a non-staining mixture and allows me to lift if necessary.

Arches 140#

Watercolor Paints

Hake Brush

1 1/2″ flat brush

1. Wei Lan will present a lesson on Masa paper. This traditional Asian (Oriental) style of painting can be a “new look” for any subject you chose. Buildings, still life, flowers, landscapes. Still life…any subject can be enhanced by trying this special paper. The finished painting looks like a batik with soft crackles in the background.

Download PDF (Click here)

*Old towel
*Cheap bristle brush (.59 at a hardware store)
*Brayer
*Backing board like plastic, wood or foam core
*140# paper (this does not need to be Arches, any old 140# paper will
work.)
*Plastic wrap like Saran wrap
*masa paper (available at our online store)

Arches 140#

Watercolor Paints

Staedtler Pen

Colors Used:

• Cobalt Blue
• Winsor Orange
• Quinacridone Coral
• Raw Sienna
• Quinacridone Burnt Orange
• Manganese Blue Hue
• French Ultramarine Blue

Strathmore 500 Heavyweight Vellum

Grumbacher Gesso

Colors Used:

• Raw Sienna
• Burnt Sienna
• Ultramarine Blue
• Cerulean Blue
• Carmine (or Alizarin Crimson)