Pastel and Abstract Painting
by
DesertRose
3 Materials
$6
1 Hour
Easy
Painting is something I have always wanted to do, but unlike other members of my family I am limited in that talent department. However, I do like some abstract pictures and decided it would be good to have some of my own abstract pastel pictures to lighten and brighten my craft room where I like to work on various projects.
In my limited art history background, I always associated abstract with "weird" or that it just did not fit into my old fashioned tastes. Everyone has their own taste in art and my background had been wildlife, ranch life, and the wilderness nature paintings. Then I saw some pretty work that I liked because of the bright cheerful colors. I thought, "I can do that." There are many ways to paint including oil, water colors, acrylic, markers, pastel crayons, and many more. I started with the markers and bought a few supplies.
This is an easy project anyone can do. You can purchase canvas stretched on a frame at Walmart for pennies under $2, water based markers, and alcohol. I used 80% rubbing alcohol. I was told 96% works better, but I did not find any handy at the store so I settled for the 80. It worked for me. You will also need a clean rag to rub the alcohol over the marker scribbles. Walmart carries about ten different sizes of canvas stretched on a wood frame from very small 3" by 5" to the size of a large window. I used the 8 x 10 inch size.
I chose 3 hues of similar colors from my markers and just scribbled them on the canvas. Then dabbing the clean rag with alcohol, I rubbed across the canvas. It lightened the colors and also smoothed the rough lines. Perfect! I wanted the light pastel for my craft wall.
This is the marker shades of green rubbed with alcohol. It was just the look I was aiming to get for my craft wall. Then I did two more to have 3 to hang side by side above my craft table. The rubbing smooths the harsh lines and fills in the empty spaces.
For the second one I combined some blues and one orange. Don't ask me why. I just liked the way it looked. Art is about what YOU like and what appeals to your eyes.
The third canvas was with navy blue, purple, and pinks.
Here they are the way I pictured hanging them over my craft table. Acrylic paint could also be applied over the rubbed marker to use these as a background for more abstract art later. I have completed some with acrylic abstract art over the markers in another project.
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8 of 16 comments
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your 5 year old is a beginning artist !
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Very cool!
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Thank you Nickie, it is fun! Easy! Quick! I plan to do many more
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