Abstract Painting in Progress: The Village Fete

Charlotte Wensley
Sep 29, 2023
2 min read

Updated: 7 hours ago

I thought I'd start this latest abstract painting with a single colour in the background - to harmonise whatever came next and to see what, if any, difference it made to the overall feel of the colours once it was finished.

Abstract mixed media collage and painting with leaf shapes and semi circles

I used a fairly washed out Yellow Ochre to begin with which was naturally harmonious with the colours I used over the top.

I'm still having a thing with pink - a spin off my the latest painting in my 'Encounter Series' which I haven't managed to shake yet, so I just went with the flow, beginning with greens and yellows.

I'm not sure if the initial paint layer made much difference to the overall feel of the colours once it was finished, but a few experiments with using different colours for the under layer are on the cards now I think fro my next few abstract paintings on paper!

For the direct printing I just used a piece of wax paper and painted the marks onto it with a paint brush and then transferred them to the painting by flipping the paper, paint-side down and then pressing the back of the paper. I like the inconsistent marks left behind - something else I might explore further.

I used a water soluble graphite on this piece too which made some of the lines much darker and thicker, which I quite like, though the lines might become a bit overpowering if I used the graphite everywhere...

I might try another one with a contrasting under layer to see how that goes, I wonder what would happen if I started with pink.....

You check out the process of creating this piece in the video below.