Sharing again another painting I made at Tracy Verdugo’s Paint Mojo workshop! Here we had a go with creating negative space. Whilst many mixed media artists go for birds or elephants when choosing an animal to paint, I tend to go for kawaii creatures like bunnies, teddies and kitties! Painting a cat would be a wonderful idea during this trip I thought, given that there were quite a few adorable kittens roaming around the hotel we were staying, purring and waiting to be fed. So cute!
The Background
We began with a big piece of paper, doodling a random bunch of symbols and blobs using dark colours. Here I used a blend of Antelope Brown ink and Red gouache for that Terra Cotta look, ensuring a variety: shapes vs. linear, round vs. angular, opaque vs. transparent, etc. I actually like it the way it is now and was hoping we’d stop there but…
The next layer involved applying warm colours (chose three shades of ink) on one side followed by some cool colours on the other side. To give some continuity some of the colours were then swapped over a bit. White doodles were also added to promote more white space since I had gone over enthusiastic with the colours! And don’t forget Little One. Whilst some of my styles and colours may be a bit bold for now, Little One will always stay of course. Notice how she discreetly appears randomly as a trademark to mark my artwork! Can you see her?
Creating Negative Space
Once happy with the total picture, I was ready for the next step. I was, however, at lost as to what to create although I knew I wanted something kawaii. Whilst Tracy perceived an image of a bird in the painting, which was a great idea, that so wasn’t me at all. It then dawned on me. How about rotating the painting from landscape to portrait? Then all came to place. With a chalk, I proceeded in outlining a Hello Kitty looking cat standing upright holding fish in each hand. White acrylic ink was firstly applied to get an idea of what it would all look like. Best is to gradually add more . In the end, I covered the white area with Titanium White acrylic paint for more opacity
Accessorising Kitty
First I added the eyes using some Antelope Brown ink, then darkened it with Payne’s grey so the colour would pop out more. The whites of the eyes were then dotted with an acrylic marker. I then felt that something more could be added, particularly as I found the doodle of a grid on Kitty’s head quite distracting. How about disguise that by adding a crown? And so I went about it, firstly with Antelope Brown, followed by adding some gold ink on top. At that point, I decided to continue the rest when I got back home in Holland, where the rest of my art supplies were. I just wanted to add more bling! As soon as I had the chance, I glued on some sequins on the crown and doodled in it with copper glitter glue. Nuvo Drops were also used to add a necklace although it is not easy to see it in the photo. Glitter glue was also applied on the eyelids and right foot. Whilst easier to see with a naked eye, here it all is now!
Another exciting project to have worked on! I didn’t think I would enjoy the effect of the negative space since I really liked the painting as it was. In fact, it was a bit of a step for me to take the plunge, but from this I learned not to be afraid. I figured it would be better to find my favourite spot in the drawing and work from there, and the least favorite I could cover up. Great to gain more confidence about taking a further step when working on my artwork. You would be amazed to make some amazing discoveries!
My Kawaii Quarter 