Waiting for Spring

Another kawaii abstract painting I made some weeks ago after returning from my Art Mojo workshop in Cambodia. Whilst the ideas I had picked up were fresh in my mind, I went ahead and added more cuteness to it! All these pretty flowers and bright colours are making Little One and friends long for the Spring and put the cold February behind them. We all need a bit of cheering up too in the Netherlands with this grey dreary climate…

The piece began with ghost Gelli prints from a previous painting. In addition, I also used that paper to roll out excess paint from the brayer and wipe clean my stencils on. Flowers were then painted on using acrylic ink and Faber Castell’s gelatos (water-soluble wax sticks that become permanent once diluted with water). Random squiggles were also doodled in. And now the fun begins!

When painting intuitive abstract paintings like this, I tend to forget to take “during” photos, as I normally do in my blogs. It’s probably because I’m so focused in my thoughts that the flow isn’t being interrupted! There is also quite a lot going on when adding layers that it’s too numerous to keep up with them and explain all. For this painting, I just grabbed whatever came to hand: ink including acrylic and India, paper collages including origami and newspaper (this time it is Korean-language), thick full-body paint, fluid acrylic and markers. I kept on going and going, layer after layer. But I still needed to incorporate my kawaii characters! Little One and friends were doodled in Payne’s Grey ink. Now we’re talking….

And I now instead of “during photos” I created a kawaii close-up collage depicting sections of this painting. How sweet it all looks together too! Having learned to loosen up and paint freely without getting hung up about precision and perfection, I feel my paintings are beginning to show even more life. I’ve also added more in terms of bolder colours (although I’ve always been one for vividness anyway) and a wider variety of shapes and patterns simply by observing what’s around me. What I further discovered is that I can easily adapt this style to my existing kawaii style and create something fun and unique!