The Basics of Alcohol Ink: Learning How to Create an Abstract Painting

1. Introduction to the Basics of Alcohol Ink: Hello and welcome to my skill share class on the basics of alcohol ings throughout this last, I'll teach you why Alcohol ings air different from other mediums. What materials you'll need to get started since safety precautions that you need to take as well as several different methods for applying the alcohol into your surface. In the end, you'll use thes skills to create your own unique piece of abstract artwork. Using alcoholic. This class is aimed at people who have zero experience an alcoholic. That's right. You don't need to know anything. In order to get started with this class, I'll walk you through every step of the way, including gathering and materials on applying the alcohol ink to the surface. I'm Alison Go Mets. I've been practicing alcohol ing for about a year, and my favorite part of using the medium is making these abstract pieces that I'm going to teach you how to make today 2. Why Alcohol Ink?: to start off. I just wanted to talk a little bit about what I Love Alcohol Inc and what it could be used for. So, first of all, alcohol in behaves unlike any other traditional paint medium, it is designed to stick to non porous surfaces, which allows you to use all kinds of services that you wouldn't use with other paints. Here I'm using a kind of paper that is basically plastic. This allows me to move it around more freely than other fluid methods and mediums. Second Alcohol Inc is actually made of alcohol. Because of this. It can be reactivated when it comes into contact with alcohol again. This ink has been dry for about an hour, but as I had alcohol to it, I could move it all over again. Another reason that I love alcoholics is that they're super unpredictable. Whenever Inning touches another Inc or alcohol. Whatever's added most recently is just gonna push the other stuff out of the way and make space for itself. So as you can see in this video, the alcohol that's being added is pushing the things out of the way. This creates all kinds of unpredictable results It means that you can't replicate anything . Exactly, because you never know exactly how things were gonna push each other out of the way. 3. Materials: here the materials that you need to get started with Alcohol Inc. The 1st 1 is Alcohol Inc itself. Of course, there are a couple different brands. I have the ranger inks, I have the pinata inks, and I also have the Coptic Thanks. These air ink refills for the markers. You can use the markers, too. There are a couple of the Branson I'm aware of guilty and Brie Reese come to mind. Anything that's Alcohol Inc should work this way. But my things riots and what I would invest in if I were getting started all over again are the pinata. Because they're very, very pigmented. They don't have as much alcohol in them, which actually allows you to do more with them and the convicts because they come with so many colors as you can see their numbers on the top. Those correlate to the marker color that they are a refill for. And so if there are hundreds and hundreds of colors for you to choose from with us. So if you're not great at mixing colors or you're just lazy like I am, I just like to have all the colors just at my disposal I don't want to have to be mixing up that perfect color and spending forever getting it right, so I like these. For that reason. The second thing that you need to get started with alcoholic is actually alcohol or blending solution. So two of the brain's that I mentioned earlier both ranger and pinata offer blending solutions. They are slightly different from alcohol, but I get really similar results, and I find that just buying alcohol itself tends to be a bit cheaper. So I use isopropyl alcohol. But your alcohol can be grain, alcohol, like ever clear. Or it could be ethanol. It can be methylated spirits Justus, long as it is at least 91% alcohol or higher. This is 100% alcohol, and I find that I get the best results with it. The third thing that you need to get started with alcohol ings is some sort of a non porous service. So this can include you both paper, which I like to use. This paper is kind of this'll Paper is kind of a plastic, um, pretty cool. It's a little bit pricey, though, so for starting out, it may not be your best bet. You can also use ceramics like ceramic tile. Some people use ceramic vases or mugs. You can use glass or metal. I've also heard about a new kind of plastic paper. Basically, it's called graphics Um, Craft Classic. That's been getting really great reviews. I haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet, but people say it's really great. It's even better than you bow, which is what I tend to use. So I'll be trying that out soon. And if it's something you're interested in, you might give that a shot. What I do not recommend for at Bowling's is canvas unless you prop it first. So unless you want to buy some kind of like kilts is what I've heard or some kind of acrylic paint toe prep your canvas, Um, the alcohol ings. We're not going to respond the same way. They're gonna act more like a dye. They're gonna silk right in. If you want to be able to move them, the whale be showing you then canvas really isn't your go to or any other porous surface for that matter? Another thing that you're gonna want is tissues. These air great not just for cleaning up, but also, if you put too much liquid down on the paper or something like that, you can blood it up pretty easily. I tend to use just gonna affection toilet paper because it's cheap and I've got a whole roll of it right here waiting for me. But you can also use paper towels or Kleenexes. Just make sure that whatever you're using doesn't have added oils or like al Oh, because that will react with the alcohol. And it will not give you the results that you're looking for. Another thing that you're gonna need is some ways. Actually, use the alcohol and get one to your paper. I started with a syringe which worked pretty well for me until I was ready to move on. Ah, lot of people use of high pats kind of similar on Ben. I moved on to these little bottles. These air great, because the needle nose allows me to really control how much alcohol is being put on the paper. And also, if I want to mix any colors or if I want to dilute any colors, I can go ahead and store them in the bottles. They come in packs of many, and they also often come with a little funnel to make it really easy to get your uncle in them. Another thing that I find really useful when I'm working without calling so some sort of a small pallet. I like to use thes because they're cheap and they're plastic, so the outgoings don't stick to them as long as I clean them up with a bit of alcohol. If you don't plan on doing any work with a brush, you could probably skip this one. But I find it really useful in case I want to look at any colors or in case I want to touch up anything with a brush. It's also really great for cleaning out your brush. So following that, of course, it helps to have some paintbrushes. Now. I bought a set specifically to use without fallings. It was not an expensive set because I don't think that you really need to use an expensive set for this on, and I didn't want to get my watercolor brushes ruined. It probably wouldn't ruin them. They wash out pretty well, but it's probably a good idea. Just have some cheap brushes, especially if you're just starting out. If you don't want to use brushes, that's okay. I find that they help me to control the things a little bit better. But if you just want that wispy balloon around, look, then you don't have to have these. Another tool that's optional but really useful are some cops these air great for mixing alcohol and inks in larger amounts and pouring them on the paper? I recommend getting plastic or glass because the alcohol inks won't soak into them. As you can see, I use some plastic cups that have leads. This is great for me because if I mix up some alcohol with ink and I don't use it all, I could just save it for later. They're also really great to clean up because they're plastic, and I could just clean them out with some alcohol. You're also going to need some method for moving the alcoholics around your paper. You can use your own mouth and blow it around, or you can use a straw or you can use some kind of a device. I have what's called the world's smallest blower. This is great because it doesn't have any heat, and it's very low power. But also this thing it comes off, and so it can give you a more directed blasts of air or a blessed directed last air really like it. For that reason, I also have a very low wattage travel hair dryer if you're going to try the hair dryer out , which is what a lot of people dio, I recommend something like this because a normal one is just gonna blow everything around your paper. As I found out the first time I tried to use, so I would recommend getting like the lowest power that you confined. Some people use a heat gun, and that is an option. I don't personally recommend it because the time that I dried to use that gun, it worked my U boat paper, because the heat was, it started melting it. So, yes, your U boat paper can melt unless you have a heavier you bow paper, which is a bit more expensive. That's why I think you're better off just going with a little blower of some sort, like a hair dryer or the world's smallest lower or even just a straw You'll also need something to keep your workspace clean. This could just be paper towels underneath your surface, or like a drop cloth or a piece of plastic, anything that's going to keep your work space from getting died. And lastly, you may choose to use some safety materials. I'm going to talk about the reasons in the next video, but the three main safety materials that people use our respirator mask goggles and gloves . So that's the list of materials that I find to be most useful when I'm working with alcohol inks. Once you have all of these materials, you ready to get started. 4. Have Safe Sessions: It wouldn't be a very good educator if I didn't talk about the dangers that come with alcoholics. And there are some first and foremost. Alcohol is a flammable substance, which means that things and alcohol that you're putting on your paper or two. And not only are they flammable, but so were there vapors. The fumes can create flash fires, so make sure that you keep any open flames away from your work space while you're creating . Second, the vapors air actually harmful for your health. Also, it's not just flash fires that we're worried about now. If you work outside, you're probably fine. But if you are working inside, you may find that the fumes affect you. In that case, I recommend wearing a respirator mask. You should make sure that you find one that's suitable for organic volatiles. This is important because not all respirator masks are created equal. I don't always use my mask. That's a personal choice, but I do make sure that I create either in your an open window or in a really well ventilated area. If you make the same choice and wonder if the alcohol is affecting you, hear some symptoms to look out for the first is getting headaches or feeling dizzy. The second is feeling nauseated. The third is having your eyes or throat started burning. These are symptoms of alcohol poisoning, and if you experience them, you should remove yourself from the fumes and try to make sure that you either work in a well ventilated area or start using those deep materials. Some people feel those same symptoms of too much alcohol interests of their skin. That, and the fact that you're working with a dye which will stay in your hands, is a really great reason to use some gloves, although it won't cause permanent damage, I'll call of such a high percentage can cause some serious pain if it gets into your eyes. For that reason, a lot of people choose to use safety goggles. I don't use safety goggles personally because I have pretty controlled methods of getting the alcohol into the paper. But accidents can happen, so if you get some alcohol in your eyes, you should immediately flush them out with water for several minutes. If they continue to sting the next day, you should consult a medical professional and Leslie please do not drink the uncle wings or isopropyl alcohol. I know it seems obvious, but the warnings air on there because someone drink him. Don't be that person. It will make you extremely sick. And I 10 out of 10 do not recommend or zero out of 10 you know, argument we don't recommend. So I've talked about a bunch of safety warnings at this point. But please don't let that scare you. You can safely have a lot of fun with this medium if you just take the right precautions. 5. Class Project 1: now, I wanted to take a minute to explain your first class project because yes, there too. But I promise you're gonna have a ton of fun in both of them. One of the best ways to really understand what alcoholics are and how they behave used to just start playing around with them. This will help you with a few things. So first of all, help you see the true colors of the brands that you bought. It'll help you understand how alcohol inks interact with each other and with alcohol. And I hope you determine which methods work best for you and what looks you're trying to achieve This will also help you get over any fear you might have of using a new medium or messing up a beautiful blank piece of paper. Side note. I actually bought the NX nine months before I finally tried them out because I was so intimidated by them. Once I got the mountain, actually started playing around with them. I was hooked and I couldn't believe that I'd waited so long to try them out. So before you have a look at the next video, we're just going to show you different methods of applying the out falling to the paper. You should gather your materials and have a look at class Project one. Then you should get ready to follow along with me as I show you different techniques for using the al callings. Feel free to pause after each technique and continue trying things on your own. But I seriously encourage you not to skip this class project. It's really important for you to figure out how the alcohol ings behave and what methods you want to use before you actually begin to plan your final painting. 6. Using Your Inks: in this video, I'm gonna show you some ways to play around with your alcohol ings and really understand what they dio. And then I'm gonna show you some of the most common techniques for applying the out calling to the paper and getting that abstract look that we all love. Now, the first thing that you need to do when you're playing around with your ex is to take each one of the brands that you have in place a bit of alcohol on your paper. So I've used on three brands that I have. The 1st 1 is pinata. The next one that I'm gonna use is Ranger, and the 3rd 1 will be a topic. Notice how different they look, so the 1st 1 didn't spread out very much. The 2nd 1 has already started spreading out on the 3rd 1 is going to spread out as well. The reason that the 1st 1 doesn't spread out as much is because it actually doesn't have as much alcohol in it. The more alcohol that there is, the more it's going to spread. Now add some alcohol teardrops and see what happens. The 1st 1 I only added one drop. It didn't go very far. One drop in the 2nd 1 and then the 3rd 1 really allowed it to spread out. Now I've added a bunch more alcohol for this toe work, but pick up your paper and move it around and see how the inks mix and spread. You can add a bunch of alcohol to yours, too, if you need to notice that my third dot isn't really mixing with the others because the alcohol didn't really mix in that well. So I've kind of angled it so that the alcohol gets further over there and it'll start mixing better. You can see where the color starts to really move together. I've added a bit of alcohol here toe hope that happen. You can see how it really starts to mix after I do that. Once I've got the color about where we want it, I can set it down and the colors will start to spread out and kind of smooth out on their own now at a bunch of alcohol to another area, and then take your inks and drop them in on top of it. Pick up the paper and angle it around like you did before, but this time notice how different it is when you start with alcohol instead of with the alcohol in mind, you can even see some cells. That happens when the alcohol in guess sitting on top of the alcohol instead of starting underneath it. Over here, you can see that the alcohol that I've added is actually starting to touch the other area and push it out of the way. And as I add more alcohol to this dried area over here, you can see that it does the same thing. It immediately starts pushing the alcohol out of its way and making room for itself. In this segment, I want to show you what happens when you add alcohol or alcohol into an area that's already dry and rather smooth except for the dust particles that you can see. But just excuse those. So here I've dropped in a bit of Alcohol Inc And then I have added some alcohol on top of it, and you can see that it's just pushing things out of the way and expanding and making room for itself. So I've started using a blower to try to keep that from happening. It works a little bit, but we still have some lines that are forming because of this new Alcohol and Alcohol Inc to try to take care of that. I've added a little bit more alcohol, hopefully to get it all to mix together, and it's working to some extent, but you can still see some lines. So this is what happens when you put things in the middle. I do still have a nice, smooth section where I got a lot of alcohol together and was able to mix it with those inks . But the rest of it is filled with lines. Now, over here, have a white spot that I don't really want. So I'm going to try to get rid of that with some alcohol. As you can see, I put the out calling around the edge, and then I started blowing it around. It still hasn't quite filled in that white spot, though, so I'm going to use a paintbrush to try to dislodge some of the ink and bring it into that white spot exactly where I want it. In order to hide the fact that I have used a paintbrush, I'm gonna add a little more alcohol now and blow it around so that it'll look a bit smoother. As you can see, you can't tell exactly where I've used to paint brush anymore, but you can still see some lines that have been added to the middle. I find that there are two main reasons for blowing the ing surround. One of them is to create lines, and the other is to get a soft, wispy edge. We're going to start with the lines. So as you can see, I've added some alcohol already. It's going to start expanding a little bit, and that is when I'm gonna use my blower to start moving things around. Now, if I want to get the lines, the important thing is to kind of just blow from many directions. As you can see here, I kind of ended up with a clump that I didn't want. So I added a little bit of alcohol, and then I continued to try to blow the ink around again. The key is to just keep blowing around from different directions. So here I have kind of started to see some lines form in the middle and so I'm gonna I want to enhance those. So I'm gonna come blow from the left and then blow from the right. I wanted to look about, like, this area over here. So the way that I can do that again is going from the left and then the right and then back to the left and then back to the right and blowing the ink at itself, basically, and I'm forming that line as it starts to dry. The dryer it gets, the more likely the lines are to form. At a certain point, you're going to see that you're ing starts moving less. Unless at that point, I just kind of do a little pit of, ah, blow all over it to make sure that it sets and then I'm done. The other way to use the blowing method is to get soft edges, and for that you need a lot of alcohol and you need to blow inward. So as you can see, I've got a blob of Alcohol Inc and alcohol here. There's quite a bit of alcohol. It's very diluted on. I'm just blowing from the outside in anywhere that I want a soft edge that's where I'm going to blow inward. Now Blue is a staining color, so it's a little bit difficult to see the soft edge here. But once I blew it up to the to the right a little bit, you can see what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, there's still the stain underneath, and you'll get that, too. With just about any blue that you use here, I've decided to add a little bit more alcohol and blow again to just kind of help the Alcohol Inc move around. Since I wasn't quite getting what I wanted, I decided Teoh take a paintbrush to help control the inks there and help dislodge some of the ink that is stuck and push it in words. Then I took a little bit more alcohol to help disguise the brush strokes, and I just started blowing inward again. The more alcohol that you add this softer, your edge is going to be. One of the things that I get asked most frequently is how I got that gorgeous gold in my painting, and it's actually an alcoholic that's made with gold. I use the pinata. It's my favorite. It has to be shaken up a bit, so make sure that you do that or else your gold wall sink to the bottom. But here I'm just gonna add it on top of still wet Alcohol and Alcohol, Inc. When I moved the paper around, you can see two things happen. So on the top of the Alcohol Inc. The gold is gonna kind of clump together. But underneath the gold shimmer is falling below everything and creating a shimmer underneath the alcohol inks. The parts that are on top will move around the float on top. They'll clump together just as they've already done. The parts underneath really won't move too much more. So this is one way that you can use the Alcohol Inc is to put it into already white Alcohol or Alcohol Inc. But over here, I'm gonna put it on a dry section. I'm gonna try to kind of keep it along these lines and notice I don't fill it in completely . Then I take a blower on. I kind of blow it around now see how different this is. There's no shimmer underneath. It just kind of create some lines at the edges of where the alcohol in Quint This is the technique that I use most often because I really like the look in this section. I just wanted to show you the differences between the two techniques so you can clearly see the two sections that have been added on top, and then you can see the nice shimmer that's underneath. One method that I really like to use when I'm trying to get soft edges in light colors is using cups. They start by putting quite a bit of alcohol into a cup, and then I add my alcohol link to that. Then I swirl it around to make sure that the mixture gets well mixed. And in this one, I think I don't quite have enough alcohol, so I'm gonna add a little bit more. Once I get the color that I want, I am going to pour it where I want it to be. So I wanted to come up a bit, and as you see, I pour it in the direction that I want things to go. So I want them to go up. I've kind of created a little bit of an archway up. This allows me to have a much more diluted and lighter area toe work with. And as you can see, this is what I used Teoh blow around and get some soft edges. It works really well when I start with cups. A lot of people think that you don't need brushes for Abstract Alcohol Inc. And they're right, but I really like to use them. So to start off, I take a small pallet. I fill it with a little bit of alcohol, and then I dropped my alcohol ink into that bit of alcohol. Then I use my brush to swirl it around and mix it up pretty well. Now I'm going to try to paint a smooth area, so as you can see, it's really quite light. That's because it's pretty diluted with that alcohol, But I can drop in some color while it's still wet so you can see it getting a bit more brilliant as I drop in some color. And as long as I kind of smooth it out with the brush, you shouldn't see too many brush strokes at this point because it's wet enough that the there's nothing dry for the alcohol to leave it line in now to rinse your brush. Just put a little bit of plain alcohol in another. Well, a clean well, and then you're just going to swirl your brush around to get the alcohol off of it. I've decided to add a little bit more alcohol into my first Well, because I thought it wasn't quite dark enough. And now I'm going to take that. And I am going to paint a line through the first area that I painted because the first area was already dry. You can see the brushstrokes that I've created. If I go back over it and I smooth away those brush strokes with plenty more Alcohol and Alcohol, Inc. I can get a smooth section again. Now, I'm gonna do this over here on already dried ink. You can see that the same thing happens where the new Alcohol and Alcohol Inc that I've added create brushstrokes. And, um, you can kind of see how the alcohol is expanding and pushing things out of its way. And that's just gonna keep happening. The more that I add alcohol to the already dried section. And if I don't smooth away the brush strokes, as you can see, they are expanding themselves and creating even more lines. Another way that I like to use a brush is to guide the alcohol when it's not doing exactly what I wanted to do. So as you can see here, I've already added some gold and it's not really going where I want it. Teoh, When I blow it around, it's not connecting. It's not really moving, so I'm just going to take my brush and put a little bit of alcohol on it. It's okay to use the already dirtied alcohol, since it's a similar color, and then I just guide the gold where I want it to go. I do this a lot with mixed motives, but I can also do this with other colors. Once I got it connected, I can start blowing it again with the blower and you'll see that the gold now is able to travel through those channels. Basically that I have opened up. I'm going to keep going and bring this gold up a bit because I want all the gold sections over here to touch, and the reason that I'm doing this with a paintbrush instead of adding more is because I don't actually want to add more gold to the peace, and I don't want the alcohol Teoh start spreading and creating new lines. I just want to be able to connect what I already have without creating too many more issues . So as I said, um, if I were to add alcohol or if I were to add more gold mix a tive, it's possible that things would spread more. But with the brush, I can control it. You can see here that I'm also starting to go down where the ink has clumped and bring it up and drop it in those other sections. This is because I don't want to add more gold, and I kind of want to take away from some of the clumps down bottom and help them become thinner lines. And I can just kind of keep doing that. I could drag that gold anywhere I wanted to go with. The the last way that I use a brush is to create a sort of bubble design within my painting . So if I get a little bit of alcohol on my brush and then I touch the brush to a dried spot of alcohol ink, you can see a little bubble is starting to form. It will just spread out from where he touched the brush. The more alcohol that I have on my brush, the bigger the bubble will be. Now, if I put two next to each other and they're too close, you can see they're starting to form a line between the two. But they're kind of starting to merge. Eso be careful. If you want bubbles that are close together, you might want to space them out a little more than you think. Because a lot of times they'll end up touching. Now, if I wipe most of the alcohol off of my brush and then just do quick little touches, I can get much smaller bubbles, as you can see over on the right here I've made a bubble, but then I decided that it wasn't big enough. So you can also go back in and kind of swirl your brush around the middle of your bubble to make it a little bit bigger. I'm going to do that again. Here. I'm gonna make a new bubble, and this time I'm going to swirl my brush around inside it again because I want Teoh kind of smooth out the edge of the bubble. It looks a little off to me, so I've decided to smooth it around and make the bubble slightly bigger. And also, I guess, Rounder. So there you have all the methods that I use to achieve the abstract paintings that I create. 7. Planning Your Colors: one of the most important things. When planning your painting is choosing your colors. Some of you may be familiar with color theory, and if so, you've probably got this part nailed. However, if you're just getting started, you might not know that much about colors, and that's OK. I'm actually not going to dive too deep into this, but I do want to touch on it a little bit, just enough to help you get started. If you're interested in learning more, I'm gonna put some links and project Teoh to some great resources. So what I do want to cover is the idea of what a color wheel is and some very basic things about it. The color wheel is made up of the three primary colors red, blue and yellow and all of the colors that can be created by them. They're arranged into a circle to better show the relationship between them. Like I said, I'm not going to go too deep into this, but I do want to mention three things about it. The first thing is that a color wheel can help you figure out how to make colors you don't have. If you're just starting out and all you have the basics. That's okay. You can make more colors by mixing them on the color wheel can help you do that. Just take a look for a color that you want and figure out where it lies between the colors that you do have. Notice which ones that is closest to you. For example, if you want a yellow green that lies closer to yellow than it does to blue, this means that you should have quite a bit more yellow and not as much blue. Or if you have a green, you can add that to the yellow. You can play around and keep adding colors until you get what you want, or you can simply buy some more alcohol inks. There's no shame in doing either one. Now. Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are called complementary colors. These colors often look right next to each other and designs because they offer a great contrast. But when it comes to alcohol ink, it can actually be one of the biggest mistakes that I see. If complementary colors mix on your painting, they're likely to create a money brown color, which probably isn't what you're going for now. That's not to say that you can't use complementary colors at all because, as I said, they create a nice contrast. But be careful in how you place them so that they don't mix colors that are next to each other called analogous colors. Thes often look really good together, too, and lots of our to start here. To be honest, it's where I started. Winnings of analogous colors mix. You won't get a money brown. Instead, you'll get a nice you somewhere between the two. So what is all of this matter so much? Because when you're moving the inks around on your paper, they're bound to touch each other and possibly mix. Choosing your colors carefully can help you avoid any unwanted brown spots or other colors that you hadn't planned on now. Like I said, there's a lot more to color theory than just this. And if you're interested in learning more, you can check out the link that I put in project to. But if you're not, that's cool. Just keep these basics in mind as you get started on your painting and planning how it will look 8. Composition: blessing to keep in mind before you start your work is its composition or, in other words, how it's going to look and where you're gonna put things on the paper. Just because this is an abstract piece doesn't mean that you shouldn't do at least a little bit of planning. This is another topic that you couldn't really dive deeply into if you're interested, but which I'm only gonna touch on enough for you to get started. If you want to learn more, you can check the Lincoln Project to for a great resource. The first thing I like to think about is where I'm gonna leave my negative space. Or, in other words, where the white space on the painting is going to be. Most of the abstract pieces that I've seen tend to leave quite a bit of negative space around the inks. But not all of them do. Some of them are completely covered. It's good to have some kind of an idea of where you want your white space on what shape you want your alcohol ings to take. So, for example, do you want to sort of a blob that ends up in your paper. Do you want a line that goes across the other side? Er, maybe curves up to the top or down to the bottom. Do you want mostly covered with only just a corner to showing white space? These kinds of things are important to think about before you get started on your painting , so that you don't just end up throwing Inc wherever because you can end up with something that you really don't like that way, and I totally have done that before. That's not to say that not planning can always leave you with something you don't like, but I find that more often than not, I like the ones that I've planned much more than the ones that I haven't. I would suggest not putting some things Magda been the middle of your paper or using a line that perfectly bisects the paper. It adds a bit of interest if you put things just to the left or just right, or just above or below center. In this example, you can see that I've kept the color boundaries at the thirds of the paper, so you can see that all the darkest in the bottom third the middle tone is in the middle third and then the lighter tones in the NATO spaces in the top third. Keeping those boundaries away from the middle adds a bit of interest to the paper, whereas if I were to perfectly bisect the paper, it would just be a little bit too plain. This way, the interest is taken away from the centre in your I kind of looks around the painting this sexually stems from something called the rule of thirds, but it is a very, very basic understanding of the rule of thirds. If you're interested in learning more, you can click the link in project to. But if you're just raring to go and kept started on your artwork, then just not centering. Things can really help out a lot. Next, you should think about the colors that you're going to use and where you're gonna place them on your painting. So, for example, do you want your colors to mix? Do you have darker colors and you'd like to keep them more on one side than on the other? Or do you have colors that won't mix well and should be kept apart? Having a loose plan can help you avoid nasty, muddy surprises, and it can help keep your artwork balanced when planning your composition. Remember, you don't have to stick to these ideas 100% but it's just really helpful to have some kind of a plan in place so that you don't go and completely lost. 9. Your Turn: great. So now that you've seen all the videos, it's time for your second class project because now you're ready to create your own unique piece of abstract artwork. As you begin your artwork, remember together all of the materials ahead of time and take proper safety precautions. Once you have everything together, decide which methods work best for you. Choose your colors thoughtfully and plan your composition. Doing these things will help you achieve the abstract look that you're going for. I hope you've enjoyed my skills, your class, and that you were ready and confident to get started on your own Abstract art Working out callings Please remember to take a few photos and share them in the project galleries that I can have a look and thanks for watching.