Make Playful Abstract Art inspired by Fruits

1. Hello & Welcome!: When you sign up for a traditional art class, one of the first and most obvious subjects that they ask you to draw or paint is a bowl of fruits. No offense, but that's just really not my style. Three, two, one. Go! Drawing your subjects realistically can be a lot of fun, but it can also be slightly intimidating, especially if you're the kind of person who prefers to draw stylized or abstract art rather than hyperrealistic art. And let me tell you that does not make you any less of a professional artist. If you ask me, I'd much rather slice a fruit open and create ten different abstract artworks, inspired by its textures, colors, patterns, and hidden details, rather than treating it as a single subject for just one piece of realistic art. So in today's class, I invite you to be a little rebellious and to break a few rules with me. Permission to play granted. Hi, everyone. My name is Ridhi Rajpal, and I'm a filmmaker and a multi disciplinary artist from India. I'm also an art educator and a creative entrepreneur running my own creative business by the name of TheColorBirdie. I love finding inspiration in unexpected places and transforming everyday subjects into playful works of art. And in this class, we're going to be doing exactly that with one of my favorite sources of inspiration, fruits. Together, we'll explore how to look beyond the obvious and discover the shapes, colors, textures and patterns hidden within fruits. Then we'll use those observations to create vibrant, playful and abstract pieces of art. Think of it as creative liberation. Instead of trying to draw every little detail hyperrealistically, we're only going to focus on the elements that excite us and use them as the starting point for creating abstract art. It's like a little gamified version of making art where we're going to observe, extract, abstract, and then create. All with the spirit of experimentation. What emerges as the final result will be artwork that's expressive, imaginative, and uniquely your own. Whether you're a seasoned artist looking for a fresh source of creative inspiration or someone who is just starting out, this class is designed to help you see everyday objects through a new lens. So if this approach has made you curious, grab your favorite beverage and your supplies and meet me in class, where we're going to go on some fruity adventures. 2. Class Overview: Alright. Let's begin our creative adventure together. In this lesson, I'm going to give you a quick overview of how this class is structured so that you can make the most of your learning experience. First things first, head over to the resources section of this class and download the class resources document. It contains links to all the reference images that we'll be using throughout the class. While I've designed this class as a mixed media class, because I love the tactile experience of working with physical art supplies, I understand that not everybody has access to the same materials, and some artists simply prefer working digitally. So if you'd like to follow along with a digital software, you're absolutely welcome to do so. The process remains exactly the same. And if you're using Procreate to follow along, then I've also included three color palettes that you can download and import directly into the software, making it easy for you to get started. And for those of you who like to work with physical materials, we'll move on to the materials lesson next, where I'll walk you through all the supplies that we'll be using for this class. After that, we'll spend some time looking closely at fruit references and breaking them down using the creative process that we'll follow throughout this class, which is to observe, extract, abstract, and then create. Then we'll jump into the class projects, and I'll guide you through these projects step by step. You can follow along and recreate the exact same pieces, or you're welcome to take your own creative detours. Once you're done, I'd love for you to share your project. And remember, you don't have to wait until your piece is completely finished. Feel free to upload work in progress pictures and share your creative journey along the way. Alright, now that we have that out of our way, let's move on to our next lesson. 3. Materials: Alright. Let's begin by taking a look at all the tools and materials we'll be using for this class. First, we'll need some paper to work on, and you can choose to work on watercolor paper or Mixed Media paper. For most of my professional Mixed Media projects, I love using the Strathmore 400 Series Mixed Media paper. It's 300 GSM with a vellum surface and it is one of my all time favorites. And I also really enjoy working with Menorah's 300 GSM cold pressed watercolor paper. For today's class, however, I'm going to be working with a different paper. I'll be using the 230 GSM Mixed Media paper from this brand called Zen Sangam, which I've recently discovered in India. And while it's a little lighter than my usual paper choices, and it may buckle slightly with water, it does work beautifully for everyday creative projects and can handle a wide variety of mediums really well. So since we'll be using relatively light watercolor washes, it's more than sufficient for the kind of projects that we're going to be developing in today's class. So if you also don't have the 300 GSM heavyweight papers with you, that's completely fine. You can work with something medium weight like this 230 GSM paper over here. And I also like to tape down the edges of my paper with washi tape before I begin. This is completely optional, but it does create a lovely, clean border or a faux mat when you peel it off at the end. And I think it gives your painting a very polished look, and that's a look that I personally quite enjoy. So if you also want a similar result, then you can use washi tape for the edges over here like this, or you can also use masking tape. Next, let's talk about paints. So I use a combination of watercolor pans and tubes from various brands, including Mijelo Mission, Rico design, Brustro Daniel Smith, and Sennelier. Some of these are budget friendly while others are more premium. But honestly, you can mix and match based on your budget and preferences. I often buy individual colors from different brands when there's a particular shade that I really love. To mix your paints, you'll also need a palette. And I travel a lot, which is why I use the built in mixing trays that come with the watercolor sets. And honestly, these are great. They're portable, and they save me from carrying extra things in my bag when I'm traveling. But if you're working from home, you can also use old ceramic plates, ceramic dishes, or just regular mixing palettes that you find at the craft store. For brushes, you don't need anything fancy. Just a simple round watercolor brush in a size six or eight will work wonderfully well for this class. And if you're working on a larger sheet of paper, then you can probably go up to a size ten. Now, my own brush collection is a combination of both premium and budget friendly brushes. When I'm creating professional pieces that I plan to sell as originals, or when I'm working with techniques that required a lot of precision and control, I usually reach for the higher end brushes from brands like Princeton and the Silver Black Velvet series. However, when I'm working on more playful or abstract projects that don't require highly controlled watercolor movement, like the ones that we're going to be developing in this class, I'm perfectly happy using much more affordable brushes as well from brands like Camlin. So, honestly, it all comes down to your budget, preferences and the type of artwork that you're going to be developing. The most important thing is that you're using watercolor brushes rather than acrylic brushes. Watercolor brushes are often called thirsty brushes because they are designed to hold a lot more water, which makes the painting process much easier and allows for smoother, more fluid brush strokes. So yeah, just keep an eye out for that and pick watercolor brushes when working with watercolors rather than using the general purpose brushes which are more suited for acrylics and poster paints. Then we'll also need two jars of water, one for rinsing your brushes, which is often called the dirty jar, and then one for the clean water that you can use to do clean layers on your project. And you'll also want to keep a few tissues or paper towels nearby for blotting your brushes and cleaning up any spills. Now, for the drawing details, I'll be using the sakura pigma micron pens in a variety of nib sizes and colors. This is one of my go to brands for all kinds of drawing work, and it's sort of like a must have or, like, a staple in my toolkit. And then to add the highlights, shimmer and other decorative details, I love using the sakura gelly roll pens. They come in a range of finishes, including metallic, glitter, and neon, and they're a lot of fun to work with. Then I'll also be using my prisma color wax based color pencils. And if you don't have wax based color pencils, that's totally fine, feel free to substitute them with any other color pencils that you have. You can even use Watercolor pencils. And then, in addition to all of this, I'll also be incorporating a few markers into my artwork. So I'll be using both acrylic markers and water based markers from this brand called Ohuhu. But you can also use alcohol markers or other substitutes like acrylic paints or gouache, if you don't have the markers that I have. So these can be substituted as well. And if you like, you can also use some oil pastels for mark-making and texture. I like these ones from Brustro because they're quite affordable and easily available to me over here in India. But I also have a mixed bag of some expensive ones from different brands. So yeah, again, this is not compulsory. This is just a suggestion. If you want to use them, you're free to include them in your toolkit. And if you don't want to use them, you can still substitute this with other materials, and I'm most likely not going to be using them, but I've just still kept them on standby just in case I change my mind later. Now, the reason that I enjoy working with so many different supplies is that each one brings a unique texture, opacity, and finish to the artwork. Watercolors create a soft and flowy effect. Acrylic markers add bold opaque details, and oil pastels create expressive marks, and gelly roll pens bring sparkle and highlights. So together, they create a rich and playful mixed media look, which is something that I really enjoy. But having said that, please don't feel that you need to have every single thing that I've mentioned over here. Mixed Media is all about experimenting and making the process your own. So feel free to substitute materials, use what you already have, and adapt the project to suit your style and whatever supplies you have available with you. And once you have all your materials ready, I will see you in the next lesson where we'll begin creating our project together. 4. Looking at References: Alright, welcome back. So in this lesson, we're going to be using photographs of fruits as inspiration for creating abstract artwork. Now, remember, our goal is not to create a realistic drawing or an accurate representation of the fruit. Instead, we're going to be deconstructing what we see. So we're going to be looking for interesting visual elements that we can borrow, reinterpret, and then transform into our own abstract compositions. Now, before we begin, I just want to give you a quick note about the reference images that we'll be using in this class. All of the photographs that we'll be using come from a website called Unsplash, and Unsplash offers stock photos and royalty free images under different licensing terms. So if you plan to use reference images in your own work, or, for example, putting it as a part of a commercial portfolio, then I highly recommend taking a few minutes to review the licenses associated with each image to make sure that you're using it appropriately. For this class, the images that I've selected are available as free downloads. So I've got you covered over there, and I've included links to every reference image in the class resources document. So if you haven't downloaded it yet, now would be a good time to do that. Okay, now let's talk about the process that we're going to be following throughout this class. So as you've already learned, our workflow is going to be built around four stages. We're going to observe, extract, abstract, and then create. But we're also going to turn this into a little creative game for ourselves. So every artwork that we create in this class is going to consist of four visual buckets. And the trick is that you have to use all of these visual buckets at least once. So bucket number one is going to be defining features. What makes the fruit instantly recognizable? If you remove those recognizable traits, would people still be able to guess that it's the same fruit? Then bucket number two is going to be shapes and forms, which includes the overall silhouettes, curves, sections, structural shapes or anything else that basically makes up the shape and the form of the fruit. Bucket number three is going to be interesting details. So this could be textures, patterns, seeds, veins, folds, color transitions, or any other little visual detail that catches your eye. And then bucket number four is going to be abstract mark-making. So these are going to be expressive marks that help you build your composition, and they can be inspired by the fruit, but that's not absolutely necessary. They can simply be abstract marks that complement your design. So think of simple stripes, circles, little shapes, little expressive marks that basically complement the overall design. Now, as I mentioned earlier, the challenge is that every composition has to include all four of these buckets at least once. You're welcome to repeat any bucket as many times as you like, but none of them can be left out. That's the trick. So now, of course, we have to see how these buckets fit into our overall four step process. So in the observation stage, we're going to slow down and really study the fruit. This is where we're going to be looking at the defining features, the shapes, and the forms, and any other interesting details that stand out. And then in the extraction stage, we're going to isolate those observations. So we'll pull out those defining features, the shapes and the forms, and the interesting details, and then we'll basically build a visual library to work with. So this is where we basically start to deconstruct the fruit as much as possible. And then we move on to our third stage, which is to abstract. And this is where we're going to have a lot of fun because we start to play. So we simplify, exaggerate, rearrange, combine, twist, morph, transform all of those extracted elements, and turn them into abstract visual forms. And this is also the stage where we'll be introducing our abstract mark-making, which will help us to create rhythm, contrast, and movement in our composition. And then we finally move on to the creating stage where we're going to bring everything together and then finally develop our finished abstract artwork. I know that this sounds like a lot right now, but I promise that there's no need to worry. And I know that this sounds like some serious college level lecture, but I promise that once we start working through our examples together, the process will become very intuitive to you. In fact, after a couple of attempts, you won't even need to remember these buckets and these stages anymore because they'll just come very naturally to you. But right now, the reason why I created this little guideline is so that you have a starting point to begin with. Otherwise, usually, what happens is that we have a blank piece of paper in front of us, and then we get totally lost. And we don't know what to look at, where to begin, what to deconstruct, what to exaggerate. We basically have a clean blank slate in front of us. So with the help of these guidelines and these little nudges, hopefully, you'll be able to have a starting point. And eventually, like I said, it's just going to become easier because it's going to become second nature to you. So, of course, I'll be guiding you through every step along the way, and it's going to be a lot of fun, I promise. Alright, so now that we have this little college level lecture flow chart out of the way, we can begin with our first reference, which is going to be the dragon fruit. And now, of course, the first thing that comes to mind with the dragon fruit is the shape. So it's almost like a teardrop shape or like an egg shape with a slightly exaggerated bottom and a slightly narrower top. And then of course, the dragon fruit has these little green leafy things which come out of it, which I've recently got to know are called bracts. So yeah, we're gonna sound all science-y and fancy today. So yeah, these are the bracts that come out of that. So now, I think that these bracts are basically the defining feature of the dragon fruit because if we remove these bracts, without it, the dragon fruit will basically not look like a dragon fruit. It'll just be like a little pink egg. So the bracts is what makes the dragon fruit really get that little dragon fruit like texture, you know, the dragon like look. So, yeah, I think that's gonna go in the defining features. And of course, there are a couple different ways in which we can show the bracts, depending on how we illustrate it and how we draw it. The bracts can be shown as little triangles which are stemming out of the body, or they can just be scales, similar to actual scales on a dragon, for example. So it honestly just depends on how we draw it, but notice how drawing it differently gives you two different kinds of patterns and two different kinds of visual elements to play with. So, yes, in its simplest form, the dragon fruit is basically an oval or like a teardrop shape. And then depending on how we slice it, it will have some details inside of it, as well. So, for example, if we slice it right down the middle, then it's going to have the inner section with the seeds showing. And then maybe the bracts are coming out as well. So again, it depends on whether we're cutting the fruit horizontally or vertically. And that will give us two different kinds of shapes and forms to play with. So in that sense, we can also include the circle as part of the shapes and forms because depending on how we slice it, we can also get like circular formations out of it. And then, of course, we have the seeds, which can be hollow ovals or they can be colored ovals. So the seeds will also become one of the defining features as well as the shapes and forms. And then, of course, depending on how we draw the bracts, we can have wavy triangles coming out or we can have simple triangles coming out. I just realized my paper's going out of frame, so I'm gonna bring that down. Okay. And we can also elongate the bracts and create, like, these leafy shapes. So yeah, so that's also going to come in the defining features. And then just to remember, I'm going to add the seeds inside the circle, as well. So yeah, it looks like we've extracted most of the basic shapes and forms, as well as the defining features. And if you like, you can also keep adding little notes around your sketches to remember later on. And I'm also going to do an opaque version of the seeds so that we can play later on with different formations and see which one works best for our composition. So they can be hollow, they can be opaque. They can be scattered. They can be put in one line together and sort of just go in a sequence. We can place them vertically or we can place them in a horizontal line going one after the other And then same way for the circles, we can have them scattered or again, we can have them going in a line. And then one interesting thing that I'm noticing is that depending on how we slice the dragon fruit, we can have an inner circle and an outer circle. So that's also something that we can make a note of. Again, it's just basically giving us different patterns that we can pull out from the same fruit, and then we can mix and match these later on in our abstract composition. Imagine coming up with all of this all on your own with no reference images. That would be slightly terrifying. But that's the beauty of reference images. They give you a starting point so that you don't have to feel nervous. And then you basically don't feel alone in the process of creating these patterns. So I'm also doing a couple more variations of the bracts because I think I can also make, like, some tiny triangles out of them, which are curvy. And then maybe the ones that we did as the elongated bracts can also have some texture in them. So maybe we can do some color gradients in them. So I'm just marking that out with my pencil, to remember that I can add some colors and textures over there. And then now I'm thinking that the bracts can also give me an interesting pattern where I can sort of mount them one on top of the other, which can really enhance the texture of the scales, basically. So that can happen vertically as well as horizontally. And I think horizontally, it can also imitate the effect of waves, for example. If I elongate them slightly, I think we can stack them like this. And then, of course, we can also do the ovals and the egg shapes horizontally as well. Again, they can be in a single line or they can be scattered. And then they can also have the inner circle or the inner oval or the inner egg shape, depending on which shape we're working with. So that's also something that we can make a note of. It can be with seeds or without seeds. And you're probably noticing the fact that all my sketches are pretty rough. I'm not even bothering to sharpen my pencil and fine tune each of these sketches because these are meant to be quick studies. I don't want to be in a place where I get so hung up and caught up in just looking at the details that I don't move on to my actual piece. So make your studies really quick and don't worry about refining every little detail at the sketches stage. Do your observations and move on to the fun part. Um, so yeah, even if you're sharing these publicly, don't worry about what your sketches look like because, well, they are sketches at the end of the day. So yeah, moving on to our watermelon. Um, I think, apart from the fact that it's an oval, which is the basic shape and form of the fruit, the defining feature is going to be the fact that it has these stripes on the outside, basically, on the outer peel. And those stripes can create interesting effects for us when we start to play with color. And then, again, depending on how we slice it, they can be ovals, circles, or even semicircles. Actually, now that I remember, there was also a semicircle sliced up image that I had seen for the dragon fruit as well. So I think that can go for the dragon fruits, too. And then we can start looking at some other It started raining outside. Hm. Can you guys hear it? Okay. Anyway, coming back to my fruit. Okay, so we can also do the seeds in the watermelon. And then, of course, the seeds will become a defining feature for the watermelon, as well. And then, again, depending on how we slice it and what kind of reference images we're looking at, sometimes the watermelons are also, you know, cut in these cute shapes which are like little cubes or like little trapezoids. And sometimes they're also triangles. So we can include some of those shapes as well. And then, again, these can be with seeds or without seeds. And then, again, the seeds can have different kinds of formations like what we did with the circles here or with the ovals over here. So some of the elements between the dragon fruit and the watermelon are common. So you can redraw them if you like, or else you can just make a note over there and remember to use it in both projects. And now I'm trying to think of ways in which we can abstract the stripes. So we can, of course, do horizontal straight stripes, or we can do slightly wavy and textured ones. And while I'm not working with color right now, just making these textural marks will help me remember later on that I can bring in some texture with my colors later. Like, I can do that with watercolors or I can do that, even with oil pastels. I think oil pastels will be great to bring in some texture for the watermelon, rind and the overall, like, the stripy look on the peel. And then, of course, the same thing applies to the watermelons where we have an inner circle and the outer circle. But what I do want to make a note of is the fact that the inner rind is basically like the meeting point between the red flesh of the watermelon and the outer green peel. So the rind basically has, like, the outer rind, which is the darker green, and then we have the inner rind, which is the lighter green. And the inner rind is basically the meeting point between the red flesh and the outer dark green rind. I just want to make a note of that so that in case later on I'm doing some color gradients, then I can include something interesting for representing these features as well. So I think this little thing counts for me as an interesting detail. It's not so much a defining feature or shape and form, but it's more like an interesting detail that I've noticed in the fruit, and I want to later on incorporate in my project. Then, of course, we can push the boundaries of abstraction even further, where we can reverse the colors and the shapes. So for example, we can do an outer red rind, and we can do the flesh inside in green color. And that's, I think, going to be interesting to play with. We can also make these little triangles go upside down so we can flip them. And another thing that we can do is actually do red stripes instead of green stripes. So, of course, the defining feature of the watermelon is the green stripes on the outer rind, but what if we did them in a different color? What if we did them in red? So that's also something that we can play with. So yeah, depending on how you function, you may or may not make notes of every idea that's coming in your head. It really depends on how methodical or how organized you are as a person. For me, I sometimes just keep certain ideas in my head and other ideas just bloom and come in while I'm working on the project. So I basically start with some details and have, like, a little bit of a reference library with me. But I don't get into too many details because then, again, I want to leave some room for exploration. So if you want to go ahead and add some color to your notes to remember each observation, please go ahead and do that. Like, that's something that I would totally support. For me, I just like to rely on these half baked notes, so to say, so that I leave some room for experimentation later on, and I don't get so hung up on my notes that then I later on start worrying about the fact that, oh, my image is not matching the notes. So yeah, like I said, depending on how methodical and how organized you are, you can go ahead and add these little details to your notes. You can add color, you can add little text details, whatever you like. Okay, moving on to some abstract mark-making. Now, we've already got some abstract marks from the fruits itself, but I'm going to now do some basic abstract marks, which I think will go well with both of the fruits that we've studied. So we can do some simple vertical lines. We can do wavy lines, some circles, and some dots. And then one thing that I think will go well with both of these fruits is small semicircle like marks, which basically, again, will add in some texture. And we can also do some S curves, which will look like waves, which, again, I think will complement both the fruits really well because both of them have curvy forms. So I want to try and see if we can do some more curvy details here and there. Alright, so I think that's going to be pretty much it for me. I think this is where I'm going to stop. I don't want to dig too deep into the fruits because then I know that I will start thinking like someone who is doing a very realistic representation of the fruit rather than someone who is making a playful abstract piece out of it. So yeah, I don't want to force my brain to think too much about each of the elements of the fruit. This is a good enough library for me to work with. But by all means, if you're the kind of person who likes to dig deep into everything and you want to create more patterns and a bigger reference library for yourself, Feel free to spend a few more minutes on this, or you can even study one more fruit as an additional example. And whatever you come up with, feel free to share it in the project section because that way, everybody can exchange ideas on what observations they made and probably somebody else missed out on those observations. In fact, I'm pretty sure that you all will come up with some observations that I've missed out. So that'll be fun to look at. So yeah, like I said, if you want to spend a few more minutes, go ahead and do that. And if you feel that you're confident and you're ready to work with the patterns that you've developed so far, meet me the next lesson where we're going to start working on our abstract compositions. 5. Dragon Fruit Base: Okay, so we're all set to start our first project, and this one is going to be inspired by dragon fruits. I'm just starting off by taping down my paper to my table. This one is a medium weight, 230 GSM Mixed Media paper, and not my usual 300 GSM heavyweight watercolor or mixed media paper, which means that it will start to warp once I add a lot of water and pigment. So taping it down gives me some control over the warping. Of course, it's not gonna be as controlled as heavyweight paper. But like I mentioned earlier, I don't mind this paper for low pressure activities, and if you're using a paper that's similar to mine, I highly recommend taping it down. Okay. And once we are set, we can start adding the watercolors. We want to do simple stripes and blocks of color on the paper, and I'm starting with a very, very diluted mix of the color that I have over here. This is actually a mixture of permanent rose and permanent red from the Mijello Mission brand, and I'm starting with a very diluted mix. And then I am adding in some more saturated pigment randomly to create random areas of light and dark. And then same way, I'm going to load my brush with water and do a nice big chunk at the bottom, as well. I'm going to start light and then gradually build up the saturation. I want to leave some negative spaces, but I think I want to do them slightly higher up on the paper and not so much at the bottom. So I'm just roughly marking that out, and then I will add water and pigment randomly to create patches of light and dark. And, of course, you're free to be as random as you like. There are absolutely no rules over here and no single right way of doing things. So don't worry if your composition does not look like mine. In fact, I would encourage you to do it as per what you like best so that your artwork becomes uniquely yours and reflects your personal style and aesthetic. And I'm just doing, like, about four or five stripes, but, of course, you can increase or decrease the number of painted sections as per the paper size that you're working on. If you have a bigger paper size, then it makes sense to do a few more stripes. And of course, you can do more green ones and less pink ones, or you can choose to do only pink ones and no green ones at all. So feel free to play around with the project and have fun with it and do whatever comes naturally to you. Now, I don't want this area to be completely pink. So I'm just adding a few drops of green here and there. And I'm being very intentional about this, because I just want specks of green to blend in organically without overpowering the pink. And we basically want to do specks instead of blends so that the color does not become muddy. So be very gentle when you're adding these spots. And whenever you want to switch colors, always make it a habit to first clean the paintbrush in a clear water jar and then load the brush with the new color. That way, your colors will not be muddy on the paper as well as your palette mixes, and your palette mixes will then basically stay undisturbed. And then same thing, I'm just doing a patch of light green and then adding in some darker tones here and there. You can see that I'm not aiming for perfect lines over here. It has to be as random and organic as you can make it. And I would say, don't think too much and just lay out the color intuitively. And I will actually connect this green patch to another pink patch right below it. So I'm just adding some plain water first. And then you can see that the green pigment instantly comes flooding down into the clear water. And then I'm just going to add in some pink and let the colors flow into each other. That's just the beauty of watercolors. They just flow, blend, bloom, and do their own thing so beautifully. Okay, the bottom patch is slightly settled now because it's been about a minute since we worked on it. So I think I want to brighten it up slightly, and I'm going to add more saturated pink spots over here. And I'm just going to add in some more of that fresh bright green over here as well. I actually quite like the flooding effect that's happening over here, but I want to flood it slightly more on this side, and then I also want to do some more watercolor blooms on the left side. So I'm adding clear water drops, and this is just water, not pigment. And I think there's already plenty of pigment over here, so just clear water drops should bring in some more interest. If you've already taken my other classes like the neurographic art class or the map tangling class, then you already know what watercolor blooms are. But if you're new, then the gist of it is that watercolor blooms is a technique in which we purposely add drops of clear water or pigment into semi dry areas of the painting to create a blooming effect. This is a more modern approach to watercolors, and it is not a classic one because traditional watercolor artists actually avoid these blooms and go for very realistic blending. But the blooms effect has started to become more and more popular in modern and abstract art. And personally, I quite like it. I think it looks very organic and makes the artwork look very human made. And the blooms take some time to form. So after you drop the pigment or the water droplets, you should just let it sit for a bit while you work on other sections of the painting. So here, I'm just adding some abstract waves inspired by the bracts of the dragon fruit while the rest of the painting settles. And at this point, I'm not thinking about patterns or final details. I'm just laying down abstract blobs of color, and that's the beauty of these low pressure abstracts. You just have to take it one step at a time and trust the process. And I think that looks fine. Maybe I will just connect this section over here and just a few more specs here and there. And now I'm going to let this sit for a minute or so before I come back with more water. Okay, so I waited for a little over a minute, and now I'm just adding in some clean water drops here and there. Again, to do this, it's very important that your paintbrush does not have any residual pigment of the previous color that you were working with, and you have to make sure that it's loaded with clean water only. Also, you kind of have to eyeball the dampness of the paper over here, because depending on the weather and where you live, maybe your paper dries very quickly. I'm working in the rainy season over here, so the weather's a little humid and my paper was wet even after a minute. But when it's too hot, especially during the summer, then I definitely have to work a lot faster. Okay, so you can already see some of the blooms forming very well, and now I will let this dry completely, and then we'll start working on the details. 6. Dragon Fruit Details: Okay, we are back. So I let this try for about 30 minutes, and I quite like the way the blooms have formed and the way the paint has dried. So now we can start working on the details. Now, let's see. So we can start with the white space over here, and right away, I want to jump into one of the defining features or the recognizable traits of the dragon fruit, which is the seeds. So I'm just going to draw a few of these randomly over here. You'll notice that I'm letting the seeds overlap the paint sections on the top, as well as the bottom, which makes it look a little bit more organic, and it looks like the seeds are floating or that they are scattered all around. And I'm choosing to do this in the white section over here. But you can definitely do it in one of the painted areas, too, or you can choose any other section of the painting where you have some negative space and do it over there. Whatever I do in my demonstrations, they're just guidelines and suggestions, and by no means, they are strict rules to follow. So you're totally free to interpret the project anyway that you like. And I'm just going to add a few more random ones over here as well and let them overlap the painted areas a little bit more. And since I'm already working with the black pen right now, I think I'm also going to add the other defining feature of the dragon fruit, which is the bracts. So I'm going to do it in a very loose inky style where I'm purposely creating uneven lines and organic loose strokes. It's almost as if I'm sketching it out. So again, don't try to be too perfect over here and aim for a loose grip on the pen, and that will lead to free flowing strokes. No. And now I'm going to bring in my color pencils and start to color these bracts. I'm going for a very heavy, deep rose color over here and just putting in a little bit of the light yellow and the greenish yellow and some fresh bright green. And I'm not going for a very realistic approach over here. You've seen my other color pencil classes, you would know that I always encourage you to start with the lighter layers and then build gradually. But over here, I'm going to give you some freedom and permission to play. You can go random if you like, as long as they're sort of blending into each other well, it doesn't matter which order you choose to apply the color pencils in. Of course, you don't want them to be muddy, but at the same time, you can sort of do it in batches. Like you can do all the yellows together, all the greens together, and then all the deeps or the pinks together. Look. And again, you will notice that some of the color is going outside the pen lines, which I'm totally okay with because we're not aiming for perfection. And I'm going back and forth to blend the colors a little bit. But again, I'm purposely leaving some parts as it is so that the organic texture of the colour pencils and the lines and the strokes remain as they are. Okay, moving on, I now want to play with some basic shapes. So we're already done with two of the recognizable traits of the dragon fruit, and now I think I want to switch to some circles which are inspired by the dragon fruit slices. So I'm going to come to this really tiny area over here and draw some small circles. It's giving an art to my classic zentango and zendodle pieces because I absolutely love drawing small orbs and then saturating the surrounding areas with inky details. So again, I'm going to let these overlap the paint areas at the bottom. And again, I'm not going to be too perfect over here. I'm just basically enjoying the process of drawing these orbs. And now I'm just adding some black ink behind the orbs to make them pop. And I think it'll also help to build contrast a little bit in the piece because we already have black seeds, it makes sense to add a few more black details here and there in the composition. You can, of course, add these details to as many areas as you like, depending on how many stripes you've created or how many blocks of color you have on your paper. And, of course, it also depends on the size of the paper that you're working on. But for me because I'm working on such a tiny paper, I think I'm just going to do one row of orbs over here. Okay. And now I'm thinking that maybe we should add those triangle tips over here like the smaller bracts pattern that we had practiced. So I'm just going to fine tune these a little bit, make them more pointy. And then we'll add a few of these loose curvy triangles and bracts over here. I don't know why, but this suddenly reminds me of sharks in the ocean, you know, when they're partially visible. So yeah, it's like sharks floating or swimming in a pink sea over here. Okay, time to switch it up again. So we're going to do some more of those slices. But this time, we are going to do it with an acrylic marker. So I'm just going to start laying down some circles over here. It looks like this pen is not giving pure white ink. The nib seems to have absorbed some of the watercolor pigment from my previous projects. So I think I'll just have to clean this up a little bit on a scrap piece of paper, and that should get the ink running. And, yeah, that's better. There we go. Yeah, but then again, I think I'll have to layer this at least three or four times for it to be fully opaque, because right now it looks like the nib is still absorbing some of that color from the paper. And Yeah, okay, this is getting better with each pass. So I think I'm going to do it a couple more times so that it's fully white and opaque. And of course, depending on the brand that you're working with, some acrylic markers take a little more time to dry. These ones from O huh, as you can see right now, they're fairly quick to dry, which is why I'm able to layer them pretty quickly over here. And with each pass, the ink is becoming cleaner and it's becoming pure white again. So, yeah, I think these are pretty decent markers to work with. Okay, now I'm going to bring in my color pencils, and I'm going to start outlining these circles. Now, of course, you can do this with any other medium. If you don't have color pencils, you can continue working with acrylic markers and use a pink or a magenta or a deep purple acrylic marker, anything that goes with your existing color palette and start to outline these circles. But again, don't aim for perfection and just go with uneven strokes over here. Even if some of the outlines overlap the inner circles, that's completely fine. I actually love this color. This one is process red from the Prisma Color Pencil series. And this is one of my most used pencils, which I think you can make out by the fact that this is the shortest out of the lot that I have used so far. So I keep replacing the pencil over and over again because, yeah, I run out of it very, very quickly. Alright, so now I want to add some more pink details, but I also want them to have a little bit of shimmer in them. So I'm going to use this jelly roll pen that I have from Sakura. I don't remember the name of this series. I think it is the moonlight series, but jelly rolls basically have, like, a bunch of these beautiful series of pens where you have shimmers in the ink. And this one, even though it looks pink in the beginning when the pen is wet, it leaves a nice golden shimmer on the surface once it's dry. So I'm just going to use this to add some simple stripes on this green section over here. And so now we're basically getting into the abstract details and mark-making territory. And I think you can make this out in the light over here when I move my paper that the ink is pretty shiny. So I'm just going to add one more thin line of it over here. And I know that it's not very obvious on the camera right now, but yeah, once it dries and once I move my paper, you should be able to see the shimmer. Okay, now, same thing. I want to saturate some areas with green ink, so I'm just going to bring in a green pen now. This one is my water based marker from Ohohu and I'm just going to outline this negative space over here just so that the slices that we have created can pop out a little bit more against the green lines. And I'm also just going to add a thin one under the Shiri stripe that we have created. And since we have done stripes on the top, I'm going to use this pen to create some simple stripes in the negative space over here as well. I'm not going to cover all the negative spaces because, well, that's the point of negative spaces. They give some breathing room in the composition. So I'm not going to cover all of them, but I'm just going to add some details here and there. And again, I'm not looking at things like balance or harmony or contrast in too much detail. I'm just basically letting my intuition guide me and whatever I feel like doing in that moment, I'm just doing it. So none of this is planned. And that's the whole point of it. We want it to be relaxing and playful and sort of like an exploration of maybe unused materials that you have or new patterns that you can discover. So yeah, just basically have fun. For the seeds over here, I'm again using my sakura micron pen, but you'll notice that I'm making the seeds a little bit smaller to the seeds that we had done earlier. So I'm basically trying to vary the proportion and the sizing as I'm building the piece bit by bit. And again, I'm doing this with the black pen, but you can definitely try out a version where you do the seeds with green pen, as well. I think that would also look very interesting. Yeah, I think that looks quite nice. And now let's see what else can we do? I definitely want to do something on the pink section at the top, and I also want to do something behind the watercolor bract pattern that we have created. So I think let's start with the pink section first. Want to do the shapes again. So this time, I'm going to use the egg shape of the dragon fruit body. But again, we're not going to make it look like a realistic dragon fruit. So I'm just going to get my green acrylic marker running. And then we're just going to add some nice egg shaped bits over here. And honestly, if you feel like you're not able to get the egg shape properly, you can just do regular ovals, as well, because they would still be in a similar visual language. The seeds are ovals, so if you don't do the egg shape over here and just do ovals, that's fine, too. And again, these are quick drying acrylic markers, so I'm just going to layer them a couple more times to really get that nice, saturated green pigment and make it pop against the pink watercolor section. And once again, I'm going to let it overlap the black seeds that we had done earlier. Now, I want to give these shapes a little bit of an outline, but I don't want to do that with an acrylic marker because I wanted to have a little bit more organic feel where we can also see the watercolor background partially. So I'm going to do it with a white colour pencil instead. And I'm just going to sharpen this real quick. And we can start doing the outline now. Again, not aiming for perfection. I think I've said this about 20 times till now. But I'm just constantly putting reminders out there because I want you to really, really breathe and just have fun with the project. Now, again, some of the strokes are pretty imperfect, but I'm not worried about them. And some bits are overlapping the pink section in the background, and some bits are overlapping the green acrylic marker section on the top, which is completely fine. Now, you see that the color pencils giving a little bit of a translucent effect, which is what I was going for because if I had done this with an acrylic marker instead, it would have been completely opaque. And I want to play with different degrees of saturation over here and different degrees of opacity so that we can basically have nice tones, shades and tints of the same color in the piece. Okay. And I think with that, we've actually managed to put quite a few details of the shape and form over here, and we can actually now switch to some more abstract details or mark-making. So I'm going to come in with my green pen, which is basically my water based marker from Oho ho. And I'm going to use the fine liner side of it and add some wavy lines over here. And now using the same pen, I also want to add some very, very thin lines between the shimmery pink lines that we had created earlier. And I think this looks pretty nice because we have one line which is not shimmery, and it's with a matte effect right next to a shimmery line. So I think that creates a wonderful little pattern over here. And now on this wavy section, I want to add tiny yellow dots using my acrylic marker because that'll just brighten it up a little bit. Now, yellow can be a very overpowering color, which is why I want to use it minimally. And just like the shimmery pink jelly roll pen that we had used earlier, I also have a green one, which leaves a shimmery residue on the surface once it's dry. So I'm going to use that to add some dots over here at the bottom. Look. And I'm also going to use this to add an inner egg shape inside the egg shapes that we have created. If you don't have a jelly roll pen, you can do this in another color as well. Or you can use an acrylic marker which has a shimmery ink in it. I really like this pen, so I'm going to add one more thin wonky line at the bottom, which is basically going to be right at the edge of the composition once I peel off my washi tape, and I think that's going to look very pretty. Okay, now I also want to add a few more floating black seeds behind the egg shaped green patches that we have created on the top. So I'm just fine tuning some of the existing ones and then just adding a few more behind these green teardrop shapes that we have created, which, honestly, at this point, look like avocados. But they were inspired by dragon fruits. So yeah, just adding that over here. Okay. And now, if you like, you can call this piece done over here and you can consider it finished. You will be the best judge of where your piece is right now based on how many details you've added. But for me, I'm just using my white pen to add a few more floating seeds at the bottom, as well. And I also want to brighten up the bracts inspired Watercolor section. So I'm just going to add some pink dots over here. And I'm also going to use my pink jelly roll pen and add a few more circles inside the little orbs that we had created earlier. And this is plainly for my love of the jelly roll pens because they leave this glittery shimmery thing behind. And I love that. I think the teenage girl inside me squeals with joy when I use these pens. So yeah, I love that. And now just basically go over your piece ones and see if there is anything else that you'd like to do with it. Anything else that your heart desires. Maybe you want to fine tune some of the outlines. Maybe you want to add additional outlines. So just go over it once and just do some final touches. For these little accidental avocados that we have created, I am also just adding in some outlines with the green pen because on second thoughts, I felt like they needed a darker outline. Honestly, I think they look more like avocados now with the dark green outline. But, well, anyway, I like them. And yeah, if I didn't say that they were avocados, maybe you'd just think of them as beautiful tear drop shapes. So yeah, that's the beauty of these projects. Everyone sees different things in these abstract pieces. Now, I'm just thinking if I want to add any more details behind these slices that we had created. But for now, I think I'm just going to settle for a nice thin black line over here. And now the little teenage girl inside me is asking for more glitter and more shimmer on the piece. So I'm just going to use this jelly roll pen that I have over here and add some details on the bracts that we have created at the bottom. This one has a nice lemon like color to it with gold shimmer. Et me actually show this to you on a scrap piece of paper. It has a nice, subtle, golden tint to the ink, so I quite like it. Okay. Okay, and now I'm definitely gonna call this done and remove the washi tape, which is my favorite part. Yay. I love removing washi tape. So yeah, here we go. This is our final finished piece. And now that all that jelly roll ink is dried and I'm moving the paper around, I think you can see all the shimmer. I'm actually going to refocus this a little bit for you to see all the nice shimmery details of the jelly roll pens, and I absolutely love the way this has turned out. And I'm quite sure that yours is looking equally beautiful and stunning. So I'd love for you to share your project with me and show me what you're working on. And even if it's a work in progress, that's completely fine. And once you're done with that, I'm gonna see you in the next lesson, where we're gonna start working on watermelon inspired piece. 7. Watermelon Base: Alright, it's time to start working on our second project, and this one is inspired by watermelon. So I'm going to start off with a patch of clean water over here on the top. And then I'm just going to dilute this red that I have over here and add a little bit of it over here in the wet section. And now I'm going to take a very, very strong mix that I have over here of the pigment with very little water. And just using the tip of my paintbrush, I'm adding it over here on the edge. Now, because this area is pretty wet right now, the strong pigment is just going to bloom into the water, and it's going to create some beautiful effects. So I'm just going to let this be untouched and move on to another section while the watercolors do their own thing over here. So I think I want to do a nice big red chunk over here in the bottom half of the painting. And once again, I'm starting with a very, very diluted mix, and then I'm going to gradually build up the saturation by dipping my paintbrush in the pigment and just dropping it over here. I have three different types of the red color with me over here on the palette. One of them is slightly cooler. One is sort of like a mix between a cool red and a warm red, and then the other one is a more orange red. And personally, I like to mix the warm and cool versions of the same color because I think it creates a lot of interest in abstract paintings. But of course, this is not a rule. And if you don't have two or three different versions of the same color, that's completely fine. You can use whatever you have and actually work with a single color as well. The good thing with watercolors is that you can mix two or three different colors and actually create a full spectrum of colors with a limited color palette. So if you want to try making two or three different types of reds, you can take your base red color and then add in a little bit of yellow to create a more orangy red, or you can add in a little bit of blue to create a more cool red. So you can play around with your limited color palette and still have very beautiful results. And the same thing applies to the greens, as well. I have a custom mix of an olive green with a little bit of sap green from two different brands. And then I have the regular sap green from the Michelomion brand. And then I also have, like, a couple of other greens from different different brands. So you can definitely mix and match brands and create your own custom mixes as well. So just like we did with the previous project, I'm trying to vary the sizes of the stripes in this project as well. And I definitely want to do a few thin ones and some really big chunky sections so that we have plenty of variety to play with. I don't like that the darker green is pulling so much over here, so I'm just taking a tissue and soaking up some of the extra pigment. One of the reasons why this pooling is happening over here on the edges is because this is a medium weight make media paper, and it starts to rise up or buckle up a little bit when we put a lot of water over here. There's basically a lot of pressure and tension that's happening around the edges because on the one hand, the washy tape is trying to push the paper down so that it stays stuck to the surface. But the water is causing the fibers in the paper to swell up, and that's why the paper is rising more to the surface. So when this friction happens, the water starts to travel sideways because the paper is sort of bubbling up from the center. It starts to rise up from the middle. And so the water starts to travel sideways, and it stops exactly at the point where the washi tape edge is and while the water is traveling, it's obviously going to take the pigment along with it. So you can see the pools happen on the edges. Now, of course, if you want to avoid this, you can take a heavyweight mixed media paper or watercolor paper, which will, you know, stay stuck to the surface with the help of the washi tape. Or you can also use a glued watercolor paper pad where you can just rip off the paper after the project is done, and that's like an easy way to avoid the pooling, as well as the buckling. So, honestly, at the end of the day, it's just about altering your techniques to suit the kind of surface that you're working on. Once you try your hand at different kinds of papers with different amounts of water and pigment, you'll automatically develop a system, and you'll know how to maneuver or alter your techniques to suit the paper. Like I always say, don't get hung up on the supplies. Use what you have and just alter your technique to suit the materials that you're working with. The top section has now settled a bit, so I'm just going in with a little bit of the green pigment and adding it right at the edge of that wet section. And this will instantly create beautiful blends. So this section on the top is basically inspired by the meeting point of the inner red flesh of the watermelon and the outer green peel. And then in the middle, we have the inner rind, which is usually like a light green colour with hints of red in it. So now that's exactly what we've created over here. We have red and green on the edges, and then we have a light pink and green mixed in the middle, which is basically like the inner rind. In this patch over here, I want to do a section where the green meets the red in a slightly more abstract manner. So I have a very, very diluted red. And then I'm just going to connect it with a very, very watery diluted green. M You've probably noticed that I'm working with multiple brushes over here, and that's because I've allocated one brush each to a color. And this way, I can remember not to mix them. And also, it saves me a little bit of time, you know, in the cleaning of it because I have one brush also allocated to the clean water jar. So this way it saves me a little bit of time in the cleaning. And then, of course, it's an easy way to remember which brush belongs to which color. In this big red chunk over here, again, the pigment and the water has started to go towards the sides, which is why the middle section is pretty dry. So whatever droplets I'm adding over here are just basically staying static on the surface. They're not blending into the wet areas because the paper is pretty dry over there, and the wet areas have actually moved to the sides. But I don't actually mind it because these droplets will dry and then they will create a little pattern over there on the dry section. So that's also fine. Of course, if you feel that that's not the kind of look that you're going for, you can always add a little bit more water over there and just blend the whole area again. You can reactivate the pigment on the same patch. And now I'm just adding a little bit of water here and there to create a few blooms. O I'm letting a few seconds pass to see how the blooms are forming. At this point, I'm not very fond of what's happening in the big red chunk, so I just want to wait for a few seconds to see what else I can do. So I love the blooms that are happening over here as well as at the bottom, but I don't like this middle section. So I'm just using a tissue to soak up those droplets that I had added and also soaking up some of the pigment from the sides because it looks like it's going very, very flat. And now I'm just adding a little bit of water over here to just make this whole area flat again and just reactivate all the pigment and blend it into each other so that I can work on it once more. In some places, there are harsh lines because the pigment has dried very quickly and I don't want that. So I'm just basically taking my paintbrush and going over it a couple of times so that the harshness goes away. And I'm again soaking up the extra pigment because I want to now build this layer a little bit more intentionally. What I think I added a lot of pigment in the previous pass. So this time, I just want to add very, very controlled little droplets so that the blooms form better this time. Honestly, I'm quite glad that this happened while recording the video because I always get questions about reactivating a section that you have already painted. So you actually saw me reactivating the whole area and basically building it up once more. So yeah, I'm just going to let this sit for a couple minutes, and then I'm just going to come back and maybe add a few more water droplets to create blooms. Okay, so I let this sit for exactly 1 minute and the surface is almost dry, so I have to work quickly. I'm just taking a wet paintbrush and adding in some of the droplets. Because the surface is almost dry, I have to take a little bit more water to create the blooms effect. And, of course, this section of the painting will dry very quickly now because we had soaked up so much of the water and the pigment earlier. I'm also manually and intentionally creating some sections over here so that this resembles more of the watermelon flesh texture. And I think now you can actually see the blooms forming. So I think I just want to add one final thin red stripe, and then I'm going to let this dry. And And while this is drying, I want to show you a few more watercolor backgrounds that I have prepared using the same color palette and a similar composition because I've noticed that when beginners make abstract art, they start to compare their watercolor backgrounds with those of others. And honestly, I don't think that's a great idea because if you see this one over here, you can see that some of the pigment over here has not bloomed the way I wanted it to, whereas it's beautiful at the bottom. And in this one, you can see that the pigment has behaved very differently because I did this with the air conditioner on. So the breeze was causing some parts of the paper to dry more quickly than the others. But I do like the blend that has been created on the top, similar to what we just did right now. And then in this one over here, I really like the blends on the top over here and maybe a little bit of the red sections, but I'm not particularly fond of the rest of it. So yeah, these are basically different versions of the same project. And I want to show you these to tell you that there is no such thing as right or wrong when it comes to watercolor textures or backgrounds because each person's paper, each person's pigment, each person's way of handling the brush, the water quantity that the brush holds are all variables which always will create unique results. There is no fixed formula to this, and each time you work with a different brand of the paintbrush, the pigment, the paper, and in different temperatures, you are always going to end up with different results. So, yeah, it's just all about familiarizing yourself with a few brands of papers, paintbrushes and pigments that you like, and then basically practicing the technique over and over again so that it becomes a system in your head. But other than that, there is no such thing as right or wrong. Sometimes playful, happy accidents happen, and sometimes they are complete disasters. But that's the beauty of working with watercolors, especially, you know, abstract art in general. So yeah, just don't compare your pieces to anybody else's. Whatever you have come up with, I'm sure it's beautiful, and I'm sure you'll find a way to work with it once we move on to the stage where we're gonna be adding details. 8. Watermelon Details: Okay, so this has completely dried now, and we can start to add some details into this beautiful background that we have created. And honestly, I'm quite happy with the big red chunk now. I'm glad that I decided to redo it because the texture and the blooms look a lot better now. It's pretty close to actual watermelon flesh. And even though it did take a few extra minutes to reactivate the area and do it again, the effort was totally worth it. Okay, so now I want to start building on the same red patch, and I want to add some watermelon seeds over here. So I'm using my sakura pigma micron pen for this. And I'm doing the seeds as ovals, but you can also choose to do them as tear drop shapes. It's totally up to you how you want to represent this defining feature of the fruit. And you'll notice that I'm not covering the entire red section over here. I'm just sort of placing the seeds in the middle of this section and leaving some space at the top and the bottom. Now using the same black pen, I'm also going to add a couple of thin lines in the green section. I'm going over the line a couple of times to add some line weight and also to make it look like it's slightly crooked or jittery, kind of like jagged edges. And I think in this composition, I want to use black a little bit more than the previous one. So I'm just trying to look for places where I can add tiny black details here and there. Now, another defining feature of the watermelon was the stripes. But instead of doing a very literal representation of it, I'm going to use my markers, and I'm going to make some straight lines or some bold stripes with straight edges. And for this, I'm going to use a different green, which is something that I've not used in the palette so far. And this way, we can bring in some more interest as well as some more variety in the piece. M and now for all these white spaces over here, I'm going to use my darker green pen and just fill those up. Now, as we were discussing earlier during the referencing stage, you can also choose to do these stripes in red. You don't have to do them in green. And in fact, if you like, you can also make them more textured and organic looking so that they resemble a little bit more to the actual watermelon stripes on the nd. So you can basically customize little details on your project and you don't have to do the exact same thing as me. So feel free to experiment. Okay. And with that done, I want to move to the top section, and I want to add some abstract line work over here. But because I really like the watercolor blend over here, I don't want to hide it completely. So I'm going to do some simple lines and then add some ovals at the bottom. They're sort of like hanging bobbles or Christmas ornaments, and basically the ovals at the end will match well with the seeds that we have already created. So again, I'm just basically playing with some abstract shapes and formations over here and looking for interesting ways to use the same shapes again and again. Then I think I also want to add some simple lines in the negative space over here, which is, again, in the same visual language as the stripes that we have done. Okay. And now for some abstract details, I want to use my white acrylic marker, and I actually want to use the round nib of this pen to add some dots. So this acrylic marker from Ohohu has two different kinds of nibs. So you can flip them around and use the nib that you like. And with this round nib or the dot nib, we can actually create different sizes of the dots with different amount of pressure. So the more pressure you put, you'll get a bigger dot, basically. And the smaller dots don't require a lot of pressure, and they just happen with a very, very light touch. I do also want to add a nice bright red chunk of triangles, which are basically inspired by the watermelon slices. So I'm going to get my marker for that because it's a very nice bright red. And I think I'm going to add it over here in the negative space. Again, these are not a realistic representation of the slices because I'm kind of joining them together, and I'm not really leaving any space for the curvy bottom, and I'm not really showing the rind at the edge. So it's more or less like an ornamental decorative element inspired by the references that we created. And now I think for some more decorative details, I'll add green triangles as well in the middle. And now, of course, all of this comes down to personal choices. I'm a bit of a maximalist, so I like to add in a lot of color and a lot of details. But if you like more white spaces in your compositions and if you prefer a more minimalistic look, then you can definitely avoid some of these steps. And then once again, I'm going to do some black seeds over here. But again, these will be smaller in the size. And I will also vary the direction a little bit to make them look more organic. I actually quite like this size of the seeds, and I think just for the sake of harmony and unity, I'm going to place it once more over here in the white space, but I'm just going to give it a little bit more of a formation this time. And, yeah, I think that looks good. So I think what's intuitively happening right now is that I'm currently vibing more with the ovals and the curvy forms rather than the triangles. And I think I will also do some ovals here, and maybe we will color these as well in a bit. So it basically just depends on your intuition and what you're feeling in that moment. Maybe you want to do more structured forms and maybe you want to do more straight lines and triangles. Right now I'm feeling like I want to do some more ovals, so that's why I'm adding them over here. And maybe I think I will also add some more lines over here in this tiny space. None of this is planned. It's all pretty intuitive. So I'm just kind of making this up as we go. Maybe it'll be a mess, and then you'll see me correcting everything, like, while the video is recording, or maybe it'll just turn out to be good, but currently I'm getting a good feeling with this, so we'll just carry on. Oh, I just had an idea. I think I want to add some tiny white curves to these seeds. So they kind of, like, highlights, like little arcs, basically. And white on black basically brings a lot of interest and contrast. But then it's also a kind of nod to the wet and glossy look of these seeds with the tiny highlight. So I think that looks kind of nice. And then with this same white jelly roll pen that I'm using, maybe I also want to add some ovals here in these stripes. So again, these are just for ornamental value, and these are just tiny decorative details that I'm playing with. Feel free to skip any of these steps if you think that this is looking too much for your composition. Or maybe if you just want to add some extra details, feel free to do that, as well. I also want to do some more thin lines. So kind of like veins that we see in the watermelon flesh. So maybe with the same white pen, I can add some more lines over here. These lines are actually pretty fun to draw. So I think I'm going to do a couple more with the red pen, as well. And again, this red pen is the sakura pigma micron one. We can also do this with an acrylic marker or like the alcohol ink marker, but the nib sizes of those are slightly bigger and thicker than my pigma micron pen, so I'm just using the thinnest pen that I have. A Okay, so at this point, I'm pretty satisfied with this, and my battery is running low. So I think that's a cue for me to take a little coffee break, and then I'm going to come back and continue adding some more details on this. Okay, so I had a nice cup of coffee, and while I was drinking my coffee, I got tempted to start working on another piece. And so I created some details on this other watercolor base that I had shown you earlier. And I actually tried to do it slightly differently than the piece that we were working on together just to show you some more possibilities. So, for example, if you look at the seeds, I've done them in white with a black outline and I've also done the watermelon slices in a reverse color palette. So the triangles are green and the rind is red. And now it kind of looks like a kiwi and a watermelon had a little baby. So yeah, but that was interesting to play with. And, yeah, again, I've done some ornamental details here and there. I've played with some stripes and just played with different formations of the ovals. So this is, again, a different interpretation of the same patterns and the same abstract marks and the same shapes. And now I think I want to finish both the pieces together with you so that you can just see me playing with them. And hopefully that'll give you some more ideas. So first up, I want to get my jelly roll pen started. And so this one is basically a green pen, which has a nice golden sheen to it. So as I'm moving my scrap piece of paper around, you can see the sheen. And I'm going to use this to add some more decorative details on the piece that we were working on. I basically love adding shimmery glittery details, and I always look for different ways to use my jelly roll pens. So yeah, you're gonna see me using jelly roll pens in literally every project possible. Honestly, at this point, I'm quite tempted to start working on a third piece, as well, because I think it'll make for a nice series of watermelon inspired abstract art, but I'm just going to finish off these two with you guys first. So one thing I'm realizing is that the bottom edge will not look as impressive or as polished and finished once I remove the washi tape. So I'm just going to use my dark green pen to saturate this area a little bit. And I think that kind of just, like, gives a nice ending to the composition or it's like a nice edge, and it'll look nice once we remove the washi tape. Honestly, with these abstract pieces, you can choose the orientation. You can flip them around and make them upside down or you can just use them horizontally. There is no right or wrong in these abstract pieces, but I'm currently vibing with this direction, which is why I'm kind of trying to focus on the details in this orientation. So again, similarly, I want to use a red jelly roll pen, and I want to add some details inside these ovals that we've created. Honestly, these ovals now remind me of something similar that I have done in my other class where we did patterns inspired by Gustav Clems art. And now I think I want to give a similar treatment to these ovals. The jelly roll pens sometimes keep getting stuck, so you kind of have to start them again. I want to spread the shimmery details all over the piece instead of keeping them contained in one section. So I'm just looking for more opportunities in areas where I can use more of the jelly roll pens. So I think maybe a little stripe here will help. And then maybe I'm just going to outline this negative space as well. And then let's see. I think I also want to add some red stripes at the bottom, as well, because I think it'll brighten up the area. And again, when I move this around, I think you can see the beautiful shiny details. I love the jelly roll pens. I think I've said that 100 times till now, but I absolutely love them. Now, because the red triangles that I added are quite bright, I'm looking for ways to balance that in some other places of the composition. So I am purposely trying to brighten up some of the red spots and just saturating that with more ink so that there is unity and harmony overall in the piece. So basically, that's the red. That's quite bright. So using the same marker that I used over there, I think I'm also just going to add a tiny line at the top of the composition. And now I kind of like this because it's almost like the red and the green are sort of like book ending the design. So we have these saturated lines on the top edge as well as the bottom edge. And then in terms of the overall look and the design, I'm quite happy with this, but I do want to add some more tiny little shimmery details. So I'm just going to use some patterns or some tiny ornamental details which are not going to overcrowd the design and take away from the main focus. So, for example, over here, I'm just using the red jelly roll pen and adding in some tiny dots, which are not taking away the focus from the black seeds that we had added. And again, these will look stunning once we move the piece around in the light. Right now, because the camera angle is such, I'm quite sure that you can't see a lot of the shimmer, but I'm sure you can at least make out a little bit of it. But it definitely does look beautiful once you move it around and when the light hits it at an angle. And then in this negative space, I want to add some more lines using the green shimmery jelly roll pen. And then maybe just add a nice thin line over here as well. And then in this middle section over here, I think I just want to add some diagonal lines. So again, they are connected to the lines that we have done so far as in they're in the same visual language. But I'm just trying to create some variety by adding in different angles or different orientations or different sizes of the same elements. And I think I also want to add some more red jelly roll ovals over here in this green stripy section. So these are, again, like little ornamental details. It's getting pretty decorative at this point, which, honestly, I quite like. But this may not be your aesthetics. So if you feel like you're done with your piece and you want to stop and you don't want to do these additional steps, you're totally welcome to do that. And then coming back to these ovals, which were loosely now inspired by Gustav Klimt compositions. I'm also gonna just outline these with the green pen. Now, in this section, again, I want to add some tiny red dots, but I'm purposely avoiding the jelly roll pen over here because I want to add them in a more matte effect rather than a sparkly effect. We've already done the sparkly ones. So I think I want to use the same pen that I used here for these triangles. I was using the sakura pigma micron pen, but I'm going to switch to my marker. And this time I'm using the pen side of it. So I'm just going to go over these and match the color and then also add some extra dots. I like that the piece is looking very festive and joyful right now. This is totally my kind of vibe. I absolutely love such playful abstract pieces where there's a little bit of everything. Those green triangles are looking a little bit flat, so I'm just going to go over them with the green jelly roll pen. And while the pen looks green at first, once it dries, it leaves a golden sheen behind on the surface. So you can see the gold appear gradually. L. And, yeah, I think that's pretty much it for this piece. I'm going to now remove the washi tape. I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out, and now I want to actually move on to the next one. So yeah, I'm just going to remove the washi tape so that we can see it. Honestly, it just looks ten times more beautiful once you see it with the white edges around. The format effect or the frame around it just completely elevates your piece. So, yeah, that's our finished piece, and I'm quite happy with it. And I think I'm just going to fine tune a little bit of the sections where I've left some empty spots. But other than that, I'm just, like, pretty happy with this piece. And yeah, this is definitely going on my wall today. But now since I've shown you the other piece, and of course, I don't want to leave you guys hanging as to what I did with that one, consider this like a little bonus. So I'm just going to fast forward through this so that you can see the process. It's honestly the same in terms of, like, the steps because I'm using the same tools and the same materials, but I'm just trying to do it slightly differently than what I've done so far with the other piece, just so that there's a little bit of variety and play, and I'm basically using the same template where I'm using abstract details, then going back to a defining feature, then going to a shape and form and basically just having fun with the project. One thing that I honestly always recommend is that you keep rotating the piece every few minutes because it helps you to see it in different perspectives and from different angles, and then you basically get new ideas for how to fill up the design. And you also then realize which orientation you like more, and then you start to fine tune the details according to that. So as you're building your piece, just keep rotating it every few minutes, and it honestly helps. You have to kind of do it to realize what I'm saying, you just have to trust me on this because it's better experienced than explained. So you'll have to kind of experience it yourself. So overall, I quite enjoyed working on this piece, but later on, when I saw the piece after I stopped recording, this was the section that I disliked. I was watching the video and I was like, hmm, I should not have covered up that white negative space. So you see me applying the red jelly roll pen over here, and then I'm basically using a white acrylic marker to give that space a little bit of an outline. So this is the section that I later on decided that, you know, wasn't working for me because the negative space was honestly looking better. Yeah, other than that, I was pretty happy with this piece as well. And then I also added in some more tiny highlights to this one, similar to what we did in the first design. And then I also added a few more lines. And, yeah, turned out to be pretty good. And I think both of them together look quite nice. So I think these two will be companion pieces that go up on my wall, and maybe I'll just do the rest of the backgrounds as well that I prepped and they'll all go together on my wall. So yeah, that was the process for the second piece as well. And that finishes up our watermelon inspired project. And I can't wait to see what you guys have created. Please do definitely share pictures with me and definitely share your experience with me. And yeah, I hope you keep practicing this technique on more fruits as well. Now that you have a basic idea of how to deconstruct them, I hope you experiment with more fruits and more patterns and keep using this technique. 9. Before You Leave: Alright, congratulations on finishing this class, and thank you so much for taking it. Before you sign off, however, I have a little challenge for you. Can you try to apply these techniques to a different subject matter? For example, vegetables. Whatever you come up with, I want you to share it with me. And if you found this class to be useful, please do drop a review about it. Your reviews ensure that my classes and my presence on this platform keeps going forward and that I can keep building more valuable content for you. Also, I really value your ideas and opinions. So if you have any suggestions for future classes, please feel free to send them my way. I also recommend that you hit the follow button on my profile so that you subscribe to all my notifications. This way, you'll be the first to know whenever I launch a new class or add a bonus lesson or host a giveaway or have other exciting announcements to make. And in case you haven't already done this, I want to give you a quick reminder to share your project. I reply to all the projects posted over here, and it will be a great way for you to receive personalized feedback. And, of course, let's stay connected socially. I post a lot of tips, tricks, and tutorials on my social media handles, so I'd love to be friends with you over there. So that's all for today. Until next time, keep creating.