Contemporary Abstract Watercolor Ink Painting by Brad Rickerby

Passion 2, 9 x 12" Abstract Watercolor Painting

Painting by Brad Rickerby

Original available for sale.

Fine Art Prints also available

I adore vivid colors! I also adore letting the paint do most of the work for me. Properly applied, the original paint will mix and intermingle and form marvelous, deep second and third levels of colors. I don't know if I have ever posted my artists statement here. If I have, it hasn't been for a while.

Chaos

 The colors go where they want. You talk to them, you tell them the plan, you cajole, flatter and plead. You think you have come to a meeting of the minds. You apply them. And - The colors go where they want. It's best not to corral them. It's hopeless anyway. Best just to make soft suggestions and watch with childlike glee as they intermix and mingle.

The colors go where they want and they know where to go. They always arrive at a sensual, vibrant, complex beauty.

The colors go where they want.

Chaos.

So that is my artists statement, written when I was doing lots and lots of this style painting.

The process of creating this is relatively simple to describe, but kinda hard to get a good outcome from without a bit of practice. I use minimum 140 lbs watercolor paper. I make sure it is fastened down really well. Any buckling of the paper is a real problem. I wet the paper completely then wipe off excess water with a paper towel. The paper is soaked, but there is no extra water hanging out on the surface. I use watercolor ink and drop it directly on to the paper with an eye dropper. Then I cover the whole thing with saran wrap. I push the colors around and into each other to cover the entire paper with color. Then I push and pull the saran wrap so that the colors run up the folds. I leave the saran wrap alone when I have the look I want.

When to take the saran wrap off is an artistic choice that you will have to make. The sooner you pull it off, the damper the paper will be and the more the ink will run, creating effects of color blending that are totally uncontrollable. The longer you leave the wrap on, the more the ink will have dried. You have less chance of the paint running, and will get more of what you see through the wrap. However, the more the ink dries, the more you will get hard edges in your painting.

That is the simple version. The more you play around with this technique, the more you will have control over it and the greater the chance that you are able to get what you are looking for. That may not be as much fun. Sometime just letting the colors go where they want produces the best result.