Create an abstract flower explosion in acrylic paint

Mont Marte Joe takes you through the simple steps of creating a fantastic abstract flower explosion using Acrylic Paints.

Step 1: Drawing the Vase and Table

The first stage is to draw in the Horizon Line and the vase, use your Wooden Palette as a template to do this. Draw a small rectangle at the bottom of the vase and then we are ready to paint.

Step 2: Painting the Background and Table

Dip your 75 mm Wide Taklon Brush in to the water and then drag it lightly through Blue Lake. Paint this on to the background adding water as you go to extend and thin the paint. Now make a mix for the table from 2 parts Sienna, 1 part Red and 1 part Lemon Yellow, paint this on the area that will be your table.

Step 3: Painting the Vase

Paint in pure Titanium White with your Palette Knife on the left side of the Vase, then paint Phthalo Blue on the opposite side with the Palette Knife. Finally paint Blue Lake in to the middle of the vase and blend the Blue Lake into both the White and Dark Blue on either side. Lay in a highlighted stripe of Blue along the base of the Vase. For the highlight create a stripe of Titanium White on the upper left of the Vase with the Palette Knife.

Step 4: Painting the Flowers

Paint in the dark area behind the flowers with Dark Green. Scratch in to the colour with the sharp part of the Palette Knife to create stems. Now paint in your flowers with the Palette Knives, use any colours you think will look great. A handy hint is to arrange the colours like you would a bouquet of flowers, placing opposite colours close together such as Red and Green or Purple and Yellow. After you have painted in the flowers, use a brush from the Acrylic Brush Set and paint lines of varying colours emanating from the centre of the vase .

Step 5: Painting a Shadow

Draw in a shadow on the table just right of the vase. Paint the shadow with a mix of Titanium White, Mars Black and Phthalo Blue in equal parts.

Step 6: Flicking and Splattering Paint

The next step is to slap paint on to the canvas, you can do this by scooping any colour you like on to the brush and flicking it on to the canvas. This can get a bit messy so make sure there is nothing but the canvas in the firing line. The final step is to dip a large brush into some water and then in to the Phthalo Green paint, now you knock your paint laden brush against another brush causing it to spatter against the canvas.