painting tips

What to focus on when finishing your Abstract Painting

What to focus on when finishing your Abstract Painting

How do you know when your abstract painting is finished? In this video, I take you through the process with one of my paintings, showing you what I didn’t like about it and how I fixed it and finished the work. I talk about what I focus on and what questions I ask the painting in order to gain clarity around what steps to take next.

1. Make a big move to disrupt the work and make a big change
2. Rotate the work so you see it differently
3. Ask: What have I got?
4. Look for repetition and ask: Do I need this? Have I already got this somewhere else?
5. Is my eye led around the composition?

When you have worked through these questions, and you’re happy with the work, stand back and walk away. Look at it again after a few days to see if you still feel the same.

Using Mixed Media to Create Complexity and then Simplifying with Shape

Using Mixed Media to Create Complexity and then Simplifying with Shape

The contrast of two opposites - Simplicity and Complexity always fascinates me. In this video I demonstrate how I create a complex surface and then create a composition by using simple shapes.

Using Collage, Paint, Acrylic Ink, and Paint pens, I build the surface in layers and then go about finding a composition made of simple shapes. Once the complex surface is created in this demonstration, the focus switches to simplifying to create an interesting and integrated composition.

What to Consider in Choosing a Frame for your Artwork

What to Consider in Choosing a Frame for your Artwork

In this video I share the most important considerations when choosing a frame. After completing your gorgeous painting you don’t want to choose the wrong frame, so it’s important to take some time and figure out what type of frame will suit the painting best. Your frame should enhance the artwork, not be a distraction to it.

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Who to listen to about YOUR Art

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Who to listen to about YOUR Art

Seeking advice from the wrong people can derail our art and steer us in the wrong direction. It’s so important we don’t fall into the trap of asking the wrong people just because it’s convenient. We need to find company that supports our work and helps us to make our best work. When we ask the wrong people we get bad advice and it’s often biased towards making work to please others - often our nearest and dearest. In this video I talk about seeking the opinion of others, why it’s important and where to find the best advice.

What to Do When Your Painting Is A Disaster!

What to Do When Your Painting Is A Disaster!

Sometimes your painting session just goes WRONG! We all have days like that. In this video you will see me create a really Ugly painting - I never intended to - it just WENT WRONG! But then I fixed it. So watch the process of finding a new direction and resolving a mess. There are some fundamental studio practices that we can learn from this

🎨 when conditions in the studio are not right - don’t just persevere - correct the problem

🎨 Take a break, always walk away from a painting when you’re getting frustrated - otherwise you’ll continue to make bad decisions

🎨 Come back to it when you’re ready, with clean brushes, clean water and a fresh paint palette

🎨 Trust yourself and your process. If you don’t have a process you can trust - GET ONE! Check out my stARTs Course: https://www.judywoodsart.com/starts1

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What I do after the Gesso

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What I do after the Gesso

In this video, I demonstrate what I do after I’ve applied a couple of coats of Gesso. I use black and white Gesso so that my painting already has a variety of marks, effects and tonal values. My process is intuitive - I don’t have a plan, but rather decide and respond to the colours and paint effects that arrive through experimentation. There is a method that I use to avoid creating a mess which has no direction which could happen when painting in this explorative way.

Watch the video to see how I start my paintings with colour and line and make sure you watch to the end to see a surprise tip for getting the BEST results.

How to Create a Mixedmedia Abstract Landscape Painting

How to Create a Mixedmedia Abstract Landscape Painting

Using acrylic paint, ink and drawing media in this video I demonstrate how to create an abstract landscape painting. This technique can be used to create a painting of a place from your memory or to create a landscape you’ve only imagined. Watch as the painting emerges from building layers of colour and then by adding suggestive details at the end the landscape is found. This is an exciting way to paint!

A Demonstration on How to Integrate Drawing into Abstract Painting

A Demonstration on How to Integrate Drawing into Abstract Painting

This is ideal if you want to move towards abstract art but don’t want to let go of a representational element altogether. In this video, I demonstrate how I build a painting in layers using acrylic paint and line. The drawn line refers to botanicals in this case, but you can combine any subject matter into your abstract work using this method. You could draw from life, photos, or even include collage - which I also demonstrate in many of my other videos.

Drawing with Freedom & Expression for BEST RESULTS

Drawing with Freedom & Expression for BEST RESULTS

The key to good drawing is OBSERVATION!! Having the ability to observe the subject and represent it on paper doesn’t have to be a laborious exercise. Instead, by keenly observing the subject and allowing your pencil the freedom to record what you see AS YOU SEE IT you can create a drawing that has personality and is much more expressive. This type of drawing will convey a feeling rather than recording a photographic likeness. This is my favourite type of drawing.

In this video I show some examples of figure drawing done during a Drama Festival while I was watching young actors on stage. Then in my sketchbook, back in my studio I draw my daughter in the same style and this time create a composition with abstract shapes, line and markmaking. Watch to see how I integrate the drawing with the painting and use different media within the work.

Combining Paint, Acrylic Ink and Drawing

Combining Paint, Acrylic Ink and Drawing

In this video I show what media and tools I use to start my paintings. I want to quickly create a surface full of interest with shape, line and colour as well as creating texture and variety in paint effects. Watch me demonstrate in my sketchbook exactly how I start my large canvases by combining shape, line and texture with a range of media.

The stencil shapes used in the video can be purchased from https://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-by-Judy-Woods-s/2196.htm.

Avoid the Blank Canvas - Use Gesso to Paint

Avoid the Blank Canvas - Use Gesso to Paint

Starting a painting and making that first mark on a blank canvas can be daunting. In this video, I show you how to avoid this nervous starting point by using Gesso to create a beautiful surface instead of a flat blank canvas.

By painting with Gesso, applying it with a variety of tools, and allowing water to flow through the thick paint, you can build depth and subtlety into those first layers. Before you know it, you’ve started a beautiful and exciting painting and avoided the nervousness altogether.

Watch this video and alternate between Black and White Gesso to create depth and interest to your canvas. Using a variety of tools, from squeegee to comb, you can experiment and discover the effects you love as the foundation to your next painting.

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A Quick Exercise to Create Good Design

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A Quick Exercise to Create Good Design

Recognizing good design in your painting is imperative to being able to create successful artwork. So exercising your ‘design muscle’ so that you can recognize and create good design and correct bad design is part of an artists creative fitness routine! In this video I show you a quick exercise you can do in your sketchbook using pages from an old Calendar. Ripping these up to create new and interesting shape and linear combinations, and then improve the design by layering more collage over the top. All you need is some bold graphic collage material and some glue. Within a fun half hour you will have created a bold design that could be the inspiration for new work. Have fun!

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Playing in my Sketchbook before I paint

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Playing in my Sketchbook before I paint

Playing in my Sketchbook before I paint on canvas is like stretching before going for a run. It reminds me of what I want to see in my work and sets the intention for a playful, exploratory studio session. Sometimes when trying to ‘finish’ paintings there can be a tendency to tighten up as we don’t want to mess up the good work we’ve done. But I want to remain loose and in exploration mode right up to the end - so limbering up in the sketchbook ensures my painting will stay loose and I get the effects that I love. In this video a quick 30 minute painting, starting with collage and ink led me to create a painting with loose fluid shapes and line to provide structure. Allowing the paint and ink to mix and flow provides beautiful accidental effects that speak of freedom and flow - which is exactly how a painting session should start. Try starting your painting session with a quick play in your sketchbook to set the intention for your exploration in paint.

How to take MORE RISKS and create successful Paintings

How to take MORE RISKS and create successful Paintings

To relinquish control with paint and mixed media requires risk which can be scarey especially when we have paintings that we care about and don’t want to ruin. When creating abstract paintings it’s essential we explore and experiment with paint, ink, drawing media - everything! So how do you take the risks when painting and try out new techniques and methods but still ensure your paintings are successful? In this video I talk about how I learnt to have confidence in taking risks. I give you my top tips: 1) Practice in a sketchbook where mistakes and messes don’t matter. This is where you can discover painting techniques that work and how to combine wet and dry media successfully; 2) Use a notebook to jot down your discoveries so that you don’t waste time in the studio and can pick up where you left off easily; and 3) When you feel confident, use the techniques and painting knowledge you’ve learnt on your paintings to create strong, exciting work.

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The Best Way to Get Looser with Paint - Without Losing Control

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The Best Way to Get Looser with Paint - Without Losing Control

As we get more confident as artists we often want to paint with more freedom and become more loose with media. Our abstract painting can seem a little tight and contrived to begin with. So how do we let loose with the media but still maintain control with our work to achieve great results? It all comes down to how we use the tools: paint brushes, colour shapers, pencils, pens and dry media. We want the media to flow and make marks that are free and loose, we don’t want to impose too much control when using wet media: paint, acrylic ink etc. And when we use dry media we control the types of line and marks by how we hold the pencil, pastel or pen. In this video I demonstrate how to hold brushes, colour shapers, and dry media to allow the media to flow loosely while also maintaining enough control to get the painting results you want.

Acrylic Ink in Abstract Mixedmedia Painting

Acrylic Ink in Abstract Mixedmedia Painting

In this video I explain how to overcome a common problem artists have when they fall out of love with their paintings. This can happen when our style evolves and we grow in our artistic preferences. But what do we do with the older paintings that are still lingering and no longer reflect our new aesthetic?

I discovered a new technique by using Acrylic Ink to loosen the surface of the painting and freed me up to finish the painting again, this time in my new looser style. There were still aspects of the original paintings that I loved and I was able to integrate these with my new style and create a finished painting that I am much happier with.

In the newly finished paintings I used drawing with oil stick as well as flooding the surface of the painting with Acrylic Ink and water. I used these techniques to provide variety in both wet and dry media which enriches the surface and offers the viewer a broader range of experience when viewing the paintings. I was trying to move into a looser style of expression so I needed to soften edges and lose more control of the paint, ink and drawing tools.

I encourage you not to Gesso over older paintings and lose all your beautiful painting. There will be parts that can be integrated with your new style while still maintaining your authenticity. Decide what new media you can bring to the work and without a backward glance forge ahead to bring your work up to date with your growing artistic style.

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Your Guide When Mixing Colour in Abstract Painting

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Your Guide When Mixing Colour in Abstract Painting

In this video I demonstrate how to use your first colour choice to guide your second colour choice…. until you have a beautiful harmonious colour palette to create an abstract painting. This is simply knowing the right question to ask about the colour you have already mixed when faced with the conundrum about what colour to mix next! Watch the video and then get colour-mixing!!

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Exploring Ideas from Collage with Acrylic Paint

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Exploring Ideas from Collage with Acrylic Paint

In this video I take ideas from a collage and develope them with acrylic paint. Integrating line, texture, shape and using a limited colour range I demonstrate how to create a composition different from the original collage yet still maintaining some similarities through the elements used. This is an exercise in restraint as it forces the artist to focus on just a few elements to integrate with new media. Watch the video and then have a go working from a collage or another painting done earlier in the same way. 1. Identify the elements you want to focus on, and then 2. with different media create a new composition using these elements again but this time in a new way.