Last week several of us got together for our Diva Day. We just played with paint, paper, & a serious supply of plastic wrap.

There are times when playing is the only thing that starts the juices rolling, and this was one of those times.  Since we only get together once a month, talking is mostly what we do.  But we did play, each in our own way.

The process we played with is to cover the paper with paint, and put plastic wrap over the top.  Twist and pull, leave a pattern on the paper, then leave it alone and let it dry.  The darker the paint the more intense the pattern.  If it dries to light, do it over with a darker color.  Or do it a second time to allow for more layers of pattern.  There isn’t any right or wrong way to do this!

When the plastic wrap is dry, and it’s pulled off, start looking for images in the dried pattern.  Again, anything goes.  Whatever you see, either outline it, and paint around it, or just paint around it.  That is called “Negative Space Painting.”  The idea is to blend out the paint you are using for outlining.  Keep it wet, and work it until you have defined images on the paper.

This will be totally different for some, and easy for others.  It took me forever to wrap my head around this method, but it’s fun, and pushes your brain to thinking creatively.

Here are a couple of examples of Negative Space painting…..

Artichoke Flower

God of Wine

Traces of the Past

I hope you have fun trying this, if it doesn’t work the first time, try it again…..OR, use watercolor, or acrylic ink and pour the paint over the paper.  Remember to use watercolor paper, and if pouring a color is what you like don’t forget to wet your paper first. Both mediums will work.  Watercolor will take longer to dry, and has it’s challenges.  Acrylic dries faster, so keeping it open might be a challenge for some.

Thanks for checking in, and trying something new.