Abstract Painting: Watermedia on YUPO®

Mark Mehaffey | Runtime (95 min)

In this video, you’ll learn how to create an abstract figure from a nonobjective painting using watercolor techniques on a YUPO® surface. What is YUPO® and why paint on it? Mark gives the advantages and disadvantages of using watercolor and gouache on YUPO®, along with various techniques and materials for applying paint and texture to your surface. You’ll learn how important “play time” is to exploring all the possibilities for creating beautiful underpaintings, as well as how to begin designing the painting in a non-objective way first, before you turn it into a figure, taking your cues from the design of the first layers of paint.

With this workshop, you’ll learn how to

• Take advantage of YUPO®
• Use a limited palette of watercolors and gouaches
• Play with stencils, stamps and other materials to create textures
• Apply watercolor paint smoothly and evenly, without creating brush strokes
• Add and subtract paint from the design quickly and easily
• Fix “mistakes” and correct your design
• Create strong design elements in your abstract watercolor paintings
• Layer transparent and opaque gouaches to create shapes and patterns
• Turn a non-objective painting into an abstract figure
• Create a sense of objects floating over one another with drop shadows
• Use watermedia techniques such as “ghosting” and creating gradations