Hey everyone! I wanted to do a fun and relaxing watercolor and doodle abstract painting today. I used my Marie’s Masters watercolors, which are super pigmented, on a 100% cotton Fluid 100 paper block.
I started by letting loose and splashing some shapes onto the paper. I mixed saturated colors with neutrals, letting them flow together organically. The paper is great for these washes because the colors blend beautifully and dry quite transparent.
One thing to keep in mind with this Fluid 100 paper is that lifting color after it dries is tricky. So, if you like to rework your watercolors a lot, this might not be the best choice.
Anyway, I loved playing with these rich grays, browns, blues, and purples, letting them drip and blend into each other. I even added some burnt sienna for warmth.
Next, I wanted a single color to kind of pop out, so I used a beautiful rose color (not part of the original 12-color set) to create circles and rectangles over the dried wash. I love that the shapes underneath still peek through, adding depth to the painting.
This paper is fantastic for glazing because the colors stay put and don’t muddy in the background. That’s one thing I’ve noticed playing with Artist’s Loft paper, which is cellulose. The color lifts almost TOO easily. I like a happy medium there. Not too hard, not too easy. Just right, as they say!
Now, for the fun doodling part! I grabbed my white Gelly Roll pen and some Posca pens. These pens can be a bit finicky with watercolor paper, but I like the challenge. Sometimes they work a little better on acrylic painted surfaces because the surface is smoother.
I decided to turn a large circle into a flower, then added smaller petals around it. The white pen added nice contrast against the background.
As the painting evolved, I kept adding more shapes – circles like bubbles, some filled in with the Posca pen. The darker areas of the pen show up well, while the lighter areas blend with the white background.
I also added some pink flowers with another Posca pen. Since watercolor paper is absorbent, the pen ink soaks in a bit, but the color is still visible.
For even more contrast, I grabbed a darker Posca marker to outline some of the flower petals, following the original painted shapes.
These little watercolor doodle exercises are a fantastic way to relax and unwind. Don’t worry about perfection, just play around and have fun with your supplies! It’s a great way to warm up before a bigger painting or simply to experiment with new materials.
I finished up the flower details, added some extra lines and dots to the circles, then decided against doing more dots and went with tiny flower petals on the larger white circles. It kind of became a whimsical landscape with doodled flowers!
I wasn’t super careful; I just let the squiggly lines flow and create a sense of movement. I added a few more flowers and white dots for balance, keeping some of the original white areas untouched.
And there you have it! A finished watercolor and doodle abstract painting. It was a blast to create, and I hope it inspires you to do your own! Until next time, keep creating!