ABSTRACT COLLAGE - PAINTING with TERRIFIC TEXTURE

ROCK, PEBBLES, SAND

...and Water!

Neutrals rule! I've always liked neutrals: tans, beiges, cream, ivory, white, Payne's gray, brown, khaki colors, rust, warm stone colors. In clothes, shoes, art, and more.

Neutrals, or natural colors, are not bold or vivid ones. They can be light, medium & dark, & of course you want a contrasting combo of values in your work. 

Texture is an art element I'm fond of, too. Some areas were made more textural with handmade, ridged art paper adhered to the surface.

TIP: If any of you wonderful readers plan to work with heavy texture, DO use a board: if not an actual wooden or Masonite board, then at least a canvas panel. You need a stronger support than a stretched canvas!

I wanted an abstracted effect of clean, clear water over rounded pebbles or river rock. Wet stones are the most beautiful!

Close-up detail

The clear or frosted beads are called river pebbles, glass gems, or even fire pit pebbles. I found a mixed bag for cheap at the thrift shop: some translucent, some opaque, even some iridescent.

My original sketch for the artwork.

DecoArt also makes Sandstone Textured Acrylics, which I employed in a brown, a tweed, and their Terra Cotta (in the Grand Canyon color). Burnt Sienna & Van Dyke Brown acrylic paint were dabbed, stippled, & rubbed selectively to get a stone effect.

 
For an abstract stream, I first thought of ModPodge.
It's self-leveling, so I needed barriers to hold in
the very fluid medium. To form "walls" to prevent
the runny ModPodge from going everywhere, I
used DecoArt Texture Stucco (see the white line below).

Unfinished. Detail. The white you see is actually a short barricade to hold in the fluid medium.

The finished artwork.

Spattering would be good for a rock-like effect, too. Can you spot the fine, dark lines as well? I always enjoy a bit of mark-making!

With this abstract acrylic painting with collaged elements, I set out originally to  use ONLY neutrals, but decided the brighter orange was necessary. I think it contrasts nicely with the (complementary) blue-gray areas. More contrast is seen in the smoother, shinier areas versus the matte. The entire piece turned out warmer than my original concept. But then I always love rich, bright color, don't you?