Have you ever looked at the clouds in the sky and tried to find animals or objects in the shapes of the clouds? Sometimes they just look like clouds and then other times a whole storyline could be made with the images you find.

When I am stuck for ideas on what to paint, sometimes I just lay down color blobs abstractly on the paper. Then I let it dry and turn my paper every which way, trying to see what those blobs want to become. When something jumps out at me, I start adding in details with more paint.

In the photo below, I brushed water on the whole page and then added various streaks and spots of watercolor paint. I slightly tilted the paper to let the watercolor flow a little down the page. It’s fun to see how the paint pigments flow and blend together on the wet paper. After it dried, I initially I saw dancers in the painting. Can you see them?

But after looking a bit longer, I saw iris flowers and started painting in more details. And this is what the abstract blob underpainting became:

That was fun so I tried another painting! In the photo below on the left is my abstract blob underpainting. While the painting was still wet, I wasn’t very excited about the way the colors I had chosen were blending. After it dried though, I could see a little mouse holding a cookie. After adding a few details, my mouse was complete. My granddaughters thought he was adorable!

For this last painting, I got it all finished before realizing that I forgot to take a photo of the initial abstract underpainting. I really did not have to add much to this painting- just some leaves, grass, trunk, and some water ripples. It looks like a very peaceful place to visit.

I find this process to be a fun way to stimulate my imagination and get the creativity flowing. I challenge you to try it!