Upcycle paint – Abstract painting projects

Although I try to save my paint, there is always some leftover on my palette after each painting session. I don’t want to wipe it away just like that. Those colors are well mixed so I think I may upcycle it and paint with it. The only problem is that the color and amount of leftover paint is unpredictable. So I decide to go with abstract patterns.

Upcycle project #1

It takes several sessions to cover a blank canvas with leftover paint. When I feel it is enough on the canvas, I use gold paint to do some line works. So this is the only color that I do control, gold. In the beginning I have no idea what shape should I paint. I try everything a little bit. Solid dots, circles, triangles, blocks, stripes etc. The more I paint, the more I understand my own preference.

I like clean and clear color shapes and patterns. I can’t smudge different colors into each other like some abstract paintings. Don’t get me wrong, I love those abstract paintings. It is just something my hands and brushes can’t do. I am more of a “stained glass” or “mosaic” type. 😀

After these five paintings I made #6 a little bit different. For #6 I use scrap linen canvas from the Japanese Yuzen style hexagon painting project. Details will be in another post once I get the final high resolution photo. Not every upcycle piece is successful, I discard one after putting on the gold line work.

I hope you enjoy this upcycle paint series. ❤

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My paintings are an outlet to express the imagination I have inside my head that I can not put into words. After trying many mediums, I always find myself coming back to paint and brushes. In my current artistic practice, I use oil paint and mainly create portraits of mythical creatures and animals transfixed in the shifting colours of seascapes and landscapes. There is a natural spirit and magic to these creatures and their energy draws me in. Choosing to paint these creatures as real living wildlife rather than abstractions, I use bold and vivid colours to express the imaginary intertwined with reality, finding magic between the seams. Using a saturated colour palette, I create bold and striking imagery, contrasted between foreground and background, subject and landscape, and light and darkness. Weaving their bodies and the surface of the landscape into each other through organic forms and flowing brush strokes, I find beauty, strength and innocence in these creatures that reflect my inner world.