Journey Into Abstract Gardens

If you love abstract art but struggle with composition and how to make your paintings feel more unique and special, this course will push your creativity to new heights by adding new dimension and layers to your work via floral drawing & painting.

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Course curriculum

1. Color Wheel & Color Schemes
2. Tulip Reference Photos
3. Daffodil Reference Photos
4. Iris Reference Photos
5. Vincent Van Gogh's Flowers
1. Brushwork & Wedge Techniques
2. Bonus Video: Brushwork & Wedge Demo
1. Video 1: Intro
2. Video 2: Paints, Tools and Supplies
3. Video 3: Toning the Canvas
4. Video 4: My Palette Explained
5. Video 5: Building in Background Layers
6. Video 6: Adding Greenery
7. Video 7: Adding Greenery with a Silicone Shaper
8. Video 8: Softening the Background with Brushwork
9. Video 9: Adding Purple into the Background
10. Video 10: Adding Deeper Tones of Turquoise
11. Video 11: Opaque Layering with White
12. Video 12: Finishing the Background
13. Video 13: Moving on the the Tulips
14. Video 14: Drawing Tulip Studies on Paper
15. Video 15: Demo in Proctreate
16. Video 16: Drawing my Tulips on the Canvas
17. Video 17: Creating the Composition
18. Video 18: Beginning to Paint Tulips
19. Video 19: Continuing to Block in my Tulips
20. Video 20: Adding Beautiful Long Leaves
21. Video 21: Adding Contrast
22. Video 22: Rendering Tulips, continued
23. Video 23: Finishing the Tulips
24. Video 24: Mark Making
25. Video 25: Mark Making continued
26. Video 26: Finishing Touches
27. Video 27: Final Thoughts, Assessing the Work
1. Video 1: Intro
2. Video 2: Adding Abstract Shapes
3. Video 3: Toning Down the Saturation
4. Video 4: Blocking in the Daffodils
5. Video 5: Recapping the Painting
6. Video: Daffodil Drawing Demo
7. Video 6: Adding the Pastel Drawing to the Canvas
8. Video 7: Focusing on the Structure of the Coronas
9. Video 8: More Rendering of the Flowers
10. Video 9: Working Through Challenges
11. Video 10: Tying it all Together
12. Video 11: Final Words About the Daffodil Demo
1. Video 1: Intro
2. Video 2: Choosing my Iris Reference
3. Video 3: Adding Initial Background Shapes
4. Video 4: Using an Analogous Color Scheme
5. Video 5: Adding Reds into the Background
6. Video 6: Continuing to Build the Abstract Background
7. Video 7: Finishing the Background
8. Video 8: Sketching an Iris
9. Video 9: Creating my Iris Drawing on Canvas
10. Video 10: Painting my Beautiful Red Iris
11. Video 11: Getting into the Details
12. Video 12: Decisive Use of Colors & Shapes
13. Video 13: Outlining + Carving Out Negative Shapes
14. Video 14: Adding a Touch of Gold
1. Reviving Older Works
2. Bonus Video: Iris
3. Bonus Video: Rose

About this course

$99.00
68 lessons
5.5 hours of video content

Here's What You'll Get From Taking This Course:

The course begins with a BONUS video to help you achieve the painting style you desire through various kinds of brushwork and the basics of how to use a Princeton brand Catalyst silicone wedge, like you've seen me use.
3 complete, full-length video demos show me paint from start to finish: A purple Tulip Garden, Daffodils and a Red Iris painting.
Picture-in-picture on my screen so you can see my reference photo from which I am working.
Closed Captions to make it easier to follow along so you don't miss a word.
2 camera angles: 1 on my palette as I mix and 1 on my canvas as I paint.
FREE private Facebook group for all enrolled students to ask questions, post work and find support after you've purchased my course. You won't ever feel like you are in this alone!
Strengthen your skills in drawing, composition and color schemes. You'll see how I plan each of these attributes in my demos.
2 BONUS videos at the end of the course show how I took existing paintings from the discard bin and gave them both new life as stylized floral paintings!
No need to rush through the course. Take your time and learn at your own pace. My courses are recorded for you and are yours to use indefinitely.
Reference photos and supply lists are provided for each demo. Use the ones provided, or use your own. There are no rules. All that's required is your imagination!

What are my Students Saying?

Great title for this course. Nice loose approach to the ...

Pamela Pickinpaugh

I really enjoyed this course! Kathleen is very patient while teaching how she creates tulips, daffodils and iris using tools she has perfected in her art pr...

I really enjoyed this course! Kathleen is very patient while teaching how she creates tulips, daffodils and iris using tools she has perfected in her art practice. She encourages you to do your style, but to try her approach on creating beautiful flowers. I will be doing just that for a couple of paintings that are abstracts that need some happiness in them!

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great title which complements the subject very well

Lilian Martin

all text very helpful and I will be doing this again

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Easy to Follow Demos

This course contains "picure-in-picture" screens and closed captioning, making it easy to follow along. You'll watch my decision-making process as I work through challenges. My art supplies and colors are listed for you in PDF form, and my camera angles switch back and forth between my painting and my color palette.

Never throw away another painting...

Picture that pile of abstract paintings in the back of your closet - the ones that made you feel "stuck". No mater how many ideas you had or layers you added, they just lost direction along the way. Maybe something was always missing from them, but you couldn't understand what it could be. Maybe they lacked a strong composition, but you didn't know how to make them better. "Journey into Abstract Gardens" will teach you how to give those paintings new life. Whether using those abstract paintings as backdrops or creating new paintings from scratch, my course will show you how to instantly strengthen composition, a sense of design and brilliant color schemes to your work. You'll never throw away another painting.

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Two bonus videos show you how to transform older work into new and improved masterpieces!

Besides 3 full length demo videos showing how to create paintings from start to finish, I've included 2 time-lapse videos demonstrating how I took older paintings and gave them both makeovers!

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Art Should Be Fun, Not Intimidating.

How do you know what colors to choose or how to make your composition stronger? Neither of these concepts should be left to chance because they can make or break a good painting and lead to the trash bin. In my course, I will explain my thought process when it comes to colors and composition. Learning how to choose the right color schemes and compositions will build your confidence so that approaching the easel is FUN, as it should be!

Your Instructor

Kathleen Rietz

Award winning artist Kathleen Rietz is a lifelong artist with a passion for art instruction, both in the classroom and online. Her formal art training was earned at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, IL. She went on to a 30 year career in both commercial and fine art. She began creating online art courses in 2020 during the pandemic to spread the joy of art to Instagram and Facebook followers around the world. Kathleen's fine art floral and abstract paintings are collected internationally. She has won numerous awards, and has been featured in American Artist Magazine and Create Magazine among others.

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