Nature is a source of inspiration for artists all over the world. I love to take pictures of interesting textures, either natural or man-made. Not long ago I took a Skillshare course from Rosalie Haizlett called “Painting Natural Textures with Watercolor.” Following along with her instructions and a photo of a stream with rocks under the water she used for inspiration, this is the abstract painting I created:

That was so much fun I decided to pull out a photo I’d taken of fungus growing on the bark of a tree in my yard. So many lovely textures to try to recreate in abstract!

And from this photo I created the following watercolor abstract using colors I love:

I gave my painting buddy an old phone of mine and let her take photos in the yard of textures in nature she found interesting. She chose one she liked best of a rock with lots of texture variation and started painting her abstract.

Look at the many vibrant colors and techniques she used to create her painting!

Painting in abstract is hard for me as I tend to want to make things look as realistic as possible. Using texture filled nature images helps me to loosen up a bit, but I need lots more practice! Good thing there is an abundance of nature out there to inspire me! If you need inspiration for your creations, take a walk, and snap closeup photos of textures and shapes that attract you. Then go home and paint, or draw, or sew, or….

Skillshare is a great place to get inspired, learn new skills and increase your creativity. Click this link to try out Skillshare for free for 14 days! You will have access to my Stained Glass Inspired Watercolor Painting class as well as thousands of other classes on various topics.