Are you ready to take the second floor this time? If you have no clue what I am talking about- read all about it here 
The Second Floor Challenge
So today is our 11th Second Floor Challenge and last Second Floor Challenge: Six Colors : Primar and Secondary- Yellow, Blue, Red, Green, Orange and Violet
Click here to see what Julie did
Whatever that means to you or however it inspires you. The prompt is simply meant to get you started. The level of challenge you aim for is entirely internal and up to you
I had to laugh a bit about this challenge- if you visited one of my workshops you might have heard me saying, that for the beginning you should try not to use more than 3-4 colors when working with a paint medium because it get’s muddy and brown. And now here I am challenged to use six colors.
So first I decided to use only one paint medium- Derwent Artbars and then I struggled a bit if I should just do something like color blocking, or circles (again?) …and somehow it felt all too easy.
And so I decided to kind of draw a background…something that is not really my strength – but hey…it’s taking it the second floor, right?
I used all the colors in the leaves and background and as it looked really flat I started using the Sgraffito technique to get some texture and dimension revealed.
It turned out ok…I am not overly happy with it, but the main thing is, I had fun and I tried something new. I actually like all the colors together – the leaves…not so much- LOL.
What I learned from this challenge:
- I loved the challenge to use colors together that I would usually not use together
- I also learned once more that I really don’t like anything that looks too flat and has no texture- either visual or tactile texture – at all.
- I loved concentrating on just one paint medium…it made me think a lot on how to get the most out of it- although I guess it would have been a bit more challenging using an art medium I didn’t use that much before.
- In the feature I might stick rather to circles again- LOL
As mentioned before this is Julie’s and my last Second Floor Challenge. Only once we both decided to skip a challenge totally out of time problems and so it is 11 challenges we did. So let me put together
What I learned in total from the 2nd Floor Challenge
- If something looks as if it turns out to be a disaster, keep going- it usually ends up to be one of your favorite pieces.
- I learned that it is really good to limit yourself to only a few supplies -it frees your mind.
- I learned a lot about supplies etc. because I was constantly forced to think in a different way when usual out of the box.
- Doing something together with my friend Julie who lives too far away has been just fun – the challenge at least made me feel as if we are doing something together which we usually cannot do because of the distance.
- I love getting the most out of one supply – I don’t like to use supplies in the only way it is determined to be used
- Paint Media and Texture are essential for me- they are a big part of my style- no need to fight against that ;)
- I developed a deep love for watercolor paper throughout all the challenges
- It doesn’t hurt to show stuff you don’t like that much and admit that things didn’t work THAT well, nobody is perfect and I don’t strive to be perfect.
- I loved to see that a lot of our readers took the second floor too – I learned as much from your experiences as from my own. Thank YOU!
If you’d like to leave a link showing off what you did in response to this challenge, here’s the linky list:
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hugs
Nat
Comments (9)
TeedeJee
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Loved it. Especially on what you learned on the way. Thank you sooo much ladies! What will be your next challenge??? XXX
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Sue Clarke
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Of course I enjoyed seeing my two scrappy “crushes” working together.
I will come back to these challenges when I need inspiration in the future.
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gillian1
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Ah. Such a shame that the second floor challenge is over. I’ve SOOOOO enjoyed following along with you both. I’m wondering whether I might persuade a friend to start something similar with me. She lives at the other end of the country so it would be lovely to have this sort of regular contact. Thank you both for all you efforts.
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Laurie Hunt
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I have really enjoyed following along as you and Julie worked together. You both are such talented creative ladies that I always learn from you. Thanks much for the inspiration!
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Jessica
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Beautiful leaves! Thanks for all of the SFCs. They’ve been very inspiring and fun.
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Sabine
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I like your composition – colourwise as well as picturewise. The leaves all seem to be tumbling down, like they do in real life. Now that you and Julie have tackled the second floor – how about a third floor challenge? :-))
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Janet
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Very Colorful Nat. I love the list of everything you learned from the challenge! Both this one and SFC overall. Thanks. I hope you do something similar again someday!
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Barb
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I like mixing colors so this is something I want to try. Your work is very creative.
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Kathy Gledsdale
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Lovely!
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