{"id":21,"date":"2026-08-30T18:20:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T18:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/?page_id=21"},"modified":"2026-09-08T15:16:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T15:16:28","slug":"watercolours","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/?page_id=21","title":{"rendered":"Watercolour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Bear Studies <\/summary>\n

A series of bear illustrations created for a university mock children\u2019s book brief. I wanted the characters to feel playful, approachable, and immediately engaging to a young audience, using simple shapes and bold colours to create a clear and recognisable visual style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working in watercolour allowed me to introduce softness and texture while still maintaining the bright, expressive qualities needed for children\u2019s illustration. The combination of simplified forms, lively colour, and playful character design was intended to make the illustrations feel fun, inviting, and visually stimulating for children.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Skull + Hand<\/summary>\n

This piece began as a rough sketch inspired by the idea of emotional isolation and the protective barriers we create around ourselves. What started as a small concept gradually evolved into a large-scale watercolour painting, created across three A3 sheets and joined together as one continuous composition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The central imagery of a\u00a0hand holding a skull\u00a0explores themes of loss, mortality, attachment, and the instinct to hold onto something even after it has become unreachable. The hand can be interpreted as both protective and restrictive, reflecting the conflicting desire to hold onto what we fear losing while also recognising that some things cannot be preserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The piece developed alongside the idea of emotional walls becoming a form of confinement. What begins as protection can gradually become isolation, making it increasingly difficult to let others in or move forward. The skull reinforces this sense of permanence and finality, creating a contrast between the warmth and life suggested by the hand and the stillness of the object it holds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work’s evolution from a simple sketch into a three-panel watercolour allowed the original concept to become more layered and expressive, with the scale giving the imagery room to develop beyond the initial idea.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Dancer <\/summary>\n

Created in response to the idea of allowing yourself to fully feel and experience the present moment, this piece depicts a ballet dancer captured mid-routine, surrounded by expressive ink splashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dancer\u2019s controlled movement contrasts with the unpredictability of the surrounding ink, representing the balance between control and surrender. The head is obscured within a cloud of ink, suggesting the feeling of becoming disconnected from overthinking and allowing emotion and experience to exist without needing to analyse or control them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fluidity of the ink creates a sense of movement and emotional release, while the dancer\u2019s poised form represents being grounded within the present. Together, these elements explore the freedom that can come from allowing yourself to simply feel, rather than resisting or suppressing what is happening internally.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Mountain<\/summary>\n

An A5 watercolour study created as a small-scale exploration of the medium following a period of artist\u2019s block. Rather than beginning with a large or ambitious piece, I chose to work on a smaller scale, allowing me to experiment with the materials and process without the pressure of creating a finished outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mountain subject provided a simple structure through which I could explore watercolour, particularly its transparency, tonal variation, and ability to create atmosphere. The piece became a way of reconnecting with the process of making and rebuilding confidence with the medium.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Step Away<\/summary>\n

Created in response to a brief exploring global cultures at university, this abstract piece examines the evolution and influence of\u00a0rave culture. I was interested in how rave culture has developed across different countries and communities while maintaining its core associations with music, movement, freedom, and collective experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The use of\u00a0bright purple and yellow\u00a0creates an intense, energetic visual language, reflecting the sensory overload, vibrancy, and expressive nature often associated with rave environments. The contrasting colours create a sense of movement and stimulation within the composition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the centre of the piece, the phrase\u00a0\u201cSTEP AWAY\u201d\u00a0acts as both a visual interruption and a statement. It can be interpreted as an invitation to step away from everyday expectations and conventional social environments, while also referencing the physical movement and freedom associated with rave culture. The bold placement of the typography makes it feel almost like an instruction, encouraging the viewer to engage with the work rather than simply observe it.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Life Drawing<\/summary>\n

A life drawing created using watercolour and a muted colour palette, depicting the body curled inward in the foetal position. The restricted pose creates a sense of vulnerability, withdrawal, and emotional discomfort, suggesting a desire to retreat from the outside world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The piece responds to the idea of existence itself becoming overwhelming, the awareness of simply being alive feeling uncomfortable, intrusive, or difficult to escape. The foetal position can be interpreted as a return to a state of protection and isolation, almost as though the figure is attempting to make themselves smaller and withdraw from the experience of existing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subdued watercolour palette reinforces this sense of introspection and unease, creating a quiet and restrained atmosphere rather than an overtly dramatic one. The work explores the tension between simply existing and the emotional weight that can accompany that awareness. <\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166,"href":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21\/revisions\/166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ab-designs.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}