FOUN-112-23 | 10/22/26
THE ASSIGNMENT
Create an abstract composition with primary colors that overlap to create the illusion of transparency, where secondary colors appear. A light source adds tints, tones and shades.
RESEARCH & INSPIRATION
My professor shared a finished example that showed how overlapping primary shapes create secondary colors, and how repetition and size variety build an abstract composition.
IDEATION & SKETCHES
I drew two 2″ × 3″ pencil thumbnails using repetition and size variety. With my professor, I chose the second one: its flowing lines create more overlaps, while in the first it was unclear how the colors would overlap and mix.
ITERATION & DEVELOPMENT
I enlarged the thumbnail and made a colored pencil draft to plan where the primary colors overlap and create secondary colors. Then I transferred the design to Bristol board and started painting the background and the largest shapes first.
FINAL WORK
Transparency – acrylic on Bristol board, 9″ × 12″, 2026.
REFLECTION
The main challenge was mixing the secondary colors so the overlaps looked like real transparency, and keeping clean edges where several shapes intersect. I mixed red, blue and yellow into green, purple and orange, and used three values of red and two of blue to show light and depth. I learned that transparency can be an illusion created through careful color mixing, not transparent paint.