In the last post called Yogurt Holds the Blueberry, I talked about thinking of everything in a composition as an active shape, painting the spaces between things, instead of painting an object floating on nothing.
If we are painting the space between things, we start to see the “background” as an active shape on the page. Instead of an object on a background, it is one shape pushing up against another shape, like two friends sitting shoulder to shoulder. In real life, a house would fall over if it was pressing against still air, but a painting is color on paper. How would you paint still air as it presses into a building, to hold it in place?
In this way, instead of negative space, you can imagine that everything in your painting holds every other thing in place. This doesn’t work automatically, and not all shapes push back equally. They require some attention from the artist to activate each shape and make it work. When activated, a “blank” shape can push into a painted shape, and hold it there. Do you see it?
Take a look at these watercolors by Morandi, and see what you think about the idea we’re calling “yogurt holds the blueberry.”
In my current series of abstraction classes, each week we focus on a single element of art. Honing in like this allows us to explore different ways into a painting or drawing. By narrowing down, we are able to go farther into an idea. These projects were made in response to a class on line …
In 1960, pioneering American artists Sol LeWitt and Eva Hesse met for the first time and instantly clicked, quickly forming a strong, deep bond that would last for ten years and result in countless inspirational discussions and rich exchanges of ideas. Indeed, they remained incredibly close friends until May of 1970, at which point Hesse, …
[image_with_animation image_url=”10097″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] William Kentridge Today is National Typewriter Day! Draw a typewriter. Materials are artist’s choice. Thank you to Bo Frank for telling me about National Typewriter Day. Thank you for sharing your work! I love seeing these artworks online. People who post to Instagram or on Facebook will be eligible to win prizes (see details). No matter …
Exercise your creativity This SAL Challenge is a vocabulary based creative challenge every day for January. Materials are artist’s choice. You can draw, paint, sew, collage, sculpt your food, anything you want. See below for today’s creative challenge. Set the timer for 20 minutes and see what happens. ULOTRICHOUS Derived from a Greek word meaning …
Morandi’s Watercolors
In the last post called Yogurt Holds the Blueberry, I talked about thinking of everything in a composition as an active shape, painting the spaces between things, instead of painting an object floating on nothing.
If we are painting the space between things, we start to see the “background” as an active shape on the page. Instead of an object on a background, it is one shape pushing up against another shape, like two friends sitting shoulder to shoulder. In real life, a house would fall over if it was pressing against still air, but a painting is color on paper. How would you paint still air as it presses into a building, to hold it in place?
In this way, instead of negative space, you can imagine that everything in your painting holds every other thing in place. This doesn’t work automatically, and not all shapes push back equally. They require some attention from the artist to activate each shape and make it work. When activated, a “blank” shape can push into a painted shape, and hold it there. Do you see it?
Take a look at these watercolors by Morandi, and see what you think about the idea we’re calling “yogurt holds the blueberry.”
Related Posts
Abstracting Line
In my current series of abstraction classes, each week we focus on a single element of art. Honing in like this allows us to explore different ways into a painting or drawing. By narrowing down, we are able to go farther into an idea. These projects were made in response to a class on line …
DO
In 1960, pioneering American artists Sol LeWitt and Eva Hesse met for the first time and instantly clicked, quickly forming a strong, deep bond that would last for ten years and result in countless inspirational discussions and rich exchanges of ideas. Indeed, they remained incredibly close friends until May of 1970, at which point Hesse, …
SAL Challenge: Typewriter
[image_with_animation image_url=”10097″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] William Kentridge Today is National Typewriter Day! Draw a typewriter. Materials are artist’s choice. Thank you to Bo Frank for telling me about National Typewriter Day. Thank you for sharing your work! I love seeing these artworks online. People who post to Instagram or on Facebook will be eligible to win prizes (see details). No matter …
SAL Challenge 9: ULOTRICHOUS
Exercise your creativity This SAL Challenge is a vocabulary based creative challenge every day for January. Materials are artist’s choice. You can draw, paint, sew, collage, sculpt your food, anything you want. See below for today’s creative challenge. Set the timer for 20 minutes and see what happens. ULOTRICHOUS Derived from a Greek word meaning …