This is the last day in our 30 Day Creative Challenge!
A big public THANK YOU to those artists who posted your sketches to Instagram or to Padlet. While the posting type people are wooting amidst their social media glitter and confetti, I’ll pass a word of quiet appreciation to the unknown number of you who responded to the challenges privately, without posting. You’re part of this. For those of you who did the challenges in your head and then, for whatever reason, moved on with your day without lifting a pen, I feel you, but really, do this one. Just this one. One. Pull out that scrap of paper and a pen. If you do this one today, you win.
Composition is a game, an optical illusion. Even though the square weighs nothing, gravity is implied. There is a tension of gravity vertically, as well as with the edges of the rectangle itself. Notice how a square that is centered and level within the rectangle is static. It’s stable. If you tilt the square it gets a less comfortable energy. It seems to want to move. If the corner of the square approaches any of the edges of the rectangle, those edges “activate” and kind of start to itch while the edges on the far side of the rectangle seem to deactivate. The closer the square gets to the edge of the rectangle, the more it itches. When it overlaps, the tension resolves. The square might also seem to weigh different amounts when it is higher, lower, left or right on the rectangle. Try it! Make a black square and put it on a piece of white typing paper to see for yourself.
Our final challenge is a composition challenge, with an inspiration from Kazimir Malevich. You can have one black square of any size, and you can put it anywhere you want to on your compositional rectangle, which is any dimension you choose. How big is it? Where do you put it? How do you make it? What are the materials you use? What do you think are the most interesting compositions?
Share your black square composition on Instagram with these tags: #30sal, #blacksquare
This robot was designed to have human-like focus. It looks first at the subject, then at the paper, and wiggles its little robot arm to make marks with a Bic pen. From this, a portrait is produced. It’s normal to assume that creative work is an emotional process, but observational drawing is more like this studious robot …
In the past, if I had two words to describe watercolor, I might say “fresh” and “delicate.” I’d always thought of watercolor as a fairly fragile medium that shouldn’t be worked too hard. I thought of the white of the paper as the most valuable resource, and the greatest mistake would be to lose that …
This is our last post in our list of Faves from the 30 Day Challenge. We received hundreds of creations throughout the month. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED! The next 30SAL post will include prizes and awards for our tip pics, and special recognition for the artists who completed all 30. Below are some …
Max Ernst used texture rubbings to overcome his fear of the white canvas, and ignite his imagination. “Painting is not for me either decorative amusement, or the plastic invention of felt reality; it must be every time: invention, discovery, revelation.” Max Ernst, 1891-1976 The embedded video preview does not appear to be working, so please click …
Day 30: Black Square #30SAL
This is the last day in our 30 Day Creative Challenge!
A big public THANK YOU to those artists who posted your sketches to Instagram or to Padlet. While the posting type people are wooting amidst their social media glitter and confetti, I’ll pass a word of quiet appreciation to the unknown number of you who responded to the challenges privately, without posting. You’re part of this. For those of you who did the challenges in your head and then, for whatever reason, moved on with your day without lifting a pen, I feel you, but really, do this one. Just this one. One. Pull out that scrap of paper and a pen. If you do this one today, you win.
Composition is a game, an optical illusion. Even though the square weighs nothing, gravity is implied. There is a tension of gravity vertically, as well as with the edges of the rectangle itself. Notice how a square that is centered and level within the rectangle is static. It’s stable. If you tilt the square it gets a less comfortable energy. It seems to want to move. If the corner of the square approaches any of the edges of the rectangle, those edges “activate” and kind of start to itch while the edges on the far side of the rectangle seem to deactivate. The closer the square gets to the edge of the rectangle, the more it itches. When it overlaps, the tension resolves. The square might also seem to weigh different amounts when it is higher, lower, left or right on the rectangle. Try it! Make a black square and put it on a piece of white typing paper to see for yourself.
Our final challenge is a composition challenge, with an inspiration from Kazimir Malevich. You can have one black square of any size, and you can put it anywhere you want to on your compositional rectangle, which is any dimension you choose. How big is it? Where do you put it? How do you make it? What are the materials you use? What do you think are the most interesting compositions?
Share your black square composition on Instagram with these tags: #30sal, #blacksquare
Or post to this Padlet.
I’ll publish my favorites soon.
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This robot was designed to have human-like focus. It looks first at the subject, then at the paper, and wiggles its little robot arm to make marks with a Bic pen. From this, a portrait is produced. It’s normal to assume that creative work is an emotional process, but observational drawing is more like this studious robot …
Badass watercolors aren’t afraid of the dark
In the past, if I had two words to describe watercolor, I might say “fresh” and “delicate.” I’d always thought of watercolor as a fairly fragile medium that shouldn’t be worked too hard. I thought of the white of the paper as the most valuable resource, and the greatest mistake would be to lose that …
30SAL Faves: Week 4, Part 2
This is our last post in our list of Faves from the 30 Day Challenge. We received hundreds of creations throughout the month. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED! The next 30SAL post will include prizes and awards for our tip pics, and special recognition for the artists who completed all 30. Below are some …
Max Ernst; frottage to free the freeze
Max Ernst used texture rubbings to overcome his fear of the white canvas, and ignite his imagination. “Painting is not for me either decorative amusement, or the plastic invention of felt reality; it must be every time: invention, discovery, revelation.” Max Ernst, 1891-1976 The embedded video preview does not appear to be working, so please click …