Activity: Shape without Form

This activity was an enjoyable one. I love making images that don't require the precision of realism. As discussed in the previous post about Borduas' "Leeward of the Island" (shown Below) you can create a scene, movement or most things specific, without ever using specifics. So as our title suggests, you can create shapes without the specificity of natural form or realism.

"Leeward of the Island" 1947, Borduas

What you will need in this activity: Something to make colour with (paint, markers, pencil crayons, etc) and something to make marks on (paper, canvas, board, etc.). The reason I am so broad on the supplies is that there isn't just one way to ever make art. You can take this concept and apply it to any kind of art, heck I tend to do a lot of Collage works (which we will discuss in the near future) and most of these activities can just as easily be done with coloured paper and a glue stick. I also stick to the idea that these activities can be done by ANYONE! You just need yourself and your imagination.

Stuff!

For this activity I started with paper (I used watercolour paper being it's what I had and it's thick enough not to turn to mush with lots of paint on it), acrylic paints and brushes. My red paint has seemed to have dried up (*pout*) so I will be needing to replace it, this being said I didn't need to use many colours for my creation.

I decided to go with a swimming/beach theme... you don't need a theme if you don't want one. I just find it easier sometimes if I have a theme to think about and an emotion to use that the theme generates. This being said, I love the beach, I'm not much of a swimmer but the idea of playing in water and having a good time makes me happy.

Blue! Just blue paint and varying amounts of water!

I started with a flat blue over the whole paper. If you look closely I didn't make it a solid blue, I used more water in some areas and thicker paint in others. This gives the blue movement and depth. I then dabbed in Dark Brown, Yellow and Blue to make a land mass. (Info: Yellow and Blue make Green... this is part of the colour wheel which I will discuss next post) I didn't do a lot of mixing colours but the land seemed to need green.

I added Brown first then dabbed Yellow and Blue over top of the dried paint!

Now comes in the shapes. Using straight lines, circles, and triangles I was able to create the idea of people in the water, a dog on the grass and a beach ball floating by. To add depth I started with Black and added brighter colours after each colour dried (make sure the lighter colours are added onto dry paint or they will all blend into one another). I used different strokes as well as different sizes of brushes to create the scene. As a final touch I added some white paint at the top to represent clouds or I find it kind of looks like the froth of a waterfall just off the canvas. :) The main point is using simple shapes or brush strokes allowed me to create the feeling of people without having to be specific about them.

A few people, a dog (on the grass) and a ball... just triangles, circles and blobs :)

Another person... had to have someone swimming after the ball  :P

I hope you have fun trying your hand at this. I know I've had a lot of fun creating this image... I may even do another later on!

Final image: The dog is kinda hard to see in the picture... but you get the idea. Lets call it "Beach Day"!

I would love to hear how your images went and what theme you decided to go with, if you even went with a theme. Remember: Everyone does it different. There is no right or wrong!!
 
Have fun Creating!
Angie