Finding Interesting Shapes for Abstract - Sterling Edwards Style - Sort Of

 Sterling Edwards recommends a method of finding interesting shapes for his abstract expressionist art.

Seems to work for him, so I'm giving a brief summary of it here, as I understand it.

First, find a picture of trash or something complex, probably not a picture you would normally be interested in painting as a whole. I used a picture of my husband's motorcycle, which isn't trash, but does 

have interesting shapes. We all used the same photo, but came up with very different compositions.

Cut a view finder out of a 3 x 5 card or piece of white paper. You want the hole in the center to be about 1.5 inches by 3 at the largest.

Move the viewfinder around your picture until you find shapes that interest you. Look for:

1. A definite center of interest. Using the "rule of thirds," place that point of interest on one of those points.

  **Rule of thirds: Divide your paper into thirds horizontally, then in thirds vertically until you have 9

      equal sections. There will be 4 points that intersect. Any of these points makes a good place to put your center of interest.

2. Diagonal lines or other shapes that enhance or point to that center of interest. 

3. No corner should be like any other. (If a corner has no shapes or lines in it, then no other corner can look like that.)

I found the shapes here interesting:

Divide your paper into 4. Draw your composition in the first section.

4. Limit your shapes to about 10-13. At first, since we are working small, I want to keep the shapes I draw to the bare minimum, leaving me room to expand on textures and values as I work through the picture.

Divide a 9 x 12 sheet of paper into fourths. Draw your design on one of the fourths. Refine it by joining shapes, creating new shapes, etc. until you are happy with the design. Then copy this design on each of the other rectangles on the paper. (We used tracing paper and transfer paper) On the last quarter, REVERSE your design by turning the tracing paper over and copying that. If your reverse design still looks good, you can be pretty certain you have a good composition. 

Below you see my sketch, copied 4 times. 

 

In the first picture, use Paynes gray or dark blue or other dark color to do a value study. Leave whites, especially around your area of interest. Paint your medium values gray. Do your dark value. You only need those three. 

In the next section, select a color scheme. I like to pick a color I love but don't get to use very often and build a color scheme around that. In this case, the colors wwew manganese blue and Cascade green.

In the third section, try another color scheme. I wanted to add the element of texture. Since these are small, I just wet the paper, dropped in colors (yellow and magenta), leaving whites around where I want the center of interest. (I did this on the fourth one also with a different color combination) I salted one and just dropped water drops onto the other before the paint dried to get small blossoms.

On these last two, I tried to leave more soft edges and concentrated on making things look more connected. I am still using the original composition as the "bones" of the painting, but trying new things.

This third picture used mostly a warm color scheme with red/yellows/oranges and a little blue, the complement of orange, around the center of interest. I darkened two of the corners to keep you in the picture. I used repeated patterns to add interest. I eliminated some shapes, combined others, and added a few new shapes.  

The fourth, "reversed" picture, I used analogous colors (blue, magenta, purple).

I combined some shapes. Did some negative painting in an otherwise quiet corner (bottom left). I allowed shapes to blend together. I tried to create a little form by shading some shapes, especially the long diagonals.

Here are all the four "possibilities" seen together.

The object of the exercise is, first, to discover a new way to find  interesting shapes for a composition. Second, to find where I want to put my values. Third, to experiment with color combinations, textures, and soft/hard edges. You need to understand this to be ready to do a larger abstract in this style. 

When we do the larger version, we will go through the same steps of finding a composition from a photo using a view finder. We'll do a small sketch, modify it, then draw it onto larger paper. 

NEUROGRAPHS and COLOR SCHEMES

I LOVED PAINTING THIS!

What is a neurograph?

Neuroart and neurographical art are the same things. You can draw both real and abstract objects. Neurographica is an entire process that is based on a psychological method. It was developed by Russian psychologist and artist Pavel Piskarev in 2014. When we use the Neurographic algorithms while drawing we enlarge the number of working neurons. Both types of neurographic art are really fascinating. They use creativity as a therapeutic approach. This form of art helps to realize how the inner being reacts to the outer world. Neurographical art is a way to transform one’s fears and chaos in our world into something more calm and peaceful. Neuroart is a way to transform your stress into something harmonious. (from Wikipedia)

There are only 2 or 3 basics to creating neurographs. First, you try to put yourself in a peaceful atmosphere, with calm music if you desire. Using your NON DOMINANT hand, and using a dark pen that moves smoothly across paper, start at one edge of the paper. Draw loops and lines,--doodling, if you will--and end up on another edge of the paper. I added some circles to mine after the original "doodle." You can add more lines, as long as they end up going off the page.

Using your pen, you find where the lines intersect, and round off each sharp angle. Thinking of this as a meditative approach, this represents smoothing out the hard edges of problems, pains, concerns.

Here is an 8 minute video that demonstrates the process:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoIgdt-uQR0

There are others that you might enjoy also on youtube.

Most tell you to add color in afterward, but I wanted the freedom to create my colors first, to show some things about color schemes and glazing colors.

So, our first step, before creating the neurograph lines, was to choose a color scheme. I chose a triad of yellow, blue-green, and red violet. I wet the entire paper, put yellow over the top randomly, added magenta at the bottom and into the yellow, then, before it lost its shine, I added some popcorn salt. Each person had to choose a color scheme, and begin with 2 of those colors for the base.

I also used a comb to embed some lines of texture into the piece. Dry completely.

 

When that was dry, I squiggled a line of dark blue and sprayed it with water to keep the edges interesting, tipping the painting a little to make the paint flow. I added some dark sodalite genuine to make it darker and add some texture. This had to be dried completely.

Next I used a circle template. I found parts that I thought were most interesting and drew different sized circles around them in pencil. I used my 3rd color plus more quin gold to paint around the circles. I wanted to "glaze" the background, creating more interest in the color. I tried to avoid hard edges except around the circles, which I want to come forward. 

After this I used a sharpie to color around the circles. Then I created a "web" for the neurograph.

 After that, I rounded off all edges, creating more small forms as I went along. I used some white ink for some marks and dots, and irridescent paint in areas I wanted more interest in. Pretty happy with the results. Seems like a nice way to cover up any "accidents."

Here is a link to an artist who does a lot of these to give you more ideas to play with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDHcdiMijec&t=1924s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtKSOUV7U8U

CLASS WORK BRAG TIME

Here are John's from last week! Love the energy!

simple abstract using complementary colors to create neutrals

     

 Use the color wheel to discover what each colors opposite, or complementary, color is.

Complement means "to complete." (red/green; blue/orange;yellow/violet) A good way to remember a color's complement is to think of one of the colors, say red. What 2 primaries are not used? Blue and yellow, which together make green. So red and green are complements. Think of violet, which is made from red and blue. What primary is not used? Yellow. So yellow is the complement of violet.

Try to find as many tones as possible by adding two complements together.

First we made a chart. On the left is the primary color, and on the far right is the complement. Paint in the primary color. I started with red. In the next circle or rectangle, add a little of the complement, in this case green. It will still look red, but slightly neutralized. In each successive circle, add a little more of the complement. In the middle you should get one brown and one gray. The brown will have more of the red, and the gray will have more of the green.

Do this with each primary and its complement. Label the colors that you used.

Many artists make their browns and grays using French ultramarine (for the blue) and burnt sienna for the orange. Try to make a brown and gray with these. You can make a very dark gray, almost black with these two colors.

FOR THE PROJECT:

Choose a primary and its complement. On your paper, create some shapes of your choosing using the bright primary and the complement, unneutralized. Then make more shapes using some of your neutralized colors, still using the same primary and complement you started with. You can overlap shapes, make some of them have texture, or have some edges fading away. 

When this is dry, use some black fine tip marker to create lines, dots, textures to add interest and to "connect" some of the shapes. Just relax and have fun with this. This should almost be meditative.

Here is an example. I used some geometric shapes on this on, slightly bulged in places. I first put in the yellow and purple shapes, then created some neutralized yellows and grays and added some more shapes.

When I started with the pen, first I tried to add interest to some of the shapes, adding some lines in or around them. I connected some of the shapes by drawing shapes around them. I Made a dotted path around the picture to connect some things. As I played with it, I began to think it looked like detritus dropped in the ocean. So I decided to add a fish peeking out. Then I added a school of smaller fish. And as I looked, I realized that the whole shape was looking a lot like an angel fish, so I enhanced that look by adding a triangle shape on the right for a mouth, and a few long purple shapes to suggest fins.

Here are a few student works, some not finished, but with great starts.

"Tulip" abstract using color wheel

 

This is a beginner project, but a lot of fun. You will need:

Watercolor paper: Either a quarter sheet or larger; OR, make it in 3 pieces of 9 x 12 paper. (I prefer doing it in 3 pieces)

Your color wheel

Your 6 colors on the split wheel

A cut credit card

The purpose of the project is to make a harmonious painting, using every color in the SPLIT PRIMARY color wheel in order, starting with one color (mine is yellow) and working your way around the color wheel until you return to the same color. It doesn't matter which color you start with or which direction you go around the wheel (clockwise or counterclockwise), as long as you use each color.

A second purpose is to practice a little wet into wet technique. 

If using one sheet of paper, divide the paper into thirds, either with a pencil or a piece of masking tape. This will assure that there will be a balanced number of shapes in each area. IF using 3 separate sheets, you don't need to do that step.

Start at one point in the color wheel (I started with yellow). Make a yellow shape at the far left top. Make a blue  (my green biased blue) shape at the far right top of this third of sheet. (Or the first of 3 pieces of paper.) The middle shape will be green. Then in between you will make a yellow green next to the yellow and a blue green next to the blue. I am going clockwise on the colorwheel. (The reason I did them in this order was to be sure I had enough room for each of the 5 colors needed for that section)

Following my color wheel, in the 2nd, middle, part of my paper,I put a purple biased blue next, a purple in the middle, and magenta (purple biased red) on the far right. I will put a blue violet between the blue and purple, and a red violet between the purple and magenta.

On the final third of my paper, continuing clockwise on my color wheel, I put an orange biased red shape, orange in the middle, and an orange bias yellow on the far right. In between the red and orange I make a red-orange; in between the orange and yellow I make a yellow orange. 

I do this row first to establish generally where colors in the following rows should go.

I try to vary the size and direction of my shapes.

I also try to put them in wet into wet: meaning I wet the paper, add the paint, then drop in a bit of the next color. This is to try to make them visually "connect", as one shape acts as an introduction to the following shape.

You will also notice that, since I want these to look like flowers at the end, I wet the bottoms of some of the shapes to create the beginning of stems.

Continue to make rows of shapes underneath the first, keeping the colors in order, but continuing to vary the size and placement of the shapes. Do this down to about 2/3 or the length of your paper, leaving 1/3 at the bottom.

When you have finished with these shapes you are ready to make "stems." For these you just need a credit card cut up with one end about 1 inch wide. This allows you to make a flexible line.

Mix dark paint of your choosing ( I tried to make my stems a contrasting color to the flowers). Make a thick mixture...not straight out of the tube, but not puddly. The test would be if you tip your palette, the paint should not run. 

Drag the credit card through the thick mixture. Hold it perpendicular to the paper (not at an angle) and draw it down to make a stem. You might want to practice on scrap paper first. But it makes very effect, slightly broken lines.

Make your lines go right over any shapes below it, and go all the way to the bottom of the paper. This will help create depth and connection in your painting.

Below you will see this as three paintings meant to be framed together.

On these I still started with yellow, but went the other way (counterclockwise) on the color wheel. Doing it in three was more playful. As a bonus, I can move these around -- put the red/purple/blue, then blue/green/yellow, then yellow/orange/red-- if I want to change it up. 

You can also see some spattering at the end here.

Here is the split color wheel I followed on each of these.

I only used these 6 paints, creating the secondary and tertiary colors with

only my primaries.

You can start this painting anywhere on the color wheel. If you wanted to start with blue, and go clockwise on the color wheel, you could do French Ultramarine, then blue violet (with more FUM and a little magenta), then violet, then red violet, then magenta; That would be your first third of the paper. Then you would go to Pyrrol Red (or your orange bias red), then red orange, then orange, then yellow orange, then your orange bias yellow (new gamboge on this wheel). You would continue through the yellows and green and end with green biased blue. As long as you use the color wheel to guide you, you shouldn't get lost.