"MATISSE" MOTIF

Here is an exercise I hadn't tried before. Not that it is a new idea. Cut paper images were perfected by Matisse and so have been around for awhile. Years ago we were at Disneyworld with the kids and had their silhouettes made from cut paper. The artist never drew a line. He just looked at his subject and started cutting and turning the paper all the while producing remarkable likenesses. Lately, I kept running into the idea but thought portraiture a little too challenging. When ideas keep reappearing and jumping out at you, it's time to pay attention. So, in preparation for my new book, I wanted to include the idea of using cut paper as a design technique. I needed to have a sample to include for reference. Here is my "Frenchman a la Matisse" . Cutting shapes without a pattern is more difficult than I had anticipated. There were a few false starts, frustration, temptation to quit but then....I started to really get into it! After awhile I started cutting back into the shapes for negative spaces. After a time, I couldn't stop. I kept adding little shapes and lines to the face. When I have more time, I think I want to practice and get much better. I see real potential for some interesting paintings based on these cut paper patterns. There are some fun examples in the back of the book "Body Parts" by Northlight. Give this a try. Share your results with me and I'll make a slide show.

CUT PAPER U-TUBE VIDEO

I found this interesting video on u-tube showing a different way to make a cut paper image. Click on the title of this post and it will link you immediately to the video. COOL! This gal cuts out a figure from a photograph and backs it with colored paper (most colored paper will fade, so make a wise choice if you are going to do this). Then she cuts through with an x-acto knife small shapes that define the figure. Checks the colored paper side frequently to see what she is getting. When she is done, she removes the photograph and mounts the colored paper image on another interesting piece of paper. You could do this same thing with your own drawing or painting rather than a photo.

After several false starts, I finally finished another cut paper idea. First I took a piece of 300 lb watercolor paper and splashed it with color to use as the background for the cut paper image. Then I traced my original sketch onto another sheet of 300 lb paper that had been previously painted with random color. My idea was to cut through this paper and mount it onto the first. What was I thinking? You can't cut through 300 lb paper with any ease at all!!! Dumb. Set that aside. Next, I decide to use some of my hand painted tissue paper. I can cut through that easily enough! It was double thickness because of a mistake I made in painting it. I have a pair of very small, sharp cuticle type scissors for just this sort of work, so I slowed down and carefully cut out the image. I didn't like how it looked on the background I had prepared so I had to rummage around to find a suitable one. White worked well but I wanted something more interesting. I found a sheet of Tyvek I had messed up so I spread the Tyvek with matt medium (full strength) and attempted to attach the cut-paper tissue sheet. This was fairly challenging and I had some of the pieces shift around but over all I was satisfied. If I decide to do this again, I would use paper heavier than coated tissue for the cut paper part. Something that would glue down without shifting. How one goes about designing for this type of art is probably the biggest useful idea for the future. Working bigger would also make things easier. While I was working on this project, I also had another painting started on Tyvek. While one was drying, I could work on the other.

Maggie sent me the link for the National Portrait Gallery's portrait competition site. After looking at the 2006 winners, I decided to give it a try. Many of them were not your typical portrait. None of them were watercolors, but what the heck. I am going to enter my "Reflection on turning 65" painting. I only have the entry fee to lose and everything to gain. The entry deadline is the end of the month. https://entry.portraitcompetition.si.edu/ is the website.

MY FRIST PAPER CUT DRAWING + SLIDE STUDENT SLIDE SHOW

Here is my first attempt at the paper cut drawing. I just colored it in with markers instead of cutting it out. I think I will copy the image onto heavier paper and try cutting it out, just for fun and to see if it holds up! I decided I needed a border so I started with that. This is an image of 3 figures (cropped very close) The dark areas are the part I would cut out. Mostly my plan is to cut out lines to define the figures. I think I want to try it again and have the lines the parts that are left. While I was working on this drawing it occurred to me that unlimited options are the enemy of creativity. By creating limits, we force ourselves to come up with some new solutions and stretch.

Maggie Metcalf and Hilda Hall sent me their drawing series. It shows how multiple efforts really pay off. Each one found a face they couldn't resist! Great work, ladies. Thank you for sharing.

"STROKES OF GENIUS 2" ACCEPTED DRAWING!

I received a notification in the mail today that the above image will be included in the next Strokes of Genius 2 book! I am very excited and honored to be selected for inclusion in this book. I submitted about 7 drawings and thought I had created a folder on my computer desk top with the images and their "titles". It disappeared somehow. I wasn't sure for awhile which drawing they wanted but finally figured it out. I didn't want to seem too ditsy by having to check with Northlight for positive identification.

The book will be published next October 2009.

Meanwhile, back to the challenge of the month. Hilda was uncertain how to proceed. I suppose she is not alone so here is my
best attempt at a simplified explanation of a cut paper drawing. Think in terms of positive and negative shapes. The negative shapes would be the pieces you would cut away. The positive shapes would all have to stay connected so the piece wouldn't fall apart. Some of the connections can be quite slender lines. It isn't necessary to cut out the negative shapes, just draw the shapes in a way that it would be possible to do so. It is just a way of designing shapes and subdividing larger shapes. It is a parallel excercise to the wire sculpture drawings. That was a challenge with lines. This is a challenge about shapes. It is different from collage where you glue pieces on top of each other. Some of the paper sculptors do combine the cut paper in a collage manner. Don't worry to much about what is correct. The whole idea of the challenge is to get our minds thinking in new ways to interpret a subject. This is another way to think about shapes, pattern, representing your image. See what you can do. Get as creative as you can.