Saturday, August 30, 2008

SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE: VARIATIONS ON ONE THEME


I am so excited about the challenge that I have prepared for September that I decided to start a day early in presenting it!
Here is the idea:
We are all going to be working with the same image. In this way we will have maximum variety for one image. Here is our guy. You might remember him from a previous drawing challenge. I picked him because I can see the potential. If you would like me to send you by e-mail a higher resolution image, let me know. From here on "we" means myself and any others out there that want to play along. "We" are going to create as many paintings based on this image as we can by working with the 7 elements of design. The elements are:

LINE...SIZE...SHAPE...DIRECTION...COLOR...VALUE...TEXTURE

Each month I will select an element which will be THE DOMINANT ELEMENT in the painting. LINE WILL BE THE DOMINANT ELEMENT FOR SEPTEMBER. I have found by creating restrictions I am MUCH MORE CREATIVE and FOCUSED forcing my thoughts and ideas to fit within the limitations. For WEEK ONE of September, the first limitation is that LINE will be the most dominant element of the painting. The second limitation is that it be not only line but THINKING OF LINE IN TERMS OF SIZE. I am not going to define what I mean by that because I want you to interpret what that means to you and then work with it. The third limitation will be color: You can only use 5 tubes of paint. You can decide what color scheme you want to work with, i.e. triad, split compliment, analogous, etc.





I have posted a few examples of line from my series Nick with Guitar to get you started. You might want to search the internet, look at competition show catalogues, go to the bookstore and look at the art magazines, think of famous painters who used line as a strong element, etc. to get some ideas. You might want to start a notebook where you file these ideas and images according to these elements for future reference.

A few thoughts on LINE and then we are off and running!
"Line is a dot who went for a walk" (I think this is a quote by Matisse...please correct me if wrong)
A line can be jagged or smooth, disconnected or continual, delicate or bold, tentative or assertive, implied, smudged, fading in and out and so much more. Each of these characteristics suggest mood or meaning. Thinking about all the possibilities with just line alone boggles the mind!

I can't wait to see what you come up with. I have already written down 3 or 4 ideas. Work any size you want. I personally think quarter sheet is the smallest I will work if pressed for time. Be sure and send me what you come up with.

3 comments:

Nava said...

That may be the coolest challenge!!!!! Saves a lot of self-debating about WHAT should I paint. And it's a great image - I think I'll join in the fun. You may have just gotten out of the boggy quagmire of not painting!! Thank you!!!

Sunny said...

Thanks for the ideas. I will give it a try.
Any recommendation for famous painters who used line as a strong element?

jen hook said...

Hi Myrna,
great challenge, I haven't completed any full paintings yet but i have explored the line through sketches
you can see the results on my flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/janicemarie/sets/72157606615546264/

Related Posts with Thumbnails