Hi Everyone!

We’re excited to launch Creative Clues, a new monthly feature of Art Starts at Louisville Visual Art. With each new Clue, we’ll provide some pointers to help you succeed and improve.

Creative Clues Showcase


CLUE: MOON
Deadline for artwork submission is January 31, 2022 at midnight.

How to: The Shape of One Thing or Another!

Shape is one of the Elements of Art. Shape is made of line or color. It is a 2-dimensional object. There are

two main types of shapes, geometric and organic.

Geometric Shapes

 

Geometric shapes are any shapes and based on math principles, such as a square, circle, and triangle.

 

Piet Mondrian is an example of an artist who used geometric shapes. In his Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red (1937-42), Mondrian, used straight lines to divide his canvas into rectangles of primary colors. Piet Mondrian is a Dutch artist known for his abstract paintings. Art that is abstract does not show things that are recognizable such as people, objects or landscapes. Instead artists use colors, shapes and textures to achieve their effect. Find out more about Piet Mondrian here.

Piet Mondrian, Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red, 1937-42

Organic Shapes

Organic shapes are often curvy in appearance and are similar to shapes found in nature, such as plants, animals, and rocks.

Henri Matisse is an example of an artist who used organic shapes (if you look closely in the art work, you will also find geometric shapes). He was a French artist known for his color and unique ideas. Due to an illness late in life, he became confined to a wheel chair and he developed the idea of “drawing with scissors” – paper collage. Find out more about Henri Matisse here.

Henri Matisse, Beasts of the Sea, 1950

Worlds of Shapes

Let’s look at these paper collages by Henri Matisse. What do you notice about the shapes in his artwork? Do some objects look like real objects? Do some objects look like nothing real? Imagine you are inside each paper collage? What kinds of worlds are you surrounded by?

Henri Matisse, Beasts of the Sea, 1950 

       Henri Matisse, Icarus, 1946

Henri Matisse, Polynesia, the Sea, 1946

Supplies you will need:

  • 14”x17” background paper, any color you want (think of your world)

  • colored papers

  • scissors

  • glue stick or school glue

  1. To start this project, imagine your world on your piece of background paper.

  2. Cut out your shapes, you may use organic shape or geometric shapes or a combination. Notice, some of your scrap paper may make shapes that work and look good in your paper collage (negative shapes).

  3. Lay your shapes on your background paper, move them around until you have a composition you like, until you have created your world.

  4. Glue your shapes into place.

G. (Gloucester) Caliman Coxe was an abstract painter from Louisville, KY. Coxe entered the University of Louisville in his 40s and studied visual art. He was the first African American to receive a Hite Art Scholarship and its first African American Fine Arts graduate. He was an inspiration to many young artists including Sam Gilliam, Bob Thompson, Ed Hamilton, Sylvia Clay and William Duffy. Learn more about G.C. Coxe here.

What shapes do you see in the painting, “Ebony Plays”? What is the world you feel, when you step inside this painting?

G.C. Coxe, Ebony Plays, 1972

“He or She who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices
is free and nothing holds them back.”

-Henri Matisse

Send in your MOON artwork

Deadline for artwork submission is January 31, 2022 at midnight.

  • Content: family friendly (LVA will determine if artwork is appropriate to share online.)

  • Ages 5 to 105!

  • Photo Guidelines: here is a nifty link, if you want to learn to take great pictures of your artwork

  • Consent and Permission: By filling out the form below, you give LVA permission to display your artwork and information in the Creative Clue Showcase. *NOTE: if you are under 18 years old, please have a parent or guardian complete the form.

  • Address: email artwork to: artstartshere@louisvillevisualart.org

  • Social Media: you may share your artwork on Instagram: #artwithinreach, #ArtStartsAtLVA

LVA will notify you if your artwork is in the Creative Clues Showcase at the end of the month. artstartshere@louisvillevisualart.org

Remember to use your past How To pages to come up with creative solutions for your new clue:

January 2021 - Winter -Thumbnails

February 2021 - Heart - Research

March 2021 - Chair

April 2021 - Spring

May 2021 - Breeze

June 2021 - Light

July 2021 - Together

August 2021 - Trees

September 2021 - Apples & Pears

October 2021 - Pets

November 2021 - Leaf

December 2021 - Space