How does color work? How do we use color to express our experience?
Explore found sculpture through color and its many, many uses.
Art making episode and song, mini lesson for KTVU's SF Loves Learning television show below!
Watch how color is created through the primary hues of red, yellow, and blue. When combined, they can create secondary and tertiary colors.
See how Yayoi Kusama, Bridget Riley, Wassily Kandinsky, and many other artists investigate color in their art making.
Learn about the psychology of color and color meaning.
Explore found sculpture that has many forms and approaches such as Yuken Teruya's Corner Forest created out of toliet paper rolls, magnets, and metal rods.
See how Shinique Smith and Julie Peppito use found sculpture and color to work together.
Create your own found sculpture and mixed media art piece.
Before You Begin:
Remember that art is ish, it's human, and whatever comes from you is what it's meant to be. There's no such thing as "good" or "bad," "right" or "wrong" in art, so get making!
When The Piece Feels Finished:
While art is never finished (it's alive and living!), share your art when you feel that it is grounded and whole - when you feel you have given it your full attention and care. You can share your art by hanging it on a wall in your house, posting it on-line, or mailing it to someone you love.
Scroll down to see examples, extending ideas, and making steps!
Friendship song and mini lesson for KTVU's SF Loves Learning television show:
Color Me Art making episode:
Color Me Art Steps
1. Yell: "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Make Art!" (This transitions your brain; there's research about this!)
2. Collect objects in your environment (outside or inside) that can be used for art making - whether it is a permanent or temporary sculpture.
Think about:
Shape
Color
Weight
Meaning
Ways of adhering/combining
3. Play with composition and meaning. Build and iterate the way you would with blocks or drafts of written text.
Remember that this is ish art!
4. Take a picture and/or create a picture of your found sculpture.
Consider creating a mixed media art piece (crayons, color pencils, markers, paint, collage) that shows your found sculpture.
Consider exploring with adding a scene or a setting to your art piece, illustrating your form into a place or context.
5. When you feel finished with your form - when you feel grounded and whole in your art making, and have given the process your attention and care, see what you can notice in your product:
What most stands out about your piece?
What are you most proud of about your process?
How might you display or show your form?
How might this art piece live in the world? (I could display the art piece somewhere in my environment. I could share this process with someone when I talk to them on the phone or video call.)
6. Share your form with someone in your life and see if they'd like to try the process.
7. Think about the skills you used in this art making experience. How can the skills translate to your everyday life, outside of art making?
8. Notice your state-of-being: how do you feel? How can you describe your state-of-being?
9. Repeat the process and create a series.
Play with constraints:
find new materials to build with
try a different process for creating your form
create a collaborative piece with someone else, taking turns choosing the materials or method for creating
set a timer and only build for a specific amount of time
And, voilà: you've Colored Your Art!
