Artists Express their Feelings and Emotions

Some humans express their feelings with words, some share their feelings in song, others with their body language-- a hug, a smile or a scowl.  Artists EXPRESS how they feel with their artwork.  Let's explore COLORS AND EMOTIONS in art.

First let's identify some feelings:

Now, let's find some of these in art.

Artist Bisa Butler creates expressive portraits with the art of quilting.  Portraits are pictures of people and can show us facial expressions of how a person is feeling.

Yes, Bisa sews images of people and faces with thread and carefully placed fabric.  Often, colors like blue and red help Bisa to express feelings she quilting. 

Can you show emotion without people or faces?  How?

Color can give your artwork a mood or feeling.  What feeling does it look like Pablo Picasso is trying to express in these paintings? What is the main color you are noticing in Pablo's work?  

These were painted during what is referred to as Pablo Picasso's Blue Period, a time in his life where he was expressing feelings of loneliness and despair in his art.  He was feeling the sadness of a friend who had passed away.

Blue, Green and Purple are COOL COLORS that can create a calm, melancholy or sad feeling in your art.

Color is a powerful tool in art.




So if Blue can express sadness or calm, what feelings do Red, Orange and Yellow make you feel?

Warm Colors such as RED, Yellow and Orange can give a happy, loved, upbeat, energetic or excited feeling.  Red can also feel angry or a sense of danger. 

Jackson Pollock

With the colors you choose, you have the power to affect how the viewer feels when they look at your art.

Lines can also help an artist to capture our attention and communicate moods.  There are so many types of lines an artist can draw, paint or even sew!  Lines can be very expressive.

Horizontal lines can feel peaceful and calm.

Martin Johnson Heade

Vertical lines express energy and power.

Curved lines can be relaxing and soft.

Heather Hanson is a dancer and creates symmetrical curved lines using charcoal and her whole body. People often watch her performance as she moves and dances charcoal onto large paper in order to create art .

Angled lines like diagonal lines can feel agitated or active.  Does anyone know what agitated means?

Kandinsky

Picasso

Sometimes the subject alone can be expressive of a certain mood or feeling.  The subject is the main idea or image the artist is trying to show or get us to notice in their art.  

Can you name a feeling for each of these art works?

Vincent Van Gogh

Edward Hopper

Keith Haring

Dawn Okoro

Kandinsky

Kollowitz

Kieffer

Will you use color or lines to show a certain feeling in your art?

Will you express your feelings with your art?

One Artwork, Two or more Studios

When your art combines more than one medium we say that it is MIXED MEDIA.   Multiple mediums or materials are used to create the work of art.

We have many studios to choose from in our Art Room.  You can paint, draw, collage, sculpt, print, sew and weave, build structures, mold ceramics and create jewelry.   What would happen if you visit more than one studio with your art?  Let's find out.

A DRAWING but make it FIBERS



Artist Victoria Villasana embroiders, sews, right into photos.  She is "drawing" with her thread.  Artists can use fiber materials like yarn to create various stitched lines.

You can sketch a drawing and then sew running stitches and other embroidery stitches.  Make a stuffy and embellish your fiber arts with fabric markers right onto the cloth.

You could sew lines right into painted paper to make tree branches and grasses.

A PAINTING but make it COLLAGE

Start in the painting studio creating colorfully painted paper (or maybe you have a painting that wasn't what you had envisioned). When your painting is dry, cut it into shapes and glue.  Or glue other papers onto a painting.

a COLLAGE but make it a DRAWING

The artist Henri Matisse called cutting out paper shapes "drawing with scissors".  This artwork by Henri is cut paper shapes.

Could you use your scissors to draw?  Your cutting becomes a drawing as we see in the lines of these paper portraits. Use your scissors to "draw" into paper. 

a PAINTING but make it COLLAGE

Paint paper in the Painting Studio.  Tear and glue painted paper onto a painted sky background and add boats or sea-life.  You now have a Collage.

More PAINTINGS turned into a COLLAGE

Which part is painted which part is a collage?

FIBERS but make it JEWELRY

A PAINTING but make it a SCULPTURE

Painted cardboard can become a sculpture.  or Add painted cardboard shapes to a painting.  Paint on a cardboard relief of a sunshine.

a DRAWING but make it SCULPTURE

Draw onto cardboard or paper.  Twist, fold, bend, twirl, slit the paper or cardboard to make it 3D.

a DRAWING but make it PAINTING

take a drawing and paint in areas of color.  Watercolor is transparent so your black Sharpie will show through the paint.  Try stippling.

a CERAMIC ARTWORK but make it JEWELRY

This work combines drawing and painting.  with a touch of collage.

Will you try to work on your art in more than one studio?

Will you persist in working on your art for more than one class?