abstraction motivation

I've been listening to Drive by Daniel Pink (the audiobook) on my drive to and from work.  He has some very interesting ideas about what motivates us.  Below is an RSA animate sum up of big ideas of the book if you're interested in the visual, love watching these!

One idea that rang true to me was the idea that rewards work well for the routine simple tasks, but for creative endeavors rewards can sometimes hinder us.  I've been working on some book illustrations for sometime and I've struggled to get excited lately about it, because I know there is a specific way they are to be done and that I'll be paid, pressure! 

But I feel extremely motivated to create abstract free flowing pieces lately. I get an intrinsic sweet joy from doing it.  I don't feel boxed in or driven by someone telling me to do it, but because I enjoy it.  I feel how I did in high school when I could create things purely to create.  Most times I don't care if I'm getting paid, I just want to make it! This is hard to explain to some people, but surely there are you peeps out there that can relate!?

And I've also fallen in love with, hoping to have a long term relationship with goache.  I've wanted to try it for sooo long.  I've attempted pretty much every medium, but goache makes me really really happy.  Below is a piece that came from a lovely date with goache and I.  I love that it is opaque and has that beautiful fluidness of watercolor.

As a young adolescent, I couldn't understand why anyone would want to make abstract art. I thought it was totally lame. I thought art was just the realistic stuff I came up with.  As my students sometimes say about abstract art so thought I: "that's ugly" or "that looks like a 4 year old made it."  Both not true of all abstract art.  Sure some abstract stuff out that gives makes me vomit a little.  But to make a truly magical abstract piece...it requires skill, creativity, thought.  Some would argue it doesn't, but after seeing my students stumbling to make anything abstract it's obvious it is harder than it looks!

I really love the way colors, shapes, lines work together. Here are some of my fave artists lately:

Michelle Armas


Britt Bass


Caroline Wright

Collaborative project: 7th grade line drawing

I wanted something up on the walls by parent teacher conferences a few weeks ago.  I had only had my students for about a week, not enough time to make much. So in one day we made some massive butcher paper abstract line color drawing thingies for the hallways.  I looove them! They are so bright and colorful.

All of this was done within a 45 minute class period.  Each of my 7th grade classes made 4 long strips of butcher paper pieces.  We talked about line and color a bit and then they traced a partner with crayola washable markers.  Everyone in the class was traced, making sure to overlap their bodies (not while the other person is still laying there of course).

After the lines had criss-crossed everywhere, making lots of shapes, I told them to start filling in the shapes with different patterns of line.  Sort of like a zentangle. They did this for about 8 minutes and then we brought out the paint! 

I use these tempera cakes palettes a lot now.  It's quick clean up, they last forever! The brush comes in the palette. I used to hate tempera and I still don't like the texture much.  But when you have 35 students and 3 sinks...the less clean up the better.

After filling in with lines, they started painted inside the shapes.  Because we used crayola washable markers, when the wet paint touched it, the markers started to bleed, but I loved the effect.  It was a welcomed accident.  So in just 45 minutes, we had lots of huge colorful papers to hang on the walls. =)