Activity 1: Discovering your color palette.

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1 I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for. Georgia O'Keeffe This week s activities are going to focus around uncovering your personal voice. There is no end destination in this process, as it is an ongoing process. Your personal voice, and style will change throughout your life. Through these exercises the goal is to help you become more clear you your personal voice and how to bring it into the work that you create. Below you will find 7 activities, you are welcome to do all of them, but only have to do 5. Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun. Pablo Picasso Activity 1: Discovering your color palette. We re all drawn and attracted to certain colors. You will love some colors that other people hate. As we talked about in the lesson color, there are several ways that you can use color in your work. You can use color to portray the colors that things actually are You can use color in a more symbolic way, and make things the colors that we assume they are. ie water= blue, grass= green, apple = red You can use color to tell a story, create an emotion you can use color to help convey your personal style and voice. The images below and from Picasso s blue period. The use of blue both conveys a feeling, as well as connects all of the pieces together.

2 Remember, your color palette doesn t have to stay your color palette for your entire life, it s simply what you re working with for a body of work.

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4 This next group of work is from the artist Francis Bacon. Again note how color both conveys and helps to connect the pieces.

5 On a piece of paper ( size is your choice) you re going to create a table like the one that you see below. Next choose paint, watercolor, colored pencil whatever you wish to use to create color In box one, you are going to put your favorite color box two, choose a color that you think looks best with the color that you put in box 1. ( do not worry about color theory, this is what color YOU think looks best) in box 5, you can match box 4, or box 1 Note if you re finding that you want to repeat a color, try to make yourself use a different shade or tint of that color box 1 box 2 box 3 box 4 box 5 box 6 box 7 box 8 box 9 box 10 box 11 box 12 Above you re seeing an example of a color palette I created. I love some of these colors more than others, which you will likely find as well. And it s rare that you re going to use all 12 colors at once, but this is a good way for you to think about, how could you start sharing your personal voice in your work, through the colors that you use.

6 Activity 2: Go to the following website: Upload a few of your pieces into the site, and see what kind of color palettes it creates. Reflect on those palettes. Do they surprise you? Do they match the palette that you created? Activity 3: Often the best way to understand personal voice is to see it in action. For this activity you need to think of 2 or 3 of your favorite brands. Examples: Apple Nike J Crew LuluLemon Any brand is fine. After selecting your 2 or 3 brands you re going to answer the following questions. 1. What is their color palette? If you aren t sure, load the logo and a few of their images into the adobe website and see what you find. 2. What is the story or purpose behind their brand? ( A few places to find this, if you don t already know. Read their about page on their website. Or look at their tagline. A tagline is also known as a slogan. So Nike s tagline is Just do it )

7 3. List as many ways that you can see that they are telling their story. Is through font that they choose, the way they take photos, the colors that they use, the way that they speak? 4. Rate their ability to show their personal voice throughout their brand on a scale of meaning you can recognize their work anywhere. Activity 4: You re now going to do the same thing with an artist of your choice. We started with the brand as it s often it bit easier to pull out in a brand than an artist. When you re looking at the artist work, you might want to narrow it down to a certain time period, instead of looking at their entire life s work. 2. What is their color palette? If you aren t sure, load a few of their pieces into the adobe website and see what you find.

8 3. What is the story or purpose behind their brand? ( you might be able to find this in an artist statement or bio) 4. List as many ways that you can see that they are telling their story. How is their unique voice showing up in their work? 5. Rate their ability to show their personal voice throughout their brand on a scale of meaning you can recognize their work anywhere.

9 Activity 5: Back to you! We re going to dig a little bit deeper. Do your best to answer the following questions about your work. You are answering: What will people say when they look at your work What will people do when they look at your work What will people feel when they look at your work what will people know when they look at your work people will say people will do people will feel people will know

10 Activity 6: While your personal voice will show up in your artwork, it naturally shows up in other areas of your life as well. You might see your personal voice something through in your style/ the way that you dress. You might find parts of it in your personality. For this activity your going to interview some of your close family and friends, and ask them questions about you. Below are the questions to use for your interview. You should interview at least 5 people. 1. Describe my style in 3 to 5 words. Style meaning how you dress, or how you decorate your room. 2. Am I extroverted or introverted? 3. Am I neat or organized? 4. Am I talkative or quiet? 5. What colors remind you of me? Activity 7 For this round you re going to ask 3 5 people about your artwork. Choose 1 or 2 pieces of your work that you re proud of and ask people the following questions. 1. What 3 5 words would you use to describe this piece?

11 2. What is the first color that comes to your mind when you look at this? 3. What emotion do you think of when you look at this piece? 4. Does the word geometric or organic better describe this piece? 5. Does the word loud or quiet better describe this piece? 6. Does the word confident or timid better describe this piece? Now you re going to go back through all of the information that you just gathered and see if you can get more focused on what things are uniquely you, and how can you bring them into you work. 1. What words did you find best describe your work?

12 2. What do the above words look like? 3. What colors best represent your work? 4. What emotions do those colors portray? 5. What is your personal style? 6. What would elements of your personal style look like in your work?