DESCRIPTION INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS BEFORE SHOWING

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2 DESCRIPTION Gerald Brommer demonstrates four methods of abstraction based on visual elements that are recognizable but not realistic. The artist explains contour continuation, simplification, distortion, and fracturing. Using a step-by-step demonstration to depict each method, Brommer incorporates overlapping, horizontal, and vertical displacement through the media of watercolor and collage. Combining techniques and experimentation can be a way to develop a sense of abstraction. INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS To demonstrate step-by-step methods to create different abstractions. To change a visual form into an abstract form through line continuation. To transform realistic visual form through simplification, using drawings and watercolor paints. To demonstrate that distortion can be achieved through color, size, and shape. To encourage experimentation with combinations of varieties of media and techniques to create abstract art. BEFORE SHOWING 1. Preview the video to determine unfamiliar vocabulary and language concepts. 2. Present a color wheel, and review concepts such as warm colors and cool colors. 3. Using a variety of drawings, identify the positive and negative spaces. a. Which is considered the subject? b. Which is considered the background? 4. Experiment with watercolor. a. Mute a color by adding water to the paint with the brush. 1

3 b. Experiment with the values of one color by creating shades of that color. c. Experiment with the other colors located in the palette. 5. Collect examples of abstractions with a subject that is recognizable but not realistic. a. Display the examples. b. Identify the subject or objects within each abstraction. 6. Acquire a sketch book or portfolio for practice drawings and keep for later use as subjects for paintings or collages. AFTER SHOWING Discussion Items and Questions 1. Discuss the different approaches used to abstract a visual form. Include: a. Contour continuation b. Simplification c. Distortion d. Fracturing 2. Discuss how a visual form can be changed. Include: a. Size b. Color c. Shape 3. Discuss the concept that there can be various degrees of abstraction of a visual form. Applications and Activities 1. Perform the abstraction activities. Review a specific segment prior to experimenting with each method. Experiment with: a. Contour continuation b. Simplification c. Distortion d. Compression and expansion e. Combination of fracturing and displacement 2

4 2. Store dated preliminary or practice sketches in a portfolio or sketch book for further development into art projects. 3. Make a drawing with five to seven visual forms. a. Overlap some of the objects drawn. b. Purposefully change some of the realistic shapes within the drawing to irregular shapes. 4. Experiment with contour continuation. a. Use rulers to extend lines to the edge of the page. b. Make a random exchange of drawings from #3. With the drawings, lines will extend to the edge of the page. c. Add a cruciform shape to organize the drawing. d. Save the sketch and develop it into a painting, incorporating warm colors for the positive spaces and cool colors for the negative spaces. 5. Collect renderings of artists work which exemplify cubism and/or contour continuation. Include works by: a. Georges Braque b. Lyonel Feininger 6. Implement computer software which enables the artist to draw and "paint" by color choice to complete a picture. a. Use various colors and experiment with different color combinations. b. Erase colors and use different ones to practice abstraction with color. 7. Experiment with the simplification technique of abstracting a visual form. a. Sequence four drawings from complex to simplified. b. At each stage, identify what was simplified. (See INSTRUCTIONAL GRAPHICS.) 8. Use various postcards to perform the abstraction activity demonstrated in the video. 9. Perform the distortion abstraction as demonstrated in the video. 3

5 a. Transform a human face into a long, narrow rectangle four times as tall as in the practice drawing. b. Choose and transform a different visual form other than the human face. 10. Apply the distortion techniques of abstraction to an alternative space or shape to the one demonstrated in the video. 11. Obtain examples of work from Charles Demuth and Hans Hofmann. Compare each and discuss the following: a. Which painting is nonobjective and why? b. What is the meaning of nonobjective? c. What is abstract art? d. What kind of art does the video depict? 12. Distribute the following material list. Collect materials and perform the collage activity as demonstrated in the video. a. 8 to 10 pieces of assorted papers in various colors and prints b. A glue stick c. An old telephone book d. Mat board to accommodate the size of the collage e. Paint and paintbrush optional 13. Locate pictures or photographs depicting division of space such as those seen in the video. Mount and display. Include: a. Geographic magazines b. Travel brochures or posters c. Travel magazines d. Landscape magazines 14. Upon completion of an abstraction landscape, create a written work to accompany the collage. Consider: a. Travel brochure b. Landscape description c. Collage description 15. Recall the different types of abstraction used by Gerald Brommer within the final project. 4

6 16. Incorporating at least three techniques as experimented in the video, create an abstraction involving: a. Fracturing b. Vertical displacement c. Horizontal displacement INSTRUCTIONAL GRAPHICS One instructional graphic is included with this lesson guide. It may be enlarged and used to create transparencies or copies. SIMPLIFICATION SEQUENCE WEBSITES Explore the Internet to discover sites related to this topic. Check the CFV website for related information ( SUMMARY Gerald Brommer demonstrates the abstraction of visual forms. Works from Charles Demuth and Hans Hofmann depict the differences in abstraction. Artwork addressed in this video includes abstract visual forms that are recognizable but not necessarily realistic, similar to Demuth s paintings. The first project is contour continuation, which is a device used by cubists. The artist draws a still life of seven objects, with some overlapping. The original shape transforms into a nonrealistic one. With a completed sketch, the artist extends lines or contours of the objects to the edge of the page by ruler or free hand. He incorporates a cruciform shape into the drawing, creating many lines into the total picture and creating space division. He paints positive objects in warm colors--colors containing red--and negative spaces become the background in cool colors--colors containing blue. He paints colors in various shapes and values throughout the painting to help promote a 5

7 balanced effect. He adds a mat to the completed painting. Charles Sheeler and Paul Klee are artists who abstracted forms by taking complex subjects and simplifying them. Brommer demonstrates this technique by selecting a realistic representation of a lighthouse and through many sketches, simplifies and stylizes it into a geometric drawing. By incorporating the contrast of the positive and negative space, arbitrary colors, paints, and mat board, he completes the picture. Different effects can be achieved on similar subjects by varying color intensity. The next exercise in abstraction is distortion. The subject is a human face. The artist draws a rectangle with appropriate proportional features, but changes this to four times as tall as the sketch. Brommer illustrates placement of facial features into the rectangle with exaggerations made to features and size. He applies a marker and uses watercolor. He adds distorted colors to the abstraction of the face, creating a different feeling about the finished piece. The artist uses a collage in the next demonstration of abstraction: division of space. Three areas of space (large, small, and medium) arranged together can create an intense amount of attention to the constricted area. He arranges various types of papers with compatible colors so there is a neutral area on the bottom, brilliant colors in the constricted area, and dark colors at the top. He demonstrates tearing techniques, crayons, pastels, and paint accents to achieve textures and effects on the paper. Colors can enhance the uniqueness of this art form. The last abstraction involves combining techniques: simplification, overlapping, cubism, fracturing, and vertical displacement in a painting that transforms to a collage. Using a scene of people walking, the artist deals with positive and negative spaces and color intensity. Lines used to define shapes, not subjects, come into play, and the finished picture is 6

8 cut into one-inch strips and put back in various ways to abstract the painting even further. Finally, Brommer summarizes the procedure. He suggests trying these techniques or combining them to develop abstract art. 7

9 SIMPLIFICATION SEQUENCE DIRECTIONS: Cutout andsequencefourdrawingsinorder frommorecomplextosimplified. SIMPLIFICATION SEQUENCE DIRECTIONS: Sequencefourdrawings,going in orderfrom complex tosimple SIMPLIFICATION SEQUENCE DIRECTIONS: Sequencefour drawings,goingin order fromcomplex to simple