Intro to Painting
Assignment 1
Geometric Painting with Value and Hard Edge
:
Value is the relative degree of lightness or darkness. Value can be expressed through white, grays and
black surfaces.
Hard Edge
In the United States, during the late 1950s - The term Hard-edge painting was created in 1959 by art
historian Jules Langsner to distinguish the nonrepresentational work of four artists from California in an
exhibition called Four Abstract Classicists. The term then gained broader currency after British critic
Lawrence Alloway used it to describe contemporary American geometric abstract painting featuring an
“economy of form,” “fullness of color,” “neatness of surface,” and the non-relational, allover arrangement
of forms on the canvas. This style of geometric abstraction refers back to the work of Josef Albers and Piet
Mondrian. Artists associated with Hard-edge painting include Al Held, Ellsworth Kelly, Alexander
Liberman, Brice Marden, Kenneth Noland, Ad Reinhardt, and Jack Youngerman.
Image 1 Create a value scale using 9 values including white, grays and black. The size of the scale should
be 1” x 9”. Create the value scale on water color paper and mount it in your sketch book. See example
below.
Color Mixing Tip: Tinting strength!
It takes only a little of a black pigment to change white, but it takes considerably more of a white pigment
to change a black. So, for example, always add black to white to darken it, rather than trying to lighten the
black by adding white.
DYNAMIC RANGE OF VALUES
There is a distinction between how we see values in our experience and how the artist represents those
apparent values. In our world the lightest thing we see are likely to encounter is the sun -- too bright to look
at. The darkest would be an absolute lack of light, like in a cave. These extremes are much farther apart
than the poles of value available to an artist -- white and black pigment. To resolve these differences
requires that the artist either uses one end of the value dynamic or condense the real world's value
maximum into the tonal range between white and black pigment.
Image 2
Create a painting using geometric shapes that incorporate a variety of values and flat opaque paint.
Geometric shape: A shape that is related to geometry. Geometric shapes are usually simple, structured,
and can be both symmetrical and asymmetrical. Geometric shapes are squares, circles, triangles rectangle,
and the circle but also cubes, pyramids, cylinders, octagons, hexagons, and cones.
Materials:
Black and white acrylic paint, 16” x 20” canvas board, paint brushes (hog hair), vine charcoal, spray
fixative
Things to think about:
 Direction of shapes is an important consideration
 Horizontal direction of shapes creates a sense of calmness or tranquility
 Vertical direction of shapes creates a sense of stagnation and monumentality
 A combination of horizontal and vertical of shapes creates stability
 Diagonal direction of shapes creates a sense of action, movement or drama
 How you use values is also an important consideration
 Will you use a full range of values (white, light grays, middle grays, dark grays and black)
 Will you use high contrast (values from the opposite ends of the value scale) which creates drama
 Will you use values from the lighter end of the values scale (high key)? High key paintings often
suggest happiness, light, joy and airiness.
 Will you use values from the darker end of the value scale (low key)? Low key paintings often
suggest sadness, depression, loneliness and sometimes mystery.
For your sketch book:
A. Create two pencil studies before you start painting.
Is it necessary to plan a painting in thorough detail before you start, or should you let it develop as you go
along? Planning a painting can be a help as you know exactly what you're going to do, but it could also
inhibit spontaneity. Letting a painting evolve as you work is very free and lets you be spontaneous, but also
leaves you open to the possibility that the painting won't go anywhere and you'll end up with a mess.
Ultimately the degree to which you plan out a painting depends on your personality; some people find it
essential and others a hindrance. But regardless of how detailed you like to plan (or not), there are
numerous decisions that have to be made before you to start to paint.
B. Take a 4” x 6” digital image of the final painting and glue it into the sketch book. The digital image
of your painting can be printed at the Regis copy center for a nominal fee. Make sure your digital image is
in focus, squared off and color and value are comparable to original painting.
C. Describe your painting in a typed paragraph and place (glue) into your sketch book.
You will make observations about what you see. You have to be objective. For this part please make no
inferences or express opinions. You are going to create a list of what you see. List only the facts about the
artwork and write a paragraph base on this list:
Subject matter: Geometric shapes, abstract, non-objective
Medium: acrylic, pencil, charcoal, mixed media
Style: hard edge, flat
Technique: opaque, flat color
D. Analyze your painting in a typed paragraph and place (glue) into your sketch book.
How do you compose or design (organize) your painting? This is where your knowledge of the elements of
design and the principles of design play an important role. The combinations of these, elements and
principles help the artist create the mood of the work or express a particular point of view or message. Base
this paragraph on this list:
Design elements: line, shape, value, color, size, direction, texture, focal point,
Design Principles: repetition and rhythm, dominance and subordination, unity and variety,
contrast, balance, emphasis, scale and proportion
Student examples: