Abstract Composition Bootcamp with Jane Davies Lesson 2 -Line Variety – vary the path of the line Visual weight – dense, spare Depth – fog with white paint 1. TWO LINES Create at least six studies that consist of two lines. Not three, not one, but two. Use two different materials for each of your studies, in black, gray, or very neutral colors. You may repeat materials from one study to the next (e.g. use pencil and marker in one, and use marker and graphite in the next).

• Each line VARIES over its path. Go for as much variety as you can get. • Each line is continuous, though you may take them over the edge of the paper

and back onto the paper. • Each line has varying visual weight (density): some parts of the line are more

dense, like a scribble, and other parts of the same line are more spacious. • The ‘piece’ contains breathing room as well as varying visual weight. Breathing

room means contiguous blank space. It is not just the total square footage of white space.

2. Lines of Different Values to create depth Following the video, create at least three studies that consist of two painted lines. One line is dark, one is light. I use black or sepia high flow acrylic paint; you could use that or watered down acrylic, or acrylic ink. Use the same color for both lines. Keep the lines a consistent width, more or less. Unlike many of my exercises, this one IS just about as simple as it sounds. So keep it simple. These are studies, not meant to be ‘pieces’. I have found line studies to be really useful for collage material.

3. Layering Line for Visual Weight This exercise begins like Exercise 1 with two lines that vary over their paths, creating varying visual weight over the whole piece. Use your heavier paper for this one.

1. Begin like Exercise 1, but on Bristol or similar. 9x12” 2. Add at least four more similar lines, each in a different material. If you are using

crayons, you may use two or three different values of black and gray. 3. Use all black, gray, neutral colors so that color is not a factor in the assignment. 4. Create a range of visual weight over the surface of the piece. 5. Coat with matte medium and let it dry completely. 6. Apply ‘fog’ with white paint, using the brush-then-brayer technique

demonstrated I the video and the dry brush technique. The point is to achieve a range of depth over the surface of the piece.

This is after instruction 4 above.

This is after the ‘fog’ is added, further enhancing the range of visual weight and depth.

You can see that I used cheap drawing paper for this, and I should have used Bristol! 4. Stripes Exercise In this exercise you are using thin lines (pencil, graphite, pen, paint marker) and thick lines (paint, with a brush), all vertical, all going top to bottom of the page. Follow the video demo: draw thin lines, then thick lines, coat with matte medium, paint white over the whole thing. Then paint more thick lines and thin lines, etc. The point of this exercise is to get control over the opacity of the white paint to create ‘fog’. Soft transitions between dense/opaque fog and thin misty fog and no fog. This takes patience and practice. We will look at it again in Next week’s lesson on pattern.