Everyone needs a space of their own to draw out the energies of the muses. It does not matter if it is a room of your own or just a desk in the kitchen, every woman needs a private place to identify her inner self.. Here is where you keep your clippings, pictures, letters, notes, art supplies, idea notebooks and anything else that gives you personal motivation to create, for creation is a direct link to your soul.

In my lifetime I have had private spaces in a basement next to a furnace in Wisconsin, in an attic under the eaves in Colorado, a patio in California, and a deck in Florida. It did not matter where, for once I was comfortable in my corner with my motivators by my side I was immediately transported to my creative self.. I discovered the following meditation in Dend Ming-Dao’s book, "365 Tao Daily Meditations" , which explains it all better then I can:

"Rain dripping from eaves

Sounds nature’s poetry.

We create to

Explain to ourselves."

He goes on to say that writing, art, and poetry are tool of self-discovery. By articulating these experiences it helps to understand the stages we are going through. I believe that fulfillment and true joy comes from creating something new daily that has never existed before, whether it is a sketch, a new recipe or just a new thought carried to completion.. We need our own private space.

Having said all that I will get to the point of this exercise: horizontal vertical lines.  That is what the first lesson is all about..  Using HORIZONTAL/VERTICAL LINES .  By eliminating all other lines you will learn so much more then someone telling you, and it is fun.

I am a firm believer that everyone has an artist locked up within themselves. Letting it loose is a way of getting in touch with who you are within, and once expressed you have a permanent reminder of your creative spirit on your wall. We are all unique so what you produce is also unique. We must release any preconceived ideas of what art should look like and just do it, "our way", and to help you I have a beginning lesson in a different way of seeing to get you started.

Assuming you do have a space of your own somewhere in your home I will ask you to gather together a sheet of paper, a sharp pencil and a drawing board, pull up a chair and view the place that you now use to do your thing. This could only be a corner of the couch with a knitting basket..it does not matter. What is important is that this is where you feel comfortable producing something creative.

YOU ARE GOING TO DRAW YOUR SPACE USING ONLY HORIZONTAL VERTICAL LINES.........................

1. DRAW A FORMAT

On your paper draw a few small formats…….a format is a rectangle or square that best represents the four outer sides of your space. We will sketch ideas within that format. This is preplanning your painting and is done much smaller then the original painting will be. My preplanning usually does not exceed two inches in either direction. Even smaller works for me.

2. ADD SHAPES WITHIN THE FORMAT

Now I would like you to see different then the norm. I would like you to view your space in horizontal vertical shapes. Yes, the curved vase would be a small, tall, rectangle sitting on larger rectangle end table. Even the flowers within the vase would be square instead of round. Get the idea?

3.  CONNECT TO THE FOUR SIDES..DONT LET IT BE SUSPENDED IN MID AIR

And now we will try to interpret what we are seeing in horizontal vertical lines within our format. No erasing is allowed. If you do not like what you do, draw another format. As I reinvented my space in squares I started with the largest areas first and worked backwards to the smallest. No curved or diagonal lines allowed.

4.  ENLARGE YOUR BEST 1" DOODLE TO A PAINTABLE SIZE

Once you arrive on a design that feels right to you find a piece of watercolor paper or whatever, and sketch your design, in pencil, on this larger piece of paper. Be careful to enlarge to fit the format you created, not the size of the piece of paper you found. Remember, again you create the format first, place the larger, and work backwards just like the small sketches.

6.  ARRANGE TONALS

The next step is to decided where you want to place your darkest squares and the lightest. Placing the pencil on its side shade in the different rectangles with tonals from lightest to darkest. Here too you may have to draw more formats of your chosen study.

7.  READY FOR COLOR

Now, prop up your sketch and view with color in mind. This is your unique space so be sure to use only your favorite colors here even if they are very far removed from reality. You are pleasing no one but yourself.

It is now time to paint….ENJOY

To many Horizontal/Vertical lessons seem like childs play but actually it is the beginning of understanding into the control of the emotions of the viewer and the foundation of ALL paintings produced. We want to have freedom to express ourselves within a format, in any way we choose, but if we wish to share them with others we must understand the way viewers participate, react or even reject art. With these exercises you are learning to unite your left brain, what you have learned, with your right brain, what you want to project. The control of directional forces within a format accomplishes this.

my cats creative space (I admit, I cheat: the cats nose and the bird are not H/V but the rest of the picture is)

 

There are only three directional forces within a format; They are Horizontal Vertical , Curved line, and Diagonal thrust. Most paintings, whether modern or realistic, contain all three forces. If you view paintings with this in mind you will notice that one force usually dominates. That is because the artist understands a fundamental rule of design: Let one element dominate, one subordinate, and one accent, for success. This applies for all the different factors contained within a painting, whether you are working with the directional flow of the overall painting, or one of the other factors, such as color. To help you understand, in depth, how to use these directional forces I have planned these exercises so that you must use only one force at a time until you learn to control it and understand it thourally. Then it will not be words any more but sit comfortably in your artist mind as a known fact that you will deal with automatically when you do your paintings.  At the end of the course we will combine all three thrusts into a pleasing masterpiece by you.

kupka painting

A glimpse at 1913. One of my teachers from books: Kupka. Even though H/V is the
foundation of any work of art you do, even the most realistic, H/V is also
an accepted art form. Here Kupka has used H/V for a view of the city.

 BOISE  in winter

Try to keep these thoughts in mind as you live your daily life, and for a while view your world in H/V only. H/V will soon teach you everything you will need to know to master the first step in producing a masterpiece.

THE FOLOWING HORIZONTAL/VERTIVAL EXERCISE IS FUN AND AN UNEXPECTED EMOTIONAL EXPER9ENCE

Exercise 2
Horizontal/Vertical
MEMORY MEN

One of the interesting things about art is that not only does it gives you
the joy of creation but it also lets you reach deep into your inner self and
extract memories that have been forgotten long  ago.     We are going to
take just that kind of journey in this exercise.  We are going to find  the
men of consequence in your life that have, in some way,  had an influence on
the formation of your thoughts.
Start by sketching some formats.  Now go back in memory to your earliest
childhood and see who still lurks there.  These are the men of consequence.
Doodle some kind of a horizontal/vertical shaped figures, to represent them,
in a format.  If he was of minor consequence he may just get a small square,
but, if he is a dominate recurring memory  he had a  major influence upon
you and will require more space.   That is what I feel is necessary for my
tall, thin, pipe smoking father.  I drew him standing from bottom to the top
of my format, and because of his major influence in my life and his return
in my memory the most frequently I gave him center billing.  You may find
lots of different ways to represent your male memories.
I also find I must deal with my early concept of God.  As a youth I always
saw God represented as a male figurehead.  That definitely had an important
influence on my personality development and attitude towards the male
persona.  It is impossible to separate our self from our painting but even
though some memories are painful it can be a lot of fun.  I had to laugh
when I represented my funny uncle's tummy and big red  nose in squares, and
my  10yr.  Old boyfriends red hair that always stood straight up on his
head.
Here is the lesson:

1.  Draw rectangle formats and with your doodles as reference compose a
horizontal vertical  painting in miniature. This is the preplanning stage so
experiment with more than one format.
2.  Make your decisions on your light to dark tonal distribution throughout
the painting.
3.     Once you transfer to the size you would like to paint, consider one
color that seems most masculine to you.  We are going to do a tonal painting
with one hue this time.  A tonal painting is done with only tints and shades
of one color.  If you are using fluid color you must be careful  to keep the
tints,  (hue + white),  separate from the shades. (hue + black),   I suggest
you use two separate brushes.  If you are using colored pencil or ink I
suggest you do the painting in tonals of black to white, and then  add the
hue over the finished tonal or save a small white space to add the hue as an accent color.

THIS ONE IS MINE