Ellen Lindner: Art & Creativity

Do you like to do artistic exercises?  Little challenges to improve your creativity, composition, and problem solving?  I do.  So, I created a little challenge for myself and my art quilt buddies.  It was inspired by the quilt I’ve been working on.  For it I started with a primary panel and needed to add more.  The tricky part is that the additions need to compliment the original panel without over shadowing it.

So, here’s the task:
1) Find a magazine image with some clear shapes.  Cut out a square, cropping enough so the items in the photograph are not very recognizable items.  The idea is to end up with shapes rather than identifiable objects.  This was my starting image:

Click any image for a larger view

I traced the lines with the black pen I’d be using for the next step.  If you use a pencil this is unnecessary.

2) Glue the magazine image onto drawing paper.  Draw two additional “panels” adjacent to your original image.  They don’t have to be on the sides like I did.

3) Draw in your new panels to complete the composition.  Consider:
– repeating colors
– repeating motifs, but in different quantities or sizes
– repeating lines and/or angles
– extending some lines/shapes, but not all

This was mine:

4) Color in your new design.  Keep contrast in mind.  High contrast areas attract our attention so your starting “star” panel should have the highest contrast.  Keep the value and color contrasts low in the new panels.  This is mine.


It’s NOT great art and that’s not the point.  The idea is to visually challenge yourself and to problem solve.

Want to give this a try?  If you need an image to get you started, try one of these:

I used these two in a recent exercise with my art quilt buddies.  I’ll show you their results soon.

I’d love to see your finished designs!  And, if you use your own image, your starting photo, too.  I’ll even post them if you give me permission to do so.  Jump in!

Ellen Lindner
P.S.  Read about some of the other creative tasks I’ve tackled:
– Two-handed drawing, abstracting, and more.
– Zentangles