“If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint” -Edward Hopper
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Edward Hopper was born in 1882 in Upper Nyack, New York, and was encouraged from an early age to pursue his love of art. Throughout his career he became famous for his iconic imagery and austere style. His most famous piece, “Nighthawks” shows four patrons in a café and came to epitomize the feelings of Americans in the Second World War. He became known as a ‘pictorial poet’ who recorded the starkness and vastness of America.
I thought we’d look back at one of our Art in Action tried and true spring projects – this one we did in March 2016. We used many techniques to paint these landscapes and I’ll take you through the process so you can try it at home!
Supplies you will need:
- watercolour paper
- masking tape
- pencil
- oil pastels
- blue and green watercolour paint
- black acrylic paint, tiny detail brush or permanent marker
To begin this project, start by drawing a horizon line about 3/4 down from the top of the page. Below this horizon line, on the right-hand side draw an “X” to mark the vanishing point. Sketch in your fence in a long “V” shape towards the vanishing point. Then sketch in the posts keeping them as vertical as possible – you may want to use a guideline for this. Next, use your oil pastels to colour in your fence posts, and add a third line to the fence boards if you want. When you colour in your fence posts, make sure the posts go slightly past the bottom fence board. Next, draw in the telephone pole beginning with two vertical lines from the bottom of the page to the top – about a thumb width apart. Colour it in carefully with your brown oil pastel – if you have any crumbly bits – blow them off your page. Next, draw two horizontal lines across the top of the telephone pole with tiny vertical dashes coming down the sides. You can now sketch in the wires using a pencil or permanent black marker.
Now it’s time to add the watercolour – first with the blue watercolour to paint the sky. The fluffy white clouds were created by pulling the blue watercolour off of the paper with a paper towel and letting the white of the paper shine through. Rinse your brush thoroughly and pat dry, then use the green watercolour to paint the grassy field below.
You can leave your project like this – with just the wires coloured in with black permanent marker – or, using a tiny detail brush, you can carefully go over your wire lines with black acrylic paint. I turned my painting upsidedown to do this step. Once you are done, carefully pull off your tape so you’ll have a frame around your artwork – once it’s dry – hang on the wall for all to enjoy!
I hope you try a spring landscape! If you do send us a picture at artinactiontoronto@gmail.com. Follow along on our sparking creativity every day in May on Facebook and Instagram.
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