Yes! Try this at home: A Sample Art Experience

I have developed a 75-piece Art Experiences Tool Kit for people who would like to do Art Experiences on their own. Here is one of the drawing games for you to try.

At your local craft store purchase the following three wood cutouts: the oval (with center cut out), the whimsical heart, and the square with rounded edges. In the Cleveland area, I used Pat Catan's.



Seeing Negative Space

Negative space is the area between solid things.

Place the oval on a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Trace around it, inside and out, with a black ink pen. Look at the drawn shapes. The middle hole of the oval is a negative space. Switch your focus back and forth between the positive shape of the oval and the negative space of the drawn hole.

For this next part, you will close your eyes or wear a blindfold.

Tracing the shapes: With eyes closed, trace the other two shapes onto the paper one or more times. Repeat the oval, if desired. Use all of the paper. Locate the edges by feel. Allow the shapes to spill over the edge of the paper. (Work on a washable surface in case you draw off the paper onto the table.) Open your eyes and discover the results.

Identify the original shapes throughout the drawing, then ‘switch gears’ to look at only the negative shapes you created. Go back and forth between the named shapes and the negative shapes several times, exercising your brain’s ability to see both aspects of the patterns.

©2006 Kristen S. Boyesen

This is an excerpt from the Instruction Book that comes with the Art Experiences Tool Kit.