Line and Color to Express Feelings

by Kanani Miyamoto

Line and color are important elements in art. Sometimes these elements are the only part of the artwork! Experiment with creative ways to express ideas and feelings with line and color. Art is a way to communicate.

Learning Target

● I can look at abstract art and find meaning in line and color.
● I can use different kinds of line and color to express and explain my feelings

Materials

Paint Pad and a black sharpie or marker.

Paint Brushes, Water colors and a plastic container with water

Emotion word bank: silly, shy, scared, sad, proud, nervous, happy, mad, excited, embarrassed, disappointed, curious, confused, bored, angry, loving, amused, surprised, confident, pleased, frustrated, creative, focused

Instructions

As you learn about this art remember: These are your own ideas and thoughts. There is no right or wrong way to make this artwork!

1. Practice: Using one sheet of painting paper, practice using lines to express some ideas and feelings.
●Draw some strong lines with your sharpie or marker.
●Now try and draw some nervous lines.
●Next use a smaller pen to draw some funny lines.
●Try drawing some soft lines with your ink pen.

2. Create: Okay, it’s your turn, think of a word that describes (adjective) an emotion. On a new sheet of painting paper use your pens to express your word with just lines.

3. Practice: Now add color to your lines with your watercolors. Look closely at your strong lines. What color can you use to make them stronger? Paint your colored line next to or on top of your black lines.
● Add color to your loud lines to make them even louder! Now add color to your funny lines to make them funnier. Add color to make your soft lines softer.

4. Create: Let’s finish by taking a minute to think about the descriptive emotion word you drew about in step 2. Look for meaning in the lines you made. Use your watercolors to help express the feeling in your word more clearly.

Reflection

Write in your journal or sketchbook
1. Show a family member your work, ask them what the work makes them think of. Explain to them how you thought about and used line and color.
2. Look at some illustrations in books or other media. , what do you notice about the use of line and color in the illustrations?
3. Sometimes art is a way people think and deal with feelings and emotions. How did you feel doing this activity?

Extra

● Look at Sol Lewitt and Julie Mehretu’s work. What do you notice? What kinds of feelings do they make you think of?
● Paint one of your best memories, use just line and color.
● Mix new colors to explain more feelings, how many different colors and feelings can you create?