Pattern and Repetition in Art

I'm inspired by the paisley and floral pattern in my wife's checkbook cover by designer Vera Bradley. Repetition of line, shape or color can be decorative, add harmony, or create movement or rhythm in a composition. Artists use repetition and pattern to create interest in their paintings. Patterns can be natural or organic, geometric, regular vs. irregular, or man-made.  It's also fun to doodle using Zentangles to create your own unique patterns. And, yes, there is organized doodling!

Sunflower Center

Natural or organic patterns may be found in nature, including symmetries, spirals, and fractals, often explained by mathematical principles. Some examples are the spiral of the exterior or interior of a seashell, flowers or the center of a sunflower, and the fur of animals such as leopards' spots. A pineapple is a natural example of a tessellation.

Broadway Boogie-Woogie (1942-43), Mondrian

Irregular patterns are used in the abstract art of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. I used this example in teaching an art lesson to kindergarteners in which we used colored paper strips to create randomly patterned compositions.

Mondrian-inspired LINE Compositions

Students were limited to the number of strips (5) they could use, but they were allowed to cut them into any number of smaller lengths. They were allowed to overlap to create depth and negative space on the black background. Our discussion was however limited to talking about the art element of LINE. See Kindergarten Art Projects for more ideas.

Diamonds by Victor Vasarely

I tend to use Victor Vasarely and Mark Rothko artwork when teaching about geometric patterns. See my Op & Pop Artists post for more geometric patterns. Such diamond shapes may also help students understand the perspective angles of cubic volumes.

My 5th-graders created their own Op Art using carefully woven strips of contrasting colored paper and wavy lines. These were my own examples.

Metamorphosis II (1939-40), Escher

Although more organic, Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher famously created patterns, tessellations and optical illusions. His tessellations are really impressive, such as Metamorphosis II. One direction has birds, while the other has fish.

I love Escher's staircases, which remind me of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I wonder if his work inspired J.K. Rowling. 

Another category of patterns is man-made, which may be found in brick walls (~tessellations), buildings, and other architectural elements. I also enjoy seeing wallpaper patterns, though it is a bygone style of interior design that is often considered old-school.

Shantavia Beale II (2012), Wiley

I am in awe of the portraits painted by African American artist Kehinde Wiley. He uses natural and floral patterns as backgrounds for his beautiful portraits. This portrait is from his New Republic Exhibition, which I visited at the Seattle Art Museum in 2016. He has also painted portraits of the Obamas.

Floral Study in Gold (1907), Klimt

Austrian Symbolist Gustav Klimt used pattern to decorate his canvases, often surrounding figures of women and couples like Wiley does today. The spiral symbols evoke the Zentangles of today. His golden phase lasted from 1901-09. His favorite model was Adele Bloch-Bauer, much like Helga Testorf was for Andrew Wyeth. 

Andy Warhol, American Pop and Visual Artist, began his portfolio series on the subject of Marilyn Monroe in 1967, in which he repeatedly used the same publicity photo image of the iconic actress. While visiting the Palm Springs Museum of Art (PSAM) in 2018, Warhol's work was being exhibited there. Only the color scheme was varied.

Dessert: Harmony in Red (1908), Matisse

My favorite artist who successfully used pattern is French Fauvist, Henri Matisse. See my 2020 post entitled, Top 15 Paintings that Use Primary Colors -- Red, Yellow, and Blue. Notice how the tablecloth blends into the wallpaper in the background. Now that's taking a decorative element too far! I like it, but imagine living with that red on the walls of your home. You'd always be hungry!

Praising Budding Artists for Their Work

Words of encouragement go a long way to inspiring young artists. “Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and better ideas if our efforts are appreciated.” - Alexander Osborn

For example, "I love the way you...", or "Your style amazes me." is a great starting point. Get people talking about their art and have them practice talking about the work of other artists. "What do you like about it?" "Why did you choose this color combination?" Use art vocabulary, explaining how their choice of complementary or contrasting colors added interest. Besides praising an artist for their own unique style, it might be helpful to compare their work to that of other more famous artists. It also helps to take a picture of your art on your phone. Seeing a photo can change one's point of view away from the canvas you've been staring at for an hour and a half, and that which you've become overly critical.

Making connections with other artists and even the subject matter -- "Your brushstrokes remind me of Van Gogh" or "That reminds me of MY dog" -- are inspiring comments for an artist to hear. Their work is being thoughtfully acknowledged for its content, execution, style, or the feelings it invokes in the viewer.

Two Crabs (1889), Vincent Van Gogh

My family, friends, and colleagues encourage me to do more art. Museums are always stimulating, especially when I discover another Van Gogh painting or see a Rembrandt in person! Flemish artist, Peter Paul Rubens was heavily influenced both artists. Van Gogh was also influenced by his friend, Paul Gauguin, who encouraged him to paint from his imagination, French realist Jean-François Millet, other Impressionists, and Japanese art. Van Gogh painted Two Crabs in 1889 as an experiment in complementary colors inspired by the color theory of Eugène Delacroix.

In May of 2017, I saw it hanging in The National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square.

Emily's Chicken

I wonder if PawsWithCause resident artist, Emily, was inspired by Van Gogh's crabs. Here is her portrait of a chicken in a very similar contrasting color scheme. Amazing! And I love the brushstrokes!!

An art docent needs to understand and become familiar with the elements and principles of visual art.

As time is often limited to an hour and a half, it is important to monitor the progress of the artist's portrait. They need to decide where to start, then begin to lay down paint. If they have a favorite color and are unfamiliar with brushes and the medium, you may suggest starting with the background. Help the novices mix their color in the large space in the center of the palette, making enough to cover the surrounding area. Often, with Seniors especially, the background is left blank. If the body of the subject animal is grey, that too may require mixing lots of that color in the middle of the palette.

One of our seniors spent most of her time outlining the features of her white cat and chose to limit her palette. She simply used black paint to suggest texture on the cat's coat. She carried on and used black for the front paws in shadow. The cat's tail saw the beginnings of Pointillism that had time permitted would have been an awesome technique to finish with. Because there was no paint applied to the background it made for a harmonious somewhat linear composition.

White Angora Cat (1761), Bachelier

Another favorite of mine is this portrait of a white angora cat beautifully (oil) painted by French artist, Jean-Jacques Bachelier. Here we see a cat chasing a butterfly. The cat's fur is well-executed. Though I wouldn't want to have to brush that coat!

All one-color animals, such as white or black cats, or white, brown, or black dogs, are particularly challenging to paint. It may take time to execute the subtle shading (primarily shades of grey). As an art docent I'd recommend doing small areas at a time while the paint is still wet; this is when blending is most successful. Maybe work on the head, then body and legs. Highlights may be added later, as with the back and tail in Bachelier's painting.

Two Cats Blue and Yellow
(1912), Franz Marc

Cats on a Red Cloth (1909),
Franz Marc

20th century German Expressionist Franz Marc captured some cats sleeping or grooming themselves. The first painting is more realistic than his second more expressive Cubist work. Can you find the mouse?

18th century English artist Thomas Gainsborough also studied feline positions of the Great Cat. According to the referenced link, his black-and-white chalk drawing is similar to that of another famous artist from the 15th century.

Apparently, I missed Paul Gauguin's Flowers and Cats (1899) while visiting the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in Copenhagen, Denmark on our cruise to the Baltics in June 2019.

Another recent post, entitled Making Connections with Artists & Animals features the cats of French Fauvist Henri Matisse.

Many of the world's most famous artists kept cats as pets. Here's a list:

Henri Matisse (Minouche, Coussi, and Le Puce); Pierre Bonnard (Cat);

Salvador Dali (Babou); Gustav Klimt (Katze); Georgia O’Keeffe (Siamese); 

Pablo Picasso (Minou); Louis Wain (Peter); Andy Warhol (Sam); and

        Wassily Kandinsky (Vaske)

We lost American artist Laurel Burch in 2007. She was famous for her bold cat designs such as those featured in one of her books, Fantastic Felines (1997). I believe we've done a jigsaw puzzle like this.

by Bill

Many of the artists who paint the shelter animal portraits are seniors who hang out at senior centers or assisted living establishments. One such artist is Bill, whose work is reminiscent of German Expressionist, Max Beckmann. See my post entitled, 'Egyptian Art, Sculpture, and Tombs'.

Another PawsWithCause patron painted this portrait of Cai with a light green tennis ball in its mouth. The artist's style is also like Beckmann, but with more of a Surrealist vibe. The background continues with the lime green color, adding little wispy shapes much like Henri Matisse decorated his red wallpaper in his Fauvist works. The touches of blue add interest to the composition.

You may also appreciate Medford the dog, who is sporting a Dio de Los Muertos mask on his face, reminiscent of the art of Frida Kahlo or Diego Rivera. Spanish Catalan painter Joan Miró often used a black background and Whimsical shapes (like spirals) to create his abstract art with Surrealist fantasy. Notice how the brushstrokes in his blonde fur add a realism that adds an anthropomorphic touch as if the animal is celebrating a human holiday. See Pepe the Dog in my post entitled, Making Connections with Artists & Animals.

Marlee is a good example of Realism. I especially like the artist's use of small, jagged brushstrokes, lending texture to the dog's coat. Happy accidents, like allowing the marker outline (from the original sketch) to show through, accentuate subtle features. I love the impressionistic background which further softens the overall painting. Check out the eyes with different color irises!

This portrait of Emma shows a good example of well-executed shading. The blue-gray color that the artist chose is a beautiful complement to her orangish-brown coat. Her sad eyes and overall color scheme make me think of the melancholy paintings (like "The Scream") of Norwegian Expressionist, Edvard Munch.

Many of our painting sessions, as with many of the art classes I've taught, are often too short for seniors or even younger students to complete a portrait in the allotted time. Although not common for established painters and master artists, some works are intentionally unfinished.

Gilbert Stuart created the Athenaeum Portrait of George Washington that currently hangs in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. The unfinished work was used to paint 130 copies sold for $100 each and for the engraving of GW on the US $1 bill.

The only other unfinished painting I've ever seen is “An Allegory of Virtue”, attributed to Corregio (~1489-1534), which hangs in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. 

Pumpkin Carving 2023

It's been a while since my last post. Still observing and appreciating art around me, but haven't been able to devote much time to creating art myself since late 2023, with my last works being carved jack-o-lanterns in October. I was inspired by binge watching the Star Wars television series about the Ahsoka Tano the Jedi. She is actually my second pumpkin carving of 2023.

For my first carving of the season I wanted to try out new eyes, specifically peeling concentric circles deeper and deeper from skin to flesh. It kinda turned into an owl, but it was inspired by my own version of Angry Birds.

I then tried emulating a witch face silhouetted against a harvest moon.

Not my best work!

I also did a more traditional jack-o-lantern face with sort of a batwing mouth, skeleton nose, and scary cat eyes. 

You may remember my scary cougar pumpkin, complete with whiskers.

For my final pumpkin, I found three howling wolves on a t-shirt design that as it turns out my nephew owns. While I often use black or red marker to sketch out my design, this time I used a black Sharpie to accentuate the wolves and add another value.

This technique was inspired by my niece who recreated a design found on a Halloween decoration containing a ghost with a black hat. I simply used the marker in a different way.

Beach Scenes & Women with Parasols/Umbrellas

On the Beach (1873), Édouard Manet

Beach scenes were popular subjects in the paintings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As you can see here, Édouard Manet and his wife are fully dressed and seated on the beach to watch the big ships sail by. Both subjects are well-covered as if they needed protection from the sun, suspiciously absent from their surroundings. The gray and black figures stand out against the pale-yellow sand. Curiously, Madame Manet's bonnet and shoe get the most detail.

Woman with a Parasol (1875), Monet

Continuing with three paintings by Claude Monet, I must include Woman with a Parasol (1875) even though it may not be a beach scene like the other two paintings. I love the atmospheric effects that Monet has achieved in this painting of his wife and child. Monet reflected the green ground in the underside of Madame Monet's parasol. Her white dress is like a canvas reflecting the colors of her surroundings, making it seem like we're looking through and beyond her. I love this painting!

The Beach at Trouville (1870), Monet

Earlier, in 1870, Monet depicted this scene of The Beach at Trouville. It may have well been people walking on a city street instead of a boardwalk and sandy beach. This northernmost coastal city of France is over 700 miles from southernmost Nice, where we visited in May 2011, yet it looks quite similar. 

Beach in Pourville (1882), Monet

Monet painted a series of more impressionistic beach scenes in 1882. The shadows of the cliffs in the bottom corner distract me almost to the point of drawing a 'line of tension'. Fortunately, the sandy curved shoreline directs me eye toward the muted building in the background.

By the Seashore (1883), Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted lots of portraits of women, including this one where the subject is posing in a wicker chair in the artist's studio. He added the beach scene in the background based on studies he did en plein air (outside).

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of
La Grande Jatte (1884-6), Seurat

The classic A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte was painted by Georges Seurat and depicts Parisians relaxing in a park on an island in the Seine River. It's probably the most famous Pointillist work of Neo-Impressionism. And also a very large painting measuring 6.6 ft × 9.8 ft. I usually try to tell my students the size of the painting that inspired my art lesson.

Fishing Boats at Sainte-Marie (1888), Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh's beach scenes typically contain brightly colored fishing boats. This one resembles Renoir's By the Seashore in that the subject boats stand out vividly against the more pastel background. The distant sailboats on the water almost disappear at the horizon.

Idle Hours (1894), Chase

I'm less familiar with American Impressionists such as William Merritt Chase. When I saw this scene of his family relaxing on a grassy knoll, it instantly reminded me of Port Townsend, Washington (sans Pt. Wilson lighthouse). Chase was also an art teacher who taught two of my favorite painters: Georgia O'Keeffe and Edward Hopper.

Lady with a Parasol (1900-1), Sargent

My favorite portrait painter has to be John Singer Sargent. His Capri Girl (my favorite) and other more formal portraits are unlike this one of a reclining Lady with a Parasol. Though in an awkward position, the shapes and swirling lines make for an almost abstract composition. I enjoy stumbling upon these gems whether I'm researching for my blog or visiting an art museum.

Women Walking on a Beach (1909), Sorolla

Our final artist is Spanish painter, Joaquín Sorolla. He has successfully captured his wife and eldest daughter taking a stroll along a beautiful beach. I love the movement and his ability to create a subtle value range using whites and grays. I'm assuming the daughter is on the right, carrying only her straw hat, while her mother is burdened with a coat and umbrella. Sorolla has cut off his wife's head and interrupts the wave crest with her hat and his daughter's hair.

My Life as a Struggling Artist and Volunteer

Manet +/- Space Project, Lowell Elementary

I've been encouraged all my life to create art. While I am not as prolific as other artists, I do try to share what I've learned about art with others; and that has been one of my goals in retirement. Early on, my focus was volunteering in elementary schools, but that ended with the pandemic. I am now much more challenged to find outlets for my creativity.

Bo the Dog, PwC

Probably my most successful retirement endeavor has been volunteering with PawsWithCause. The non-profit organization allowed me to continue teaching others how to do art at paint parties, to employ salesmanship in raising money for a cause, show artwork of others, build community, and do custom pet portraits upon request.

Kandinsky Circles, Old Friends Club

I have been successful at teaching seniors in multiple locations, including assisted living communities, adult memory daycares, senior centers, and a senior university (in Tacoma). I've also taught online classes a few times. I don't understand why it takes so much effort to volunteer my services. Even with websites like VolunteerMatch, it is difficult to get pro-bono work that doesn't limit my own creativity or require me to use my own supplies.

My Degas Demo, FTJ Pastels Class

I've been happy teaching at Franke Tobey Jones' Senior University in Tacoma, where I get a stipend and get paid, but that's only twice a year, if I'm lucky. My students are a willing and captive audience. It surprises me that senior centers are less interested in doing art and favor playing Bingo. Assisted Living communities should also welcome someone to conduct art activities, but they have their own staff and such limited budgets. I wonder if I could apply for a grant to bring my own prepaid art supplies to senior communities.

Castle Landscape in Paint3D

So, here I sit in my office blogging about past experiences. I occasionally paint portraits or landscapes in my spare time. My brother helped encourage me to learn Paint3D and I've done several awesome paintings on my PC using a mouse. I've even tried homeschooling 'grandkids' and got paid to bring art lessons to a nearby summer camp. Both gigs challenged me to adapt my lesson plans for students ranging in age from 4-13 years old.

Palm Tree, Circle of Love Class

What all of this 'struggle' is meant to convey is that sometimes creativity is required in order to successfully dedicate oneself to volunteering. I guess I thought that it would get easier over time, and that with blogging and posting on Facebook more people would be asking me to teach classes and volunteer.

City Dog Park, Palm Springs, CA

Bryce and Friends, Redding, CA

Over the past few years, I've used our trips to Palm Springs as an opportunity to paint, do animal portraits of dogs from the local dog park, and develop lesson plans and project demos.

Retirement may not mean that you will stop working. Instead, you may find creative ways of playing and exploring your newfound independence with a spirit of adventure. Living a creative life means to focus on curiosity rather than a fear of failure. Imagination, innovation, and persistence are the energies that also help us solve problems. While I've experienced some disappointment along the way, I've enjoyed the process and haven't given up. As American Christian author and speaker Joyce Meyer once said, "Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting".