4-Color Composition

Lee Krasner often painted images of nature and growth. She said that she wanted to create paintings that seemed “to breathe and be alive.” She used what she called an “inner rhythm” to create these marks and shapes. Look closely at this work of art. How would you describe it? Can you imagine Krasner painting it? She would have used her whole arm to make broad, sweeping brush strokes that fill the entire canvas.

Make an abstract composition with markers, colored pencils, or paint, using only four colors. Let your own inner rhythm guide you as you add color, lines, and shapes.

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Lee Krasner, The Seasons, 1957. Oil and house paint on canvas, 92 3/4 × 203 7/8 in. (235.6 × 517.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from Frances and Sydney Lewis by exchange, the Mrs. Percy Uris Purchase Fund and the Painting and Sculpture Committee 87.7. © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

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