Our Imaginations! Paper Cut-outs: Fall/The Four Seasons Mural

Our Imaginations! Paper Cut-outs: Fall/The Four Seasons Mural

MATERIALS:

Paper

Scissors

Pencil/eraser

Tracing paper

Glue Stick

 

  1. Research the paper cutouts of Henri Matisse. These paper works combine symbolic and abstract shapes. “I have attained a form, filtered to the essentials,” Matisse once said and this sums up his philosophy as an artist. Study the paper cutouts for color and form; www.henri-matisse.net/cut_outs.html.
  2. There will be four panels or sections for the Four Seasons Mural. The fourth and last section will be fall or autumn. Plan the design for the season. The sample shown features falling leaves. There are other symbols for fall: pumpkins, apples, corn, and other foods of the harvest, corn stalks, scarecrows, etc. Sketch your design on tracing paper.
  3. The sample features five colors: orange, yellow, dark red, green and dusty pink. The background in the sample is brown like the brown of a brown paper bag. Colors that evoke fall are orange, dark reds, dark, purples, shades of green (especially dark and olive greens), browns, gold, etc. Limit the palette to five colors as in the sample. Use patterned paper if it compliments the design or use a paper bag.
  4. Decide the size of the paper cutout. The sample shown is 4” x 6.” Cut the background paper to the size you want for the paper cutout. Orange, yellow and dark red are the color choices for the sun and the sun’s rays.
  5. Sketch the design on tracing paper. Decide the colors for each part of the design. Blacken the back of the design and flip it over on to the papers you will use. Trace the outline of the shapes.
  6. Use embroidery scissors to cut out the shapes. Embroidery scissors enable you to cut inside larger shapes.
  7. Glue the shapes down and you have the fourth section of the Four Seasons Mural: Fall!
  8. Glue the four panels down on to a larger piece of paper to form the Four Seasons Mural.

 

 

 

 

 

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About marion

I first wrote and sketched as a child growing up in Pittsburgh, PA and Brooklyn, New York. I received her first recognition for my creativity when I won the New York City Schools Art Award and participated in my first art exhibit in downtown Manhattan. I was fourteen and a half when I moved to Cyprus with my family. I experienced culture shock but I continued to write about and sketch the sights and sounds of another country and many other things. I am a creative person. I write children's and Young Adult fiction and nonfiction. I write historical and Coming of Age Young Adult novels. I also write picture books and art books for elementary school children. I am in the process of writing a fictionalized biography of a member of the Belgian Resistance who also fought for the US Army during World War II. I worked as a freelance editor for two local companies: College Prowler and SterlingHouse Publisher. I also worked as an assistant literary agent for Lee Shore Agency. I was attending Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction Program at the time and the experience was invaluable. My course work toward my Master of Arts degree in turn helped me at work. As an assistant literary agent, I reviewed all incoming manuscripts, cultivated a relationship with the writers we contracted and marketed our books to book publishers for sale. I “freelanced” my editing skills which included working with the manuscript acquisitions editor, selecting book covers with the art department, writing the book jacket blurb, reading film scripts and executing general office duties as assigned. Oh, by the way, I edited books, too. I even utilized Adobe InDesign for the editing that I did for College Prowler. I’ve also reviewed published books and conducted research. I have published nonfiction articles and books online and in print. As an artist, I have exhibited my mixed media drawings and collages nationally and regionally and have worked as a freelance designer and calligrapher. I have a BA in Studio Arts from the University of Pittsburgh and a MA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.

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