Week 4 prompt: Repurpose art (#PYH2024)
In February, with Paint Yourself Happy February, we are sharing creative prompts with you, inviting play into your art practice. This week's prompt: repurpose art. Read on for inspiring ideas to try!
The fourth week of Paint Yourself Happy February is about repurposing art. This prompt was introduced in the very first edition of Paint Yourself Happy February, and made a comeback every year.
If you’re a bit like me, you might also find it hard to throw away art that you don’t like enough, or the experiments that you most likely are not going to hang on your wall. But what do you do with work that you’re not happy with? Or experiments that you’re not going to hang on your wall? Or what about those pages full of experimental swatches, marks, textures, sketches, etc?
Today we are going to share with you ways to repurpose your art in a playful way.
The composition within the composition
Pieces of art that you don’t like enough to hang on a wall or put in a frame, can be great for practicing with composition. I often use old art, or sketchbook pages, to practice with composition. I almost never throw art, that I don’t like enough, away.
I often use an adjustable frame made out of two paper L-shapes to search for little compositions within larger compositions, by cropping the piece. So even when I made something I really don’t like, I can always hunt for little treasures within that piece.
Your phone is also a great tool for cropping a piece of art and find little compositions.
The prompt
We started this week with the composition within the composition
Before we dive into the exercise, we’re first going to make a viewfinder from a piece of paper. Cut two L-shapes out of a piece of paper. I used thicker paper, this way it’s more durable.
The exercise:
Collect everything you’ve made in the last couple of weeks during PYH.
Spread it out on the floor or on your desk; surround yourself with your work
Take a few minutes to have a look at your work and take it all in (and enjoy it!)
Pick a piece of your work. This could be a piece that you’re not really happy with, or another piece.
Use your viewfinder to find smaller compositions within your larger composition
Because the viewfinder is made of two L-shapes, you can adjust the size and shape of it
Tips
You can also use your phone to find smaller compositions within the piece of art.
Combine one or two pieces of paper before looking for a new composition with your viewfinder (like a few of my pieces).
If you don’t mind to cut in your piece of art, you can cut out your smaller composition that you like
Collage
Collage is a variation on the first prompt.
Another way to repurpose art is to use it for collage. Collage is also a great way to play and practice with composition. It gives you a lot of freedom to move different elements around until you’re happy with your composition. I like to make abstract collages, but collage doesn’t have to be abstract at all! For a while now I have been collecting inspiring pieces of collage art on a Pinterest board. Click on the photo to find examples of collage art.
Under my desk I keep a cardboard box with scraps of paper, pieces of art I didn’t like, experiments, color swatches, cutouts and what not. Every now and then I grab the box to play around and get creative juices flowing. In the photo below you can see the box and the scraps of paper I took out of the box to play around with.
The exercise
For the variation on this week’s prompt you’ll need scissors and glue! Because we’re going to cut up those pieces of paper we’re not happy with and make new art with them.
Collect papers and pieces of paper. It could be work you made in the last couple of weeks (you’re not happy with), but also other pieces of paper you have lying around.
Cut them into smaller pieces. Don’t overthink, just cut. You don’t have to worry about composition at all at this stage.
If you have a selection of different pieces of paper you’re going to play!
Make new compositions with different pieces of the cut up papers.
If you have made a composition you’re happy with, glue it on a surface.
Tips
Make a picture of your composition before you glue it down, for reference.
You can glue your composition into your sketchbook or on a piece of cardboard.
Add marks, lines, splashes, etc to your composition with your favorite tools.
If you don’t want to cut up your pieces of art, you can make collage papers for this exercise.
Don’t throw away the pieces you’re not using. Save them in a box for future play.
Examples
The evolution of my collage play
I also played with cropping the collage I made and moved the yellow dot around.
When I was finished with playing around and was putting everything back into the box, two pieces of paper caught my eye, and I immediately had the idea of combining the two pieces with the yellow dot. This one only took me a few seconds, and it was my favorite.
The last thing I want to share with you is this silly photo. I wanted to photograph this collage piece and accidentally turned on the long exposure setting, and ended up with this beautiful picture! And honestly … to me this was the cherry on that day’s pie!
Remember to just play!
Before we let you get back to exploring, we wanted to remind you of the idea behind Paint Yourself Happy February.
Play!
Ideally, play a little on most days.
We shared many inspirations, but the best ones are the ones you will find in your practice. If you don’t know where to start, start with one of the suggestions in this post. Start making art, keep an open mind and follow your ideas.
If you feel like trying something, even if it is silly, go for it. And share the silly things with us because we love trying new silly things!
Have fun creating!
Simone and Stephanie