Kandinsky 10x10
For this project, my goal was to create letterforms inspired by the technique and process of Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian painter and pioneer of total abstraction in modern art. I began this project by researching Kandinsky and his work. He painted primarily with oils, watercolor, gouache and tempera. I was interested in Kandinsky’s belief that painting from life is
contrived and untruthful, while complete abstraction is raw and spiritual. His works were inspired by music – Kandinsky admired how musicians could conjure images in the mind of the listener with only sound. As a result, his pieces have a sort of rhythm and movement that make them feel musical.
My first step in this project was looking at images of his work and noticing its characteristics. I came up with a list of 15 adjectives: geometric, abstract, colorful, linear, kinetic, rhythmic, active, detached, deconstructed, engaging, fluid, detailed, methodical, otherworldly, and dynamic. Next, I started copying some of the shapes Kandinsky works with and began creating a composition of my own. I started to see how certain lines and curves looked like parts of letterforms.
Spread from sketchbook
After sketching out some letters, I tried creating Kandinsky’s name with microns and gouache paint. I like the vibrance of the gouache, but I found the medium too difficult to control if I wanted to emulate Kandinsky’s tight, clean style. So, I decided to cut out painted elements, scan them into Photoshop and edit them, and then compose them in a 10”x10” format in
Illustrator. I played around with the idea of marrying the old (gouache painting) and the new (Adobe technology). I did by juxtaposing “real” scanned elements with pixelated images and flat vector shapes. To add a sense of layering and depth, I put drop shadows on some elements. This project allowed me to draw inspiration from an artist’s work and spin it into my own original piece.
