Harmony unifies the composition by emphasizing the common character–a surface quality, shape type, texture, and color. These factors of cohesion are also helpful in the creation and exploration of pictorial movement. Your investigation will have you exploring the location, placement, and direction of shapes.
Materials:
Drawing materials: pencil, ink, crayon, colored construction paper, and rubber cement.
Painting materials: tempera, diluted ink, spray paint, sponges, etc.
Combinations of these materials, plus cut and tom paper, will be used–add others as needed (string, thread, or stretched canvas).
Method:
Select two or three interesting colored sheets of construction paper. One will be the background. From one of the others, create a series of related shapes like triangles or ovals or circles.
By placing them strategically on the colored ground, create the maximum pictorial movement or compositional flow across or through the organization. You may make as many shapes as you need. Move them around, trying different movements and arrangements before selecting the final composition.
Before rubber cementing the shapes in place, try adding harmony to them all using three methods. For example, they will already be related or have commonalities if they are the same type of shape (shape family) and/or the same size. Additional harmony could be added by 1) using spray paint (always in a well ventilated area) and applying a value or color change to the same corner on each shape; 2) using a sponge and applying a soft texture of tempera or acrylic paint over each shape; 3) painting a related color on each shape; 4) create a penciled rubbing on each shape; 5) crumple the paper for each shape surface; 6) draw a series of lines in the same location across all the existing shapes; 7) use your imagination to invent other methods.
Before the final gluing, if you feel the composition needs attention, you may want to take the third colored construction paper and make some bigger background shapes to go behind the shapes creating movement (Figs 2.3A, 2.3B, 2.3C, 2.3D)
These are only suggestions…explore many other possibilities and when satisfied that you have the maximum movement and harmony, glue them in place or translate the study into a large oil painting or print.
