Scribble Painting

I gave my Sketchbook Practice class the assignment of making as series of "scribble paintings", and then cutting them up to make grid compositions.  A scribble painting, or drawing, is one in which you are just making a variety of marks, trying to get some variety, but without regard for composition.  After all, you are going to tear it to pieces, or cut it up somehow anyway.  Here is an example of the process:

Original Scribble Painting

I cut up the painting and placed some pieces in a loose grid composition.

Then I painted over and around it to tie it together.

 I found that working with the intention of tearing up the results, I came up with some pretty interesting compositions.  Some of the pieces I really like, and wish I had done in large format on good paper (the scribble paintings are on cheap drawing paper).

On this one I used the gel plate with string.

Of course, the challenge is to get in the mindset of planning to tear up your piece, but without actually intending to tear up your piece.  I'm sure this is a matter of just doing the work and Putting In the Hours.  I'll keep you posted as I put in more hours and figure this out.

Meanwhile, I am teaching Scribble Painting at CREATE in Chicago on August 23, and at ART and SOUL on October 1.  These are both three-hour evening classes.  I will also be doing plenty of scribble painting in my summer workshop, Collage Journeys in Vermont.

Really, though, this is fun to do in a group, but you can just try it in your own studio.  Give yourself a few parameters (limit your colors, materials, and tools) and just see what kinds of marks you can make.  Go for variety.  Here is an example of how you could proceed:

1. Make some bold marks, using a relatively large brush and a strong color or black.
2. Let that dry.  Apply some clean water to the paper, then add paint (a new color) to both wet and dry areas.  See what kinds of shapes that makes. 
3. Use your paint brush to make lines, using either a third color, or one of the previous colors.
4. Switch tools.  Use a brayer or a different brush, or a credit card to apply more paint.
5. Choose a stamp or stencil and add some smaller shapes in a contrasting color.
6. Make fine lines using one or more pens (Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen in white is fabulous for opaque quite lines).  Doodle. Scribble.
7. Choose another drawing tool to make different lines.
8. Keep going like this, or stop and move on to the next one.  Make up your own rules.

To see a few more of my scribble paintings, go to my Flickr site. Have fun with this!  I'd love to hear your ideas or experiences with this process.