TRAVEL TO THE ARCTIS
STENCILPRINTING
For the exhibition MAGNETIC NORTH. High in the north of Canada lie very cold regions. In winter it stays cold for months and icy winds blow. The canadian painten Lawren Harris also traveled there about 100 years ago to paint the impressive icy landscapes. In Disco Bay, a bay on the west coast of Greenland, he saw icebergs of various sizes and shapes and captured this impression in his atmosphaeric landscape "Groundes Icebergs". Harris painted his picture with only a few colours, especially blue and white. These he mixed into different shades of blue.
WITH THE COLOUR BLUE WE ASSOCIATE COLDNESS. ON THE OTHER HAND, COLOURS LIKE RED AND YELLOW LET US THINK OF SUNBEAMS
Some icebergs in Harris' painting are pointed, others broad and angular. In the foreground and to the right of the painting are dark, brown earth masses that contrast with the light icebergs.
YOU WILL NEED: DRAWING PAPER DIN A4, DRAWING PAD, GREY BOARD OR BACK OF A DRAWING PAD, ACRYLIC OR FINGER PAINTS, BRUSH OR SMALL PAPER ROLL, PENCIL, RULER, SCISSORS, GLUE, PIECES OF WOOD OR CORK
Carefully lift up the stencil and print more icebergs on your ice landscape as desired. Be careful, the colors can smear - let each color print dry before printing more icebergs on top.
TIPS
- Icebergs are formed when large pieces break off from a glacier, a huge mass of ice. These chunks of ice do not sink, but float, because ice is lighter than water. In the process, only a small part of an iceberg protrudes from the water; the larger part lies below the surface of the sea and is not easily visible. You can use highly diluted paint to paint over the lower part of your printed icebergs to give the impression that it is below the surface of the water.
- Show your ice landscape at different times of day - for example, what colors do you see at sunset?
INSTRUCTIONS
First, create the sky and sea in different shades of blue. Decide whether you want to work in portrait or landscape format and then use a pencil and ruler to draw the horizon line on your drawing paper. The horizon line is a horizontal line that separates the sky from the sea in your ice landscape. Draw this line approximately in the middle of your sheet, at least a third of the paper or more should be taken up by the sea. Then place a painting pad under your sheet and paint the sky and water in two different shades of blue to beyond the edge.
Let the paint dry well, meanwhile make about 3-4 iceberg stencils. Draw the outlines of the icebergs in different sizes and shapes on the gray board or back of your drawing pad and cut them out. To help hold your stencils in place while printing, glue a piece of wood or cork to the back of each iceberg. Now, using your paintbrush or a small wallpaper roller, paint your first iceberg stencil with white paint or a light shade of blue, then print! While the paint is still wet, press the stencil with the painted side onto your image, the entire stencil should be touching the paper.
