Drawing With

Scissors Your Project: Snip colorful pieces of

paper into a cut-work creation that expresses something you love, or makes your heart happy. Use the style of drawing with scissors like Matisse to design a colorful cut-work masterpiece that reflects your personality.

Our inspiration for this project

comes from a very famous artist…

Henri Matisse 1869 - 1954

Matisse was a French painter, graphic

artist, designer and sculptor.

He lived through some of the most

traumatic political events in recorded

history, the worst wars, the greatest

slaughters, but there is no trace of

them in his work. His work was joyous,

and Matisse was, in his old-age,

advised by his doctors to wear dark

glasses because the colors in his paint

palette were so bright!

Matisse’s Cut

Paper Collages

Later in his life, Matisse was

stricken with physical handicaps

that prevented him from painting,

and he turned to cut paper

collage and drawing, both of

which he could do from his bed.

One great thing about cut paper shapes is that you get

both a POSITIVE and NEGATIVE SHAPE from just one cut.

Below is a classic example of positive and negative shape.

What do you see in each picture?

As you cut out your shapes, try to use

ONE CONTINUOUS CUT so you can

preserve the negative shape and use

it elsewhere in your collage!

Next you will be looking at some other artist

examples of cut paper collage. As always, take

note of what you like and dislike about the

artworks, and be thinking about your own

design!

Remember your assignment:

Snip colorful pieces of paper

into a cut-work creation that

expresses something you

love, or makes your heart

happy. Use the style of

drawing with scissors like

Matisse to design a colorful

cut-work masterpiece that

reflects your personality.

“My collages are created

through a combination of

delicate paper cut outs.” –

Sally W. Spiegel

What makes this piece look so 3-D? Also, notice how nice

the border frames the design on the inside!

Sally used text and tiny intricate pieces in this collage, then

framed it out with a tic-tac-toe frame.

How did the artist

separate the black

on black shapes in

the artwork below?

The artwork above has

a lot of negative space

in the background.

What do I mean by

negative space?

Would a border have

made this collage more

interesting?

This artist did a

great job of

adding lots of

interesting details

to their work.

•What keeps the

dice from

appearing flat?

•What about the

rose?

•How did they

add shadows to

the figure?

Can you spot some

positive/negative

shapes in these

works of art?

Notice the use of

patterned paper in the

work below. That is a

great way to add

texture to your collage!

This artist uses

overlapping shapes and

shadow lines to make her art

appear 3-D. Can you find

examples?

How did

this artist

make the

buildings

in the

distance

look far

away?

How did

they

make the

river

appear to

flow into

the

distance?

This collage is VERY successful because of all the intricate details and

overlapping shapes. It looks so 3-D! Look how they used different

shades of green to show various plant shapes on top of one another.

These two collages

are a great

example of

foreground, middle-

ground,

background.

Can you find all 3?

These collages are reproductions of

famous paintings…do you recognize

them?

Let’s get started on our collage

ideas!

Create a list of 5 things that you love, or

that make your heart happy and reflect

your personality in some way.

**Not all things make good subject matter

for collage, so consider how it might look

as an artwork before adding it to the list!

MAKE YOUR LIST NOW.

Next, you need to choose your 3 favorite ideas, and

begin thumbnail sketches of those in your sketchbook.

It helps to make a small list of things you could use in

each collage. For instance -

Springtime in Denton

1. Butterflies

2. Sunshine

3. Green trees

4. Blossoming flowers

5. Arts & Jazz Fest

Japanese Gardens

1. Lotus flowers

2. Bonsai trees

3. Cranes

4. Koi fish

5. Peaceful feelings

These are just 2 ideas for a collage. By listing the items

that represent the theme, it makes it easier to create a

thumbnail sketch.

After you choose a final thumbnail sketch, you can

begin making your pattern pieces in your sketchbook, or

on scratch paper. Draw out each shape, and cut out.

You should label them as seen below.

FLOWER

CUT 4

FLOWER

CENTER

CUT 4

SHAPES LIKE THESE FLOWER

DETAILS CAN BE CUT FREE

HANDED

Next, you trace your pattern

pieces onto colored paper,

and assemble with glue…

LEAF

CUT 4

When assembled, the final product should look

something like this. Never glue down pieces to the

background until ALL PIECES have been cut out. Then

you can practice arranging them until you get it perfect.

The VERY LAST STEP is gluing all the pieces down!!

Your collage must include the

following things…

1. A decorative border that relates to

your theme

2. At least 25 cut paper shapes that make

up your collage

3. Colored paper and patterned paper

4. Small paper details on top of other

shapes (example: The shapes on top of

the flower)

5. Positive and Negative Shapes