Turning Words into Art - Filled in Shapes

Words: Bye Bye Miss. American Pie drove my chevy to the levy but the levy was dry and good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye singin' this will be the day that I die. 

One of the first projects I did in my third-grade art class was to put words into shapes, It is a very simple technique that requires not very advanced equipment. In this blog post, I hope to show you how to use this technique on your own and what you can use it for. 

Step 1: Picking the words

This should be the easiest part of the process. This is where you get to select your favorite book quote or lyrics. It is really up to you. 

Here are some sites you can check out if you are out of ideas:

Brainy Quote

Quotes by Topic

Step 2: Picking a good shape

let's say you choose this quote:

No great artist ever sees things as they are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.
- Oscar Wilde

Think about all the potential shapes or objects that come to mind. For the American pie picture that I have at the top, it didn't take me long to decide on a pie. Other quotes can be more tricky but get creative!

Some images that come to mind might be:

A paint brush

A paint palette

A canvas

Step 3: Drawing out the shape on paper.

For this step use a pencil and the sheet of paper that you won't put your final piece on. You are going to want to keep a few things in mind as you choose what you want the shape to look like. 

1. Make it simple and obvious to what it is. 

2. The length of your quote and where each word will eventually go. 

Here is an example:

Step 4: Inserting the words

Continue using a pencil and lightly work on filling the shape in with words. Go lightly because you might need to try a few times before it will fit properly. 

Here is an example:

Step 5: Redo it all on your final sheet of paper. 

Still remain to be cautious and use that pencil lightly. You might have to accommodate for the size difference between your practice image and your final one.

Step 6: Color it in

Again a few things that you might want to keep in mind. 

1. The color of your object

2. What would be easy to read

3. Make the letters pop from the background

Step 7: Admire You beautiful Art Work!

The Principles of Design - Part One Repetition and Variation

Principles of design are what make things appealing to the eye. If you are trying to improve the look of something or you have been an artist your whole life. Design Principles help you understand the thinking behind your art.

REPETITION REPETITION REPETITION - repeating a color, line, texture, value or shape in your piece.

Repetition is used a lot in patterns or in art forms like zentangling. Here is an example of both repeated shape and repeated value.

Repetition can also be much more subtle. Like if you have a picture with a house in it the repetition may be the bricks or the windows or the sidewalk. 

transition - How the eye moves through the piece. 

The transition is important for many pieces of art. For example this blog transitions downward so I wouldn't start writing the text from the bottom and go up. This gets very complicated in a comic book because you have a story that you want them to follow. Sometimes this can vary based on the viewer, like in an optical illusion. 

Here is an example of very basic transition. 

Transition can just be simply what is the easiest thing to make out in the picture. Here is in an example.

The woman pops out before the sunset behind here. In this case, this is a transition using color.

I hope you enjoyed this. If you did and you want to see the other three design principles let me know in the comments! Also, brownie points for anyone who can post a picture in the comment of n example of either of these Design Principles.