Norman Lewis was an African American abstract expressionist artist. He lived and worked in New York City. The abstract expressionists were a famous group of young artists. They made paintings that were not supposed to look like living things or objects. Instead, the paintings were experiments with color, shape and line. In Lewis’ paintings, lines and color work together to show his ideas. He was inspired by everything from the civil rights movement to walking, nature and music. How can you use overlapping lines, shapes and repeating colors to express movement? Think of running, dancing or the sound of your favorite song.
Norman Lewis (American, 1909 – 1979), untitled, 1945. Oil on canvas with collage, 33 ½ x 11 ½ inches. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; The Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Collection of African American Art
You will need:
- Oil pastels
- Paper
Other supplies you can use:
- Q-tips or paper towels to blend your colors together
To make your abstract work of art:
- Work from the top of your paper down to the bottom. Use a black oil pastel to draw overlapping shapes and intersecting lines. Will you draw the same shape over and over? Or will you add many different shapes and kinds of lines?
- Fill in the shapes with different colors. You can try layering similar colors inside a shape or keeping each shape a different color.
- Try adding several colors to a shape and blending them together. Rub them with a Q-tip, paper towel or your finger. How does blending change the colors?
- Once your whole paper is filled with lines and colorful shapes, sign your work! Norman Lewis signed all his paintings with just his first name: “Norman.” He was inspired by Vincent van Gogh, a famous artist from the 1800s who signed his art “Vincent.”
