Text and Pattern
Jacob West
Text and Pattern
For my text and pattern project, will be focusing on colour, and how it affects the mood of the piece. I chose this theme as colour is an integral part of not just graphic design, but our lives as a whole. For example, a colourful array of flowers emits strong emotions of joy and pleasure, meanwhile a grey sky would emit the opposite. In this project, I am going to experiment with how blended and unblended colours convey different emotions.
Firstly, I am going to study Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky, a world-renowned artist known for his use of repetitive shape and colour. He used primary, secondary and tertiary colours, with varying temperatures depending on the mood of the piece. They were mostly unblended. Kandinsky utilised many mediums, including oil, watercolour, gouache, tempera, and possibly mixtures of these media.
Secondly, I will study Saul Bass, an American graphic designer and Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for revolutionising movie title sequences. Bass used a limited colour pallet in his works, typically consisting of no more than 4 colours. These colours were bright, and were often contrasted with a bold, black font.
Finally, I will study, …
For this project, I will use a variety of mediums, such as fineliner, coloured pencil, digital, watercolour and ink, to experiment with texture and how different colours look in different mediums. To develop my ideas, I will create a series of pieces that explore different colour pallets, that take influence from my artists.
Statement of Intent
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (1866-1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited as one of the pioneers of abstraction in Western art. Born in Moscow, he grew up in the Ukrainian city Odessa, where he attended art school. After graduating, he then went on to attend the University of Moscow, studying law and economics. However, Kandinsky reverted back to pursuing art upon discovering the transformative power of art, especially the works of impressionist painter Claude Monet. In 1896, he moved to Munich, Germany to pursue his artistic career. In 1922, he joined the Bauhaus school, where he trained students in preliminary courses such as abstract form and analytical drawing. He was made the head of painting and later directed the painting workshop.
Wassily Kandinsky took inspiration from a wide range of artists and movements, which all influenced his distinctive abstract style. He was influenced by French great Claude Monet’s work, especially Haystacks, and his focus on colour and shape over realism; Dutch expressionist painter Van Gogh, for his expressive brushwork and adventurous approach to colour; French painter Gauguin’s use of formal elements to convey deep senses of spirituality, and Pablo Picasso’s deconstruction of forms. Combined, these artists served as stepping stones for his transition to abstraction.
Kandinsky believed that non-objective abstract art was the ideal visual mode to express his desire to portray emotion and spirituality. His sole goal was to create timeless pieces, that represent human emotion, without the need for clear subjects. He believed that music, as well as art had the power to repair and enhance the soul.
Throughout his career, Kandinsky produced abstract and figurative works, focusing on the interrelation of colour and form, to create aesthetically pleasing paintings.
Colour is the most defining feature of Kandinsky’s work, with his pallet typically consisting of vibrant primaries, and softer secondaries; often placing colours next to each other to create contrast, in order to maximise their emotional impact. Kandinsky often compared colours to musical notes, stating that every colour affected the viewer on a different personal, spiritual, and emotional level.
Through the use of varying shape types, Kandinsky was able to further convey strong emotions. He used biomorphic and geometric shapes to form circles, which portray unity, triangles for strength and also movement, and more complex forms, such as zigzags to portray less straightforward emotions.
Similar to his use of shapes, Kandinsky also used varying types of linework. Ranging from rigid, straight lines, to create structure and order; to flowing, curved lines, Kandinsky utilised linework in order to create movement and rhythm, to create a sense of liveliness. These lines often served as visual guides, to divert the viewer’s gaze to the subjects of the pieces.
Upon first inspection, you wouldn’t think that there was much order or pattern in Kandinsky’s pieces; however, this is entirely not the case. In all of Kandinsky’s paintings, he used repeating shapes, with varying sizes, lines and colour, to give the pieces a sense of rhythmic chaos, thus increasing the complexity and abstraction of the pieces. Extending the motif of music in his pieces, Kandinsky’s use of irregularities and repetition resemble areas of music, such as cadences.
Texturally, Kandinsky’s pieces were ever evolving. In his early works, the texture was mainly smooth, which gave the pieces a harmonious, calm sentiment; whereas in his later works it was much more tactile, which represented more complex emotions, thought the use of varying brushstrokes and thicknesses of paint.
Spatially, Kandinsky’s pieces were unconventionally flat and depthless, despite intense layering. The shapes in his piece dominate the entirety of the canvas, and appear to float above one another, as if they’ve transcended into some sort of spiritual state. His artworks appears both condensed and spacious, giving them a magical, unearthly feel.
In regard to material, Kandinsky mostly chose to use oil paints, which allowed him to create texture and seamlessly blend colours, to ensure his pieces represent his visions in the best way possible. As well as using oil paints, he also experimented with watercolour paints, due to their fluidity, and woodcuts, for their geometric properties.
In conclusion, Kandinsky perfectly utilised the formal elements, to create harmonious, rhythmic pieces, that reflect his interest in music and spirituality. He used simplistic shapes and line to convey complex, internal emotions. Personally, I like Kandinsky’s use of varying shape and line, and how it gives the pieces subtle structure, despite seeming unorganised. In my own works, I will incorporate this use of line and shape.
This is an alcohol marker drawing in the style of Wassily Kandinsky. The artwork resembles a dinosaur-type creature surrounded by various coloured shapes. The top photo is the original drawing; the bottom is a version I uploaded into photoshop and enlarged and moved the shapes around. I chose to use a vibrant colour pallet of green, yellow and pink, bound together by bold blacks, to symbolise excitement and unity. I chose to use alcohol markers to ensure I got a slight, grainy texture, but subtle enough to not distract the viewer, giving the piece an authentic feel. I left a lot of white, open space around the subject, to give it a small, toy-like appearance, making it more relatable to a viewer.
The shapes and how the shapes interact with the subject and each other is similar to that of Kandinsky’s works, as they orbit the subject, whilst also compliment its shape. Personally, I think this piece was successful, as it allowed me to experiment with combining a physical medium with digital art. I particularly like the contrast between the blacks and the other colours. To improve, I will experiment with different placements of the subject and shapes.
This piece is a digital painting in the style of Wassily Kandinsky. To draw this, I simply drew the lines and then coloured them in. The picture takes inspiration from Kandinsky’s use of repeating shapes and line, and also his use of block colour. The piece has a fairly bright colour pallet, consisting of primary and secondary colours, which gives the piece a cheerful, but not overwhelming feel. I placed the mass of shapes in the centre of the canvas, leaving a large amount of canvas showing, to give the piece an unconfined appearance. The piece is very flat, with the shapes overlapping each other, as if they’re made of coloured Perspex or glass. Personally, I think this piece is decent but lacks detail. In future, I will add more spirals, dots and other more adventurous shapes, to give the piece more character.
This is a digital drawing in the style of Wassily Kandinsky, that I created on ProCreate. The piece depicts three reptilian-like forms in orange, green and red, inside a blue lattice. As well as these organic forms, the piece also features a grid, some triangles and a circle, which gives it a more graphic feel. I used a bright colour pallet to give the piece an exciting feel, much like that of Kandinsky’s work. The piece has a very smooth texture, which further enhances the graphic feel of the artwork. Overall, this was this piece, as it takes elements from Kandinsky’s work, whilst adding my own details. I particularly like the reptilian creatures, as they are toylike and add to the playfulness of the piece. To improve, I think I should use a traditional medium, as the lack of texture definitely lessens the effect of the piece.
This piece is a digital drawing that is inspired by Wassily Kandinsky. The piece is comprised of a skewed chessboard, three circles and a grid like form, that creates triangles. The piece uses a small range of colours, which give the piece an uninteresting, mundane feel. This is further amplified through the chessboard, a day to day object, thus not very interesting. The piece lacks texture, making it even more bland (somehow). It takes elements from Kandinsky’s work such as the geometric forms, grid and limited colour pallet. I dislike this piece, and believe it lacks character. The subject matter is uninteresting, the colours are ordinary and the texture helps nothing. To improve, I think a traditional medium, such as coloured pencil or watercolour, should be used, to give the piece a more personal, exciting feel.
This is a digital painting of a collection of squiggles and circles, with lines dividing the piece. To create this, I first drew the outlines of the shapes. Next, I filled in the outlines with various colours. Finally, I went over the whole piece with a filter, to give it a canvas-like feel. It takes inspiration from Wassily Kandinsky, by using repeating shapes and forms, with varying colours and sizes. The piece has a biological feel to it, and almost feels like it’s being viewed through a microscope. The background of the piece consists of an earthy, naturalistic pallet, whereas the foreground is made up of vibrant colours, which furthers this biological feel: the background is the ground; the foreground is the bacteria, viruses, etc. The background of the piece is composed of diagonal lines, which divide the bustling foreground up, making it a lot more accessible and digestible. There is little empty space in the piece, with the contents of the foreground entirely dominating the canvas, giving this piece a busy feel. Overall, I like this piece, as it takes clear influence from Kandinsky, but I have added my own elements. It allowed me to experiment with digital mediums and making them look traditional. Although it definitely doesn’t look traditional, it definitely has a unique feel to it. To improve, I would add smaller shapes and patterns and more shapes.
This is piece is a drawing of a scene of shapes and triangular, dinosaur-like creatures. To create this, I first sketched the outlines of the shapes and creatures. Next, I erased these until they were very faint and then went over these shapes with a thin fineliner. Finally, I added colour to the piece, using coloured pencils. The pieces takes inspiration from Wassily Kandinsky, especially his use of repeating shapes and vibrant primaries. The colour pallet and black outlines emphasises the exciting, toylike feel of piece. I chose to use coloured pencils in this piece to achieve a grainy texture, that contrasts the smoothness of the background, allowing the subjects to stand out as much as possible. In this piece I chose to place the shapes and creatures very close together, in the centre, whilst also leaving a lot of empty space, to further emphasise the small, toyish appearance of the piece. Personally, I like this piece a lot, due to the clean linework and vibrant colours. To improve, I should consider experimenting with different background colours and the scale of the subjects.
This is the previous piece but digitalised. To do this, I uploaded the piece into Adobe Illustrator. Next, I went around the outlines with the pen tool, in black. After that, I turned the piece into a vector and transferred it over to photoshop, where I added the colours. The digitalisation of this piece removed all texture that I achieved using the coloured pencil, giving the piece an even more toyish appearance. The addition of a mint green in the background and change of colours in the subjects, to a brighter, even more vibrant pallet, amplifies the liveliness of the subjects. Overall, I think the digital version was equally as successful as the original. Whilst it doesn’t have the same texture, I think it looks much cleaner and more finished.
This piece is a pencil, alcohol marker and fineliner drawing, of a collection of shapes. To draw this, I first sketched the outlines of the shapes. Next, I erased these until they were barely visible and went over it in different mediums: for the triangles and simple lines I outlined them in fineliner; for the circles I didn’t add outlines, instead I just drew them as blocks of solid colour and for the curved, squiggles I used just marker. The piece takes inspiration from Kandinsky’s use of shape and primary colours. I chose to use a small colour pallet of just blue, red, purple and black, to emphasise the connection between the shapes, as red and blue combine to make purple, and the black outlines bind everything together. In this piece, I used various line sizes to represent stability and unity. I chose to leave the background as white, and spacious, to emphasise the subjects. Overall, this piece was very successful, as I was able to experiment with a multitude of mediums, and it clearly takes influence from Kandinsky, but with my own unique twist. In the future, I will digitalise this piece to see if it looks better or not.
Create Text
Draw Shape Using Pen Tool
Hold Shift to select both text and shape
CTRL + Alt + C
For Wassily Kandinsky, I created a series of outcomes in various colours and mediums. For my first outcome, I painted a piece in the style of Kandinsky, on Procreate. I used a digital watercolour brush, to achieve a texture like that of Kandinksy. The texture appears similar to that of Kandinsky; however, it doesn’t have the same rough, grainy texture of traditional mediums. The colour scheme of the piece is a mixture of primaries, secondaries and tertiaries, which gives the piece a varying, exciting feel, much like that of Kandinsky’s work. My second piece was another digital portrait, however this time with little to no texture, fewer colours and an all-around more simplistic feel. The lack of texture makes the colours standout out a lot more; however, eliminates the Kandisky-esque feel. The colour scheme features mostly primaries, with one secondary, a scheme seen in many of Kandinsky’s work. The third piece is an angled checkerboard, consumed by bubbles and an array of geometric shapes. The piece takes inspiration from Kandinsky due to its colour pallet and shapes. I dislike this piece… a lot, as previously stated. The fourth piece was another digital drawing. This time, I added texture using the software’s watercolour brush. Although subtle, this small amount of texture makes the piece stand out a lot more, and gives it a more authentic, hand drawn feel, like that of Kandinsky’s work. The fifth piece was where I believe they started to evolve in the right direction. I created the piece on Photoshop, which allowed me to add the rough, paint like texture. This texture makes the colours stand out a lot more and gives the piece a much less flat appearance. The piece depicts various forms, that are inspired by bacteria and other natural forms, much like Kandinsky. Piece six has three variations: a black and white version; a coloured pencil version and a digitally coloured version. My favourite of the three is the second, as it gives the piece a really nice subtle, grainy texture, much like that of Wassily Kandinsky, and it adds to the playfulness of the piece. The second to last piece is my favourite of the batch. The piece is clearly very inspired by Kandinsky, yet has elements of my own, such as the medium (coloured pencil) and the patterns. They main concept behind my work was to explore how colour can create mood in a piece, and I believe I achieved this to an extent. Although, I did not explore a wide range of emotions, such as sad or angry: to improve, I would experiment with more. Over the course of studying Wassily Kandinsky, I have been able to improve my technical abilities, and have also learned that simplicity doesn’t mean ineffective
Saul Bass
Saul Bass (1920-1996) was an esteemed graphic designer and filmmaker, known for his motion-picture title sequences, logos and film posters. Born in the Bronx, New York, USA, Bass studied at the James Monroe High School, until graduating, at age 16. Upon graduating, he was offered a scholarship at the Art Students League in Manhattan. In 1938, he landed a job as an assistant in the art department of Warner Brothers, New York, a world-renowned film studio. It was all uphill from their, as Bass went on to make designs for films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ and Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Spartacus’, as well as corporate logo designs for American Airlines and many other huge brands.
Bass was influenced by many notable movements and artists, namely the Bauhaus Movement, for its simplistic yet functional design, created through the use of clean lines and striking shape; Constructivism, for its bold typography, which took influence from traditional propaganda posters; designer Paul Rand’s use of memorable visual storytelling in logos, and French visual artist Henri Matisse and his bold colour pallet and cut-out forms.
Bass’s work is characterised by its simplicity and use of geometric shapes, to create eye-catching pieces.
Bass utilised bold, contrasting geometric patterns to create rhythm in his pieces. His pieces feature disjunct shapes, zig-zags, spirals and human body parts, such as hands and eyes. Combined, these elements often created a sense of motion, as if the viewer was watching a film just through the poster. Bass used every small detail as a narrative device.
The shapes that featured in Bass’s work were simplistic and accessible. Triangles, quadrilaterals and irregular polygons all composed his iconic artworks. Bass chose to portray these forms as abstract, to create universal and ambiguous messages. The shapes often had defined corners and were asymmetrical, further creating the effect of movement and chaos.
Perhaps the most iconic area of Bass’s work was his usage of typography. Much like the shapes in his work, Bass rejected traditional, clean typography, opting for a more authentic, irregular typeface, that varied based on the mood of the artwork. The fonts appeared as not just words, but as an essential visual element of the piece. Examples of this include his poster of ‘The Anatomy of a Murder’ (1959), where the text seamlessly merges into the outline of the victim’s corpse. His use of text provided an exciting new element to film posters.
Bass used a small range of colours in his works, yet was able to create iconic, memorable colour schemes; composed of just striking primary colours and contrasting blacks and whites. Bass carefully selected these hues to symbolise specific emotions, for example yellow for excitement, blue for sadness, etc.
Compositionally, Bass utilised asymmetry and irregular positioning of subjects, in order to create dynamism and movement, via the use of diagonal lines, that guide the viewer's gaze and bold shapes.
Bass was a pioneer in the graphic design industry. Through his reductive, simplistic art style, Bass was able to rebrand what people think about film posters. I personally like his use of boldness and simplicity, as it gives the piece an element of implied detail, allowing them to be universally accessible.
Perhaps the most iconic area of Bass’s work was his usage of typography. Much like the shapes in his work, Bass rejected traditional, clean typography, opting for a more authentic, irregular typeface, that varied based on the mood of the artwork. The fonts appeared as not just words, but as an essential visual element of the piece. Examples of this include his poster of ‘The Anatomy of a Murder’ (1959), where the text seamlessly merges into the outline of the victim’s corpse. His use of text provided an exciting new element to film posters.
Bass used a small range of colours in his works, yet was able to create iconic, memorable colour schemes; composed of just striking primary colours and contrasting blacks and whites. Bass carefully selected these hues to symbolise specific emotions, for example yellow for excitement, blue for sadness, etc.
Compositionally, Bass utilised asymmetry and irregular positioning of subjects, in order to create dynamism and movement, via the use of diagonal lines, that guide the viewer's gaze and bold shapes.
Bass was a pioneer in the graphic design industry. Through his reductive, simplistic art style, Bass was able to rebrand what people think about film posters. I personally like his use of boldness and simplicity, as it gives the piece an element of implied detail, allowing them to be universally accessible.
This is a film poster for the hit series ‘The Sopranos’, a series about the mafia in New Jersey, that I made in ProCreate. The piece was inspired by Saul Bass. The motif of the piece, the pig, is a reference to ‘Satriale’s Pork Store,’ a recurring, significant location in the series and also symbolises the greed of the mafia. I chose to use a dark, rich red to represent violence, and black to represent death: two very prominent themes in the show. The typeface was hand-done on ProCreate, which adds a certain roughness to the piece, like that of the New Jersey streets. The bold, limited colours and the contrast take influence from Bass’s work. Also, the way the text seamlessly fits into the pig, with the letter ‘O’ appearing as a blocky, $1 coin reflects themes of greed and money, as it makes the pig appear as a piggy bank. This method of seamlessly integrating the text into the subject is commonly seen in Bass’s work. Overall, I think this piece was really successful, especially as a first outcome. The dark red and black create a really nice contrast, and the hand drawn text adds to this. To improve, I could consider adding a slight paper texture, to make it look more like an authentic, retro film poster.
This is a film poster for The Batman (2022), which was inspired by Saul Bass. I created this piece on Photoshop, and this time using the Photoshop pen tool, to get a slightly cleaner line. For this piece, I used a bright yellow and black, two colours that are associated with Batman. The black is for the darkness that he has become accustomed to, and the yellow is the unknown danger. The piece uses a limited colour pallet like Saul Bass, and the typeface is very similar to his. Overall, I like this piece, as it is simple yet effective, and the contrasting colours make it very appealing. To improve, I could try adding some texture or playing with the composition of the piece.
This piece is a digital painting of the word ‘Christmas’ that I created on Photoshop, that takes influence from Saul Bass. The artwork features dark red and black hues, which create a stark contrast. A lighter red is often associated with Christmas; however this red is very dark, which adds an element of unconventionality to the piece. The typeface I used is similar to that of Saul Bass, and I also replaced the letter ‘i’ with a minimalist Christmas tree, just like how Bass seamlessly integrates his motifs into text. Overall, this piece was successful and is a creative twist on the word Christmas. I like the tree that replaces the ‘i’ and also the irregular look of the text. To improve, I could consider experimenting with different colours, e.g. dark green or brown, to see if it makes it more or less impactful.
This is a film poster for the ‘Iron Giant’, in the style of Saul Bass. The piece is minimalist, and features the head of the giant, with the words ‘The Iron Giant’ in the place of his mouth. I used a bright yellow and contrasting black. The yellow evokes a sense of hope, in contrast to the black, which symbolises the evil government who sought to destroy the robot. The piece has a smooth texture, which gives it a very graphic feel. I took inspiration from Saul Bass’s typeface and how he integrates text into his motifs and vice versa. Overall, I really like this piece and I think it’s my favourite of my Bass outcomes. The simplicity of the Iron Giant’s head mixed with the irregular text give the piece an exciting feel, much like the film itself. To improve, I could experiment with different textures, such as grain, to give it a more retro feel.
Reflection and Comparison
For my study of Saul Bass, I created a series of digital paintings and film posters. For the first artwork, I made a minimalistic film poster for the ‘Sopranos,’ that features a red and black colour pallet, symbolising key themes in the show, e.g. greed, bloodshed. The second piece was a film poster for the ‘Batman’ which features a yellow and black colour pallet, symbolising the battle between light and dark, and the familiar vs the unknown. The third piece is a digital painting that portrays the word ‘Christmas’ in a Bass-esque typeface, with a minimalist, silhouette of a tree replacing the letter ‘i’. The piece is a twist on typical Christmas imagery, via the abnormal colour pallet and irregular font. The final piece is another digital painting, this time of the word ‘Slimeball’. I used a very geometric font for this piece, and a dark red and black colour scheme. Over the course of my work for Bass, I focused on using simplistic colour schemes and striking contrast to portray different emotions, and I think it went successfully. Each piece reflects a unique emotion, whilst also being very aesthetically pleasing. To improve my project, I believe I could’ve used other formal elements to heighten the emotional impact of the pieces, e.g. texture and line.
Josef Albers
Josef Albers (1888–1976) was a German-born artist and educator known for his pioneering work in color theory and geometric abstraction. A key figure in the Bauhaus movement, he later taught at Black Mountain College and Yale University, profoundly influencing modern art education. Albers' most famous work, Homage to the Square, explored the interaction of colors through nested squares, emphasizing perception and optical effects. His influential book, Interaction of Color, remains a cornerstone in design and art studies.
Josef Albers' work is characterized by a meticulous exploration of shape, primarily focusing on geometric forms such as squares and rectangles, which he used to investigate visual perception. His use of color is central to his practice, employing carefully selected hues to study their interaction, creating illusions of depth and movement. In terms of texture, Albers favored smooth, flat applications of paint, emphasizing the purity of color without distraction. His lines are clean, precise, and purposeful, reinforcing his disciplined approach to structure and design. Albers' composition is often symmetrical and balanced, relying on repetition and proportion to achieve visual harmony. Contextually, his work emerged from the Bauhaus movement's principles and evolved through his teaching at Black Mountain College and Yale, where he influenced generations of artists and designers with his theories on perception and color relationships.