July 23, 2017

Shapes Shapes Shapes

One tool I like to use is large cardboard cut outs of various shapes. it’s a great way to add some variety to your mark making.

22 Comments

  1. Debby Alphin on July 23, 2017 at 6:41 am

    Great suggestion as always!! Cardboard is much cheaper and much more versatile than buying multiple
    templates!! Thanks so much sharing.



  2. Marti Grace Ashby on July 23, 2017 at 6:50 am

    Thanks so much for sharing this, Nicholas. This is a great idea as well as a time-saver. 🙂



  3. Carolyn King on July 23, 2017 at 7:01 am

    Wow, I LOVE your easy-going, accessible teaching style, Nicholas! I start a new teaching job soon with Middle School aged students so am optimistic that I can get the tech support I need to be able to project your wonderful videos to share with my kids. Hope that’s ok by you!
    Your work is so light-filled, gorgeous and inspiring. Hhhmm…just like YOU! Thanks again…these videos make me so happy to be an artist!😀😀😀



    • Nicholas Wilton on July 23, 2017 at 5:52 pm

      thanks Carolyn! Good luck with the kids..



  4. Rosemarie A Valdez on July 23, 2017 at 7:27 am

    Thanks for sharing about how you use these templates for those cool interesting shapes that are in your paintings. I also appreciate your teaching style, always informative, very relaxed. 😊



  5. Candace Loheed on July 23, 2017 at 7:40 am

    Cool. Your very generous about process. It’s helpful as I’m working on two paintings that are , well, not good….yet.
    You inspire to keep trying. I was thinking I needed an intervention… to release me from these paintings… but I keep hanging in, and they may yet work, thanks!!



  6. Patricia Roshaven on July 23, 2017 at 7:59 am

    I like this! It’s a great way to spice up a painting that seems ordinary.



  7. Lisa Miller on July 23, 2017 at 8:12 am

    Thanks for sharing this collage-esque painting technique. I love the idea of making my own stencils for painting. Often when commercially made stencils are used, the work looks die-cut or machine made. Your approach allows the artist’s unique vision to shine through. Thanks as always for so kindly sharing your ways of working. I think about your videos after watching. The videos inform my later thinking about my work. Thanks again!



  8. Karuna Gutowski on July 23, 2017 at 9:43 am

    I recently made some tile-like shapes and they are so handy to have around the studio, as an additional design element. However I hadn’t thought of using Illustrator to generate them. Thanks for the video, always so helpful and inspiring!



  9. Jeff Kahn on July 23, 2017 at 11:11 am

    Wow, this tip is awesome. It’s great to see the scale of your large works. I’ll try some reverse stencils too. You’re truly generous about work process.

    I was studying at Art Center in the late 70’s. I’m wondering, how about you?



  10. Pat on July 23, 2017 at 11:15 am

    This was particularly interesting to me, Nicholas. I’m challenging myself to carry the principles of collage to my painting — and vice versa. Your comments about opposites were very important. Thank you!



  11. bjquinn on July 23, 2017 at 12:36 pm

    Thanks, Nick. This is such a great, fun idea. Thanks for sharing.



  12. Tina M on July 23, 2017 at 12:46 pm

    Thank You for sharing so generously. I’ve been making my own stencils from foam pads – they are small sizes. Your cardboard cutouts would be good to have, especially for large paintings. I’m going to make them for my larger paintings. Namaste!



  13. Roxane Wilson on July 23, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    Awesome idea. I have been making thick foam stamp cutouts of shapes I like– for a printed look, but a traced shape would bring even more variety! Thank you!



  14. Kerry Jane Scott on July 23, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    thankyou for sharing this, so simple but so so helpful! I have a myriad of stamps and things to make marks, but never thought of this. You and your art are generous.



  15. Traci Suzanne Marvel on July 24, 2017 at 7:51 am

    I will try it today! 🙂



  16. Leslie Lemberg on July 27, 2017 at 4:09 pm

    Thank you for your generous studio “lessons”; sharing useful techniques = the perfect amount of inspiration + explanation + tools. After watching I want rush to the studio and create with a spirit of play + experimentation not always accessible but so clearly present in your pieces (which I greatly admire and enjoy!) I love texture, contrast, movement, layers, things hidden/revealed, simplicity / spontaneity / complexity, depth, humor, and more…
    I am keenly aware how my tendency to overthink or fill in gaps, kills the work. I feel painting should be organic and filled with life and consider that if I wanted a poster I would fashion it to be perfect for print. Coming from a graphic design background the urge can be strong to touch up the areas where my eye goes to, but years ago a seasoned and wise gallerist suggested “if you fill everything in… you don’t leave any room for the viewer to interact”.



  17. Brett Snelling on September 27, 2017 at 12:19 pm

    I have used paper templates for ages. Sometimes I paste them to the canvas and then remove them later by moistening them . Other times I paint them and press them wet onto the surface I’m working on, Never used cardboard though , I shall have to consider it in the future.



  18. Mia Stilwell Hinchey on February 9, 2018 at 11:23 am

    WOW! Serendipitously ran across one of your posts and I am so glad I did. You are so generous with your insight and it is so cool! I was on the brink of giving up my studio. I was just so frustrated and sad and so self punishing. I have a quick silly question. After you make the shapes in Illustrator and print them, how do you make them so large? Thanks in advance



Nicholas Wilton

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Nicholas Wilton
the founder of Art2Life.

With over 20 years experience as a working artist and educator, I’ve developed a systematic approach that brings authenticity, spontaneity and joy back into the creative process.

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