Getting into the mood
Art, Commissions

Getting into the mood

leilacurrah

How fun and awesome are mood boards?! Am I the last to know?

I recently started work with a new client on a commission to create a custom painting for their home. They have asked for something “abstract,” but not completely amorphous. I have done many abstract paintings over the years, but they want something different from anything I’ve done before. This is exciting because it means I get to do something new!

My husband suggested that I try mood boards to organize my ideas and sort out the possible creative avenues. There is more than one way to create a mood board and working with collages seemed like a great way to present my ideas for painting. Each one is accompanied by a brief summary in words.

I narrowed things down first by talking to the client about what they think they might want and then scouring my art books and the web to bring together some of my favorite work (adding a few sketches of my own).

Rorschach-inspired:

  • black and white, or monochromatic
  • based on the original Rorschach ink blotting
  • mirrored symmetry across the center line
  • might invoke a leaf, a butterfly, a turtle or other animal, a tree, a human figure (or more than one!)
  • high contrast
  • dramatic, bold, balanced

    • Miró-inspired:

    • black and white, one or more additional colors
    • relies on the use of line drawing to create interesting shapes, forms, faces, and creatures that may seem organic and even celestial
    • playful, curious, bold, may feel somewhat random
    • makes the viewer curious about relationships

    Matisse-inspired:

  • black, white, neutral, and/or multiple colors
  • inspired by Matisse’s artwork originally done as paper cuts
  • he often created leaf-like forms, fruits, and/or human forms
  • interesting relationships between background colors, shapes, movement, placement of objects, layering
  • might use repeating shapes
  • expressive, confident

    • Golden-ratio:

  • black and white or neutral colors and one to three additional colors
  • based on the golden ratio/fibonacci sequence
  • looks like seashells, waves, flowers, cactus
  • moving, graceful, curved, ordered, harmonious, symmetric