Arts & Entertainment

Color and Composition

Futura

Lesson time 11:33 min

Paint along with Futura as he explores color choice, composition, and coverage in a multicanvas painting.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Color and Composition

Preview

[MUSIC PLAYING] - I've got a few canvases here, and we're going to begin with just building up some colors, and then we'll get into more lines and technique. One thing I'd say is lighter colors always first, because obviously, a lighter color will not cover a darker color. So just in terms of the three cans we have here, pink, red, purple, we're going to start with pink. Based on what I said before about caps, this seems to be a medium cap. And I guess we could call this just misting, covering. And this is all determined on how you feel and, you know, what you're looking for. Again, I started with a kind of controlled palette. Once again, building up a darker color on top of the lighter color. So of course, this pink is the base. You put your red. You could go orange now. You could go pink, red, orange. You could go yellow. You could start to run off into the yellows. I think pink, red, purple is kind of a good combination area. Shout out to Prince. Loved purple. Okay. So generally speaking, before we're going to get into any lines and any more details on this, I think you, more or less, want to just cover your area. It looks a little sporadic. Let's just add some more, add some more pink. But for the sake of argument, you know, this would be the misty atmospheric technique that I usually begin with as far as coverage. And you know, just depending on what level of saturation you're looking for. Me, it's not ever fully covering, unless, you know, that's the game. I always like to leave some white around. Because whether it's the next color on top, or some of the details can find space to play within the atmospheric world. All of this is determined by the individual, and what he or she is looking for. Once again, for me, I'm just trying to get some basic coverage here. And I would have to say that's about it. Now, just before we get going with detail, done all of that with these three colors. And I'm thinking, okay, you know, black, black can always join the party. Because, you know, black's my primary color of detail work. And elements that are, obviously, even darker than these three that would sit on top. I mean, you wouldn't want to do the black first and try to cover black with another color. It really wouldn't work. Even white. When you're only dealing with aerosol, certain colors will never cover other colors. So be cognizant of that. After we have established our background and we feel as if that's what we want, just to get my lines going. So now that we've established, let's say, okay, these three canvases. Let's just call it a triptych, right? We have three canvases that we're going to actually call one canvas. This way, I built up the scale of the piece now. So if these are the three pieces that make one piece, I've already determined that, well, I'm going to try to find some equilibrium here between the painting on the left and the painting on the right. And that's why these lines I've ju...

About the Instructor

A pioneering painter and street artist, Futura has exhibited at institutions like the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, collaborated with Louis Vuitton and Supreme, and created album art for The Clash. Now he’s teaching you his signature, kinetic approach to abstract art. Learn how to express yourself and paint with color, dimension, and detail. All you need to create art is an idea and a can of spray paint.

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Futura

Pioneering abstract graffiti artist, Futura teaches you how to create art with a can of spray paint and an idea.

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