Stella Abstract Drawing

Frank Stella is an American painter who fully embraced the idea that sometimes a painting can just be a flat surface, with no intention of having any depth to it. In the 1960s he created some paintings titled the “Protractor Series” which you can see HERE. For young students practicing geometric drawing, a protractor is the perfect tool to work with.
I like working with coated paper and Sharpie markers, so that is how I created this artwork. The pointy tips on the markers take some patience to color solid areas, so if I had young students (1st through 3rd grade) I would use some blunt tip markers and drawing paper. I’ve also found that limiting the amount of markers students may use (6 or 7?) forces repetition, which can create a kind of color rhythm in their art.
1. Every student will need a protractor and Sharpie, and should make overlapping shapes all over their paper. I would limit them to 6 or so protractor tracings, and that they all need to be either horizontal or vertical. Stella’s art is not freeform or random looking. It’s very clean and orderly and geometric, so that is the look the students should have as a goal.