Black and white abstract image featuring four swirling, radial patterns on a white background.

To begin the rough sketches, make 20 square boxes (about the size of your palm, or 4”-5” inches) for each composition in your sketchbook. You should be able to fit four on a page in your sketchbook. Then, fill in each box with black shapes (no outlines) to come up with five possible solutions for each composition. All shapes created must be non-representational (no stars, hearts, emojis, numbers, letters, flowers, etc.). For all compositions, carefully consider the positive and negative space. Initially you make think of the white space as the “background” or the negative space, but play with flipping it and making it the positive space in your designs. Remember that you may only use cut black paper, not cut white paper or black marker. You are using a square format, which means that, naturally, our eyes go straight to the center. Your challenge in this project is to figure out how to either avoid this (especially in #2, #3, and #4), or make the central focus unquestionably purposeful. 1. Symmetrical AND Radial Composition - Identical shapes arranged in a circular composition of four, five, six or more sections. - Avoid a big swirly mess – strive for careful craft and some sense of order, balance, visual interest, and a focal point - Consider that a pinwheel is radial but not symmetrical. See more