Camouflage, color schemes and Cubism.(Brief Article)

A brilliantly colored parrot is hidden in a forest of similar hues. A tawny lion lurks amongst lion-colored yellow and orange shapes. The idea of camouflage or protective coloration is intriguing. Use that quality to motivate young artists in a color study incorporating a component of Cubism.

In one phase of Cubism, two of the ingredients are "faceting" and "fragmentation." I show my class an example of Picasso's Female Torso, and we discuss how the form has been broken up into many triangles.

To begin their own "semi-Cubistic" artworks, the students must sketch a large, rather simple subject. Nothing too small or complex, I say. Also, I require flat shapes, …