Masterpiece: Monotypes, 1983 By Jim Dine

Keywords: Color, Positive/Negative Space Grade: 2nd Grade Month: November Activity: Heart of Many Colors

Meet the Artist • Jim Dine is an American painter, sculptor, and graphic artist. Born in Cincinnati, in 1935. • Dine studied at the , the Boston Museum School, and in 1957 received a bachelor of fine arts degree from . After graduation, he moved to New York City and became involved with a circle of other artists of the movement—including Robert Rauschenberg, , and —whose work moved away from abstract expressionism toward pop art. • Like pop artists, Dine incorporated images of everyday objects in his art, but he separated from the coldness and impersonal nature of pop art by making works that fused personal passions and everyday experiences. His repeated use of familiar and personally significant objects, such as a robe, hands, tools, and hearts, is a signature of his art. • In his early work, Dine created mostly assemblages in which he attached actual objects to his painted canvases. • From 1959 to 1960, Dine also was a pioneer of “Happenings”, works of art that took the form of theatrical events or demonstrations in New York. • His images come from dreams and his childhood. He considers the heart symbol his own and uses it as a template for all his emotions. “It’s a landscape for everything”. • In 1980, his work moved to and large installations in public spaces. • He currently lives in Walla Walla, Washington where he has a studio and New York.

Possible Questions:

o What colors are in this print? o What shapes do you see? Where are they? o How does the artist define the main shape -the heart- within this picture? o How does the heart appear to you? Flat or does it have a 3-D look? Hatching black lines around the heart give the rounded 3-D quality. o How do you think the artist painted this? What did he paint first; the background or the heart? o What if he painted the background all black or white and the heart was colored patches? What if he painted the heart black or white and the background was left as colored patches? This could lead to a discussion on positive and negative space. o Is this a happy or a sad heart? Why do you think? o Do you like the heart as an image? o What would you call this artwork?

Activity: Heart of Many Colors

Materials Needed : 9”x12” heavy white paper, various colors of tempera paint, diluted (50/50 mix) black and white paint, paint brushes, palettes trays for colored paints, bowls for black and white paint, sponges, paper plates.

Process: 1. Set up each workstation with two to three palette trays each on a paper plate. Fill each well with the colored paint. Place enough paintbrushes around the palette tray so each color has their own brush. 2. Give each student an art mat and a piece of the heavy white paper. 3. Have students write their name on back of paper. 4. Before you begin, explain to the students that each color in the palette tray has their own paintbrush so once a paintbrush is used for the yellow paint (or orange, red, purple, etc.), that brush is now designated to that color. Please don’t mix the colors in the palette tray but you may urge them to experiment with mixing color on their paper. 5. Have students paint their entire paper using every paint color in the palette. They can paint undefined blotches (like the artist did in this work) or geometric shapes, lines, etc. 6. Once the paint is dry, remove the palette trays and place the bowls of diluted black and white paint in center of workstation. 7. Pass out a sponge to each student. 8. Have the students make a selection of either the black or white paint. 9. They will use the sponge to dab their paint choice to create the heart, with the original colors as the positive space, and the white/black as the negative space.

Activity and Student Work samples humbly taken from “Spot of Color” Art Blog