• Markers 

• Paper (can also use canvas) 

• Alternate materials that can be used instead of markers: 

  • Colored Pencils  

  • Paint 

  • Crayons

1. For this abstract piece, try not to portray anything realistic. You’re focusing on the line width, textures, and colors.

2. If using a marker, see what happens when you use light pressure and what happens when you use strong pressure. How does the line change? Let your mind wander as you add colors, changing them to see the different look you get.

3. Try making marks with a different medium, like colored pencils. How are these marks different from the first ones you made?

4. Keep experimenting with making different marks with different media, for this last image, drops of paint were added. If you are not experimenting with different materials, try adding shapes to your drawing.

5. Once you are done, observe what you have made. What do you see? How many different shapes? Do all the shapes together create another image? 

Born in Fresno, CA on Aug. 31, 1908, the son of Armenian immigrants, William Saroyan gained fame as a writer of short stories and plays such as "The Time of Your Life."  He was also a visual artist of drawings and watercolors which he never sold nor exhibited.  His abstract work was influenced by Chinese brush drawing, Jackson Pollock, and the calligraphic work of Mark Tobey.  Saroyan died in Fresno of cancer on May 18, 1981.