Wall Drawing #541: Activities

When acquiring a piece from Sol LeWitt, one would receive a very detailed set of plans or instructions on how to paint or install the piece. A certificate of authenticity would always be included with these instructions. LeWitt being the conceptualize artist that he was, designed the wall drawings in a similar fashion to that of a musical composition. LeWitt was the composer, creating the idea, and trained artists served as the musicians, following the plan or composition to install the work.

What you’ll need:

1 red crayon or colored pencil

1 blue crayon or colored pencil

1 grey crayon or colored pencil

1 yellow crayon or colored pencil

1 copy of the Sol LeWitt Color by Numbers document

Getting Started

This is a copy of the plan for a section of Wall Drawing #541. Instead of being labeled with numbers, it’s labeled just as LeWitt would have done. Each letter represents a color: R= red, B= blue, Y= yellow, and G= grey. In the copy, where you see RYR do three layers of color. First, a layer of red, then one of yellow, and then one final layer of red. Go in order from left to right. Once you’ve completed both the cube and the background, you’ve made your first rendition of a Sol LeWitt Wall Drawing!

Sol LeWitt Animation Video Transcript:

Narrator: Sol Lewitt’s Wall Drawing #541 came with instructions installers had to follow. They were given specific measurements and color schemes for each side of the cubes. After drawing the lines, painters laid down three coats of the color specified on each side and repeated this process for every cube until the wall drawing was complete.

Color Theory Activity

Theory: The same color will look different when placed next to different colors.

Do the orange squares look like they are different colors?

Look closely at the orange squares below. The orange square probably looks lighter (more yellow) on the red square and darker (more red) on the yellow square. This is because the background color can provide more contrast and change the perceived color. When paired next to a darker color, a lighter color will look much lighter, and vice versa. The orange is in fact the same color on both the red and the yellow square. Try to create the same affect using construction paper. Cut two small squares of the same color, try 1×1 inch. Then, cut two larger squares (3×3 inches) of different colors, one with high contrast and one without. Glue the large squares next to each other on a sheet of white paper. Glue the small squares in the middle of each larger square. Observe and record your results.