Drawing with Scissors

Matisse started out wanting to be a lawyer, but behind his parents' back he applied and attended art school.  He explored a variety of art forms including sculpture, but not until he experimented with collage did he find his art passion and art voice. His cutout art was radical for its time but he continued on with the form of art he called "Drawing (or Painting) with Scissors." 

Matisse compared himself to a juggler - balancing form and color.  He sometimes closed his eyes when constructing figures so that he would not be distracted by the details.  In this class, I practiced drawing with scissors by doing cut-outs of  performers - 

Using natural materials such as leaves or flowers can be a fun way to practice collage.  In many of Matisse's works viewers looked for different images in his cutouts which, at first, looked like just leaves but suddenly appear bears, monkeys,  seaweed, rabbits, or body parts like hands and spines.  Much like finding images in the clouds. What can you find in the image below?

Click here ​ for a easy Matisse lesson.