In a process much like finding faces and shapes in clouds, Kyle Singer looks at blotches of color to create works of art.

Singer’s current project involves throwing watercolors onto 6 feet by 4 feet canvases, mixing the paints with more water and shaking them around until a random, sporadic scene is the result.

From there, Singer summons the creativity and spontaneity of childhood—a time when he would just draw in his sketch book because he wanted to.

“I just kind of had this piece of paper with random watercolor I sopped up off the table, and I just wanted to take a break, so I just sat down and drew as if I was a kid before there was ever projects or deadlines or anything,” Singer said.

Singer graduated from Eastern last year as an art major with a textile printing and design minor. This year, Singer is doing an assistantship and working toward a master’s degree.

The competitiveness of the art world is what Singer said inspired him to start drawing on the watercolor-stained paper with Sharpies and pens.

“It got to a point where I was really stressed in trying to come up with a new idea that would be like a masterpiece that would be different or better or somehow make it in the art world,” he said.

Singer said he had the watercolor piece hanging during one of the committee meetings he attends to earn his degree, and one of the members said to keep going with it, so he is making more.

The watercolor pieces all have ripped edges, a decision Singer said helped to move him away from the usual rectangles.

Within the edges, Singer draws whatever creatures, characters, faces, animals or places he thinks will fit the space of the color patterns.

“I just kind of unplug and try not to think,” Singer said. “Sometimes when you draw, you have an idea and you’ll go, ‘Oh that’s stupid,’ and you’ll just immediately toss it out, but I just try to explore all those ideas on here.”

Each project Singer has taken on along the way has had purpose, even though being in school for so long can be tedious, he said.

“Each piece you make—even if it’s a failure, even if you hate it at the end—just the act of doing it helps you grow creatively and helps your skills develop,” he said.

In one printmaking project Singer recalls, he spent six hours printing copies of lithographs of animals with crayon bodies.

He said the background kept catching ink, so he would have to keep sanding down that part of the image.

Drawing can be time consuming as well, because the special crayons used to draw on lithostones have to be continuously sharpened with a razorblade to add detail, Singer said.

Despite the labor-intensive process, Singer said printmaking has many advantages, like being able to print multiple copies.

He said making textiles has similar benefits, and one day he would like to use his skills to start his own T-shirt business.

“You can print as many shirts as you want, opposed to you spend hundreds of hours on one painting,” he said. “It’s a lot harder to sell one painting for thousands of dollars as it is a bunch of copies for $20.”

For now, Singer is staring at blobs of color trying to make something out of nothing.

“Right now, I’m just trying to have a push and pull with my art where I let go of a little bit of the control and kind of see what happens,” he said.

Stephanie Markham can be reached at 581-2812 or DENverge@gmail.com.