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How to Hide Letters in Art

Art is a living, breathing thing in the sense that it's constantly evolving, guided by the innovation and experimentation of the artists who create it. From the earliest cave paintings to the most cutting-edge contemporary artistic experiments, art is in a constant state of flux. Medieval iconography sometimes featured text as part of the work; ancient, handwritten copies of the Qu'ran, the Bible and other sacred texts could be considered art in and of themselves. But the Cubists of the early 20th century were the first contemporary artists to explore using letters in art -- sometimes overtly, sometimes covertly.

Instructions

    • 1

      Disguise letters and words by painting them in a virtually identical color as the background. In this way, you camouflage the text against the surface on which it's painted.

    • 2

      Represent letters as "real" objects within the subject of the painting. For example, you could paint a giant letter "A" as an abstracted entranceway, or an "M" as a mountain ridge. In this way, the letter assumes two forms: itself and the object it masquerades as.

    • 3

      Place the letters at the periphery of a painting, away from the viewer's attention. Pablo Picasso experimented with this technique in his famous 1911 painting "Ma Jolie," in which the words "Ma Jolie" are stenciled at the bottom in dark lettering, away from the focal points of the painting.

    • 4

      Render the letters in a very small size, observable only to the most scrutinizing eye. This allows the "secret" placement of letters in art while rendering them essentially invisible.

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