Ways of seeing

Rorschach a Swiss psychiatrist invented the ink blot test.

Our chairman Ken Lilley led the evening’s activity, he introduced club members to Rorschach psychological test as a means to create art. The inkblot is where your mind starts to see recognisable patterns from ambiguous forms created on paper.

Andy Warhol Rorschach 1984; invented his own inkblot to create art.

Materials: Paper (watercolour works best), acrylic inks, or water colour paint, coloured pens or pencils.

The technique

1. Fold your paper in half.
2. On one side of the paper place random ink blots.
3. Fold your paper and gently rub over the paper with the flat of your hand.
4. Open up the paper, and interpret what you see. Use your pens or pencils to change it to whatever you see.

Further reading

A detailed article, ‘The deliberate accident in art,’ by Christopher Turner, published 1/10/2011 can be found on the Tate website.

Check out our members work!