Group Painting (Non-Representational Art Using a Viewfinder)

*Art One*

Each table of students used a small viewfinder to find a small non -representational portion of a newspaper photograph to inspire a large scale tempera cake painting.

REFLECTION: I was not concerned with color-mixing. Most groups did not mix. I kept circulating the room to remind students that their painting should not look like something recognizeable! They were to simplify. I did discuss balance with some groups; paint red in one area then use it somewhere else in the composition as well. This was a great project for collaboration practice. Next year I will spend time showing Color Field artwork examples. I taped these large paintings up high on the classroom walls around the room and they add energy to the room. Great 2 day project.

Four Color Schemes Painting

*Art One*

Students created non-representational watercolor paintings showing 4 color schemes, oil pastel contour lines, and color gradients.

Steps/Student Checklist:
Found a 1''x2'' magazine image that is non-representational. "If you find an magazine image of a person or a place, make sure you cannot tell what the subject is in your selected rectangular detail."
Selected a patterned swatch of fabric.
Drew simplified image detail using pencil and colored oil pastel.
Incorporated fabric pattern into two areas within the drawing.
Used ruler to divide composition into 4 equal sections.
Completed 4 color wheel plan worksheet to plan the 4 color schemes.
Notes/practice in sketchbook using watercolor techniques.
Painted each of the four areas of painting while referencing 4 color wheel plan worksheet--use more and less water for more or less opacity/saturation of paint.
Glued on two neutral colored strips for borders.
Added emphasis and boldness to select areas using colored pencil gradients atop some dried watercolor areas.