Mixed Media Non-Objective Paintings

Last summer KAEA Summer Camp went virtual due to Covid- we'd never done a virtual workshop before but it was awesome! Avery Kasper agreed to lead us in a workshop on Mixed Media Non Objective Painting. She is not only an amazing artist, she is a great teacher and already has experience teaching in an online school as well as in her brick and mortar school building. Everyone really enjoyed the process!

Avery had us start with some drawing and mark making

before moving to painting and more drawing. We were encouraged to layer and use whatever media we wanted.

In progress- we made a smaller work on watercolor paper to warm up before moving to a larger canvas.

I had so much fun making these paintings and have made a few more since. My 2 year old promptly claimed the painting and it now hangs over his bed!

Primary Lines

In the second half of the school year my Kinders needed to review lines and primary colors. We had been using the vocabulary, but I realized I probably hadn't been as explicit about it after the first introduction. Sometimes I forget how much repetition the students need when they only have art class once a week (if we don't miss school). This lesson plan is available on The smARTteacher.

On the first day of the project we reviewed lines and the students made a composition using many different kinds. This was also a good time to reinforce paintbrush technique and care. I showed how to make thin and thick lines by turning the brush different directions and talked about trying to go in one diction to make the lines smoother. They sure like to go back and forth to smooth out a line and end up making the lines fuzzier AND thicker.

On the second day when the black paint was dry, the students were given the primary colors and white to mix tints. The students watched the Sesame Street music video by OK Go while I filled paint palettes. 

I've been doing something a little different with a lot of liquid tempera painting projects. Instead of putting out water, which usually ends up getting added to the paint making it less opaque and dirty looking, I ask students to try to use all the paint on their brush before switching colors and then to just wipe on a paper towel before "dipping the tip" into a new selection. It works really well most of the time and saves a lot of headaches.

If a student missed the first day, I let them choose if they wanted to draw lines with sharpie or paint black lines and wait until the following class period to use colors.

On the third day some students decided to add collage elements or do more painting. Many started new projects and kept on going with the liquid tempera and mixing colors. 

 This would be a great beginning of the year project, but it works equally well for review at the end.

Experiment Paintings

This spring I thought it would be fun to loosen up and do some "experiment paintings" with my 5th and 6th grade students. They're naturally in the stages of artistic development where children become critical of their work and can get very hung up on things looking realistic. We went a totally different direction with some non-objective paintings. Almost every student tried out this style of painting by the end of the school year.

We could've gone old school to learn about non-objective painting with some nonobjective paintings from Art History (de Kooning, Pollock, Kandinsky, Rothko, etc.) but since they were really starting to get squirrely at that point in the school year, I decided to show a video that Alisa Burke put together on some everyday objects she likes to use in her paintings. You can see the video here: http://alisaburke.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-favorite-everyday-things-for-painting.html

 At the conclusion of the video, I asked students to name tools they noticed. After the students listed what they had noticed from the video, I showed what unusual tools we had in the art room- bubble wrap, tubes for stamping, tin cans, foam brushes for stamping, brayers, etc. 

 I filled egg cartons with tempera paint but suggested that students not try to use EVERY color. We talked about the color wheel- which colors might blend nicely together and which would likely result in mud. I did a demo and showed how to "dip the tip" of the brush into the paint and how I could switch colors without water by trying to use all the paint on my brush first, and then not stirring the new color. I think if the students had used water, the paintings would not be as vibrant. I set out all of our tools on a table and the students just picked what they wanted to use.

 I told the students these were "experiment paintings" for a reason- I wanted them to explore the qualities of the paint, try out different color combinations, textures, etc. without being afraid of making a mistake. The end result was a lot of awesome paintings. Some looked like finished pieces, while other needed more attention in later classes. 

 One way to use the painted papers is to add solid colored strips for a paper weaving project.

 Other uses for the papers are

• drawing on top of the painted paper
• painting on top of it
• collage- background
• collage- cut it apart and glue onto something else
• journaling on top

Next year I may do this before opening up the collage center. I'm thinking about getting rid of my magazine stash as the students K-6 relied too heavily on magazine images instead of making their own. I think it may be helpful to show the students how to make their own papers first.