Week 3: Painting Basics and Abstract Intro

For the third week of school, the students were introduced to painting mini-lessons about technique, shapes, lines, overlapping and value. The first class I introduced the artist Wassily Kandinsky, an abstract artist who used elements such as line, shape, movement and color. I wanted the kids to understand that you can put the elements together like a puzzle and make a picture people recognize, or use the same elements to make a de3sign. These are often fun at the end when I turn them around to "find" a recognizable image with my imagination! The kids pick up on this and do the same just about every time! The first lesson they were required to keep the brush clean and not mix the colors. The paintings become much brighter! Next they had to use a variety of lines and overlapping shapes that were discussed during the lesson along with my teacher example. The next lesson was value mixing with white (tones) and black (shades). The students still cleaned the brush but had numerous piles of color all over the plate! The abstract subject did not change for this second lesson, which made it easier for them to know "what to paint" Try this at home and let your imaginations free!