Student Directions
Experimenting with Media and Materials
DAY 1:
Select a simple subject for your work. A clearly defined photograph of a person, place, or thing will work well. Select a dark piece of paper and trim it to a suitable size and shape for the subject you have selected.
Choose three pastel or crayon pieces in very, very light and medium shades. Begin this experiment by sketching your subject in one light color only. For example, sketch with peach-colored chalk on brick-colored paper. Use lines only in this first step (no shading), and don’t worry if you make a mistake—just leave the original lines and make corrections.
Now choose a second color and begin to block in areas. You may use shading or cross-hatching to achieve the effect you want, but don’t try to be too finished. Finally, choose a third color to emphasize the best parts of the work. Put the work aside.
DAY 2:
Try the same subject again, this time with very different materials. Select a piece of highly textured white paper. Use tempera or watercolor and a broad brush for the first (and lightest) areas of the study. Block in your subject with a second, slightly grayer or darker color. (This second color should still be light.)
Finally, emphasize the best parts of your painting with a third, slightly more intense color. You may want to paint out the mistakes, but don’t try to hide or camouflage them—enjoy those marks as part of the evolution of your second painting. Now put this painting aside also.
AT THE END OF CLASS, OR DAY 3:
Take a long look at both studies. Remember that they are not intended to be finished paintings, just good beginnings. On a separate sheet of paper, write a few phrases that describe your own techniques as a painter. (The vocabulary list may help you get started.) Write a short paragraph describing what you see in your own painting. Is one of your paintings more or less successful than the other? Explain.
Do a quick read-around to share your ideas with your classmates. Finish the discussion by viewing a work by an artist who clearly enjoys leaving marks of the painting process (such as Cassatt, Degas, Monet, or Van Gogh). You may finish your own paintings if you like, but remember that the purpose of this project is to appreciate the painting process in your work and in the work of others.