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Water Color Painting Techniques

Create an expressive painting to match a poem using watercolor painting techniques.

SCHOOL: Blue Heron Middle School
TEACHING ARTIST: Susan Doyle
GRADE LEVEL: 6

Lesson: Students use watercolor wet on wet, wet on dry, salt, and imprinting techniques. Paintings are created to express the mood of a poem.

Student:

Target learning: Uses wet-on-wet technique in painting.

Criteria: Applies wet paint on saturated paper.

Target learning: Experiments with and uses salt, with imprinting technique.

Criteria: Places salt and manipulates feathers in paint for texture effects.

Target learning: Uses wet on dry technique in painting.

Criteria: Applies wet paint to dry paper surface.

Target learning: Matches color mood to poem.

Criteria: Describes in writing how painting reflects poem.

Vocabulary (click here for the glossary)

Balance
Color mood
Composition
Harmony
Imprint
Rhythm
Wet on dry
Wet-on wet

Resources

Susan P. Hill-Doyle

paintings (wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, imprint, salt)

Materials

Watercolor sets, water cups, various watercolor brushes, Kosher salt, feathers, watercolor paper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources introduced and creative process

Teaching artist:

Introduces watercolor paintings with 4 different watercolor techniques. Discusses collected watercolor paintings with various subject matter and techniques shown. Views and describes paintings that convey mood through color.                                                           

Demonstrates 4 watercolor techniques used by professional watercolorists: wet on wet, wet on dry, salt use and imprinting:

Wet-on-dry: uses wet paint applied to dry surface of paper, color is saturated and brush stroke is quick. Colors stay vibrant and will be separate from one another.

Wet-on-wet: after saturating watercolor paper, applies bands of watercolor, picking a particular color scheme (i.e./ warm cool, complementary, analogous). Colors will bleed together, and create unpredictable effects. Lifting and turning the paper will exaggerate this effect.

Salt Use: after using wet-on-wet technique places Kosher salt in different areas of the color, the salt will repel the color and interesting snow, crystal-like effects will show when dry.

Imprinting: uses feathers with wet on dry technique, instead of brushes for an interesting textural effect.

One-on-one instruction/guidance occurs as class is engaged. Guides class critique midway through creative process: student check on 4 techniques. Displays watercolor painting of choice with Haiku written in Language Arts class.

Assessment

Class Discussion of what is “Successful”: mastery of techniques, composition, harmony, balance, rhythm, matching color mood to poem. Did student handle materials as instructed?

Check list: did all students complete the four different techniques?

wet on wet

wet on dry

salt

imprinting

Students write reflective piece on technique and color choice:

What is the mood of poem/ How does your color choices reflect this mood? Which watercolor painting technique did you find the most effective in expressing the mood in your Haiku? Which technique did you enjoy the most?

Essential learnings

Arts 1.1 concepts: color, shape, harmony.

Arts 1.2 skills and techniques: watercolor painting

Arts 3.1 uses the arts to express ideas and feelings: matches painting/color mood to poem