PAINT LAB is a semester long 8th grade elective course.

Teacher: Ann Naito Haney

Fall 2009

LESSON ONE: THE PAINTING JOURNAL: “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE”

Materials: One Journal and Paint Set with pouch for each student.

Painting Objective for the semester: Each student is responsible for maintaining a Painting Journal with the “Mission Impossible” of filling the whole book with “Painting Ideas”. At different times during the semester, time will be set aside to work specifically in the Painting Journal, yet students are expected to work whenever available time presents itself in class and independently turning their personal book into a “Work of Art”. With permission students may take their Journals home, yet the Painting Journal must be in school for every class.

Painting Objective Daily: During the first week of class students will work daily discovering “painting ideas”. After that students will need to seize available time to continue working or when time is set-aside during the semester.

What are “Painting Ideas?” Students are expected to stretch and explore new ways of working with paint. Discover the constraints and affordances of the paint itself.  Try applying paint in a variety of ways. Look at the way different brushes leave the paint on a surface. Look at how much pressure you need to make a certain kind of brush stroke. Increase your sensitivity to the act of painting. Work imaginatively and/or through observation. Experiment working conceptually, symbolically, whimsically and spontaneously. Look for inspiration in the weather, in a flower or in a song. Interpret an event through color one day and how you feel another day.

CAUTION: Just bear in mind: stay away from cliché imagery (smiley faces, hearts, peace symbols, etc.), advertising logos and sports insignias, writing your name or initials, or things that you have seen done over and over. Use another book for signs and writing. This Journal is devoted to visual imagery. This is your chance to be original and exploratory. Try things where the results are not always certain. Take a chance and risk doing something unusual. Remember this is PAINT LAB. This Painting Journal also functions as a source for personal work.

LESSON TWO:

Students use Acrylic painting exploring a variety of traditional techniques of applying paint to a surface. Students acquire an understanding of how to work with layering of paint.

Painting Techniques: Dry Brush—Stippling---Value Mixture---Scumbling--- Glazing with paint+water

----Glazing with paint + medium------Resist using tape-----Impasto-----Scgraffito----Sponging----Hatching & Crosshatching-----Frottage

LESSON THREE:  Following a traditional process for developing a Painting.

Painting Objective: Develop a personally meaningful painting based on a “painting idea” gleaned from one's own Paint Lab Journal.

(1.) This process involves selecting a "painting idea"  (2.) Creating a small preliminary painting on a small canvas board with Acrylic. (3) Creating the final painting in Acrylic on canvas board, 22”x28”.

Painting Problems: Students must include a minimum of 3 new painting techniques and a minimum of 3 layers while working sequentially larger in scale with their work.

Select from Painting Techniques (Lesson Two) covered in class:  Dry Brush—Stippling---Value Mixture---Scumbling--- Glazing with paint+water

----Glazing with paint + medium------Resist using tape-----Impasto-----Scgraffito----Sponging----Hatching & Crosshatching-----Frottage

Here are students working in class and some examples from this lesson.