Painting: Watercolor Shapes

PAINTING (3): WATERCOLOR SHAPES NAME:______

LESSON FOCUS:

This lesson focuses on experimenting with watercolor techniques on a nonobjective image.

VOCABULARY:

Bleeding: The tendency for some colors to show through a second layer of paint. Blending: The transition of color from one tone to another; for example, in a sky. Drybrush painting: Making the brush almost free of pigment before applying. Free-form shapes: Irregular and uneven shapes. Their outlines are curved, or angular, or both. Free-form shapes are often natural. Geometric shapes: Precise shapes that can be described using mathematical formulas. Basic geometric shapes are the circle, the square and the triangle. Gradation: Refers to the grades of value. Nonobjective art: Art that has no recognizable subject matter such as trees, houses, or people. Shape: A two-dimensional area that is defined in some way. Wash: Large flat areas of paint, watercolor, or ink that are diluted with water and applied by brush. Watercolor paint: A painting medium consisting of pigments suspended in a solution of water and gum Arabic; often stored in pans that separate each color. Wet in wet: The action of spreading paint when new pigment is added to a wet paper.

PROCEDURE:

 Choose three or more shapes (free-form and/or geometric) to work with.  Make stencils of these three shapes. You may vary the sizes if you wish.  Create a nonobjective design by overlapping, repeating and taking the shapes off the page.  Once you have a good idea and a strong composition, enlarge onto good paper. Be sure to draw lightly, watercolor paints are transparent and dark pencil lines will show through.  Choose colors to work with and begin filling in each section using a variety of watercolor techniques. o You may add salt or plastic wrap to create interesting textures. o Also, change your water often because muddy water can effect the purity of your watercolor paints.  Be careful to let areas dry to avoid unwanted bleeds.  You may leave areas white as long as your composition is balanced and seems complete. MATERIALS:

 12”x 18” manila sketch paper  12”x 18” oak tag for stencils  12”x 18” watercolor paper  Pencil and eraser  Scissors  Ruler, if necessary  Watercolor paints (assorted colors)  Watercolor brushes  Paper towels  Water containers  Salt  Plastic wrap