painting project brought to you by 1 Table of Contents Let’s Get Started! 3 Tools Materials 4 History 5 Useful Terms 6 Sketchbook 7 Techniques Practice 9 Mark Making 11 Color Wheel & Color Mixing 12 Watercolor Techniques 13 Inspiration Etel Adnan 14 Wolf Kahn 16 Georgia O’Keeffe 18 Lourdes Sanchez 20 Alma Thomas 22 Projects Brushstroke Abstract 24 Kaleidoscope Colors 26 Watercolor Trees 28 Watercolor Landscape 30 Flowers from an Insect’s View 32 Color Field Resist 34 Abstract Landscape 36 About Us & Resources 39 2 Let’s Get Started! You are an artist! All you need are your feelings, a few art supplies and a story to tell! Who is an artist? There are many ways to be a creative person. Do you know someone who likes to play an instrument, knit, take pictures, garden, write poetry, tell stories, sing, cook, build things, or sew? All of these activities and more engage the creative part of the brain. How to use this kit: This kit was designed to inspire creativity! It includes art supplies, tech- niques and projects to get you started. We encourage you to use materi- als that you already have, but the kit already includes enough materials to make fabulous art. You are an artist! You can paint whatever you want with the supplies. You can paint a dragon or your favorite food, a flower, or a robot. Maybe you don't feel like painting one day, but you find a really cool leaf; put it in your sketchbook! Write down your favorite song lyrics or journal the events of the day. The possibilities are endless and the choice of what and how to paint are yours. 3 Materials at’s in wh th e art kit? containers for water paper towel/ napkin pastels watercolor set sketchbook brush straw watercolor paper postcard 4 History Watercolor paints are made of pigments (colors) that are held together by a binder that can be mixed with water, such as gum arabic. Some of the pigments are found in nature in the form of plants or minerals, and others are manufactured in a laboratory. One such natural occurring pigment is the vibrant red derived from the cochineal insect. This red color is called carmine. Mesoamerican people in Mexico have been using the bug as a source of pigment (and as medicine) as far back as 2000 BCE. The newest color discovered in the past 200 years is a manufactured color called YInMN Blue, or Mas Blue, after the ingredients of Yttrium, Indium, and Manganese. The color was discovered by Mas Subramanian at Oregon State University. Unlike other shades of blue, YInMn Blue is non toxic and does not fade when exposed to oil and water. Blue pigments have histori- cally been difficult colors to create. Historians believe that people have painted with watercolors since the time of Paleolithic cave paintings. However, it was during the 18th century that watercolors became popular. One common use was for illustrations in botanical guides, a practice which continued into the 19th century when John James Audubon made his watercolor bird field guides. What is special about watercolors is that they can be done anywhere and anyone can use them whether you are just starting out or are a professional artist. All you need are watercolors, a brush, paper and water. 5 Useful Terms Abstract Art: Relies on shapes, colors, line, and/or mark making to communicate an idea but is not concerned with depicting a familiar or recognizable object. Advance: To appear closer to the viewer (foreground). Analogous Colors: Colors next to each other on the color wheel. Analogous colors appear to glow when placed next to each other. Background: Refers to things that look far away. Bleeding: When one color runs into another. Color Field Painting: An American abstract painting movement from the 1950's and 1960's which focused on large areas of a single flat color. Color Interaction: The idea that color changes depending what color is next to it. Color Wheel: A circular chart that shows how colors are related to each other. It is a tool artists use to remind them how to mix and think about colors. Composition: Literally means "putting together" and refers to the way visual elements are arranged within a work of art. Complementary Colors: Colors opposite each other on the color wheel. They will intensify each other when placed side by side. Cool Colors: Greens, blues and purples. Dry Brush: A scratchy or textured effect resulting from a mostly dry brush dipped in paint. Foreground: Refers to things that look closer to the viewer. Graded Wash: A wash that transitions in value from dark to light. Graded Wash with Two Colors: A wash that transitions from one color to another. Landscape: Natural scenery which may include nature forms such as bodies of water, fields, moun- tains or trees and may also contain buildings or people. Layering: A wash painted over a dry painted area. This technique is used for adjusting color or making a color darker. Lifting: To remove watercolor from the surface of a painting. Recede: To appear farther away from the viewer (background). Resist: The technique of covering some parts of a page with an oil pastel and painting over the entire paper surface with watercolor. The area with the oil pastel will resist the watercolor. Warm Colors: Yellows, oranges and reds. Wash: An even layer of paint that covers an area. Wet on Dry: Painting wet color onto a dry surface. Wet on Wet: Painting wet color onto a wet surface. 6 6 sketchbook Use the sketchbook for painting exercises and projects. Sketchbook: An artist might use their sketchbook to experiment with new tech- niques, document travels or make nature 3: Step studies. Some artists like to make lists of their favorite visual or musical artists, some record their thoughts or feelings. The possibilities are endless. decorate glue an envelope Getting started: It can be intimidating to start a new sketchbook. One way to get started is to decorate the front and/or back of the sketchbook. Stickers, drawing, collage, and painting are great ways to creatively deco- rate your sketchbook and is a great step in making it your own. Another way to start your sketchbook is by write your name and putting your name on the inside of your contact information sketchbook along with the year you start- ed the sketchbook, your age, and your contact information in case the sketch- book is lost and you would like it to be returned to you. Another fun step is gluing or taping an envelope into your sketchbook (for exam- ple, on the back of the front cover) in order to store and collect inspirational items such as newspaper clippings, magazine, photos, etc. y ou b to y ght brou ect proj 7 Sketchbook content: Sketchbooks have endless possibilities, they can be used for journaling, sketching, collaging, or a combination of the above. Below we have listed some ideas on how to use your sketchbook: ∙ practice mark making ∙ make your own color wheel Step 4: ∙ practice color mixing ∙ practice watercolor techniques ∙ record the events of the day ∙ list three things you are grateful for each day ∙ write your favorite song lyrics or book quotes, draw how they make you feel or what they remind you of ∙ collect inspiration The importance of the sketchbook is that you make a habit of using it daily. Challenge yourself to do a full page a day, or a half page a day. It can be as simple as writing a check list or as complicated as a full page drawing. If you fill up the pages of your sketchbook, add pages by taping or gluing extra pages in. y ou b to y ght brou ect proj 8 Practice Explore Your Materials The next few pages are worksheets to help you explore your materials. Things to think about while exploring: ∙ What do you like about this exploration? ∙ What do you find challenging? ∙ What do the explorations make you think of? ∙ Write down your thoughts in your sketchbook Get More Ideas What do the materials look like/smell/feel like? What does this exercise make you think about? Describe what you’re creating... I wonder what would happen if... you added...? you used this other material? you turned it upside-down? you made it even bigger, smaller, taller, flatter? Go on a collecting expedition and find items that are interesting to you and can be attached to paper. Places to look: Recycle bin: old magazines, paper, wrapping paper, cardboard, wrappers all have possibilities. Your room: anything in there you have been meaning to get rid of but haven't? What's under your bed? Outside: weeds, flowers, leaves and sticks can lend themselves to artmaking. Anywhere you can think of! 9 Looking at Artwork As the audience and viewer your impressions, thoughts, and feelings are important. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to looking at art. The following questions can be applied to any artwork whether you are at a museum, looking at a fellow student's artwork, or even viewing and reflecting on your own art! Look carefully at the art. Notice what interests you. Consider these ques- tions: ∙ What are 5 things I see in this artwork? ∙ What is going on in this picture?* ∙ What do you see that makes you say that?* ∙ What more can you find?* ∙ What emoji would I use to express how this artwork makes me feel? You can also ask yourself: ∙ What thoughts or feelings pop into your head when you look at this picture? ∙ List the colors you see.