ART M43 / Beginning Painting I / Erika Lize / Fall 2011

Non-objective Painting
Due: November 2nd Project Description: Up until this point in the semester, we have mainly been focused on the technique of blending. In this project you will be learning a variety of other painting techniques, many of which are specific to acrylic paint. Youll be designing a non-objective composition that uses these techniques, while creating a mood or feeling through them. The painting will be done on a canvas that you have stretched, and the dimensions must be within 3 +/- of 20 x 27. You will begin by experimenting with all of the techniques on canvas board, and then create your nonobjective painting on the canvas that you have stretched. Objectives: To be introduced to the larger ideas of Modernism and to understand the changes that took place in art and society, leading to the creation of non-objective paintings. To understand the differences between the styles of realistic, abstract and non-objective artworks. To learn how to stretch a canvas. To learn a variety of painting techniques, and to selectively apply these techniques to create a non-objective painting that expresses a mood or feeling. Techniques: 1.) BRUSHWORK (use at least 4 of these in final piece) Blending deliberate, smooth brushwork that blends together colors or values. Gestural a quick, loose, rough style. Scumbling initial attack of brush, then back off and smudge paint around. Dry brush loading the brush with paint, then wiping it off to create a dryer look to paint application. Stipple/Daubing repeating dots with the tip/edge of brush, relies on optical color mixing. Impasto thick paint! Watercolor Wash (wet/wet or wet/dry) paint thinned out with water to the point where it behaves like watercolor paint.

2.) SUBTRACTIVE TECHNIQUES (use at least 2 of these in final piece) Scraping (Sgraffito) using a tool to scrape off wet or dry paint, often revealing a color underneath. Erosions requires an under layer of paint that varies in color/value from top layer. Under layer must be dry. Apply top layer, wait until tacky, then spray/drip/paint water on, wait, then blot off water to reveal under layer. Sanding use sandpaper to wear away layers of paint. Wiping use a cloth or towel to wipe away wet paint to leave a stain of color. 3.) ADDITIONAL TECHNIQUES (use at least 2 of these in final piece) Spattering spraying/flinging paint onto the canvas. Drips making paint fluid enough that it will drip down the canvas, (you can often steer where drips go). Masking using tape to block off sections or shapes before painting. Tape is removed to reveal under layers. Stencils cutting a design into a stiff/sticky surface, using positive and negative shapes to define a design. Paint is then applied through the openings of the stencil, leaving the design on the canvas. Stencil can be used repeatedly.

4.) GLAZING a thin, translucent or transparent layer of paint created by combining a lot of medium with a little bit of paint. Glazing is a technique that can be done on top of any of the above techniques. (Glaze over at least 3 areas of your painting.)

Process: We will begin this project by stretching our own canvases. You can play around with the different techniques on your canvas board while you are waiting for the gesso to dry. You should practice all of the techniques and start to layer them so that you can see how they interact with each other. Think about how different techniques, colors and values can work together to express your mood/feeling. You will start to gain an understanding of the capacity of each of the techniques through practice, which will help you develop your idea for the final painting. You should also develop your ideas for the non-objective composition through a series of sketches. This painting will be non-objective, meaning that there will not be any recognizable forms in your composition. Remember that you are focusing on creating a mood or feeling through the paint. The quantities of techniques from each category needed in your final piece are stated above, so remember this as well! Also, no textures other than those created with paint. We are focusing on learning how to use acrylic paint, so we will only be using paint, water and a traditional acrylic medium. Supplies: Bring your own: Sketchbook, medium weight stretcher bars (must be +/- 3 of 20 x 27), unprimed canvas, a medium sized house painting brush, acrylic paint (as listed on class supply list), brushes, acrylic medium, and a medium sized canvas board. Bring if you have, otherwise borrow from me or a classmate: Scissors, staple gun/staples, medium to fine grit sandpaper (220). References: Non-objective artists to research Hans Hoffman, Mark Tobey, Adolph Gottlieb, Mark Rothko, Arshile Gorky, Barnett Newman, Lee Krasner, Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, Ad Reinhardt, Robert Motherwell, Sam Francis, Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler. Reflective Writing: There is a reflective writing component to this project, in which you are encouraged to articulate your thought processes during and after the completion of your painting. This writing should be in essay format, using complete, descriptive sentences that reflect on what you learned. Be sure to address the following ideas: Describe the ways in which you thought about content through the selection of your techniques. Discuss how color/value added meaning in your painting. Describe the ways in which you learned about composition through the organization of your painting. Tell about aspects of the project that you struggled with and where you felt pleased with your work. This paper must be typed, a minimum of one page and turned in with your painting at the critique. Include your name and class information. Vocabulary: Modernism: An art movement that occurred between the mid 19th and mid 20th centuries where a significant departure was seen in the content, subject matter, materials and techniques of traditional artistic practice. Realism: The realistic or natural representation of things, people, places, etc. in art. Abstraction: Imagery that departs from representational accuracy, to a varying range or degree. Forms are often exaggerated or simplified to merely suggest aspects of the real world. Non-objective: Artworks having no recognizable subject matter; also called non-representational. Content: What a work of art is about, implications/associations with subject matter. Stretcher Bars: Wooden bars (usually pine) that create a frame over which canvas is stretched. Canvas: Generally the term canvas refers to a heavy, woven fabric made of linen or cotton. Linen is a higher quality material (more expensive), where cotton duck the standard material used in pre-stretched, store-bought canvas and canvas boards. Gesso: Gesso serves as a primer for canvas. Gesso is painted on a surface to make the surface more rigid/stronger, as well as less absorbent, guarding against acidic materials that erode away the canvas over time. Gesso comes in white, black and clear, and the color can be modified by adding regular acrylic paint.