Ms. Patty Talks About Painting With 5th Graders
August. 2008

First I put a copy of the painting we were going to work on that day on the chalkboard in the morning so as the students arrived in the classroom they could see where we were going. I painted after lunch so this gave them some time to digest it. I kept one group to eat lunch in the classroom and they set up all the paint materials. I just supervised. Then a different group would set up the next week, etc. 

When I brought the class back from lunch they knew they had to get a paint shirt out of the basket (outside the door) put it on and come into the room silently. They sat down on the floor so I could demonstrate the painting. You may want to paint immediately without a demo. I had the time so this is what I choose to do. 

When I dismissed them from the floor they went to their desk, pushed their chair somewhere so they could stand to paint and waited for everyone to be still. We then recited a painting poem given to me by Japa Buckner.

When we finish I say "Please prepare your paper." Students then begin to sponge water on their paper, one side then the other, and start the painting when they are ready. As they finish using their sponge I walk around and collect them so they get no paint on them as well as keep things silent. It is a wonderful atmosphere because I am not talking either, just watching or whispering an answer to a painting question. That's why I liked doing a demo first so I could get all my talking out of the way. 

I did a particular painting for 4 weeks before switching to a new painting. The children seemed to like this because they knew they would get another shot at it after the first time. Since there were usually four Fridays (whatever day you choose) each month, they also knew when a new painting was coming. They never complained about doing it over and over. 

I started out doing one color paintings. We did red for two weeks, ultramarine blue one week, and prussian blue one week. Same exact painting just different color. Yellow is too difficult to see so I never did it as a single color painting.  I showed them how to subtract to help get a variation of that one color in the painting. Have plants in the picture so students learn how to do this group first. Plants grow up so paint up. Start at root and paint up to branches.

The next month I went to two color paintings. So again decide what to paint and use yellow & blue, or red & yellow, or red & blue for the month. The next month, new painting and different color combination. Continue to the last color combination. By the fifth month you could try three colors or just keep working on two color paintings. I mostly stuck to two color paintings. There is so much you can do depending on your idea to paint.
 These photos of previous paintings may help answer your question.  In the first three paintings you get the idea of creating an entire color painting. Start off with a light wash of the whole paper. The deeper color of the tree is dry brush and dry paint from the bottom of the jar to get the color to pop. The moon is subtracted.







The next two paintings are a technique I use so I don't have to talk during the painting. At home I paint the painting in steps so if a child forgets what to do next after the demo s(he) can look on the chalkboard in order to decide what gets painted next. I usually have two or three paintings to show the progression of the whole painting.


Red Mountain Step 1
Paint the entire paper getting lighter as you work your way down, subtract moon, then paint background mountains.

Red Mountain Step 2 subtract the path, paint little tree first, larger tree second, then tap brush for grassy effect below trees. These step paintings are really helpful for the kids. It's extra work but I only had to do it once each month since we did the same painting 4 weeks running.

The last thing to keep in mind is teaching the children to stop. I never tell them to stop unless time is up. I always say ten minutes left, five minutes left, finish that one thing, stop, brushes down.

If students finish before time is up they have to develop a sense on their own that they need to stop. I always explain to them that this is the hardest thing for the artist to do. I talk about how a painting can be ruined because the artist couldn't put his/her brush down and let it rest. This talk on the first day of painting usually keeps a painting from being ruined. I always compliment children on their judgement and being able to stop while friends are finishing around them. Students put their brush down, go find a chair to sit in, and wait silently for others to finish. No reading, talking, nothing. I think this is good for them to learn to do nothing in silence. It's kind of like meditating without saying it.

Please keep in mind that the great Japa helped me develop much of my painting routine and savvy. This was one of those things that I thought I did well. It brought true peace to our classroom.