Josey’s Art School
Presents
Studying Art with the Masters
by
Robin Norgren, M.A.
This Lesson:
Mark Rothko
“No. 6 Violet, Green and Red”
Discussion
-Rothko
did not have much money where he was a boy. He thought he would become an
engineer or an attorney—careers at which he would make some money. But In 1923,
his second year of college, Rothko left Yale and started classes at an Art
school.
-Rothko’s early paintings were of real-life objects such as people, buildings,
and landscapes.
-Rothko decided that simple shapes were the best for showing complicated
feelings. The large, simple shapes allow you to feel instead of think when you
look at Rothko’s paintings.
-Beginning in the late 1950s, Rothko used much darker color. He overlapped
colors until the canvas was covered with deep reds, blues, blacks. He was
painting sadder, angrier moods than before.
SOURCE: http://artsmarts4kids.blogspot.com/2008/05/mark-rothko.html
Materials needed
Pencil (to write the child’s name on the back of the work)
Black pen
8.5x11 or 9x12 white cardstock/precut poster board/watercolor paper– something with a bit more stability to it than copy paper in order to withstand the amount of paint and glue your students will be using. You will need enough for each participant to use as the base for his/her artwork
This is a lesson that can be adapted in many ways depending on the age and skill level of your classroom.
Watercolor paint
Household sponges cut into rectangles
Paintbrushes and water bowls
Acrylic paint (or Tempura paint)
Baby wipes
Aprons
Length of Time/Duration of project:
30 minutes
Prep work: Gather the materials. Draw the dividing lines for the project if you feel this might be a distracting part of the project. This should take no more than about 20 -30 minutes
Instructions
- Take your piece of paper that you are using as the base for the project and write the child’s name on the back of the paper or let them write their names on their own.
- Place your paper long and tall. Draw a SLIGHTLY squiggly line towards the bottom of the page and then 3 more with the smallest space at the top.
3. Paint the top quadrant with a blue-sky scene using blue watercolor paint.
4. With Rothko’s work, the beauty is about the texture. Students should make sure the paint is heavy on the sponge and stamp with the sponge in the areas close together. Start with your darkest paint at the bottom.
5. Continue with each of the other two paint colors.
6. Draw trees in the watercolor area.
7. Using the same three acrylic/tempura paint colors, paint the tops of the trees using a paintbrush and moving the brush in a swirling motion to create texture in the trees.
8. Paint the trunks of the trees using black watercolor paint.
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