Stone washed watercolor
Arts & Activities, Dec, 2003 by Jane Setlik
As the students walked into my classroom, they were greeted with a bulletin board full of denim. Arranged on the wall were various pairs of old jeans and pinstriped overalls whose legs overlapped and intertwined with each other. The kids were full of questions about what crazy idea their teacher had in store for them this time!
These questions sparked a discussion and served as a natural lead into a project that combined the work of a famous local artist with an introduction to composition and watercolor.
We started by discussing Sheila Hicks, an internationally known fiber artist and a native of Nebraska. Hicks, who is well known for her weavings, has also been called the "ultimate recycler" because she often reuses cloth and clothing in her work.
We viewed a segment of her Soft World video (produced by Nebraska Public Television) in which Hicks worked with Hastings College students to construct a jean assemblage. They collected over 100 pairs of jeans and sewed them together so that when the piece was suspended from the ceiling the negative spaces between the jeans became almost more intriguing than the 250 pounds of jeans themselves. Their final piece was a remarkable 35 feet long and 14 feet wide.
With inspiration from Sheila Hicks, we proceeded to discuss how negative space is just as important as positive space in a piece of work. We also talked about the rules of a good composition (concentrating on framing objects off the edge, overlapping and informally balancing objects).
I had strategically arranged the jeans so that there were pockets of negative space revealing the bulletin board behind them. Students were instructed to use their trusty viewfinders to search for a good composition that contained some negative space. Using sketch paper that was proportional to the hole in their viewfinder, and also proportional to their final piece of watercolor paper, students completed five sketches. The more details (stitching lines, folds, etc.) they added to these sketches, the better the final project turned out.
The next step was to enlarge their best sketch onto watercolor paper lightly with pencil. Students then went over their lines with a black Flair[R] marker. When this water-soluble marker gets wet, it acts as a watercolor wash of ink. Students are instructed to get the paper wet wherever they want the stone-washed jean color to appear.
The negative areas are simply left dry and are conserved for special watercolor technique spaces. The ink of the pen can be pushed around with the clear water wash and controlled somewhat but the uniqueness of this process comes when the water is allowed to do the work. When the work is dry, unplanned "bubbles" (or happy accidents) may appear along with areas of interesting shades of purple, turquoise and blue. This unexpected result is part of the beauty of this project.
Since most of these students have had limited exposure to watercolor techniques, I review and demonstrate six basic techniques--flat wash, superimposed, splattering with a toothbrush, blotting, salt and resist. Students are required to complete a practice sheet demonstrating and labeling these six techniques. They are then expected to apply at least three of these to the negative spaces of their work. I emphasize that it is often successful to overlap more than one technique in a single area and many students end up using all six techniques by the time they are done.
The only color stipulation that I tack on is that their colors must be mixed. Blue, for example, cannot be taken straight from the paint set: it must be mixed with at least one other color. I allow the students to choose whatever colors they want, but advise them to stick to only a few colors and to use repetition when applying them. (My main focus of this lesson is composition and watercolor techniques; I will bombard them with color theory later in the year.)
At the completion of their project, students fill out an evaluation form that assesses their understanding of the concepts taught and allows for self-reflection of their accomplishments. I require this evaluation form to be attached to the back of their project before I will grade their work.
I have found this project to be highly successful and an excellent way to let students experiment with watercolor techniques while using art history and compositional skills. By applying varied techniques in the negative space, students realize how important this space becomes to the overall piece. The background really can be as interesting as the subject itself!
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The students will:
* become familiar with Sheila Hicks and the use of positive and negative space in her work.
* be able to identify, recall and utilize the three rules of a good composition.
* utilize a viewfinder to frame a good composition in the sketching process.
* acquire new watercolor-technique skills and apply these in their final work.
* evaluate the merits of their creation and reflect on their accomplishments.
MATERIALS
* Variety of old jeans/overalls
* Viewfinders (1/2" x 3/4" hole for direct proportion to sketch paper)
* Sketch paper (5" x 7 1/4" for proportion to watercolor paper)
* Watercolor paper (22" x 15")
* Drawing pencils
* Black Flair markers
* Watercolor paint and brushes
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* Salt, paper towels, tape (for resist), and toothbrushes for watercolor techniques
* Sheila Hicks / composition study guides
* Self-evaluation forms
RESOURCE
* Sheila Hicks Soft World video. For information, go online to http://netche.unl.edu/catalog/search2.cfm?ID=1545
Jane Setlik teaches art at Cozad (Nebraska) High School and Middle School.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
Bibliography for "Stone washed watercolor"
Jane Setlik "Stone washed watercolor". Arts & Activities. Dec 2003. FindArticles.com. 23 Sep. 2006.
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