Exploring movement and rhythm with hard-edge painting

Arts & Activities, April, 2005 by Karen Skophammer

My fourth-graders had been studying painting periods such as Romanticism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism, Abstractionism and Surrealism. We had looked at paintings by Wood, Miro, Picasso. Kandinsky, Matisse, van Gogh and Renoir. The students had fun guessing what kind of paint had been used in each instance. We discussed the similarities and differences of the paintings, and brainstormed about why certain artists chose certain mediums with which to paint.

Next, we concentrated on watercolor paintings. I demonstrated first and then had the students try painting exercises such as stippling, wash, wet wash, glazing, scrubbing and applying strokes with the point, side and heel of the brush.

During the following art period, we applied what we had learned to hard-edge painting. Using 12"x 18" watercolor paper, I demonstrated taping a border around the paper with 1-inch masking tape.

We then talked about movement and rhythm. Movement is the principle of art that leads the viewer to sense action in a work or it can be the path for the viewer's eye. As artists, we can create movement by blending elements like line and shape. By using the principle of movement, we can guide a viewer's eye "through" our painting.

Rhythm was defined as being the repeating of an element to make a work of art seem active. As artists, we can use rhythm to make a work of art seem to come alive. By mixing shapes and colors we can get a viewer's eyes to move to the painting's rhythm or beat. Repeating elements over and over can also create a pattern.

After this discussion, I demonstrated taping movement, rhythm and pattern on the white paper. I used 1/2- and 1-inch masking tape. With the completion of the taping, I used watercolors to paint the sections between the tape, explaining that when the painting was dry I would pull the tape up and, wherever the tape had been, white lines of varying widths would remain.

As the students were taping and painting their hard-edge works of art, I kept reminding them to think of movement, rhythm, balance and pattern that would be created by their careful choices of tape placement and color choices. Would their lines lead the viewer "through" their paintings?

This was a great success. But, it should be stressed to the students NOT to pull the tape off the paintings until they are dry. To do so before drying causes the painting to rip.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* utilize watercolor techniques to create different dry and wet techniques.

* select and dramatize parts of their compositions.

* be sensitive to the expressive quality of this medium.

* become acquainted with different time periods or styles of painting, as well as different artists of those periods.

* increase their ability to use and mix colors that contribute to the expressiveness of a painting.

* experiment using the medium in new and unique ways.

* explain how artists use rhythm and movement to their advantage.

* through use of masking tape, create his or her own patterns of movement and rhythm.

MATERIALS

* 1/2- and 1-inch masking tape

* 12" x 18" piece of watercolor paper

* Watercolor paints

* Paintbrushes

Karen Skophammer teaches art for the Manson Northwest Webster Schools in Barnum and Manson, Iowa.