Resist Painting

A Lesson Developed by
Anna Alcalde

Objectives:
1. To learn about the art method of resist
2. To create a painting using the art resist method
3. To use the art elements of line, color and negative and positive space to create art and manipulate art materials

Audiences:
This lesson would be appropriate for all ages—children to senior citizens.

Karen Jenson reflects on her life and lengthy career as a renowned Norwegian and Swedish rosemåler. Take a tour of her awe-inspiring house full of her work.

A lesson plan for grades 8-12 is included as a gallery asset and in the support materials.

More About This Resource
Postcards is an award-winning series showcasing the arts, history, and cultural heritage of western Minnesota and beyond. Funding for Postcards comes from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. To watch more Postcards, visit the show page or video portal.

Meet Bay Area artist Mike Shine, who discusses his carnival-inspired paintings, and his recent large-scale stencil murals. He makes art for people to enjoy, both superficially and in depth, and condemns much of modern art because of the context needed for interpretation. He wants his art to be able to be interpreted, regardless of how it is interpreted. He wants it to transcend cultural and language barriers. Check out how his art is made in this video.

This is the first lesson in a sequential unit. Students look at and discuss still-life paintings and develop a definition for the genre. They then further their understanding of this type of painting and practice watercolor techniques by painting their own still lifes from direct observation. Art production focuses on the tools used to create the illusion of three-dimensional space and convey texture in watercolors.

This lesson is part of a sequential unit. Students choose meaningful objects for a still-life arrangement and paint it using watercolors. After reflecting on their choice of objects and composition, students begin to write an artist's statement.

This lesson is part of a sequential unit. Students paint the same still-life arrangement from Lesson 2, but in an opaque medium. They compare similarities and differences of working with the transparent and opaque mediums and refine their artist's statements.

This lesson is part of a sequential unit. Students display the two still-life paintings that they created in previous lessons along with their artist's statements. They write a review of a peer's work and discuss all of the paintings in a group critique.

Course syllabus that outlines the first course in a survey of Western Art. Includes an outline of a 10-week course with readings, videos, and other resources.

SYNOPSIS: This lesson guides students to explore color in art and the connection of color to emotions.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson builds the capacity of students to analyze the contents in an artwork, probe why the artists used the colors in the piece, and explore the underlying feelings attached to the colors. The activity in this lesson would also enable them to interpret the colors in artworks and communicate their feelings towards extreme climate impact. All the materials featured in the lesson have been verified, and this lesson is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-Students engage with hands-on activities to demonstrate their understanding of the relationship between color and emotions.
-Students understand the meaning of climate change artworks.
-Students understand why artists use color in their artwork.
-Students practice painting techniques.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This is lesson 2 of 3 in our K-2nd grade Emotive Art unit.
-The Teacher Slideshow does not feature an Inquire section. You can use the Teacher Slideshow for the Investigate and Inspire sections of this lesson plan.
-Make sure you prepare the Feelings Cards, templates, and painting materials prior to the lesson.
-You can alternatively use cut-up colored paper instead of printing the Feelings Cards.
-You will need to have artworks printed if you want students to participate in a gallery walk.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Students can complete the activities in pairs, small groups, or a whole class, dependent on ability.
-Students could also split into ability groups to support all students.

Apexer is a street artist who creates colorful, spray-painted murals around the world. Using a visual foundation based in graffiti art and Chinese calligraphy, Apexer abstracts letterforms to create complex, dynamic compositions for his street art projects. Often creating artworks that communicate the vibe of the neighborhood where they are on view, Apexer’s painted gestures are accessible to a wide audience, and are constantly expanding upon the core element of his work: the letters of his nickname.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students create portraits of youth climate heroes.

SCIENTIST NOTES: The content of this lesson plan focuses on artistic techniques and uses climate activists as the inspiration. The activists’ stories and the video featured are accurate. Resources and the bulk of science information come from previous lesson plans in this series. This is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-Students will experience using real-world problems as the sources of their art-making.
-Students will use their art to impact others through education, influence, and inspiration.
-This lesson provides numerous choice-based approaches, from the content of the artwork, to the media used, to the composition and presentation of the work.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This is lesson 3 of 3 in our 9th-12th grade Climate Heroes unit.
-Basic knowledge of drawing/painting art materials is required (such as pencil, colored pencil, pen, watercolor, acrylic, etc.). This lesson should only be attempted after students have some basic media familiarity.
-Basic understanding of elements of art/principles of design, composition, and use of thumbnails should be established prior to this lesson.
-Students should have some prior experience drawing facial features such as eyes, nose, mouth, etc.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-The timing of the lesson can be altered according to teacher preference.
-The Investigate section offers various supports for students about different art techniques. Teachers can eliminate or add to this depending on student ability.
-The Investigate section includes an advanced study of portrait composition that is 52 minutes long. It is sectioned into chapters, so teachers can select which clips are most relevant for their class.
-If students are overwhelmed with choice, teachers can assign a specific type of art media.