LESSON PLANS SUMMER TERM 2023 (1st half). Lesson 2 - beginning a painting from the working drawings

In this lesson I'm asking my students to finish their working drawings if they haven't already. These drawings hold the information from which they'll make a more finished piece of work in the medium (or mixed media) of their choice. Here I'm showing a selection of landscape paintings in a variety of media.

Summer Term 1st half 2023 – lesson 2: Finishing the working drawing – beginning the more finished piece from the drawing.

· If you haven’t finished your drawing spend as much time as you need to do so (can be all lesson if necessary).

· Think about the medium you have chosen to use. Have a look at the slide show I’ve brought as it may give you some ideas about the various media.

· Watercolour: Think about your lightest places. Where are they? What shape are they? If it helps, lightly draw in pencil some of the horizontal and vertical structure lines you used in your working drawing.

· Using a pale wash of colour, cover your watercolour page except for the places you choose to leave light. Be precise about the light places, about their placing and their shape. Work into the wash while it is still damp – as we did with our flower studies recently.

· Oils, Acrylics: With thinned paint, mark out the main horizontal and vertical structure lines from your drawing. Mark the main shapes from the drawing (simplified trees etc.).

· Using colour, and being ready to negotiate, start painting! Keep in mind that colour doesn’t always equal the right tone. Get the tone right, don’t worry about what colour it takes to do it! Layer your colours, scrape colour back, experiment with the texture of your paint.

· Pastels: If possible, work on dark or coloured paper. Mark out your main structure lines and shapes (horizontals, verticals and various shapes – trees, hedges, hills, paths etc.). Using pastels on their sides, block in the light shapes first and gradually move to the darker shapes. Negotiate!

· Mixed media: As with the other media discussed here, mark out your main structures. Think about the medium you’ll start with. Using a mix of media gives you the ultimate chance to re-negotiate your work, and in so many ways! Think about the recent still life we made with patterned paper and paint.

Next lesson: You have one more week to work on this project. Finish the piece you have begun in this lesson. If you’ve finished a piece this week, you can try the same subject in another medium or work from another drawing in the same medium.