Exploring A New Technique

This past Friday, the entire class explored a new style of painting together!

Paste Paintings are created by using a cooked flour and water mixture. Acrylic paints are then incorporated into the paste to create a color palette to paint with. After the paste colors are applied, texture and designs can then be added on the surface of the paper. 

Feeling the texture of the dry painting example:
Cape: It feels like train tracks. 
Wilder: If you did it with blue dots it would look like rain. 
Hugh: It looks like the wind. 
Jade: It looks like a stream. 
Wilder: It looks like scales. 
Jade: It feels like dragon scales. ​

"Ocean" by Jade

In order to create the design in the paste paint, we used a technique called SGRAFFITO. Sgraffito is the process of scratching through a surface to reveal the colors underneath, which can be used in painting, clay or glass.

​When first looking closely at an example painting, the children shared their hypotheses about how the patterns could have been created: 

Cate: I think first you paint it then you make lines in it. 
Luke: You can paint with the back of the brushes to make the lines. 
Cate: Did you use a stamp?
Wilder: Or a knife. 
Hugh: Did you peel off the paint?
Saul: I know. You use that thing that makes little cuts of lime. (orange peeler)
Finlay: Is it that super sharp tool that Hugh used? (x-acto knife, which Hugh used when working on the kitchen team)

*Ines shows the group the cut credit card tool she used for the design
Hugh: Oh! You zig-zag it! You put paint on top and then you zig-zag through. 
Lily: Can you do other designs?

​

I’m making tie dye. - Luke

During the process, the children showed great curiosity and interest not only in their own work, but also in their friend's processes and happily shared anything they noticed about the techniques, tools and paints they used. 

 Oh, that’s beautiful. - Cape to Wilder

When I use this, I can make waves.  - Cate, using a plastic serving spork
My favorite part was the scraping. - Lucas
​

It smells like me and my dad make biscuits. - Frances

After finishing a paste painting, the children thoughtfully "named" or "titled" their work. 
We would like to share a few examples that highlight the great variety of paintings, ways to apply paint and usage of tools:

Finlay's "OTTER"


It just reminds me because it looks like an invisible otter swimming in hot lava. It just reminds me of the sea. I don't know why it just reminds me of the sea. The print, how otters like swim through leaves. I just painted yellow and then green and then stamp, stamp,  stamp. - Finlay

Wilder's "RAINBOW"

First I painted, then I scraped to look like a rainbow. I putted every color in a line and I scraped with different of the scrapers. I went across and down and up, sideways and across. It's rope and in front of the rope is a stage that's why you can't really see it. See the yellow lights, and blue stage and the purple wall and the black ceiling. - Wilder

Saul's
​"A SUNSET"

Cape's "AMERICAN"

Because it looks like the inside of an American flag. It's actually a little bumby (feeling the surface texture). But I did it just perfect. It's not too much paint. I used that scraper thing, the white wood thing that had the up and down thingers on the top and bottom. Red and blue, I wanted to make it very patriotic, because of the American flag and that I live in America. I like that we have the cold weather, it makes it really fun to play. - Cape

Hugh's "HONEYBEE"
The name of the painting is honeybee, of course, because I just see I should call it that because it's a bee hive. I also like the texture. How I did this, (top) I got a sponge, I dipped it in yellow, I sponge, sponge, sponge and then I dipped the sponge in orange and sponged it over. And then this one, I used a fork and stabbed it on the paper (bottom) and then this one I put the sponge in yellow and put it on top (middle). And then I painted the bee. They're just cool, feel this! You can feel so much different things. I just like it because it looks like it's actually moving. - Hugh

Cate's "NATURE"

These look like leaves and they made me think of nature. I used purple and some green and orange and yellow. First I did yellow and then I did a little bit of blue and then I did some purple, then green and then i stamped materials onto the paint. Some with paint on them and some without. It just made marks. With a fork, it made lines in it. the lines go through this (inspecting the back of the drawing). It felt squishy. It dried so now it scrunchy. -Cate