Different strokes.

Different strokes. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "I actually liked this project, Mrs. G!" This backhandedcompliment, from one of my most jaded, skeptical students, really warmedmy heart. If I'd provided this cynical kid with an exciting,engaging activity, I'd done my job. We'd used chalk pastels before, in the typical manner withmuch blending and mixing of color. I felt my high-school class needed totry another technique with no smudging smudging (smuˑ·jing),n in Native American medicine, the ritual of purifying the location, patient, healer, helpers and ritual objects by using the smoke obtained by burning sacred with tissues, no using tortillons(blending stumps), no soft color merging. All too often, young artistsblend too many colors together and lose the brilliance of the pastels. GETTING STARTED I asked the students to select a landscapephotograph from which to work. While there's nothing like drawingfrom life, our wintry weather didn't permit it. We worked on12" x 18" black pastel paper--it provided great contrast and anice tooth. To begin, I demonstrated the use of a neutral chalk pastel withwhich to sketch in the major shapes. Often, kids want to draw in pencilfirst, but I asked them to refrain from that. Next, I showed them how to lay in broad areas of background colorin middle tones, skimming the paper surface with the flat sides of thepastels, except where the darkest areas would be! "Leave themblack," I requested. "Use your black paper for the lowestvalues." MAKING THEIR MARK Finally, I explained that we would finish theworks with distinct marks, similar to the broken color of theImpressionists. We would mix colors by placing strokes of pure colornext to each other. From a distance, the eye blends them into newcolors. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke"put differently , colors in close proximity are combinedoptically. I showed the class how to hatch and crosshatch A criss-crossed pattern used to fill in sections of a drawing to distinguish them from each other. and I even dabbedwith soft pastels in the Pointillist poin��til��lism?n.A postimpressionist school of painting exemplified by Georges Seurat and his followers in late 19th-century France, characterized by the application of paint in small dots and brush strokes. manner, al most like stippling. Ialso encouraged the artists to work in various directions, contouringtheir strokes to add a vibrant sense of motion to their pieces. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The lightest tones were the last ones I put on the paper. I calledthe finishing touches "the icing on the cake." In addition tothe demonstrated work, I displayed several other finished pieces of thesame style. While most of the students were very successful with this project,those who portrayed a great deal of texture probably enjoyed it themost. Rocks, leaves, grasses, bark: all these and more lent themselvesto hatching and crosshatching. Leaving the black paper bare in the darkest areas was a challengethe kids met very well. I use the word "challenge" because thestudents had to think backwards, reversing their approach, putting inthe lightest tones last and not the shadows. When these lovely landscapes were finished, we sprayed them withfixative fixative/fix��a��tive/ (fik��sit-iv) an agent used in preserving a histological or pathological specimen so as to maintain the normal structure of its constituent elements. fix��a��tiveadj. , not directly on the surface, but above it. I reminded thestudents to use light, multiple layers of the spray. I'm far too modest to call this project a stroke of genius,but, should you use this lesson, I will say this about yourstudents' self-esteem: It'll stroke their egos! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LEARNING OBJECTIVES High-school students will ... * demonstrate the ability to create a landscape using only themedium of chalk pastels. * understand and be able to use a full range of values in a work ofart. * utilize a thoughtful selection process in choosing subjectmatter. * demonstrate an understanding of hatching and crosshatchingtechniques. MATERIALS * Chalk pastels * Resource photos of landscapes * Black pastel paper * Quality exemplars * Fixative VOCABULARY Crosshatching Hatching Impressionism impressionism, in paintingimpressionism,in painting, late-19th-century French school that was generally characterized by the attempt to depict transitory visual impressions, often painted directly from nature, and by the use of pure, broken color to Pointillism pointillism(pwăn`təlĭz'əm): see postimpressionism. pointillismIn painting, the practice of applying small strokes or dots of contrasting colour to a surface so that from a distance they blend together. Tooth Value Paula Guhin is retired from teaching art at Central High School inAberdeen, South Dakota, and serves as a Contributing Editor for Arts& Activities.