Watercolour Resist

Objective: The students will understand what a resist is and know and recognize six basic shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, and diamond) and how to make patterns.

Materials: Crayons, White construction paper, Newspaper, Water, Cans, Watercolours and Paintbrushes

Visual Resources: Large cut-out shapes, labelled and posted on the board. Post large art paper for the teacher to model along with students. Post an example of a finished product.

Procedure:

1. Ask the students if they know what some different types of shapes are.
2. If needed, show examples to the students of the six key shapes for the lesson (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, oval, and diamond).
3. Have the students identify the different shapes in pictures and items in the room.
4. Explain how designs can be made from these different shapes and that patterns, or rhythm, can be produced from repetition in the use of these shapes. Make sure the students know what patterns and repetition are.
5. Tell the students that they will be drawing patterns using shapes, and the more shapes used, the more outstanding their picture will look. Show the students the example of a final picture and tell them that theirs does not need to look like that one, but it will be more fun if all the pictures look different.
6. Have students cover their workspace with newspaper in case of an accident!
7. Give each student a sheet of white construction paper. Tell them to draw their pattern pictures with a white or yellow crayon.
8. Tell the students to press very hard with their crayons, otherwise, their picture will not show up the way they would like.
9. Tell students that if they used a white crayon that their picture will not appear until they paint over it.
10. Make sure all the students have watercolours and water can. Students may need to share supplies.
11. The students will then paint over the whole paper with watercolour combinations of their choice: blue/purple, blue/green, red/orange/yellow, purple/red, etc.
12. After the pictures are all painted, totally covering the paper with watercolour, the design should appear.
13. Have the students put their paintings somewhere to dry safely.
14. Hang up finished products in a highly visible place.

Assessment: Review with the students the six types of shapes and what the terms resist, pattern, and rhythm mean. Have the students give examples from their pictures to the class of the shapes they used and how the resist method affected their paintings.