Mixed-Media Experimentation Class

Summer at SCAD-Atlanta

In addition to taking classes this summer, I was teaching classes as well. I spent eight weeks with a great group of high school students in a mixed-media experimentation course. We worked in a variety of media, playing with color, texture and layering. It was a very productive summer, each student completed five pieces.

The next two pieces were direct observation studies. India ink was used to gestural lines and while it was still wet we began densely coloring the peppers with oil pastel. The smearing of the ink was worked into the oil pastel and created an interesting texture as one resisted the other.

The next two pieces are inspired by the abstract landscapes of Richard Diebenkorn. His high horizon, color field paintings use line and bold color to indicate the magnificence of the environment in which we live. Students used modeling paste and a palette knife to scrap on a textural undercoating. After the modeling paste dried, watercolor was brushed onto each section separately. After the watercolor was dry acrylic was scrapped across the top edges with a palette knife to pick up a highlight on the ridges. The resulting pieces, while small, were stunning.