One-Hour Paintings

As a warm-up for the "patterns in painting" unit, students created one-hour observational paintings using acrylic paint on paper. The purpose of this lesson was to teach students how patterns shift over three-dimensional shapes. By creating observational paintings of patterned fabric, students were able to observe changes in color, shape, scale, and value of the patterns as they draped over forms. This was a skill-based entry point to the "patterns in painting" unit, where students created paintings of their choice that incorporated pattern.