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Little Artist: Pollock Fall Tree
Art: A Visual History by Robert Cumming
I often look to this book for inspiration on these assignments. This is a wonderful book for general artist information. It is organized chronologically and categorized by art movement. Definitely worth having on hand.
About Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock was born on January 28, 1912 in Wyoming. He went to art school in California where he learned about drawing and painting. He went to another art school in New York City where he studied life drawing, painting, and composition.
Pollock’s early works were mostly landscapes and figurative scenes. Then, he had some personal issues which changed his art. His work became much more abstract. Pollock was eventually given a chance to show his work at the Guggenheim gallery in New York. He painted his first wall-sized work called Mural. This was the beginning of Pollock’s signature style.
Abstract Expressionism
Jackson Pollock was known as an abstract expressionist painter. These artists aimed at expressing extreme emotion in their art using distorted brush strokes and often “inaccurate” colors. Abstract expressionist art is often done on a large scale to emphasize the emotions.
Jackson Pollock Style
Pollock would drip or spill or splatter liquid paint directly onto the canvas to create complex patterns. Jackson Pollock was known for his action painting. He would use fast, erratic, harsh movements to lay his paint down.
The art project: Pollock fall tree
This is a great lesson to teach during the fall season when the leaves are changing colors. Be sure to clarify that this is a Jackson Pollock inspired lesson as most of his works are canvases completely covered in paint.
Supplies
I used heavy watercolor paper for this assignment so that it would stand up against the globs of paint that I knew the kids would drip onto their artworks. I also chose to use Crayola washable tempera paint because I didn’t want the parents to be upset that little Annie ruined her nice new pants. And the tree was drawn with regular marker.
NOTE:
The most important step is to cover the area with plastic or a drop cloth because this is a messy one. Before we got started, I explained the technique to the kids. We learned that the best way is to get a glob of paint on a brush and shake it gently over the paper. This will cause the paint to drip. Some kids tapped the paint filled brush with another brush to get the paint to drip. If they want to splatter, be sure to gently lift the brush up, then splatter it downward with not too much force. The key is for them to not fling it backwards before splattering it forwards.
Step 1 - draw the tree
Using a brown marker, make the tree trunk and branches. Be sure to use sweeping strokes (instead of crisscross and haphazard strokes) to imitate the lines of a tree trunk.
Step 2 - paint the leaves
Choose one color and drip or splatter onto the tree to create leaves. Remind the kids that the brush does not touch the paper, only the paint does.
Step 3- paint the remaining leaves
Repeat with the remaining colors. The more the kids drip the paint, the more they will find the technique that works for them.
The fun part is that pretty much anything goes with this style of art. Whether they want their trees to have a lot of leaves or just a few, either way will look great. Hopefully most of their art ends up on the paper!