PAINT POURS!

HCA middle school students finished the year with something equally fun and messy; paint pours! This technique is the latest craze in the art world and it involves lots of paint, tons of ingenuity, some patience, and a little bit of luck. 

Working with the element of chance and unpredictability, the artist captures the fluid motion of paint as it is poured onto a surface and then manipulated either with gravity or with a tool. We tried out lots of techniques; the flip-cup, flip and drag, clean pour, dirty pour, flip and swipe, the tree-ring, the tilt, and the ribbon effect. "Gravity is your friend," according to 6th graders! 

Aesthetically speaking, paint pours would fit into the category of "Formalism," or the kind of art that is created for its beauty and design. Formalists are not necessarily interested in deep meaning or symbolism in a work of art, nor are they always interested in Realism. Some famous historical Formalist painters are Piet Mondrian, Frank Stella, and the list goes on! Some of these painters were pure Formalists, while others were interested in deeper meaning such as the artists Wassily Kandinsky and Helen Frankenthaler.

Students had to think about good design as they worked with this technique; asking questions such as; "What kind of variety is happening?" Or, "Is this balanced with the brighter or lighter colors appearing in multiple places?" Or, "Am I getting any good contrast with these colors? Or, "How will this group of colors interact with each other; will they just turn brown or will they make a new, equally vibrant set of colors?" Color theory definitely came into play with this project! 

We also talked a little bit about the science involved; why did the "cells" form in the paint? The different types of paint and pigments have a different density; the more dense the color, the heavier it will be. The lighter colors will float to the top and create the cell effect! 

In addition, students learned that sometimes failure can teach you a lot! Some of the paint pours were dismal; the paint was over-mixed and got muddy or the variety was lost due to too much manipulation. The Growth Mindset was practiced in the HCA art room this week; if things don't work the first time, try and try again! 

Students had so much fun making their beautiful paint pours! I heard comments such as, "It looks like a picture from outer space!" and, "It looks like an optical illusion!" Many of these finished paintings reminded me of flowers or geodes, or even landscapes! I especially enjoyed the fact that these exquisite pictures of moving colors are forever frozen in time. What a great way to end the year!

Many thanks to Mrs. Littleton and Mrs. Ridgon for bringing us extra cans of paint to work with and to Mrs. Ingram for stopping by to help with the chaos. Also, thank you to 8th grader Andrew G. for suggesting we try this technique out. Finally, thank you to my husband, Den Nichols, for cutting up all that Masonite! We couldn't have done it without you!