CFAC Intro to Abstract Painting & Drawing

Emma Karpinski

Spring 2018 Session II

Lesson Plan

Objective: To guide artists into the world of abstraction with new techniques, practices with
motion & color, and prompts for creative thinking. By the end of the three weeks, all students
will have tools and tricks up their sleeves to produce 2D abstract art pieces that are
aesthetically pleasing and unified, and can even be relaxing to create!

Class 1, March 15: Blind Drawings

We will begin by getting our muscles loosened up and ready to produce sometimes-

nonsensical work. Artists will practice blind drawings and even blind contour drawings (done

without ever lifting the drawing tool from the paper) of fellow students. After a few runs at

this, several still life pieces will be drawn blindly, getting everyone used to the act of making

art without stressing about details, and instead capturing the overall composition, and

stepping into the world of loose mark making.

 Class 2, March 22: Painting with Color & Movement

Everyone will select a color scheme that they prefer, and we will practice a sketch to plan

where we want to place each color and how we want them to move throughout the piece.

After becoming familiar with planning an abstract piece, artists will place the paint directly on

the paper, and use a flat edge of cardboard/cardstock to move their colors on the surface, just

as they planned. Depending on how each artist works, multiple pieces may be created.

Class 3, March 29: Acrylic Pour Painting

The grand finale of abstract work will be mixing acrylic paints with a fluid medium and letting

gravity create swirling and twisting designs. Colors will collide and organic shapes will be

formed. This will be done on canvas, and will take about a week to dry.