Materials:

• Paint (multiple colours works best but use what you have)
  Alternative to paint is food colouring – especially if you choose to do this activity on snow
• Cups/containers
• Water
• Large paintbrushes or other items like sticks, wooden spoons, paper towel roll, any recyclable material that will enable you to “throw” paint
• Large canvas --- get creative and use cardboard, newspaper, cereal boxes, or freshly fallen snow
• Make sure you complete this project outdoors where you can afford to be messy
• Wear old clothes and goggles to protect your eyes (wearing a face mask isn’t a bad idea either)

Directions:

1. Fill the cups with paint and add the large paintbrushes to each cup.
2. Mix your brush around in the cup and scoop up some paint when taking it out. Don’t wipe the side of your brush! You want your brushes to be super saturated. In fact, if your paintbrush is dripping with paint after it is taken out of the cup, that is perfect!
3. Hold the paintbrush handle tightly, and “throw” the paintbrush toward the paper without letting go of the paintbrush. Make sure that your paintbrush doesn't touch the paper!
4. The paint should fly onto the paper and make wild lines and blobs. If the paint isn’t traveling well because it is too thick, add water to your paint a little at a time.

Follow the same steps and materials required from Splatter Painting Activity. The only difference here is to ensure your canvas is laid flat on the ground and rather than “throw” the paint, draw your intended design in the air above your canvas. This lets the paint fall onto the canvas without ever touching it directly, hopefully in some semblance to what you drew in the air. Try and picture a complete scene and paint it in its entirety over the canvas.

Watch this video for an example of action painting: Abstract Expressionism Art

Visit the award-winning site, http://jacksonpollock.org/ and use your mouse to create your own Jackson Pollock. Slide your cursor around the screen in different directions. Click once to change colours. Play around with your creation until you are happy with your result. Take a picture and send it in for me to share with the school.

Butterflies by Ms Trudeau

Print out the colouring page and use your crayons, pencil crayons, and/or markers (or a combination of all three) to create your own Jackson Pollock inspired artwork. In the top square, try to recreate the example provided. Don’t forget to colour in Jackson Pollock!

Blue Poles, Number 11, 1952.

Using Pollock’s Blue Poles, try and answer the questions on the worksheet below (print out). As an extension, try and answer the same questions with some of Pollock’s other work.

Let’s Look Closely Workbook