Mixed media painting/collage is a very exciting painting project for primary school children appealing to those as young as five years of age. This tutorial presents an opportunity to use your imagination to create a composition in collage form, using different materials and paint on canvas.

This project can be approached in different ways using various themes for inspiration. The theme for this particular project is based on a magic garden—a garden where anything is possible. Leaves are big and colourful, birds are taller than trees and flowers are vibrant and dance about in the wind.

Students are required to observe plants and flowers and encouraged to sketch out their observations and ideas onto paper before starting on their canvas.

Objective

This project presents two objectives: (1) students will draw plants collected from a garden or from pictures of tropical plants, to familiarise themselves with shapes, lines, textures and repetitive patterns that are directly found in nature. (2) there is also opportunity for students to ‘view, think and interpret’ their findings by imagining (in this instance) nature as a ‘Magical Garden’ that will encourage them to broaden their visualisation skills and creativity with an element
of fantasy in the mix.

Visual References

For visual references and inspiration show the class paintings by artists such as Henry Rousseau in addition to pictures of tropical plants and gardens.

Please watch our video on Mixed Media Painting part one and part two.

Teachers can view the video and then start the discussion among students, or start by discussing ideas first and then show the video.

Room Set-Up and Preparation

Arrange the desks in groups of four or six and cover them with sheets of newspaper secured with masking tape so the students can work in groups and easily reach for the shared art materials. (1, 2 and 3)

A list of recycled materials should be sent home to the parents. The type of recycled materials will depend on the theme of project, just tick the materials required before sending the list home.

Download and print the Recyclable Sheet.

Prepare all of the materials in advance

Recyclables:

• Cut the newspaper, tissue paper and kitchen wipes, corrugated cardboard, yarns and textiles into small pieces, about 10 x 10 cm.
• Set up each of the grouped tables with the art materials required for this tutorial centrally placed and within reach of the youngest student.

First Session

Motivation – Drawing – Planning

Show visual references; focus on the magnificent gardens and jungles that Henry Rousseau painted. Show big leaves from a garden if available and/or show pictures of tropical plants. Alternatively and time permitting, take the students for a nature walk and collect some foliage as appropriate along the way.

Discuss ideas and encourage the students to find and describe shapes, colours, textures, lines and repetitions found in the samples of foliage that were collected or observed in the picture reference.

View the video on Pen and Ink Drawing so the students will have a clear idea how to approach the drawing of foliage

At this point, students will be motivated to start their drawings using black pens, or pen and ink on their A3 cartridge paper. Display collected foliage in the centre of each table. (4)

Second Session

Collage

The same room set up applies for each session. This second session involves collage, therefore all the materials and equipment for collage should be placed in the centre of the grouped tables.

Students are encouraged to use their imagination and creativity to create a drawing of a ‘Magical Garden’ on their canvas. Using the coloured chalk, students will copy the shapes from their preliminary A3 drawings onto the canvas. They should be encouraged to draw simple large shapes, without any detail at this point, to make collaging of shapes, lines and textures an easy task. (5)

Once the chalk drawings have been completed, students will start glueing their recycled materials to create a collage, as shown on the video.

Using the different materials available, students will cut shapes out of cardboard, and add lines using string, tissue paper and the other recycled materials provided, to match the shapes they have outlined in chalk on to their canvas. (6)

When all the pieces have been glued to the canvas, apply a layer of thick white paint or Gesso, all over the collaged image. At the end of the second session all the canvases should look white. (7)

Third Session

Painting

When the collage has dried it will be time to paint. Students will have the paint dispensed in plastic containers on the grouped tables to share with the rest of the painting equipment—paint brushes, rags, mixing paper, and containers of water.

This is the appropriate time for the students to mix different colours—the colours that one might find in a ‘Magic Garden’. Students should be encouraged to be creative mixing their colours. Foliage on trees doesn’t necessarily need to be green, it can be any colour the student’s imagination wants it to be. There are no limitations in a ‘Magic Garden’.

Start by painting the large areas with the medium sized paint brush, applying colour using strong strokes to push the paint into the textured surface. The idea is to ensure that there are no small areas of white showing through.

When the large areas a have been painted, swap to the smaller paint brush and start to apply the detail such as, some dots, short lines, and repetitions of small patterns.

This is also the time to use the pieces of foam, cork, and rolled up cardboard to ‘print’ patterns in contrasting colours.

1. An assortment of recycled materials including plastic, kitchen wipes, newspaper and wool.

2. Pieces of corrugated cardboard, fabric and paddle pop sticks etc...

3. Small pieces of foam, buttons and cork to apply paint onto the canvas using repetition.

4. Students drawing foliage shapes in pen and ink on to cartridge paper.

5. Student using coloured chalk to transfer their ideas onto canvas.

6. Student applying glue to cut corrugated cardboard shapes.

7. Gesso being applied after collage pieces have been glued on.