Lesson 3

Taught by Roxana Tuff, Artist

July 29, 2016, Friday
Cephas House, 217 MLK Drive, San Marcos, Texas 78666

Lesson Three - Masking, Stencils, and Painting

Note: Click on any photo and view a larger image.

HOMEWORK: Create one or more examples of this type pf painting.
To see examples of Student Work done during class, scroll down past the Lesson.

Teasle (Dipsacus fullonum)	In this lesson, we will continue playing with process and incorporating organic plant shapes into an expressive background. Look at this photo to see how something like this might look. Find a black and white picture of a stemmed plant/s of some kind. You will be: masking off areas making stencils of that shape (or parts of that shape).  You can make your stencil at home or in class, but you'll need the stencil paper/blank or transparency and an Exacto knife or scissors.
	Roxana began by showing us a background she had prepared. First, choose a plant image and create a stencil of it. Use the stencil to mask off the area where your plant will appear. Create your background painting and then remove the mask. You should have an image with a paint-free area where the mask was located.
	Students used tape or paper or transparency film to create their stencils, or masks. Here, paint has been applied and a background has been created. Once the background is dry, the mask or stencil is removed.
	Here is Roxana's finished image. Starting with her background, she has used the masked-off area - previously blank - to paint in flowers and stems. The background is very loose and free, in contrast to the flowers, which are carefully detailed. The contrast between styles of background and foreground works well.
	Here is a student's background painting. Blue tape has been cut and placed to mask off areas which will become flowers and stems. Ordinary table salt has been scattered over wet watercolors, which has created a flowing starburst pattern.
	Roxana discusses a painting with a student. Notice how he started with a black and white image, and repeated the flower figure several times with changing colors.
	Here is a student's work in progress. He masked off areas for the flowers, then created the background. Note that the flower petals are not created with white paint - instead, they are suggested by small strokes of color.