When a Sean Scully exhibition came to Philadelphia, I was excited to introduce my students to his bold, large-scale work. The paintings we looked at were massive—wall-sized panels featuring bright geometric patterns of stripes and grids, paired with complementary or contrasting panels of equal scale.
Some of Scully’s pieces were composed of four or more large canvases, juxtaposed to create dynamic combinations. Students enjoyed looking at his work because it was both impressive and engaging. Their own work would later be informed and inspired by these combinations of colors, patterns, and shapes.
We began an exploration of color and pattern by collaboratively making a large artwork from cut paper strips. Students worked in small groups to make medium-sized “paintings” by laying the cut strips of colored construction paper on a base, and then we combined them to make a big, colorful cooperative composition. We played around with different layouts, a skill that students would later employ in their individual work.
In preparation for this project, I cut railroad board into three different sizes: 3 x 12" (7.5 x 30 cm), 6 x 12" (15 x 30 cm), and 9 x 12" (23 x 30 cm). Students would choose a variety of panels to assemble, and these sizes allowed students to balance their paintings symmetrically or asymmetrically as they saw fit. Students each chose three or four panels to paint and wrote their names on the backs.
Students prepared palettes with red, blue, yellow, green, white, and black acrylic paint. Armed with cups of water and various sized brushes, they jumped into creating geometric paintings. I encouraged them to start with a base color and to create decorative or rhythmic patterns on top of the first color. The second-graders were familiar with color-mixing techniques and they continued to explore them after completing this project. Clearly inspired by Scully’s work, stripes and plaids emerged, sometimes flanked by dots and larger circles.
Students worked on their three or four panels individually, creating a different pattern on each. I encouraged early finishers to go back to add details to a subtle pattern, brainstorm new patterns with their classmates, or help at the sink. We allowed the painted panels to dry until our next class.
To complete our project, students each received a 12 x 16" (30 x 40.5 cm) panel of railroad board to use as a “base” for assembling their panels. Students experimented with different layouts of their panels: lining them up in a row, arranging them as a perfect rectangle, or placing panels with prominently painted lines perpendicular to each other for dynamic results.
Students got feedback from their peers, and when they were satisfied with their arrangements, they used a strong glue to secure them to the backing board. While the students’ compositions were much smaller than Scully’s work, they were exciting and showcased their individual styles.
We shared feedback and recognition of each student’s artwork. Students reflected on their favorite parts of the process, and I hope they will feel encouraged to incorporate bold patterns into their self-directed artwork in the future.
Sue Liedke is an art teacher at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. SusanLiedke@Gmail.com
Creating: Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work.
Art teachers inspire bold creative expression while incorporating contemporary art into their lessons. Students discover the large-scale paintings of Sean Scully and create multi-panel patterned compositions, investigate the landscape art of Dahlia Elsayed and assemble collaborative and individual collages, embrace mark-making as a whole-body exercise while using charcoal-taped drawing sticks, and more.
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