In 6th grade we started with Jackson Pollock. Many have seen his paintings and probably thought "I can do that". Well, you're right, but he did it first. We looked at a Jackson Pollock and shared our opinions on his art. Afterwards I showed the students a small clip from the movie Pollock. We watched a scene that unfolded on January 1947. We see Jackson wake up and proceed to his barn/ studio. He paints on large canvases on the floor in this clip. While pausing to decide what and where to paint, a drizzle of paint falls off of his brush and lands in an interesting pattern on the floor. He takes notice...then BAM! Abstract expressionism is born! The clip is inspiring because we get to witness the exact moment of an accidental discovery.
We discuss this in class and prepare our canvas. Once we do actually paint, we use brushes, spoons, squeeze bottles and eye droppers to apply the paint to our paper canvases. We also do this to music just to help inspire the paint lines. Afterwards we add a creative title and our signature. Poems are written to summarize the experience. Here are some examples...