Lesson 2

Jonathan McHugh

Standards and Objectives:

Standard 1: Observe and Learn to Comprehend
GLE 1: Visual art has inherent characteristics and expressive features
Objective 1: Given an oil painting handout and oil painting materials, students will be able to
verbally demonstrate an introductory understanding of the main pitfalls to avoid, helpful
pointers, and four process steps of oil painting.
Standard 2: Envision and Critique to Reflect
GLE 1: Reflective strategies are used to understand the creative process
Objective 2: Given an oil painting handout and their paintings, students will verbally reflect
about what they were successful at with experimenting with oil paint and what they could
improve upon next time.
Standard 3: Invent and Discover to Create
GLE 2: Assess and produce art with various materials and methods
Objective 3: Given verbal explanation and visual demonstration, students will be able to explain
and begin following the four Process steps provided for their oil paintings in the correct order:
underpaint basic values and forms, build up colors, add increasingly detailed layers, and move
toward thicker highlights.
Objective 4: Given verbal explanation and visual demonstration, students will begin
experimenting with oil paint in a manner that demonstrates comprehension and active
avoidance of the pitfalls demonstrated and described in the handout: muddy colors, flat painting
without value or contrast, and messy painting without control of details.
-

Big Understanding:
Though the artists imagination and intuition drive the work, great art and design require skills
and discipline to turn notions into a quality product.
Inquiry Questions:

- What do you already know about oil paint?

- Why might someone choose to use this medium over a different painting
medium?
- Why do you think the pitfalls on the handout could happen?
- Why should you (generally) paint from general to specific?
- What went well in your experimenting with oil paint?
- What could you improve next time?

Assessment:
Objective 1 will be assessed informally and formatively throughout the inquiry questions and
discussion I lead throughout the class period. This will be approached with the first rubric criteria
in mind but will not be formally graded.
Objective 2 will be assessed through verbal student responses to the final two inquiry questions
listed in the section above.
Objectives 3-4 can be judged by the qualities of each students completed artwork as explained
in the rubric below.
I will be photographing each students painting and grading it based on the rubric I created that
corresponds with the objectives. Because this is the first time most of them have worked with oil

paint, assessment will be heavily focused upon participation and experimentation within the
provided helpful guidelines in their handout.
- The rubric and objectives make reference to the oil painting handout I will be giving
each student to keep
as a guide. This can be found on the final page of this lesson
plan.
- Rubric is on second to last page

Teaching Presentation Procedures:

1. Beginning of class set up painting materials, easels 10 min
2. Opening: Inquiry questions and discussion while beginning demo painting (Objective 1) 15 min
- Discuss inquiry questions:
- What do you already know about oil paint?
- Why might someone choose to use this medium over a different

painting
-

medium?
- Why do you think the pitfalls on the handout could happen?
- Why should you (generally) paint from general to specific?
Demonstrate oil paint over previously prepared underpainting
- Explain and demonstrate points on the handout while students
read it

3. Work time: have the students begin their landscape paintings (Objectives 2-4) 50 min
- (Some students may already have an acrylic underpainting underway. All students will be
working with oil paint, but these students will be further in the process than the ones who
havent started yet.)
- Work on my own demonstration painting and continue to show them how I am approaching
specific aspects discussed in the handout
- Walk around to check in with students individually and provide feedback
- Midway through, have the students take a break to pair up with the person next to them and
discuss what they think is going well and any questions they have or how to improve
4. Closure Questions (Objectives 1-4) - 5 min
(Do closure before clean up so that I still have everyone gathered in one area with
each other, me, and their artworks)
Have the students think about and verbally respond to the self-reflection questions:
- What went well in your experimenting with oil paint?
- What could you improve next time?
5. Clean-up - 10 min
- Explain that brushes should be cleaned by wiping them down, scrubbing with Galkyd, then
washing with brush-cleaning soap
- Students can individually put their own supplies away, clean out brushes and palettes, etc.
- Have students show me their paintings so I can take photographs of them to assess

Differentiation:
-

Activity designed to practice and reinforce student learning:

Students will begin working on their oil painting landscape projects. They will be experimenting
with oil paint (many for the first time) with my handout, demonstration, and feedback to guide
their process.
Accommodation:
Students were already given the option to choose their own landscape to paint based upon
difficulty and other factors.
Students will be encouraged to focus on experimentation with oil paint and following the process
steps in the correct manner and order, as opposed to finishing a painting or even getting to a
designated point in the painting process.

Students will be assessed based on their demonstration of increased understanding of oil

painting methods based on their product, its development throughout the class period, and
verbal explanation
Extension:
Students will be pushed to:
Proceed with the oil painting process more carefully and slowly
Experiment with oil paint in new ways if theyve already used it before
Develop more realistic detail in their paintings
Incorporate more variety of personal brushstroke styles to create differing visual effects

Closure:

(Do closure before clean up so that I still have everyone gathered in one area with each other,
me, and their artworks)
Have the students think about and discuss their responses to the self-reflection
questions:
What went well in your experimenting with oil paint?
What could you improve next time?

Rubric:
Criteria
1. Basic
2. Developing 3.
Describe the
Student
Student can
basic pitfalls to
ineffectively
describe some
avoid, helpful
describes
of these basic
pointers, and
these basic
components of
process steps of
components
how to
oil painting
of how to
approach oil
approach oil
painting
painting

Proficient
4.
Student can
effectively
describe most
of these basic
components of
how to
approach oil
painting

The steps
completed so
far are in the
correct order
in few or no
areas of the
painting

The steps
completed so
far are in the
correct order
in some areas
of the painting

The steps
completed so
far are in the
correct order
in most areas
of the painting

Advanced
Student can
highly
effectively
describe all of
these
components
of how to
approach oil
painting
The steps
completed so
far are in the
correct order
in all areas of
the painting

Begin following
the four process
steps in the
correct order
(underpaint basic
values and forms,
build up colors,
add increasingly
detailed layers,
and move toward
thicker
highlights)
Begin creating an
oil painting that
demonstrates
understanding of
basic oil painting
concepts by

Pitfalls are
consciously
avoided in few
or no areas of
the painting

Pitfalls are
consciously
avoided in
some areas of
the painting

Pitfalls are
consciously
avoided in
most areas of
the painting

Pitfalls are
consciously
avoided in all
areas of the
painting

avoiding the main

pitfalls (muddy
colors, flat values,
and a messy
painting)
Thoughtfully
reflect on what
went well with oil
paint
experimentation
and what you
could improve
upon

Reflection is
incomplete
and does not
demonstrate
thoughtful
evaluation of
oil painting
experimentati
on

Reflection is
mostly
complete and
demonstrates
somewhat
thoughtful
evaluation of
oil painting
experimentatio
n

Reflection is
complete and
demonstrates
fairly
thoughtful
evaluation of
oil painting
experimentatio
n

Reflection is
complete and
demonstrates
thoughtful
evaluation of
oil painting
experimentati
on

OIL PAINT
PITFALLS TO AVOID
1. MUDDY COLORS Too much blending leads to grayed out colors that all
look the same as each other
2. FLAT No value or contrast
3. MESSY No control of small details

POINTERS
1. GENERAL TO SPECIFIC: start with the basic forms and values and cover
the whole canvas first, THEN start developing details
2. THIN TO THICK (also called FAT OVER LEAN) application of paint: if
you start with thin texture you can always add more, but if you start too thick
you cant go back to thin. This also prevents cracking in the long term
3. LET PAINT DRY if you want to paint a new layer over something. If you
mix wet colors directly on the painting, you are at risk of all three pitfalls
4. WIPE YOUR BRUSH OFTEN to keep your brush clean in between use of
different colors. This will help prevent pitfall #1

PROCESS
1. UNDERPAINT BASIC VALUES AND FORMS (can also be done in
acrylic)
2. BUILD UP COLORS
3. ADD INCREASINGLY DETAILED LAYERS
4. MOVE TOWARD THICKER HIGHLIGHTS