Wet and Dry Watercolor Balance with Paul Jenkins

DISCUSSION: What is balance?

Do you ever spin around in a circle and then try to stand up?

Have you ever pulled on a rope with a friend..as long as your both 

                      pulling it is a fun game

what happens if your friend lets go?

Balance the same or equal on two sides

Show Paul Jenkins symmetrical ex: what do you see?

if we folded it in half would it be the same on both sides?

how did he make this

what colors do you see?

did he mix colors?

Show Paul Jenkins asymmetrical example: what do you see in this picture?

if we folded this pa[er in half would it be the same on both sides?

how did he make this painting

what colors does he show in this work

What do you think about the white in his work? Is it as important as the color?

ARTIST: Paul Jenkins

(1923-    )

American Painter

Born in Kansas City

Jenkins was raised near Youngstown, Ohio. 

Drawn to New York, he became a student of Yasuo Kuniyoshi at the Art Students League

Ultimately became associated with the Abstract Expressionists

The paintings of Paul Jenkins have come to represent the spirit, vitality, and invention of postWorld War II American abstraction. 

Jenkins's fame much identified with the process of controlled paint-pouring and canvas manipulation 

He is also known for gem-like veils of transparent and translucent color which have characterized his work since the late 1950s.

He was inspired in part by the "cataclysmic challenge of Pollock and the total metaphysical consumption of Mark Toby." 

An ongoing interest in Eastern religions and philosophy and the study of the I Ching.

Jenkins was celebrated as a cornerstone of Post Painterly Abstraction (umbrella term applied by Clement Greenberg to describe the post-Abstract Expressionist approach to painting characterized by "color fields." )

PROJECT: Create balances watercolor work using blue tape

Step1: apply your two pieces of blue tape remembering that will remain white

Step2: on one side of your artwork paint liquid watercolor on dray paper

Step3: On the opposite side> Wet your paper first to and then apply color and see the results

Step4: do not put in morw then two colors on either side as your work will turn brown

Step5: turn in your finished Jenkins inspired watercolor

MATERIALS: 

Watercolor Paper

Blue tape

Liquid watercolors in primary and secondary colors

water

Brushes

additional student examples: