A Mixed-Media Art Project for Grades 4 – 12 Inspired by the SBMA exhibition California Dreaming: Plein-Air Painting from San Francisco to San Diego

Painting California’s Coastal Valleys and Beaches in Pastel & Watercolor

Goals: To create a mixed-media painting of a California landscape in watercolor and pastel, and to experiment with the effect of Tonalism. To incorporate the atmospheric effects of a region’s climate and geography into a work of art.

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The SBMA exhibition California Dreaming: Plein-Air Painting from San Francisco to San Diego (2012-2013) featured:

“…a selection of early modern paintings that celebrate the topography of California. By the end of the 19th century, landscape painting had become the primary vehicle for depicting national identity in American art. California provided breathtaking scenery of newly integrated lands for painters working “en plein air,” or outdoors. This was an approach

employed by cutting-edge artists in Europe, particularly in France, which artists in America then adapted to create a style that has become the hallmark of what is commonly termed Californian Plein-Air Painting or California Impressionism. In

Northern California, an atmospheric, poetic and decorative style called Tonalism was established by the artistic community of San Francisco. Southern California was a mecca for young, modernist artists influenced by French Impressionism, a

movement preoccupied with capturing the immediate effects of light and color under ever-changing climactic conditions. The regional style of California Plein-Air Painting was created by a group of cosmopolitan painters, whose mobility was facilitated by the new railroad lines to the West Coast. While technically varied, all of the artists represented here were

utterly devoted to depicting the natural paradise we aptly call the Golden State.”

(exhibition notes, SBMA website)

KEITH, William , USA, 1839-1911 Loma Prieta, Morning in the Santa Cruz Mountains, 1874 oil on canvas, SBMA

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The California plein-air artists depicted the many moods of the landscape: from a bright, clear, afternoon depicted with energy and movement …

HINKLE, Clarence, USA, 1880-1960, Coast Line, Laguna, n.d. (ca. 1924) oil on canvas, SBMA

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…to quiet, pastoral scenes of California’s coastal valleys.  

MCCOMAS, Francis, USA, 1875-1938, Old Oak (Landscape), 1900, watercolor, SBMA    

 

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The palette chosen by the artist for each painting helped to convey mood, season, and time of day.

WACHTEL, Elmer, USA, 1878-1929 Sunlight and Shadow, n.d., oil on canvas, SBMA  

MATHEWS, Lucia K., USA, 1882-1955, Carmel Valley Oak, n.d. watercolor on paper, SBMA

 

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An atmospheric style called Tonalism contributed to the overall effect of paintings that can be described as decorative and poetic.

WACHTEL, Marion Kavanaugh, USA, 1876-1954, Eucalyptus Trees, n.d., watercolor, SBMA

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In the following two projects, student artists will experiment with the effect of Tonalism as they create:

• a master study of William Otte’s Nojoqui Park, 1914, and/or other paintings featured in the exhibition

• a watercolor and pastel painting inspired by a personal photograph of the local landscape.

 

OTTE, William Louis, USA, 1871-195, Nojoqui Park, 1914, pastel, SBMA

 

Supplies for both projects:

• tan or tea-stained 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper

• pencil for sketching • container of water • watercolor paints and brushes • soft pastels • Q-tips • a few sheets of newsprint for practice sketches and

experiments with pastel application techniques • optional: masking tape for taping the watercolor

paper to a board (after the watercolor paint dries, the paper will return to its original flat surface if it is pre-taped to a board)

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Scrumbling – diagonal and rounded application. Note: Pastel artists often refer to “scumbling” or “scrumbling” techniques. In this lesson, scrumbling refers to short, quick, continuous scribble like marks made with the end or edge of a chalk pastel. The marks can be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal, or they can be creating by making continuous, tight circular strokes.

Pastel dust picked up with a Q-tip and blended into scrumbled areas.

Option: mix colors.

A pure or blended “pool” of color created by rubbing soft pastel onto

scrap paper until dust forms.

Pool of pastel dust on scrap paper – blended colors. Tooth of paper shows through after

finger-brushing color onto paper - repeated finger brushing creates less transparent color.

Color applied with wide strokes of pastel (using side of the pastel). Note: when the cream pastel

is applied over the blue, the colors blend and the effect is smoother – less paper shows through.

Pastel Application Techniques Used in These Projects (Experiment with These Techniques)

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Project #1: Watercolor & Pastel Master Study of William Otte’s Nojoqui Park

OTTE, William Louis, USA, 1871-1957 Nojoqui Park, 1914, pastel, SBMA

 

Begin by studying Otte’s painting. What season of the year is depicted? What contributes to the tonal quality of the piece?

Break the scene down in terms of basic shapes. Note the horizon line, the strong diagonal lines of the hills, and the organic, massed shapes of the foliage. The shapes of the lower clouds are loosely repeated in the shapes of the larger trees.

After taping a sheet of watercolor paper to a board, lightly sketch the simplified scene onto the paper.  

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SBMA Teaching Artist Joni Chancer created these quick drafts (above) on white paper. In the prototype featured on the next page, a tonal effect was created by sketching and painting on tan watercolor paper. The image on the LEFT shows the simplified pencil sketch (sketch in extremely light pencil, pastel, or watercolor) and the loose watercolor application for the underpainting. The image on the RIGHT shows preliminary pastel application on top of the dry watercolor.

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Using chalk pastels, continue to build and blend colors, and add scrumbled marks to create the foliage. Note the many shades and tints of green evident in the trees and bushes. The tan substrate (tinted watercolor paper) shows through in some areas of the sky.

Pay attention to values: where are the lights, mediums, and darks?

Even though this piece has an overall tonal quality to it, the Teaching Artist created contrast by selecting dark umber or deep purple for the shadows, warm and cool mid-tones of green for the foliage, and very pale ivory in the clouds and on the hills.

Note that this prototype reflects the time of year and day; dried grasses are just starting to turn green after the first rains of the season. The clouds and lengthening shadows indicate that dusk is approaching. This piece has more color than than Otte’s original work, as that is what the Teaching Artist observed in the local landscape. She chose to incorporate these observations into her Master Study.

Prototype by Joni Chancer, SBMA Teaching Artist

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Project #2

Museum Inspiration: Surf Crashing on Rocks by William Ritschel

Discussion questions: What season of the year and time of day is depicted in the painting? What makes you think that? Has the artist used Tonalism in this painting? How has the artist created movement and energy in the sea and sky? What is the focal point of this painting?

Encourage students to note all the shades and colors in the “white” of the surf, the different values, the artist’s use of contrast, and the overall Tonality of the piece. This creates a sense of mood; it is not clear, sunny day. Note the light shining through the clouds onto the waves.

The Teaching Artist’s photograph of Loon Point Beach in Summerland, CA on a day with a similar mood and atmospheric conditions: • possible rain • light breaking through heavy cloud cover • white-edged surf lapping against the shore

RITSCHEL, William, USA, 1864-1949 Surf Crashing on Rocks, n.d., oil on canvas, SBMA

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The original photograph from the beach walk Pencil and watercolor sketch on tan paper (when creating your piece, do not use heavy pencil marks)

Repeat the process described in the previous project: • study the photograph • note the horizon line and essential shapes in the landscape • sketch the essential shapes very lightly (in pencil) onto tan watercolor paper • create a loose underpainting with a wet brush and watercolor pigment.

Option: While the painted (wash) areas are still slightly wet, drop in more watercolor. Let back-runs develop by allowing pools of wet paint or water to flow back into the drying wash. A back-run creates an irregular, organic, and cloud-like edge to the loosely rendered dropped-in colors of the sky portion of the underpainting.

back-run

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Original photograph

As described in the previous project, layer color using chalk pastels over the dry watercolor background. Use a variety of application techniques. Remember, sea reflects sky – are the colors in the clouds reflected in the waves and on the shore of the scene?

Process notes: In the example on the left, the Teaching Artist blended colors using her finger or a Q-tip. She added dark and light highlights to create a contrast to the tonal mid-tones of the scene. She did not blend the dark and light colors as much as she did the mid-tone colors.

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The original photograph from a beach walk.

The Teaching Artist’s first watercolor and pastel painting – heavier application of pastel – more blended and painterly – less background paper showing through

The second watercolor and pastel painting of the same scene – note the lighter and sketchier pastel application in the water and sky –

with more of the tan background paper showing through

Notes differences in the mood of these two pieces.

Photographs and prototypes by Joni Chancer, SBMA Teaching Artist

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Examples of the work of adult participants in an SBMA Studio Art Class (watercolor and pastel on tan paper)

Painting based on a photograph of the beach at Carmel. A Master Study of the painting Eucalyptus Trees by Marion Wachtel. See the original painting on page 6 of this lesson.

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A Master Study (by Itoko Maeno, SBMA Teaching Artist) of the painting Carmel Valley Oak by Lucia K. Mathews. See the original painting on page 5 of this lesson.

 

Now it is your turn. Select one of the paintings from the exhibition (see images on previous slides), follow the sequence suggested in the lesson plan, and create a Master Study in watercolor and pastel. Next, observe your local natural environment and take a few photographs. Look for scenes that reflect

atmospheric conditions and the emotion or mood of the landscape. Apply the techniques you experimented with in your Master Study to several watercolor and pastel paintings inspired by your

photographs.

Experiment with Tonalism. Try painting on both white and tan (or tea-stained) paper, and note the differences.

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Examples of photographs of a local landscape at different times of day.

Credits and permissions:

This presentation was created by SBMA for instructional use only and is not to be altered in any way, or reproduced without attribution.

Artwork was created by SBMA Teaching Artists, participants in SBMA Adult Studio Classes, and students in the SBMA Education and Outreach Programs.

For further information about these or other Education and Outreach Programs, contact Rachel Krieps at rkrieps@sbma.net

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Connections to the Standards

From the Next Generation Science Standards: ESS2.D: Weather and Climate Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns. (MS-ESS2-6)

From the Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text (using art as text). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text (using art as text). CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.   This lesson was created by Joni Chancer, SBMA Curriculum Consultant.