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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Amate Bark Paintings


This summer I bought a unique and colorful painting from an antique store but was not sure of its origin. Immediately when I saw it I knew I needed to do an art project on it, but I needed more information. I knew the paper was made out of a sort of pulp and after doing some research I was able to learn it was an Amate Bark painting from central mexico! After looking around some more I realized a handful of bloggers have already taken a stab at trying out this bold and colorful artform in their classrooms. Inspired by my purchase, and after looking at some posted projects, I put together a lesson that will I will most definitely do again!


Day 1: We analyzed my purchased Amate bark painting and then created sketches from
what we saw. I encouraged students to be inventive and create plants and birds that would
only live in our imaginations. Near the middle of drawing time I pulled up
the "Birds of Paradise" video (from Planet Earth series) to revive their creative juices:) 
Day 2: Using our sketch page as inspiration, we used sharpie to draw our final line drawings.
The bolder the line the better!
We started with a botanical boarder and the drew a bird fairly large near the center.
Day 3: Using oil pastels we colored it up!
I introduced how to create highlights and shadows for them to explore with
but didn't require it in their drawing.



1 comment:

  1. Katie- I'm working on an amate bark painting project and amate cutting project with my 1st and 4th graders! When I began researching the history of amate, I totally thought of that painting that was in your room! Good find!

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