Lesson video

Hello everyone.

How are you today? I hope you're feeling really good, and I'm so pleased that you're here.

My name is Ms. Afzal and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson, and I'm feeling very happy about that.

Our lesson is called Painting with expression: capturing emotion and atmosphere.

I wonder if you've had a go at doing this in painting before.

Our lesson comes from the unit of work Foundation workshops, developing skills.

So if you are ready with some energy, focus and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can use expressive techniques in brushwork, color and composition.

We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them.

Expression, perspective, composition, and mark-making.

So what do these words mean? Expression, this is the use of color, brushwork and composition to communicate emotion or atmosphere.

Perspective, the angle or viewpoint in a painting.

Composition, the combination of a selection of elements arranged and organized within an artwork.

And mark-making, the different types of strokes or marks an artist makes with tools.

These are our keywords: expression, perspective, composition, and mark-making.

Let's look out and listen out for them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Our lesson is called Painting with expression: capturing emotion and atmosphere, and it has two learning cycles, experiment with expressive techniques, and creating emotion and atmosphere.

Let's begin by experimenting with expressive techniques.

Take a look at this artwork.

What emotion do you feel when you look at this? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing the emotions you feel.

And how do color, brushwork and tone contribute to that feeling? Pause here and share with someone.

What do you think? Thanks for sharing.

Artists can use elements such as color, tone and brushwork in an expressive way to create an atmosphere or emotion.

J.

M.

W.

Turner worked in oil paint, blending and layering brushwork to create swirling effects.

He used a technique called scumbling to give the effect of stormy seas and skies.

Gwen John used pale tones and soft light to create quiet, calm scenes.

Abstract painters like Helen Frankenthaler and Mark Rothko used combinations of color and tone to create atmosphere.

Ibrahim El-Salahi uses colors to express emotion.

He uses colors that reflect feeling, rather than realistic representations.

So here are some artists who are using expressive techniques in their artworks.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Why might an artist choose different colors, tones, or brushwork in a painting? Is it, A, to make the artwork look random and accidental, B, to match the exact choices another artist has made, or C, to serve different purposes, such as creating mood, atmosphere, or focus? Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you chose answer C.

Indeed, an artist might choose different colors, tones, or brushwork in a painting to serve different purposes, such as creating mood, atmosphere, or focus.

Expression can be created through a sense of movement made by the artist to place the paint on the support.

Janet Sobel poured, splattered and dripped paint onto canvas using an all over drip technique.

Shozo Shimamoto poured paint onto vertical canvases, so that it appears to be falling.

Painters like Christine Ay Tjoe use gestural brush work to create movement.

The paint is applied using free, sweeping gestures with a brush.

So how do we create expressive marks? Pause here and share with someone.

How do you think we do this? Thanks for sharing.

To create expressive marks, hold your brush loosely and use different parts of the brush, the side, blunt end, flat to create varied marks.

Move your body and make bigger movements with your arm.

Think about the direction and speed of your strokes, and how much energy that is creating.

Pause here and share with someone which of these expressive mark-making techniques have you used before? Thanks for sharing.

Tools can be used in different ways to convey emotion.

Different sides of the brush can be used, paint can be flicked or dabbed.

Big gestures can be used.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Look at the three examples.

Which one shows the use of big, gestural brush strokes? Pause here while you decide.

Is it A, B, or C? Well done if you selected answer A.

Indeed, holding the brush loosely allows for a range of mark-making.

Take a look at this painting.

How has the artist used the angle and viewpoint to present a dramatic viewpoint? Pause here and share with someone.

What do you think? Thanks for sharing.

Artists use angle and viewpoint to make a subject feel more dramatic.

Changing the perspective can emphasize scale, create rhythm, or guide the viewer's eye in a powerful way.

Here's Aisha, "From above, aerial view, the building feels patterned and rhythmic." "From below, worm's eye view, the building feels towering and powerful." Perhaps it's something that you said about the earlier artwork.

Composition for expression.

Artists can arrange elements of color, shape, and texture to convey emotions, ideas, and their experience of reality, rather than a literal depiction of a scene.

Artist Dia al-Azzawi paints bustling scenes using flowing lines that direct the eye and divide the composition.

Edvard Munch organized all of the elements in his painting "The Scream," so that they led the eye to the screaming face at the center of the painting.

I wonder if you're familiar with this painting.

It's referenced a lot in popular culture.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false? Artists can manipulate visual elements to communicate personal experiences, even if the scene they depict isn't realistic.

Pause here while you decide, is this true or false? Well done if you selected true.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this: artists use color, shape, and texture to express emotions and ideas, not just to copy reality.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to choose one emotion or atmosphere to explore, for example, joy, isolation, chaos, serenity, fear, excitement.

Create a visual mood board in your sketchbook showing: a color palette that expresses your emotion.

A brushwork style, smooth, bold, scratchy, fluid.

Symbolic forms or abstract shapes that link to the feeling.

Texture ideas, thick paint, layered, translucent, rough.

So pause here while you have a go at this task, choosing your emotion to explore, and then creating a visual mood board in your sketchbook.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task? You may have created something like this.

So we've got energetic or excited on the left, rhythm and flow in the middle, and overwhelmed on the right.

Pause here and share with someone your impressions of these expressive techniques to convey emotion and atmosphere.

Thanks for sharing.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle, creating emotion and atmosphere.

Take a look at these two images.

What do you notice about the difference in brush marks between these two images? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

On the left, this is an example of using brushwork for expressive effect.

And on the right, this example is more controlled, with precise strokes and edges.

I wonder if you said something like this.

Some artists may apply paint in a slow, steady and planned way when they want a precise line or effect.

An example might be Ifeyinwa Joy Chiamonwu, who built precise, meticulous paintings with highly controlled brushwork.

Other times, they may want an expressive, lively effect and will work in a more spontaneous way.

Christine Ay Tjoe and Rachel Jones' paintings are good examples.

Sometimes artists combine both controlled and expressive techniques.

The work of Edvard Munch is a good example.

Let's have a check for understanding.

With a partner, discuss which brushwork technique you prefer and why, A, B, or C? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you said something like this: a controlled brushwork technique may be preferred because it allows for precision, clarity, and detailed effects in the painting.

Take a look at these paintings.

How has the artist used mark-making, layering and painting tools to create atmosphere? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Aisha discusses how Dia al-Azzawi uses mark-making, layering and painting tools to create atmosphere.

Dia al-Azzawi used bold, scratchy mark-making and layered figures and objects to create a busy, energetic atmosphere.

The brushwork and overlaps make the scene feel chaotic and full of movement.

Lucas discusses how Helen Frankenthaler uses mark-making, layering and painting tools to create atmosphere.

She poured and soaked paint into the canvas, letting colors bleed and layer softly.

This creates a calm, atmospheric mood where the color fields seem to flow and blend naturally.

The artist emphasizes feeling over realism, aiming for emotional impact rather than an exact copy of reality.

Let's have a check for understanding.

When an artist emphasizes feeling over realism, what is their main goal? Is it, A, to copy the scene exactly as it appears in real life, B, to show technical skill with realistic detail, C, to create emotional impact for the viewer, D, to avoid using color, shape, or texture? Pause here while you decide what's the main goal when an artist emphasizes feeling over realism.

Well done if you selected answer C.

Indeed, the main goal when an artist emphasizes feeling over realism is to create emotional impact for the viewer.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to choose an artist's painting with a strong mood or atmosphere.

Recreate the artwork, but change techniques to heighten the emotion.

Try bold, intuitive mark-making.

Experiment with layering and reworking.

Use non-traditional tools, sponges, fingers, palette knives.

Focus on feeling, not realism.

The aim is to intensify the emotional impact, not to copy perfectly.

So pause here while you have a go at this first part of your task, recreating an artist's painting with a strong mood or atmosphere, but changing techniques to heighten the emotion.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you, and now for the next part of your task, I would like you to annotate your artwork.

What emotional atmosphere were you trying to capture? Which techniques helped you express it? How might a viewer interpret your painting differently? Which part has the most evocative use of color? Which part creates the strongest emotional impact? So pause here while you have a go at this next part of your task of annotating your artwork by answering these questions.

It's good to be back with you.

So how did you get on with your two part task? So first of all, you should have painted and annotated your own version of a painting using techniques to convey emotion.

Let's take a look at some of this annotation.

I was trying to capture a sense of mystery and movement in nature.

I used flowing brush strokes, layering and blending of greens and whites.

A viewer might see stormy water or tree bark, not just abstraction.

The swirling whites and greens in the center feel the most atmospheric.

The dark contrasts around the central swell create the most emotional tension.

Pause here and share with someone your impressions of this artwork.

What's the emotional atmosphere that's being conveyed to you? Thanks for sharing.

And now I'd like you to share your artwork with someone, and without explaining to them what was the atmosphere or emotion that you were trying to recreate and indeed intensify, let's see what they feel as they look at your artwork.

Pause here while you have a go at sharing with each other in this way.

Thanks for sharing.

In our lesson Painting with expression: capturing emotion and atmosphere, we've covered the following.

Artists use composition and perspective to create expression, conveying emotion and mood.

Different tools change mark-making, which alters the expressive quality of a painting.

Choices in expression, perspective, composition, and mark-making shape how the viewer emotionally responds to the artwork.

Well done everyone for joining in with this lesson.

It was great to explore painting with expression, and really delving into how is it that we create emotion and atmosphere? How do we intensify it and take it to the next level? Hope you enjoyed this lesson.

I really enjoyed teaching you, and I'm looking forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.