Amate Bark Paintings
Submitted By: Grace Hall
Bogalusa High School - LA, United States
Grade level: High School
Objectives:
1. The student will apply research skills using the Internet to explore the history of Amate Bark Paintings, and analyze unique characteristics and styles used by the artists of Latin America.
2. The student will demonstrate knowledge of Amate Bark Painting processes by simulating the color and texture of the paper and produce a visual representation of an Amate Bark Painting using similar colors, symbols and subject matter.
3. The student will support the choices made in the creation of his Amate Bark.
Materials:
Brown paper or a large paper bag
India ink
Shallow bowls for ink wash
Foam Brush
Newspaper to soak up excess ink wash
White Chalk
Bright Fluorescent Tempera Paint
Paint Brushes
Black Colored Markers
Procedure:
Day 1
1. Introduce Amate Bark painting by showing an example (if possible) of
an original Bark Painting
2. Use the audio visual program, "Gente del Sol" from Crizmac to reinforce the introduction and build on their knowledge of Bark Painting. This program provides a video tape about the art form along with printed material that could be used as a resource for the introduction.
3. Use the Internet to research a variety of sites on the web that show examples of paintings done by local Mexican artists. Use the websites included in this lesson, and use search engines to search for more sources. Ask students if they notice things all the paintings have in common such as the use of a border, stylized designs, and the subject matter traditionally used. Point out the stylized animals and plants, the use of colorful paint, the use of white to produce more contrast, and the black outlines used in most traditional bark paintings.
Production:
4. To create a simulated bark paper, have students crumple up brown paper. You could use paper bags, craft paper, or heavy brown paper produced by most paper mills. Dilute some India Ink with water and have students paint the ink wash on the crumpled paper. The crumpling produces creases, which traps the diluted India Ink, thus producing a texture similar to actual bark paper. Students should lay the paper out on some newspaper, as flat as possible to paint the ink wash on, using foam paint brushes. Allow to dry thoroughly before moving to the next step.
Day 2
5. Draw the design out in chalk before painting. Mistakes wipe away easily. Use stylized designs and decorative borders similar to that of the original bark paintings, or allow students to create original subject matter depicting some event in their lives.
6. Tempera paint is best because of the flat finish it produces on the paper; however, almost any colorful media such as acrylic or oil pastel would work fine. Use the brightest colors available but definitely use white. You may also use white to brighten up spaces before applying the color, for example pink shows up better on the paper if there is a coat of white behind it.
Day 3-4
7. When the painting is completely dry use black markers to outline the shapes in the design.
8. Upon completion of the projects, display them together where students can gather around for a class critique discussion. Give each student a rubric to do a self evaluation and prepare for the critique session.
9. To conduct a class critique discussion, begin by reviewing the characteristics of an authentic bark painting. Then ask each individual student to tell about his/her work, giving a description, analysis, interpretation and judgment. Or, using the rubric ask individual students to justify the rating they gave themselves in the self evaluation.
At the end of the critique take up the rubrics/self evaluations to give a teacher evaluation and return them to the student for them to reflect on.
Discussion questions:
1. What kinds of colors do Amate Bark Painting artists use traditionally?
2. How would you describe the style used traditional by Amate Bark Painters?
3. What subject matter is traditionally seen in Latin American Bark Paintings?
Resources:
Background Information:
Students should know basic drawing and painting procedures, as well as the basic computer operations of research using the Internet.
This lesson provides a source of enrichment to the study of Latin American Culture and Art.
Bark paper or papel amate, is produced by hand in the state of Puebla by Otomi Indians (Archive) using bark from the mulberry or fig trees. The mulberry tree creates off-white paper, while the fig tree creates much darker paper. The bark is washed, boiled and laid.
Samples: Mexican Folk Art Bark Painting samples
Links:
Mexican Bark Painting - A lesson from a California art teacher
Mexican Bark Painting Lesson - From Van Aken
Amate Bark Paintings - A gallery of work by Oakland Terrace Elementary
Beautiful bark painting - by Bigger Bids
Follow-up activities:
Rubric: Have students fill out the rubric themselves as a self-evaluation. Also allow students to use it as a reference during the class critique discussion to help them prepare to tell about their work.
Class Critique Discussion:
Display completed Bark Paintings together and gather students around to discuss the merit of the projects.
Begin by asking students if they feel they were successful in creating Bark Paintings that reflect the Latin American Culture. Responses will vary, ask students
Vocabulary
Elements: color, line, shape, space, texture
Principles: contrast
Other: culture, pattern, style, symbol, Folk Art, papel amate, stylized
Standards
1-H (9 - 12) Students conceive and create works of visual art that demonstrate an understanding of how the communication of their ideas relates to the media, techniques, and processes they use
1-J (9 - 12) Students initiate, define, and solve challenging visual arts problems independently using intellectual skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation
2-G (9 - 12) Students demonstrate the ability to form and defend judgments about the characteristics and structures to accomplish commercial, personal, communal, or other purposes of art
3-E (9 - 12) Students reflect on how artworks differ visually, spatially, temporally, and functionally, and describe how these are related to history and culture
3-H (9 - 12) Students evaluate and defend the validity of sources for
content and the manner in which subject matter, symbols, and images are used in the students' works and in significant works by others
4-H (9 - 12) Students describe the function and explore the meaning of specific art objects within varied cultures, times, and places
4-I (9 - 12) Students analyze relationships of works of art to one another in terms of history, aesthetics, and culture, justifying conclusions made in the analysis and using such conclusions to inform their own art making
