Title of Lesson:

Action Painting & Lost in Translation

Teacher:

Luo, Hannah, Kayla

School:

Central High School

Grade Level[s]:
Date to be Taught:

9th-12th
10/18, 10/20, 10/25

Big Idea that drives Lesson:

Our lesson will be focused on painting using irregular tools for doing so. Everyday materials will be
implemented in this lesson to help the students think outside the box of traditional painting. We hope this
lesson will lead to more artistic discovery for the students and advance their artistic practice. We will also
be teaching the students about foreign vocabulary that cannot be translated into the english language.
This will show students the cultural diversity of this world and expand their cultural knowledge.

Fine Arts Goals Met by the Objectives:

26B Students who meet the standard can apply skills and knowledge necessary to create
and perform in one or more of the arts.
27A Students who meet the standard can analyze how the arts function in history, society
and everyday life.
27B Students who meet the standard understand how the arts shape and reflect history,
society and everyday life.
Vocabulary Acquisition:

Action Painting: a technique and style of abstract painting in which paint is randomly
splashed, thrown, or poured on the canvas. It was made famous by Jackson Pollock,
and formed part of the more general movement of abstract expressionism.

Abstract Expressionism: a postWorld War II art movement in American painting,

developed in New York in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to
achieve international influence and put New York City at the center of the western art
world, a role formerly filled by Paris.
Splatter Painting: A method to create random, small dots of paint. Load a small amount
of paint onto a brush, or even better, an old toothbrush, then flick it towards the paper.
Running a palette knife through the brush to flick the paint can work well.

Key Artistic Concepts:

Students use acrylic, nontraditional tools and actions to make artwork.

Students learn the concept of action painting and abstract expressionism.

Artmaking Materials Needed:

Computer and projector

Random materials for painting: balloon, toy cars, bouncing balls, puzzle, wedge, mugs,
cups, water bottle,.
Acrylic paints
Watercolor
Painting paper
Chromebooks (Research)

Contemporary/Historical/Multicultural/Literature exemplars:
Jackson Pollock

Dale Chihuly

Hong Yi

Ushio Shinohara
Procedures:
Day 1 10/18
DISCUSSION: (20 minutes)
o
Agenda: introduce ourselves and why we are here; a presentation show
examples of action painting; discuss what is action painting; introduce lost in
translation and the concept of untranslatable words from around the world;
introduce the three-days project and start research.
o
Presentation (action painting)
o
Discussion questions: Based on the example, what is action painting?
What style the work have? Realistic or abstract?
Is it easy to understand?
O
Presentation (lost in translation)
O
Discussion questions: Do you know a second language? Is there a word or
phrase that is hard to translate directly in English?

DEMONSTRATIONS (3 minutes)
These are the techniques we will be using on this projects
Discussion

 Research
o

Project directions with teacher examples

1. Research online and find a word (in your culture) that is lost in translation.
2. Choose a tool (anything except brushes) to paint with;
3. Use masking tape create the silhouette of the word that you chose.
4. Get ready to make your action painting on a 18 x 24 sheet of paper. Choose
colors purposefully.

DESIGN/WORK SESSION (20 minutes)

Teacher will walk around to answer question and/or help students to generate ideas.

CLOSURE: (5 minute)
Make sure everyone have a word in mind and are ready to make their work on Day2.

CLEAN UP: (2 minutes)

Day 2 10/20

DISCUSSION: (20 minutes)

o
Agenda: Introduce ourselves once again. We will be finishing the last of the
research if anyone needs extra time to find content for their piece. This day will
be focused on working on their projects, using the materials we provide (no
brushes allowed!).
o
O

Discussion questions: Does everyone have an untranslatable word to

incorporate in their piece?
Presentation: We will have the schedule on the projector to remind the students
of the day tasks.

DEMONSTRATIONS (3 minutes)
These are the techniques we will be using on this projects. If students have trouble,
we can show them ways to use the materials we provide to paint on their paper.
Discussion
Research

Project directions with teacher examples

1. Research online and find a word (in your culture) that is lost in translation.
2. Choose a tool (anything except brushes) to paint with;
3. Use masking tape create the silhouette of the word that you chose.

4.

Get ready to make your action painting on a 18 x 24 sheet of paper. Choose

colors purposefully.

DESIGN/WORK SESSION (20 minutes)

Teacher will walk around to answer question and/or help students to generate ideas.
If there are any problems that arise during the work day, the teachers will be around to help
students solve the problems.

CLOSURE: (5 minute)
Make sure everyone makes significant progress during this work day. Let the
students know we will be having a discussion on our pieces on our last day of class
together.

CLEAN UP: (2 minutes)

Day 3 10/25
DISCUSSION: (10 minutes)
o
Agenda: Today we will be having a class critique of the students lost in
translation pieces. We will briefly discuss what critique is and the topics we
expect the students to discuss during critique.
o

Discussion questions: What is critique? What is constructive criticism? What

elements of the work should we consider while critiquing? Are there any
conceptual elements or other things outside of the work that influence its
meaning?
Presentation: Do a quick example critique of Dale Chihuly Macchia work. Does everyone remember Dale Chihuly and his work?
-What is the title of the work? What does macchia mean?
-How does the title relate to the work?
-What does the work look like? Shape? Color? Material?
-What do the visual aspects add/take away from the concept/physical work?

DEMONSTRATIONS (3 minutes)

Critique directions with teacher examples

1. Students hang their lost in translation pieces on board.
2. Ask for a volunteer to have their work critiqued first.
3. Teacher acts as main facilitator and asks questions to help students voice their
thoughts and feedback. Also gives students an idea of what things to
consider/talk about.
-What is the word on the work?
-What language/country is the word from?
-What does the word mean?
-What colors/other visual elements are present in the work?
-What materials were used to create the painting?

DESIGN/WORK SESSION (37 minutes)

-Spend 2-3 minutes discussing each student's work **Keep track of time! We need to
allow time to discuss each students work.**
-Students should do most of the talking, with teacher participating when there are
drops in the conversation.
-Focus on above questions from the demonstration.

CLOSURE: (3 minutes)
-Thank the students and Ms. Comparetto for allowing us to be a part of their class.

CLEAN UP: (0 minutes)

Students grab their work on the way out.