February Hearts

February is a great opportunity to introduce the HEART in ART, but not the heart we're use to seeing. Art students worked on a watercolor resist painting that turned into a great opportunity for students to learn about the functions of the parts of the heart. Here's the step by step:

First, hearts were traced from the light box with one coat of Richeson Liquid Masque. I used a heart I found online that showed the major parts of the heart we were going to study. Students started by labeling a worksheet with their color plan.

The first step in the painting process included students putting down a simple, one color wash. We then began to paint each part after we discussed it's function (i.e. the differences between the Inferior and Superior Vena Cava)

Once all parts were painted, students were then able to "treat" the background by overlapping/layering their watercolors. Once the painting was complete and dry, students could then peel the dried liquid masque to reveal the bright white lines from the paper it protected.

The last step was to label the major parts we painted and studied. Students were encouraged to use a variety of methods for labeling which included stamps, ink, vintage book page letters and phone book letters.