Four Seasons - Wash Painting 

Lesson Summary

In this lesson, the class will be painting landscapes representing each of the four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Students will learn to apply a wash painting technique for painting skies. They will also learn how to choose suitable colors and subject matter to represent each season effectively.

Lesson Objectives

• Learn how to paint skies using a wash painting technique.

• Understand how colors affect perception and emotion.

• Practice applying graded washes and variegated washes.

Discussion

Nature is a dependable source of reference in understanding the meaning of color. We will have a discussion about each of the four seasons and apply the insights into our landscape paintings.

1. Colors: What colors come to your mind when you think of each of the four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter?  e.g., Spring: Light green, pastel pink, Summer: Bright yellow, sky blue, etc. 

2. Emotions: What emotions do you experience in each of these seasons? e.g., calm, excitement, freshness, energy, etc.

3. Environments: What type of environments do you think about for each of the four seasons? e.g., forests, mountains, houses, cities, hills, fields, lakes, etc.

4. Animals and Insects: What types of animals and insects appear in each of the four seasons? e.g., deer, fish, foxes, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, etc.

5. Activities: What kind of activities do people do in each of the seasons? e.g., play badminton, go skiing, play soccer, go on a picnic, ride a bike, etc.

Different Types of Washes

To practice wash painting, you will need to tilt your art board at an angle and have a bucket of clean water ready. You will practice two types of wash painting techniques: a graded wash and a variegated wash. Using a wide flat brush, adjust your paint load accordingly by adding water to your paint. Practice making some graded and variegated washes on a piece of scrap paper before working on your actual artwork.

Wash Painting Process

1. Setup: Keep your painting board tilted at an angle and ensure your water is clean.

2. Graded Wash: Using a large flat brush, begin by painting a stroke of color across the top of the page. Move the brush across the canvas, having one brush stroke touch directly beneath the other. As you progress down the canvas, dilute the wash until it becomes almost white.

3. Variegated Wash: Near the middle of the wash, rinse your brush and pick up a second color and continue the gradation. The angle of your board will shift the wash from one color into the other.

4. Dry: Allow the paint to dry.

5. Silhouetted Landscapes: Illustrate a black silhouetted landscape using a thin round brush or markers. You may illustrate scenes such as mountains, lakes, forests, or rivers, as you feel is appropriate for each of the seasons. You are also free to incorporate other elements such as animals or people.

Painting Tips

• Be careful not to “overwork” the paper, as it may peel.

• While you can control your washes with an angled surface or a careful brush stroke, there is something wonderful that happens as you relax some control and allow the paint to do the work for you.

Terminology

• Wash Painting: A painting technique in which paint is diluted and applied as a semi-transparent layer of color.

• Gradation: A gradual change from one tone or color into another tone or color.

• Dilute: To make liquid paint thinner or lighter by adding water to it.

• Silhouette: The dark shape and outline of someone or something visible against a lighter background.

• Wet on Wet - A painting technique in which wash paint is applied onto a wet surface.

• Horizon - The line at which the earth's surface and the sky appear to meet.