Pollock Without Painting

Materials:
- White Drawing Paper
- Oil Pastels
- Toothpicks
- Scissors
- Pollock References

I saw this project done in a recent Arts & Activities issue and it just looked so bright and fun I thought my kids would for sure enjoy this project.

We discussed Jackson Pollock and his work, explaining Abstract Expressionism and his style of painting, etc.

To create our own, we started making expressive scribbles so that it covered a whole sheet. I tried to emphasize "loop-dy" scribbles rather than "back-and-forth" scribbles and to leave no white spaces.

When everything was filled in, we did the same technique with two smaller pieces of paper. One was used for more dark colors, the other light.

When all three pieces were completed, the students took a toothpick and made more expressive strokes, revealing the layers of colors underneath. The smaller pieces were cut into organic shapes and glued onto the largest sheet.

You also need to emphasize not rubbing with a finger because the colors begin to get very muddy.

In the article, the examples had much brighter backgrounds. I think they were more colored in with patches of color than my idea of "scribbling." I might try this again to see if my suspicions are correct.

My students were more than amazed, however, when I showed them how to flip their art over and write onto another blank piece of paper, revealing the new fancy colored print/drawings.