Dear Starfish,

There are lots of processes involved in the mask painting activity. I thought it was a good opportunity to experience these new techniques all in the one artwork!

In doing this piece of work, students experienced these things -

1. Using "reference" (a photo) as a starting point.

2. Painting directly onto a surface without drawing in pencil first.

3. Painting onto a coloured background.

4. Scratching wet paint to create textured areas

5. Limiting colours to "earth colours" only.

6. Choosing to add shells or feathers to the final work

7. Making the painting large to fill the whole page.

I am interested in masks and face painting and have collected lots of photocopies of painted face designs and carved masks from various tribes and cultures. I thought it would be interesting to see these ideas made into big bold artworks using the lines, dots and shapes of the original primitive masks.

I didn't want anyone to copy exactly from the reference photo but to use it to get ideas for a design and even to combine ideas from more than one example.

The resulting artworks are very striking and they capture the feeling of primitive masks in their colour and design.

What is the best part about being an art teacher?

Seeing the many different ways kids make artworks based on the guidelines I set out. Everyone does things their own way and I always love seeing such a variety of ideas in a classroom - I love that creativity in kids.