Painting Techniques

Year Level

Year 1 (Australian Curriculum v9)

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Unit: Exploring Animal Art Techniques

Lesson 4 of 5

Lesson Title: Exploring Painting Techniques

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Lesson Duration

60 minutes Class size: 20 students

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WALT (We Are Learning To)

Use painting to create texture and depth in artwork.

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Success Criteria

• Experiment with and use at least two different colour blending techniques.
• Create a painting that shows texture and depth, representing animal fur or skin.

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Australian Curriculum Alignment

Learning Area: The Arts → Visual Arts Year Level: Years 1 and 2 Content Descriptions Addressed:

• AC9AVA2D01 – Experiment and play with visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials.
• AC9AVA2C01 – Use visual conventions, visual arts processes and materials to create artworks.

These codes emphasise experimentation with visual arts materials and techniques to create artworks, relevant for this lesson’s focus on painting and texture. Students will explore and experiment with paint blending to represent natural textures such as animal fur or skin, developing understanding of how materials and techniques create effects of depth and texture in artworks.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

1. Identify and describe how different painting techniques affect texture and depth.
2. Use watercolour or acrylic paint to apply at least two different colour blending techniques.
3. Apply blending techniques purposefully to depict the texture of animal fur or skin in their artwork.
4. Reflect on their use of techniques and describe their artwork’s texture and depth.

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Materials Required

• Watercolour sets or acrylic paints (safe for children)
• Various sizes of paintbrushes (small and medium)
• Palettes or mixing trays
• Water containers
• Thick art paper or canvas sheets (one per student)
• Printed reference images of animals showing varied fur and skin textures (e.g., tiger stripes, duckling down, elephant skin)
• Paper towels or rags for cleaning brushes
• Aprons or smocks to protect clothing

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Lesson Breakdown

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

• Gather students and briefly recap previous lessons on animal art techniques (e.g., drawing animals, texture exploration).
• Show reference images of animals highlighting different fur/skin textures and ask: “How do you think we can show these textures with paint?”
• Explain the WALT and success criteria in child-friendly language: “Today we are going to use paint to make our pictures look furry, soft or rough by blending colours in different ways.”
• Demonstrate two simple blending techniques:
• Wet-on-wet blending (applying wet paint onto wet paint to make soft blends, great for soft fur).
• Dry brushing (using a brush with little paint to create scratchy, rough textures, good for rough skin or fur).
• Show examples on a paper to illustrate the difference between these techniques.

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2. Guided Practice and Experimentation (15 minutes)

• Hand out palettes with basic colours (including white and brown/grey/black for natural animal tones).
• Let students practice blending colours on scrap paper, exploring wet-on-wet and dry brushing.
• Circulate the classroom to provide support, encourage experimentation, and prompt students to verbalise what effect each technique creates.
• Introduce blending small sections of colour gradually to build up layers and depth.

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3. Independent Creative Painting (25 minutes)

• Students choose one animal from the reference images as their painting subject.
• Task: Using their preferred paints (watercolors or acrylics), students create an artwork showing the animal’s fur or skin texture applying two or more blending techniques learned.
• Encourage students to:
• Think about layering colours for depth.
• Use brushstrokes thoughtfully to convey the animal’s texture.
• Teacher supports individual students needing help with techniques or colour mixing.
• Emphasise care with materials and sharing space/tools.

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4. Reflection and Sharing (10 minutes)

• Invite students to share their paintings with a partner or small group.
• Prompt discussion with questions: “Which blending techniques did you use?” “How did you show the animal’s fur or skin?” “What do you notice about your colours and textures?”
• If time permits, have a brief class gallery walk to view everyone’s work.
• Teacher provides positive feedback focusing on effort with blending and textured effects.

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Assessment

Formative, based on observations throughout lesson and the final artwork:

• Has the student applied at least two different blending techniques?
• Does the painting show an attempt to represent animal texture and depth?
• Can the student explain or identify aspects of technique and texture used during reflection?

This supports developing both practical skills and verbal articulation of artistic choices, important in the Australian Curriculum.

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Differentiation / Support

• Provide extra demonstration/support for students needing help controlling paint or brush.
• Offer pre-mixed colour blends or simplified colour choices for students who may find mixing difficult.
• For more advanced students, encourage experimenting with additional blending techniques like stippling or layering contrasting colours for texture.

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Cross-Curricular Links

• Science: Connection to animal biology by observing fur and skin textures of different animals.
• English: Use of descriptive language to explain textures and painting techniques during reflection.

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This lesson plan delivers focused development of painting skills in line with the Australian Curriculum v9 for Visual Arts in Year 1, with age-appropriate activities to build fine motor skills and visual perception while nurturing creative expression through animal-themed art. The structured yet exploratory approach encourages student engagement and confidence in using paint to create texture and depth, directly aligning to curriculum content descriptions and elaborations on experimentation with visual arts materials and processes.