Second Grade: Amate Paintings

Amate Bark Painting

In second grade we are learning about Amate Bark Paintings. As we travel the world with our passports we stop at Mexico to check out some Amate Bark Paintings. We learned that this was one of the first types of material that human beings used to create drawings and paintings. Prior to this, human beings used to draw and paint on stones.

We looked at Amate Trees and learned how the paper is made from the trees bark which doesn't kill the tree. Then we talked about what colors the Amate Paintings had in them. We also learned that the plants and animals in the Amate Paintings are not Realistic but they are Stylized.

First we drew a border around our painting in chalk. We discussed why a border is important, as it frames the artwork and redirects the eye to view the painting. We learned about different types of borders and how effective simple shapes can be, especially when they are painted in. We drew in our outline for the border then filled in the border with Patterns.

Then we started to organize our characters in the painting, being careful to think of how we were arranging the plants and animals. After thinking about which plants and animals to place inside the border of the drawing, we started to draw our stylized plants and animals in the same style as Amate Paintings. Once we drew the plants and animals we had a mini Constructive Critique to discuss how we can help our peers with their drawings.
After the mini critique the students continued working on their Amate Drawings. Once the drawings demonstrated a thorough understanding of stylized drawings, we started painting with flourescent paints. After the paints are completely dried, we then outline in black marker.