20/06/2014 8:20 pm Creativity Resource for Teachers Blog Archive A Painterly Experience

Page 1 of 5 http://creativity.denverartmuseum.org/?lesson-plan=a-painterly-experience
Lesson Plan: A Painterly Experience
Abacus Sliding
Sam Gilliam, United States
1977
Overview
In this lesson students will mimic some of the processes that Sam Gilliam may have used to
construct his painting Abacus Sliding. By experimenting with paint and unusual painting tools, students will get a better
sense of how the artist took risks, tried new techniques, and explored the medium of paint.
Age Group
Secondary (grades 6-12)
Standards
21 Century Learning Skills Addressed:
Critical Thinking and Reasoning
Information Literacy
Self-Direction
Invention
2009 Colorado Academic Standards Primary Area Addressed:
Visual Arts
Observe and Learn to Comprehend
Envision and Critique to Reflect
Invent and Discover to Create
Relate and Connect to Transfer
Additional 2009 Colorado Academic Standards Addressed:
Language Arts
Oral Expression and Listening
Length of Lesson
One 50-minute lesson
Rationale
Encouraging students to take risks, explore new ways to use a common medium, and try non-conventional painting
techniques will enhance their appreciation for using trial-and-error and help them discover how visual effects can be
achieved. Frequently, creativity is inhibited by the notion of one right way to do something. By allowing and valuing
self-discovery, students confidence in taking creative risks can be reinforced.
Objectives
Students will be able to:
describe Gilliams various artistic processes;
explore the medium of paint for its many uses and qualities;
identify and experiment freely with unusual methods for using paint and nonconventional tools; and
discuss the significance of a quotation by Gilliam and how it applies to their own work.
Materials
One tool the students will bring from home that they dont mind getting paint on (ex: rag, old toothbrush, funnel,
stamps, etc.)
Paper or journals for each student to write down thoughts
Paint mixed to a thick consistency
One or two 18 x 24 inch sheets of thick paper or treated canvas
Assorted paintbrushes of different thicknesses
Newspapers or other materials to cover work areas
st
20/06/2014 8:20 pm Creativity Resource for Teachers Blog Archive A Painterly Experience
Page 2 of 5 http://creativity.denverartmuseum.org/?lesson-plan=a-painterly-experience
Presented by creativity.denverartmuseum.org
Containers with water to soak and wash the brushes and paint-scraping tools
Paper towels or rags to dry off tools between different paints
About the Art sheet on Abacus Sliding (found at the end of the lesson plan) or student access to this part of
Creativity Resource online
One color copy of the painting for every four students, or the ability to project the image onto a wall or screen
Lesson
1. Show the students Abacus Sliding. What do the students notice first when they look at this painting? What colors
pop out at them? Do they like this painting? Why or why not? Does it remind them of any other works of art they
have seen? If so, which ones?
2. Share with the students information from the About the Art sheet that explains Gilliams artistic process. Some
elements to point out are the layered paints and colors, the collaged canvas, and the inner landscape subject
matter.
3. Lead a discussion with the students speculating on the different painting techniques Gilliam may have used to
create the painting. Ask the students a lot of Why do you think that? How do you know? questions to engage
the students in a deeper level of thinking. Keep a list of the students ideas so they have a reference for later
activities.
4. Explain how throughout his career, Gilliam has experimented with paints, stains, and glazes in a variety of ways.
He has brushed, poured, dripped, and raked pigments across his canvases. Share that with his paintings, Gilliam
tries to achieve the spontaneity of letting things happen while still controlling the technical processes by which
they do.
5. Have the students gather the objects they brought from home and explain that today, this object will be their new
painting tool. Have the students use this tool to experiment with the medium of paint, creating a final work of art
that displays the various ways paint can be used and manipulated. Encourage them to also experiment with how
they use their tool. The can drag, pour, rake or stamp paint. Have students test out layering different colors of
paint, cutting out shapes from their paper or canvas and creating a collage, or maybe even incorporating other
artistic materials such as colored pencils, markers, watercolor paints, or ink to enhance their paintings.
6. When everyone has finished, share with students Gilliams belief that painting can be about anything, but it cant
be about nothing. What do the students think Gilliam meant when he said this? How might this belief apply to
their work?
20/06/2014 8:20 pm Creativity Resource for Teachers Blog Archive A Painterly Experience
Page 3 of 5 http://creativity.denverartmuseum.org/?lesson-plan=a-painterly-experience
About the Art
Abacus Sliding by Sam Gilliam, United States, 1977
Who Made It?
Born in Mississippi in 1933, artist Sam Gilliam received his Master of Arts degree from the University of Louisville in
Kentucky. After moving to Washington D.C., Gilliam taught at various public schools and has been teaching at the
collegiate level since 1967. While living in the east Gilliam was greatly influenced by Color Field artists, artists who
experimented with the use of pure color to create simple, abstract shapes. With his paintings, Gilliam tries to achieve
the spontaneity of letting things happen while still controlling the technical processes by which they do. He has
experimented with many kinds of paints, stains, and glazes, and has sometimes allowed his colors to stain the
canvases. To achieve many different effects (density, sheen, transparency, warmth), he has brushed, poured, dripped,
and raked the pigments across the canvas. In the early 1970s he removed his canvases from their stretchers and hung
them like curtains from the walls and ceiling to let gravity help determine their form. Gilliam continues his experiments
with different paint and materials to this day.
What Inspired It?
Gilliam believes, as a fellow artist once stated, that painting can be about anything, but it cant be about nothing.
Abacus Sliding doesnt show us a picture of something we can recognize. Instead, Gilliam seems to suggest a mood or
thought by using only shape and color. Choosing not to paint the outward appearance of things leaves him free, he
says, to express the inner landscape of things. He layers different colors of paint to create a sense of depth, first
covering the canvas with bright colors, then veiling them behind a top layer of black. Certain colors seem to float to the
surface out of the depths of the layers below. According to Gilliam, Abacus Sliding experiments with paint as paint and
as a material that is controlled by the viewer. This might suggest that Gilliam hopes to enable viewers to choose how
they want to look at and explore the painting.
For more resources related to this artwork, check out the "Find Out More" section for this object on Creativity
Resource online.
20/06/2014 8:20 pm Creativity Resource for Teachers Blog Archive A Painterly Experience
Page 4 of 5 http://creativity.denverartmuseum.org/?lesson-plan=a-painterly-experience
Presented by creativity.denverartmuseum.org
Things to Look For
Abacus Sliding by Sam Gilliam, United States, 1977
Depth
Gilliam shows that a painting, which we think of as two-dimensional, can have three dimensions.
He builds up the flat surface both by loading it with pigment and by placing canvas rectangles
onto it.
Mathematics
The title, Abacus Sliding, links this painting to mathematics. An abacus is a centuries-old device
made up of a frame with parallel bars strung with sliding pieces, originally beans, used for
counting. (Think of it as the original calculator.) Gilliam also uses geometry to repeat the outside
shape of the canvas inside the painting.
Rectangles
In this painting Gilliam emphasizes the properties of canvas and paint by using a large rectangle
of canvas and echoing that shape, cutting out smaller rectangles and inserting them back onto the
surface.
Color
Gilliams painting is mostly black, but many viewers dont see it as gloomy. Bright layers of color
seem to float just beneath the top layer of thick black paint. Try to follow a particular color as it
draws your eyes across the entire canvas.
Hints of Art History
Compare this painting to a stained glass window, with its vivid colors bursting through the
darkness. It might be helpful to look at the stained glass window at the Chartres Cathedral in
France.
20/06/2014 8:20 pm Creativity Resource for Teachers Blog Archive A Painterly Experience
Page 5 of 5 http://creativity.denverartmuseum.org/?lesson-plan=a-painterly-experience
Presented by creativity.denverartmuseum.org
Abacus Sliding
Sam Gilliam, United States
1977
Funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and the United Bank of Denver, 1978.10
Photograph Denver Art Museum 2009. All Rights Reserved.
This image is intended for classroom use only and may not be reproduced for other reasons without the permission of the Denver Art Museum.
This piece may not currently be on display at the museum.