Painting Manual ::

1. LESSON PLAN
Essential Information for Educators
Grade Level 9-12
Experimenting with
Liquitex Professional Acrylic ink!
The goal of this lesson is to help students
overcome the fear that often accompanies
working with ink. Instead of worrying about
mistakes, students will learn to embrace spon-
taneity and chance while working with this
versatile medium. To reach this goal each
student will create a series of four drawings
using acrylic ink! as a medium. Students will
utilize line, wash, color and other elements of
art and principles of design to create gestural
drawings that depict mood and atmosphere.
Possible Topics of Discussion
1. What are the differences that are noticeable
in the use of ink by Eastern and Western con-
temporary artists Tao Chi and Rembrandt van
Rijn?
2. What similarities do you see in the work of
each artist?
3. What possibilities do you have as modern
artists that they did not possess?
4. How is value as an art element used differ-
ently by each artist?
5. Describe how value, color and brushwork
convey mood and movement.
www.liquitex.com
Rembrandt van Rijn, Young Woman Sleeping
Tao Chi, Bamboo and Plum Blossoms

2. Briefly discuss the history of ink
Approximately 5000 years ago, an ink for blacking the raised surfaces of pictures and texts carved in
stone was developed in China. This early ink was a mixture of soot from pine smoke, lamp oil, and
gelatin from animal skins and musk. Other early cultures also developed many colors of ink from
available berries, plants and minerals.
The India ink used in ancient India since at least the 4th century BC was called masi which was made
of burnt bones, tar, pitch, and other substances. Indian documents written in Kharosthi with ink have
been unearthed in Chinese Turkestan. The practice of writing with ink and a sharp pointed needle
was common in early South India. Several Jain sutras in India were compiled in ink.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ink
Discuss the biographies of
Rembrandt and Tao Chi
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1606-1669
Dutch baroque artist who ranks as one of the
greatest painters in the history of Western art. His
full name was Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn,
and he possessed a profound understanding of hu-
man nature that was matched by a brilliant tech-
nique- not only in painting but in drawing and etch-
ing. His work made an enormous impact on his
contemporaries and influenced the style of many
later artists. Perhaps no painter has ever equaled
Rembrandt's chiaroscuro effects or his bold im-
pasto.For more information on the life of Rem-
brandt visit:
http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/biographies/MainBiographies/
R/rembrandt/2.html
Tao Chi or Shih-T'ao, 1641–c. 1670,
Chinese painter of the late Ming-early Ch'ing pe-
riod. One of the major figures in 17th-century paint-
ing. A descendant of the imperial Ming family, he
escaped persecution from the invading Manchusby
( Manchu people) becoming a Buddhist monk with
the name Tao-chi. Settling in Yangchow, he sev-
ered his ties to the Buddhist church and became a
professional painter and a landscape architect. For
more information on the life of Tao Chi visit:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shitao
Rembrand van Rijn, Study of a Lion
Tao Chi, Landscape

3. www.liquitex.com
This project will consist of sketchbook studies followed by four
drawings introducing students to artists who were Eastern and Western contempo-
raries.
Step 1 Have students get used to brush & Liquitex Acrylic ink! by practicing mark-making. Without
making a particular object they should attempt thick and thin marks, light and dark marks, straight and
curving lines and washes from light to dark. See Figure 1 for example.
Step 2 Once comfortable, students will then prepare water-
color paper by laying down a light wash of Liquitex Acrylic ink!
in Transparent Raw Umber to allow for the use of white high-
lights on top of this ground.
Step 3 While that is drying students can look up and print a
larger version of the Tao Chi Image found in this plan or some-
thing similar by another Chinese master. Students should start
with a very lightly and quickly drawn pencil sketch to aid with composition. Using only Carbon Black or
Transparent Raw Umber they can begin their own copy of Tao’s image or another, not worrying about
being exact but rather paying attention to tone, amount of ink! used and pressure of the brush to pro-
duce thin or thick strokes. See Figure 2 for example.
Step 4 When completed students can begin their second drawing this time using colors of their
choice. The goal is to complete a Tao-inspired image that expresses mood and atmosphere through
opaque and transparent washes of varying color intensity. Students may choose to use photos as a ref-
erence but should limit the imagery to a simple landscape composition similar in form to the first draw-
ing. The third and fourth drawings should be made this time using Rembrandt for inspiration.
Step 5 Rather than copy Rembrandt’s images
students should be required to make studies of
seated friends and animals such as pets to be used
as their subjects. The figure drawing should be
made using only Carbon Black or Transparent Raw
Umber with Titanium White for highlights while the
colors in the animal drawing will once again be the
students choice with emphasis again on mood and
atmosphere.
PROJECT
Figure 2
Figure1

4. National Content Standards
Content Standard #1
Understanding and applying media, techniques
and processes
Content Standard #2
Using knowledge of structures and functions
Contents Standard #3
Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter,
symbols and ideas
Contents Standard #4
Understanding the visual arts in relation to history
and cultures
Vocabulary List
•Value
•Wash
•Opaque
•Masi – Early name for ink
•Color Intensity
•Gestural
•Composition
•Chiaroscuro effects
•Principles of Design
•Ground
•Sutra – distinct type of literary composition in Hin-
duism
•Jain or Jainism – One of the oldest religions that
originated in India.
Materials List
Liquitex Professional
Acrylic ink!
Titanium White
Carbon Black
Cerulean Blue Hue
Naphthol Crimson
Phthalocyanine Blue (Green
Shade)
Sap Green Permanent
Transparent Raw Umber
Yellow Medium Azo
Iridescent Bright Gold
Iridescent Bright Silver
Iridescent Rich Copper
Iridescent Rich Bronze
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
•140 lb. 11 x 14” Watercolor Paper
•Variety of Synthetic Brushes
•Containers for Water
•Paper Towels
•2H Pencils
Re-think acrylic ink
Liquitex Professional Acrylic ink! is a range of 30 ex-
tremely fluid acrylics that use super fine pigments sus-
pended in a state-of-the-art acrylic emulsion. They dry
quickly, are permanent, water resistant and non-
clogging, which makes them ideal for a variety of tech-
niques from watercolor to stamping.
LQLP001