The Art 1 students have officially begun their acrylic painting unit with a small project designed to build confidence and understanding of one of painting’s most powerful tools: contrast.
Before this assignment, students used acrylic paint to complete practice studies creating value and a color wheel in order to become familiar with mixing, blending, and handling the medium. With those foundations in place, their first small project challenged them to apply those skills in a focused and dramatic way: painting fire.
The subject of fire was chosen because it naturally requires students to create a strong glowing effect by balancing bright, saturated colors against deep, dark backgrounds. This exercise pushes students to think critically about value, layering, and edge work. It also helps them practice blending warm hues (red, orange, yellow) while still maintaining the bold differences that make the flames feel luminous.
Though small in scale, this project introduces students to essential acrylic techniques they will continue to use throughout the unit: controlling paint opacity, mixing a wide range of values, and using contrast to create visual impact. The results are dynamic, eye-catching, and an exciting first step into acrylic painting.
