Circle Painting

I've seen quite a bit recently about group circle painting and I knew I wanted to give it a try as the school year finally started to wind down. Seemed like a perfect one-day, end-of-the-year lesson. I was really excited to give it a shot, but not so sure about having the kids work on a collaborative circle painting with their class. At this point in the school year, tension is running high and many students need their personal space so-to-speak. I opted for everyone to make their own circle painting instead. I allowed everyone to choose a piece of 12x18 paper in a desired color. Before students arrived, I placed two cups of paint at each table. The rules were simple: 1) Only two people at one color   2) Move around the room with care   3)  Brushes stay in the cups.

I asked students to begin the paintings with 5 or 6 small circles scattered on the paper. The rest was up to them! It was very successful. Several students wanted to make more than one. It was very nice to see the kids get into a concentrated groove and I think that most found this to be a very peaceful and intuitive way to make art.