Ted Harrison was a Canadian artist who painted beautiful, simplified landscapes of the Yukon. I taught a Ted Harrison lesson several years ago, but I was inspired by Britt Curley to try a slightly different approach. The first time around, I used tempera paint and worked on 12X18 paper. Final lines were done with oil pastel. This time, we worked smaller, 9X12, used acrylic paint, and final lines were done with Posca pens. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about using acrylic paint. I considered only allowing my Advanced group to do this project, but I really wanted my Intermediate group to do it too. So, I decided to let four classes, ages 6 – 13 use acrylics. I really was impressed with how careful they were.

I chose two of Harrison’s winter scenes to work from. We discussed the three parts of a landscape: foreground, middle-ground, and background. Then we walked through the steps of drawing each. I really emphasized that they could change it up and make it their own. We discussed tints and shades and how to mix them. We also looked at Harrison’s work to find where he used tints and shades. Each student started out with their own palette with colors of their choosing. This took some time, but I feel it was worth it. Once all the large shapes were painted, they worked on details and line work using Posca pens. The kids loved these! They are pricey, but the results were fantastic. I think only a couple were ruined by students using them on wet acrylic. (This damages the tip, so the paint can’t flow.) There really is no other way I know of to achieve the level of detail that they can with those pens.

One tip I got from Britt is to tape around the edges of the paper first. Then when the painting is complete, you take off the tape to reveal a clean, crisp white frame around the painting. I have done this with watercolor but not acrylic. It really made a nice finishing detail. I spent hours taping their papers, so I’m not sure how often I will repeat that. But, these do look great!