art lesson plans about georgia o'keeffe

Blue and Green Music, Georgia O'Keeffe, 1921

      Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American artist. Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, O'Keeffe first came to the attention of the New York art community in 1916, several decades after women had gained access to art training in America’s colleges and universities, and before any of its women artists were well known or highly celebrated. Within a decade, she had distinguished herself as one of America's most important modern artists, a position she maintained throughout her life. As a result, O’Keeffe not only carved out a significant place for women painters in an area of the American art community that had been exclusive to and is still dominated by men, but also she had become one of America’s most celebrated cultural icons well before her death at age 98 in 1986.

      Her abstract imagery of the 1910s and early 1920s is among the most innovative of any work produced in the period by American artists. She revolutionized the tradition of flower painting in the 1920s by making large-format paintings of enlarged blossoms, presenting them close up as if seen through a magnifying lens. And her depictions of New York buildings, most of which date from the same decade, have been recognized as among the most compelling of any paintings of the modern city. Beginning in 1929, when she first began working part of the year in Northern New Mexico—which she made her permanent home in 1949—O’Keeffe depicted subjects specific to that area. Through paintings of its unique landscape configurations, adobe churches, cultural objects, and the bones and rocks she collected from the desert floor, she ultimately laid claim to this area of the American Southwest, which earlier had been celebrated primarily by male artists; the area around where she worked and lived has become known as “O’Keeffe Country."

Links To Art Lessons About Georgia O'Keeffe:

• GeorgiaO’Keeffe Homeschool Art Lesson
• GeorgiaO’Keeffe Watercolor
• Oil andChalk Pastels in Grade Two
• ExploringGreat Artists: Georgia O’Keefe
• Georgia OnMy Mind
• Flowers A LaO’Keeffe
• Georgia O’KeefeFlowers – Third Grade

More Links About Georgia O'Keeffe:

• Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Collections Online
• Georgia O'Keeffe at the Museum of Modern Art
• Circle’s Edge
• Alfred Stieglitz/Georgia O'Keeffe Archive at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University
• Color image of aerial-view cloudscape by Georgia O'Keeffe
• Documentary Film, Georgia O'Keeffe
• Exclusive video of Georgia O'Keeffe's "Circling Around Abstraction" exhibit on uVu
• Georgia O'Keeffe at Find a Grave
• Georgia O'Keeffe Gallery at MuseumSyndicate
• Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
• Works by or about Georgia O'Keeffe in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation to Transfer Assets to Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Press Release. May 31, 2005.
• Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute 2009 exhibition "Dove/O'Keeffe: Circles of Influence"
• Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts.
• The Apple (1920–1922) Phoenix Art Museum
• Pink Abstraction (1929) Phoenix Art Museum

"starry night" lesson plan

(Above are student samples of the project)

Title: “Starry Night” It’s Elementary!

Topic: collage, art history

Goals and Objectives:

• Students will use line to describe a cityscape.
• Students will fill in areas of paper with solid marker.
• Students will identify themes in music to themes in fine art.
• Students will apply pressure to oil pastel to create different tones.
• Students will identify and draw cityscapes.

GLEs:

Strand I: Product/Performance for Drawing

A.1. Select and apply two-dimensional media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas and solve challenging visual art problems.

Grade K - Produce a line using crayon, pencil, or marker

Grade 1 - Fill an area with solid color/value using crayon, pencil, or marker

Grade 2 - Change pressure to create two values using crayon or pencil

Strand I: Product/Performance for Subject Matter: Functional Art

B. 3. Communicate ideas about subject matter and themes in artworks created for various purposes

Grade 2 - Design a building that serves a function in the community and includes building parts (e.g., roof, walls, door, windows, surface material)

Strand I: Product/Performance for Theme

C.3. Communicate ideas about subject matter and themes in artworks created for various purposes.

Grade 1 - Create original artwork that communicates ideas about the following themes:

· People (e.g., self, family, friends)

· Animals (e.g., pets, farm, zoo, wild)

· Things (e.g., toys, tools, food)

Grade 2 - Create an original artwork that communicates ideas about the following themes:

· Nature

· Places (e.g., school, home, stores, neighborhood, countryside)

Strand II: Elements and Principles – Line

A.1. Select and use elements of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork.

· Grade 1 - Identify and use straight, curved, thick, and thin lines

· Grade 2 - Identify and use zigzag, dotted, and wavy lines

Strand V: Historical and Cultural Contexts That Describe Characteristics of Artworks

B.1. Compare and contrast artworks from different historical time periods and/or cultures

· Grade 1 - Compare and contrast two artworks on: Subject matter, Use of line, color, and shape

· Grade 2 - Compare and contrast two artworks on: Subject matter, Media, Use of line, color, shape, and texture, Theme, Purpose of art in culture

Strand IV: Interdisciplinary Connections That Connect Visual and Performing Arts

A.1. Explain connections between visual art and performing arts.

· Grade 2 - Compare patterns in music to patterns in artworks

Grade: 1^st and 2^nd

Length of Class Period: 55 min.

Frequency of Class Period: once a week

Time Needed: three class periods

Facility & Equipment Requirements:

• One computer lap top
• Room with good lighting
• Large tables, approximately ten, each seating four students
• Two sinks
• Dry erase board
• Drying racks
• Cabinets for storage
• Projector for viewing computer video, CDs and DVDs

Resources Needed:

(My own "Starry Night" painted ten years ago.)

• Power point about Vincent Van Gough
• Youtube link to Don McClean’s song “Starry, Starry Night” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJjNAn84hTM
• Sample of prototype for the chalkboard/interactive whiteboard 
• "Starry Night by Grimm" for discussion about artists who are influenced by Vincent Van Gough

Materials Per Student:

• Grey, royal blue, and black construction papers (new full sized sheets)
• Star stickers
• A variety of oil pastels, one box per two students
• White glue
• Pencil and permanent black ink marker

Motivation- Looking and Talking Activity: I will share with the students a song written by Don McClean and a painting that I created based upon Van Gough's "Starry Night." We will discuss how artists influence each other.

Step-by-Step Studio Activity Specifics:

1. Students will be introduced to Van Gough's painting of a village.
2. Students will then discuss the similarities between artists who are influenced by "Starry Night."
3. Students will then be asked to compare the similarities and differences between villages and cities.
4. Students will be given black construction paper to cut out a silhouette of a city skyline. 
5. Students will then use oil pastels to color windows in their cityscape.
6. Students will glue down their silhouettes to a larger piece of purple or royal blue construction paper.
7. Then they will add a sheet of grey paper to the bottom of their cityscape.
8. Then students will add star stickers, color dashed lines in the night sky etc...
9. Students will draw in pencil a busy street scene and outline this with black marker before coloring in their cars and people.
   

Special Needs Adaptations:

Modifications for the hard-of-hearing or deaf student:

• Student will be seated closer to instructor so they will be better equipped to hear instructions or read lips
• Student will be provided with written instructions so that they read about the discussions and demonstrations
• The instructor may use a amplification devise provided by the school or student’s parents

Modifications for the student with limited vision or blindness:

• Students will be allowed to observe samples of art projects with their hands and for extended periods of time
• Students will be provided with safe tools and one-on-one guidance during a demonstration of the project
• The project may be slightly adjusted to accommodate the student’s limitations or for safety reasons
• Student will be given ample time to exist classroom before large crowds gather outside of the classroom.

Modifications for students with mild brain injury:

• Students will be provided with duplicate instructions for home and school. Student will not need to remember to carry home materials to review.
• Students will be given ample time to exist classroom with a pre-determined aid or peer before the official end of a class.
• Instructor will provide for parent e-mail communication concerning the progress and needs of their student.
• Student may be given special seat assignment in order to enable his participation in class appropriately. Specific peers may be better equipped to articulate projects visually for this student.

Health & Safety Concerns: There are no health and safety concerns for this project.

Cleanup Time & Strategy: Students will be instructed to put away art materials neatly in their containers, clean off their tables, and recycle their trash two minutes prior to dismissal.

Assessment: Fill out the formal scoring guide included below according to age appropriate standards.

all articles and lesson plans are copyrighted 2011 by Grimm

a lesson in realistic abstract portraiture for a blind student

Written Lesson Plan by Donna Grimm

Title: A Lesson in Realistic/Abstract Portraiture For A Blind Student

Topic: realistic vs. abstract concepts, texture

Goals & Objectives:

• Students will develop and enhance their knowledge and understanding of the differences and similarities between abstract and realistic portraiture in art.
• Students will be able to glue objects to a surface, draw/paint with art materials and answer questions to the satisfaction of the instructor.

GLEs:

Strand I: Product/Performance for Subject Matter: Fine Art

A.3. Communicate ideas about subject matter and themes in artworks created for various purposes

Grade 5 - Portrait: Create a portrait from observation, Still Life: Create a still life from observation that shows the illusion of form, Landscape: Create an original outdoor scene to show the illusion of space

Strand II: Elements and Principles – Texture

D. 1. Select and use elements of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork.

Grade 5 - Identify and use implied or simulated textures

Show-Me Standards: FA1

National Standards for K-12: 1d.

Grade: 5^th and 8^th

Population: The following lesson was created for one teacher to teach one blind student or perhaps two or three.

Length of Class Period: one hour

Frequency of Class Period: not applicable

Time Needed: one hour

Facility & Equipment Requirements:

• A room that is accessible to the blind
•  table with two chairs

Resources Needed:

• Tactile Aid “double mask” photographed below
• One plain, unaltered human mask form
• Several masks that are heavily textured

Materials Per Student: A separate diagram and material list for the construction of the tactile aid for the classroom discussion is attached. This tactile aid must be constructed by the teacher prior to the lesson for the purpose of the tactile discussion. I’ve listed below the supplies needed for the art project only.

•  large, heavy weight, identical sheets of paper are required. Each of these sheets must have an embossed eye located in the same position prior to the lesson plan. If the teacher is unfamiliar with the embossing processes he or she may cut a eye shaped hole out of each sheet of paper with either a mat knife or a pair of scissors. The eye shape is a point of reference for the blind student to work from.
• water based paints
• drawing tools: crayons, pencils, pastels
• white all purpose glue (non-toxic)
• Objects to glue to the paper for texture such as: feathers, friendly foam, sand paper, yarn etc…

Vocabulary/Terminology:

1. portrait - A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person.
2. profile - an outline of something (especially a human face as seen from one side)
3. frontal view - a head-on view of the sitter, when the sitter directly faces the viewer
4. side view - a view from the side of something
5. representational portrait - representational is another word for realistic when someone is discussing art (used especially of art) depicting objects, figures,or scenes as seen; "representational art"; "representational images"
6. abstract portrait - In the case of a portrait, a person's face is represented by strategically simplifying all types of information associated with their appearance.
7. patron - The person who pays for an artist to have either his likeness recorded or someone else's.

undecorated mask

Motivation- Looking and Talking Activity: A Tactile Discussion:  The following activity is the discussion part of my adapted lesson for teaching the differences between abstract and realistic portraiture in art to a blind student in grade six. Teachers should remember that many times blind students do not have experiences in discovering how artist’s conceptually portray their own ideas through a media. Limited exploration of this kind may make this art lesson too advanced for a blind student given his own personal history. I have attempted to break down the information in small steps. This is also why I have not stated for the lesson what I expect from the student to learn upon the completion of the project. I suggest any teacher following this outline to repeat it several times on different days before testing your student on the information. It is the responsibility of the instructor to examine individual cases in order to estimate the level of difficulty attributed to an art curriculum for his or her blind student. I will introduce other elements of abstract design in portraiture later. Exaggerated features may be introduced as the student progresses but I have left it out of the following lesson plan. It is important not to introduce too much information all at once to a student with limited experiences. Please make sure your blind student understands the following concepts first before introducing a second lesson on exaggeration in portraiture. After this activity/discussion I will then provide an art project for a blind student to work on.

Some unrealistic masks
 that can be shared after the
 tactile discussion

      All blind art students must be given time to explore objects with their senses before any other information is to be shared. Give your student time to familiarize his hands with any objects he will be working with so that he is prepared to talk about them. Hand to your blind student an undecorated mask along with several decorated ones. Ask him to try these on. Give your student plenty of time to feel these and then take them off. Ask him following questions:

1. Do you know what a mask is? (Any answer from the child. Teacher talks about the sample masks the student is feeling)
2. When do people where masks? (Any answer will due. Teacher describes plays or Halloween celebrations)
3. Have you ever had to where a mask? (Any answer)
4. Which one of these masks do you think best represents how a person looks in real life? (It’s important that the student identifies the blank undecorated mask.)

(This double mask tactile aid was especially developed by Mrs. Grimm. It is backed with a sheet of heavy cardboard. There are holes filled with different textured items like cotton balls, rice and paper. There are applied items to the surface of the masks like paper molded clay and yarn.)

      After he answers the fist questions to his own satisfaction and answers the last question accurately, then place in front of him the two sample masks that have been created for his exploration in this lesson plan. Give him plenty of time to enjoy exploring the surprises. Let your student touch the set of masks for the duration of this discussion. Now ask the following questions of him as he explores the set of masks:

• ·      What characteristics do these masks share in common with your own face?
• ·      Show me the hole located in an eye socket, if you have found one yet.

      To compare the differences between a representational portraits and abstract portraits, you will need to talk about the attributes that are similar and the attributes that are distinctly different between two concepts. It is important to first teach a blind child about concepts as objects through a series of tactile exercises before attempting to teach art concepts. In this way, the instructor is helping her student to create concrete visual information in the student’s memory before introducing how these objects are treated in art philosophy or how objects are created in an abstract portrait. Ask your student the following questions:

1. What characteristic do each of these masks share that is similar? (They are both smooth in places and represent a human face.)
2. Are the holes located in places that you think they should be? (Only one hole is in a eye socket, they other holes are found in unpredictable places.)
3. Can you describe the textures you feel inside of the masks? (bumpy, paper like, soft)
4. How many textures are inside of the masks combined? (There are three because one hole is empty.)
5. Can you talk about the textures you feel outside on top of the masks? How are these different?

      Now explain to the pupil what is painted or sculpted in a representational artwork is what appears or feels predictable to his own face. If you observe a realistic or representational artwork you are experiencing an object that is about a person. This painting or sculpture has a very high number of characteristics representative of that particular person. The following questions should be asked to help reinforce realistic expectations the blind person can make about his own face and an accurate portrayal of it in art works.

1. How many openings do you have on your head? (7)
2. How many literal openings are on the masks? (5)
3. How are these masks realistic? (These have features that are true to life, a nose each, both have two eyes, a mouth each.)
4. If I were to paint or sculpt your portrait realistically, what would I include in the picture? (The child should describe her own face.)
5. Are all the textures inside of the masks what you would find on your head? If so, explain how these are similar to you. If not explain how these textures a dissimilar to you. (The student may say that the cotton is soft like his own hair or that the rice is bumpy like his own skin. He may recognize the textures as cotton, rice, and newspaper and say that none of these are found on his head. Either answer is correct.)

      Explain to your student the following concept. In abstract portraits, the facial features are created to feel or look like simple textures, lines, or just a few colors that describe a person. There is less information and the information has been made simple. Reinforce this explanation by asking him the following questions:

1. What are the unrealistic attributes of the two masks?
2. How do the masks represent people in a strange way?
3. How do the masks represent people in a predictable way?

      Summarize this part of the lesson by telling your student the following information. A portrait is like a mask because it has to do with the manipulation of how we see people. Even when an actor wears a mask that is of another person, the mask is still identified with a human. Sometimes people wear animal masks to change their identity. Do animals wear masks? Not really. So a mask is always about transforming or duplicating the identity of a person, isn't it? Portraits are just like masks in this way. Except that portraiture is created to identify a person more often than to confuse or mislead others about the identity of someone. Portraits can be realistic or abstract. If a portrait is realistic that means that it is a reasonable likeness to the person the artist is painting or sculpting. If the portrait is abstract this could mean two things. It could mean that it is a depiction of a few simplified features of a person or it could also mean that it is a strange manipulation of a person’s original features.

Step-by-Step Studio Activity Specifics: This project is adapted for the vision impaired. Teachers should have the supplies on hand in advance in a regular art classroom. Be cautious about sharp tools or any object that the student(s) may cut himself with while working. If you can eliminate these objects all together from his reach do so. However, I do encourage blind students to learn to use scissors. By the time the student is in sixth grade he or she should be trust worthy with a pair of scissors. Just be careful to observe blind students during the lesson so that accidents don’t happen! I’ve included samples of the following project for the teacher to view. The child may also be given the same prior to beginning his own creations. It is helpful for blind students to “see” the work of their fellow peers with their hands before trying the art process themselves. This is a process that teachers take for granted in students that have vision. Do not neglect the same benefit to those children who must feel that sample works of others before proceeding to make something of their own. Always produce a sturdy sample version of each art lesson for a blind student to feel, just as you would produce a sample for sighted children to view.

      Place one sheet of paper in front of the blind student and let him feel it and reference the embossed eye. Tell the student that the eye is a person’s left eye in a portrait. “Now, you are going to draw a realistic portrait of a person. What that means is that you should try to draw a portrait that has all of the same features found on your own face. This picture should have the same number of features found on a typical human face. When you are creating your realistic portrait, try to put the features in the correct positions on the face. The following is a list of the elements/features your student should have in his “realistic portrait”

• He is working inside of realistic boundaries. This means that the eyes are somewhat level to with each other. The lips are placed below the nose. The nose is between the eyes and so on.
• Check to make sure that textures are placed realistically. Hair and beards are placed appropriately.
• Make sure the student gives his portrait the same number of features that are on his own face: two eyes, two ears, one nose, two lips, one chin, hair, two eyebrows etc…

      After this drawing is completed, place the second piece of paper in front of the student and a variety of media to create with. Explain, “Now you are going to create an abstract portrait using any kind of texture that you would like. You may also include facial features in any position that you like.” Below is a list of elements/features that your student should create in his abstract portrait.

• All types of textures in any place he wishes to include them
• Any colors he includes are fine
• Strange placement of features should also be encouraged

Health & Safety Concerns: All health and safety concerns are taken into concideration when the teacher is working with an individual who suffers from blindness. The teacher must be held responsible for correct use of materials and the safety factors surrounding heavy or sharp instruments.

Cleanup Time & Strategy: If the blind student is familiar with the bins inside of an art room where the instructor may organize the storage of different materials and if these bins are safely situated then and only then may a blind student help clean up his own work area.

A Formal Assessment: In the grading of a blind student’s work I have chosen to place heavier emphasis on the comprehension aspect of this lesson plan than that required of a sighted student. Teachers take note that the grading rubric for a blind student reverses the percentage of expectations from the project to the discussion. Blind students may earn up to seventy points for correct answers in a oral exam. They may earn up to thirty points for their art project. I have included a sample exam for the instructor. I will also include the vocabulary from the original lesson plan on the formal oral exam for my blind student. I will review these orally with my student prior to the discussion above or after the discussion depending upon the amount of time I have with them in the classroom. The student will need to be holding the same double mask sample that they were given during the tactile discussion.

Short Quiz for Abstract/Realistic Portrait for the Blind Student (worth 70 pts.)

True or False.

1. In a profile portrait, the artist includes a nose, a mouth, and two eyes. (2pt.) (false)
2. Abstract portraits always depict the subject from a frontal view. (2pt.) (false)
3. Another word for realistic in artistic circles is representational? (2pt.) (true)
4. A realistic portrait represents a person as he appears in real life. (2pt.) (true)
5. Another word for a profile is a side view. (2pt.) (true)
6. A sculpture of a person can be considered a portrait. (2pt.) (true)
7. Shapes may be used to describe both an abstract portrait and a realistic portrait. (2pt.) (true)
8. In order to paint an abstract portrait, an artist must strategically simplify the original information associated with the appearance of the person he is painting. (2pt.) (true)
9. If you can see or touch all the features on a portrait that naturally appear on a real person's face this is called a frontal view. (2pt.) (true)
10. A patron is the person who pays an artist to produce a portrait. (2pt.) (true)

Short Answer. The blind student must have in front of himself the Tactile Sample used in the discussion in order to answer some of the following questions.

1. Name at least three realistic human features these two masks share in common. (3pts.) The student may list the noses, lips, shapes of the heads or the positioning of the features.
2. Show me two peculiar features found on the right mask. (2pts) The student may point to the yarn texture, the holes the newsprint or rice in the holes.
3. Name an event a person might where a mask to. (5pts) The student may describe and event like a parade, a ball, a masquerade party, Halloween trick-or-treating etc…
4. Describe three different textures found inside the two masks. (5pts) rice, newsprint, and cotton, rough,soft,paper
5. What is the difference between the textures located on top of the two masks? (5pts.) One texture is wavy and feels rough like yarn. The other texture is bumpy and raised off the surface higher.
6. If I were to sculpt a realistic portrait of your face, name at least five things I might do it to convince other people that it is life like. (5pts.) You might give it realistic texture, hair, two eyes, two eye brows, a nose, a mouth, realistic looking clothing etc…
7. If I were to sculpt a profile of your face, what would it look like? (5pts.) I could only touch the side of your face.
8. You created for me two portraits. Which of the two did you prefer? Why? (5pts.) Any answer is appropriate.
9. Name three reasons you might want to hire an artist to paint your portrait. (5pts.) Any five events such as: a Birthday party, a gift for someone else, to show someone what I look like, for fun etc…
10. Why is a mask sometimes like a portrait? (5pts.) A mask might represent a particular person, it may have human features, it could depict human emotions etc…
11. How is a mask different from a portrait? (5pts) A mask does not always represent an exact person and sometimes masks are ment to misrepresent a person. Some masks are of animals and not people. Masks are ment to be worn. Masks are used by actors in plays.

All lessons and photographs and teacher samples are copyrighted 2011 Grimm 

More links to art lessons, methods, and activities for blind students.

• Fun Activities for Younger Visually Impaired or Blind Children Involving Art
•  Teaching Art to the Blind/ A Study of Chairs
•  Good ideas for art projects for a blind 3rd grader
•  Art for the blind by Kathleen Lang
•  Art Beyond Sight, Art Education for the Blind
•  Blind Art from The United Kingdom
•  Art for The Blind by art news blog
•  Art for The Blind in New York City
•  "Feel The Art" Initiative
•  Arts Resources and People Who Are Blind or Low-visioned
  

non-objective abstraction: painting to music lesson plan

(Teacher samples by Grimm, 2011)

Title: Non-Objective Abstraction

Topic: working with oil pastels, Abstract Expressionism, Jackson Pollock, Max Beckman

Objectives:

• Students will use oil pastels to create either a non-objective expressionism or an expressionist artwork with a subject and they will also identify their selection during assessment.
• Students will work while a variety of music is played and then write about how these music selections influenced they way in which they applied paint, the colors they used, and how they felt during these applications.

Goals:

• Students will identify characteristics of Expressionism.
• Students will develop imagery influenced by music.
• Students will identify specific Expressionist artists.

Fine Art GLEs:

STRAND I: Product/Performance

3. Communicate ideas about subject matter and themes in artworks created for various purposes

A. High School Level I

·      Create original artworks using non-objective subject matters.

STRAND IV: Interdisciplinary Connections (IC)

1. Explain connections between visual art and performing arts

A. High School Level I

·      Connect meanings of elements in art with terms in music, theatre, or dance

STRAND V: Historical and Cultural Contexts (HC)

1. Compare and contrast artworks from different historical time periods and/or cultures

A. High School Level I

·      Identify works from Expressionist art movements.

STRAND I: Product/Performance

1. Select and apply two-dimensional media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas and solve challenging visual art problems

B. High School Level I

• Mix tempera/acrylic paints to create different hues
• Mix tempera/acrylic paints to create a range of 4 values and levels of intensity
• Apply paint to create a solid area of color with no visible brushstrokes, change in value or intensity
• Blend one color/value smoothly into another
• Demonstrate proper use and cleaning of brushes and palettes
• Use brushes of various sizes/types

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

1. Select and use elements of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

B. Shapes: High School Level I

·      Differentiate between and use geometric and organic (freeform) shapes

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

1. Select and use elements of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

G. Space: High School Level I

·      Identify and use positive and negative space in two-dimensional work

·      Identify and use perspective techniques to create the illusion of space (one-point linear perspective, overlapping, and change of size, detail, placement, value contrast)

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

2. Select and use principles of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

B. Emphasis: High School Level I

·      Identify and create emphasis (focal point) through contrast and convergence

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

2. Select and use principles of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

D. Rhythm/Repetition: High School Level I

·      Identify and use elements to create regular rhythm

STRAND II: Elements and Principles (EP)

2. Select and use principles of art for their effect in communicating ideas through artwork

E. Unity: High School Level I

·      Explain how elements and principles create unity in artworks

Grade: 9^th – 12^th

Length of Class Period: 55 minutes

Frequency of Class Period: five days a week

Time Needed: Four class periods

Facility & Equipment Requirements:

• One computer lap top
• Room with good lighting
• Large tables, approximately ten, each seating four students
• Two sinks
• Dry erase board
• Drying racks
• Cabinets for storage
• Projector for viewing computer video, CDs and DVDs

Resources Needed:

• Power point about abstract expressionism
• Slide show depicting many abstract paintings
• Music selections

Materials Per Student:

• Oil pastels
• Mineral spirits
• Drawing paper
• Masking tape
• Scissors

Vocabulary/Terminology: some terms from dictionary.com

1. Abstract Expressionism- a movement in experimental, nonrepresentational painting originating in the U.S. in the 1940s, with sources in earlier movements, and embracing many individual styles marked in common by freedom of technique, a preference for dramatically large canvases, and a desire to give spontaneous expression to the unconscious.
2. Non objective art - Art that is not representational and usually represents no recognizable figures or objects. Sometimes, however, artists do use symbolism in abstract expressionist art forms.
3. Art movement - a group of artists who agree on general principles
4. Theme – The general subject of an artwork that may involve their culture, experiences, or perhaps even a traditional topic relating to another art movement, literature, or political idea etc.

Motivation- Looking and Talking Activity: Students are given one session and a half to practice painting to a wide variety of music prior to actually beginning their final project.

Step-by-Step Studio Activity Specifics:

1. I will begin this lesson by sharing the Power Point about Abstract Expressionism.
2. The students will be given ample opportunity to discuss the meaning of non-objective Expressionism and Expressionism that includes subject matter during the Power Point presentation.
3. I will also take with the students about how music can influence the choices that many artists make while working in their studios.
4. Students will then practice painting to music on newsprint for the remainder of the class period.
5. Students will also practice painting to music the following class period on newsprint.
6. During the third period, I will then show the second Power Point (slide show) depicting a very large collection of Expressionist examples while playing different music selections.
7. I will demonstrate how students may incorporate tape in the process of painting shapes and layering colors.
8. I will hand out nice large drawing papers, oil pastels, and roles of masking tape per table for the students work with for their final piece.
9. I will then play a wide selection of music for the students to work to.

Health & Safety Concerns: There are no health and safety concerns for this project.

Cleanup Time & Strategy: Students will be instructed to put away art materials neatly in their containers, clean off their tables, and recycle their trash two minutes prior to dismissal.

Assessment: A formal assessment/grading rubric sheet is included along with this lesson plan.

All lessons and photographs copyrighted 2011by Grimm

Links to more painting to music.

• Painting Music: Rhythm and Movement in Art for 4th and 6th Graders
• Responding to Music With Paint by Larry Seiler