Unit 1: Drawing

Objective: develop skills, techniques and motivation for drawing

Time: approximately 2 weeks

Lesson 1: Contour line drawing - contour line, proportion, line qualities, drawing from observation

Artists: Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse

Activity: contour still life in colored chalk on black paper

• Discussion of artists
• Demo and examples
• Practice contour still life in pencil first

Lesson 2: Visual puns (mixed media) – color, line, value, texture, space

Artists: Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali

Activity: illustrate a visual pun (tree surgeon, busy bee, etc.)

• Discuss visual puns
• Discuss mixed media
• Demo and examples
• 3 sketches presented to teacher to decide final project

Art History Activity: Create a poster or visual aid for the classroom that features information on one of the following:

• Pablo Picasso
• Henri Matisse
• Salvador Dali
• Contour Line
• Visual Puns

Art Criticism Activities:

• Write about one of the finished projects
• Participation in class critique

Aesthetics Activities:

• Discuss abstraction. Are any of the projects abstract? Give reasons
• Discuss pop art/advertising. Could the visual puns be considered pop art?

Assessment Portfolio includes:

• Visual Pun assignment, properly displayed (matted on construction paper)
• Contour Still Life assignment, properly displayed
• Participation in Art Criticism and Aesthetics Activities

Unit 2: Painting

Objective: develop skills, techniques and motivation for painting

Time: approximately 2 weeks

Lesson 1: Soda Straw Painting - line qualities, form, mood, abstraction

Artists: Jackson Pollock

Activity: painting abstractly using thin tempera paint and soda straws, blowing paint onto paper

• Discussion of artist
• Discussion of marks to express meaning
• Discussion of mood in abstract painting
• Demo and examples

Lesson 2: The Colors I Am Inside – color, value, emotion

Artists: Vincent Van Gogh, Renoir

Activity: create a self portrait and paint with colors that represent emotion

• Discuss portraits
• Discuss color and emotion
• Practice sketching other students portraits
• Practice self portraits, sketch final in contour line on large paper
• Use paint (one main color) and use shades and tints to describe personal emotion

Art History Activity: Create a poster or visual aid for the classroom that features information on one of the following:

• Jackson Pollock
• Vincent Van Gogh
• Renoir
• Abstraction
• Color
• Line
• Emotion
• Value

Art Criticism Activities:

• Write about one of the finished projects
• Participation in class critique

Aesthetics Activities:

• Discuss abstraction. Are any of the projects abstract? Give reasons
• Discuss color and emotion.

Assessment Portfolio includes:

• Soda Straw assignment, properly displayed (matted on construction paper)
• Colors I Am Inside assignment, properly displayed
• Participation in Art Criticism and Aesthetics Activities

Unit 3: Sculpture

Objective: develop skills, techniques and motivation for sculpting

Time: approximately 2 weeks

Lesson 1: Wire Animal Sculptures – line, three dimension, form, design

Artists: David Vanorbeek, Alfred Weekes

Activity: use wire to create a 3-D animal sculpture

• Discussion of artist
• Observe and discuss design, decoration and forms for sculpture
• Create sketched of animals and forms, how to create them into 3-D work
• Demo and examples
• Choose one sketch of animals and develop into a wire sculpture

Lesson 2: Container sculpture – design, form, color, recycled materials

Artists: Howie Weiss, Nam June Paik

Activity: create sculptural form/object out of recycled materials (containers)

• Discuss recycled materials, containers: boxes, jugs, etc.
• Discuss design
• Demo and examples
• Sketch 3 ideas of sculptures to create out of recycled containers
• With teacher, choose one sketch to create into sculpture

Art History Activity: Create a poster or visual aid for the classroom that features information on one of the following:

• Sculpture
• David Vanorbeek
• Alfred Weekes
• Design
• Form
• Howie Weiss
• Nam June Paik
• Recycled materials

Art Criticism Activities:

• Write about one of the finished projects
• Participation in class critique

Aesthetics Activities:

• Discuss 3-D sculpture. Are any of the projects abstract? Give reasons
• Discuss the benefits of using recycled materials in artwork.

Assessment Portfolio includes:

• Wire Animal assignment
• Recycled Container Sculpture assignment
• Participation in Art Criticism and Aesthetics Activities

Lesson adaptation for beginning high school class

Unit: Sculpture

Time: Approximately 2 week

Lesson: Shoe sculpture – design, form, color, recycled materials, theme

Artists: Howie Weiss, Nam June Paik

Activity: create sculptural form/object out of recycled shoe

• Discuss recycled materials
• Discuss design
• Demo and examples
• Sketch 3 ideas of sculpture created out of recycled shoe
• With teacher, choose one sketch to create into sculpture

Students will find an old shoe, preferably one that reflects their personality. They will then have one week to gather other materials to add to the shoe to create a sculptural artwork that has a theme. For example, an athletic shoe could have a miniature basketball or hoop attached to it; it could be painted like a basketball, etc. A woman’s shoe from the 1970’s could become homage to disco with sequins, jewelry, music notes, etc.

After materials are gathered, students will have one week in class to assemble the sculpture. Each project will have a short “autobiography” of the shoe written by the student. For example, the disco shoe could tell about the many discos it went to. The critique will include the shoes displayed with their autobiographies.

Art Criticism Activities:

• Shoe autobiography
• Participation in class critique

Aesthetics Activities:

• Discuss shoe sculptures. Are any of the projects considered pop art? Give reasons
• Discuss the benefits of using recycled materials in artwork.

Assessment Portfolio includes:

• Shoe sculpture assignment
• Shoe autobiography
• Participation in Art Criticism and Aesthetics Activities