Paul Klee and Egypt

The purpose of this lesson is to give children a chance to think critically about two of Paul Klee's grid paintings, Red and White Domes and Legend of the Nile, and to produce a project using his techniques that evokes a feeling of Egypt. This ties a little bit into Egypt units in that it is an art project that focuses on capturing either the heat of the Egyptian desert or the cool of the Nile river.

Using the Paul Klee slideshow, skip through the color wheel slides and focus on the 2 paintings shown above. Give the kids a bit of background info about Paul Klee (1879-1940)- he was Swiss, and never thought he was a very good painter - although now he is considered one of the most important artists of his time. He admired the art of children for its directness and loved using color as his primary language. Also he used symbols that he made up as a way of communicating what he wanted his pictures to say to viewers. Fun fact: during WW1, he had a job painting camouflage on german war planes. Guide a discussion using the VTS technique and talk a bit about each painting: what's going on in this picture? What do you see that makes you say that? What more can you find? 

Materials:
bowls, brushes, water, watercolor paper, liquid watercolor

-Have the kids make a grid with pencil. Not too many squares or else they will never finish - maybe 5 lines going down and 6 lines across. They don't have to be straight at all. Give them like 15 seconds to do this.

-Then have them think about what they'd like to paint. Do they want to make a picture that is hot/land - using warm colors to evoke the dry desert climate of Egypt? or cool/water - using cool colors to evoke the Nile river? Brainstorm together some symbols related to either: fish, pyramids, hieroglyphics, snakes, boats, etc.

-On top of their grid, with pencil, have them draw some symbols that are meaningful to them related to their choice of water/land.

-Then, if they are land, have them use warm colors alternately to fill in the squares of their grids. if they are water, have them use cool colors. then - at the very end, have them use opposite colors to fill in their symbols.

Polly Jones

Cheryl Collins put together an amazing art lesson for the fifth and sixth grade, using artist Polly Jones' multi-media work as inspiration.

LESSON TIME:55 MINUTES

 

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

WATER COLOR PAPER

PENCILS

RIPPED NEWSPAPER SCRAPS (APPROX 2 INCH) 3 PER STUDENT ALL SHAPES

LIQUID WATER COLOR PAINT( I CHOSE 4 MAIN COLORS AND LET EACH 4 PACK OF STUDENTS TO ADD ONE SPECIAL COLOR LIKE SPARKLY RED)

BRUSHES

WATER DISH

PAPER TOWELS FOR BLOTTING

GLUE

 

1. TO GET STARTED ORGANIZE THE KIDS IN GROUPS OF 4 FOR SUPPLIES.
2. HAVE THE GROUP SEND UP ONE OF THE GROUP FOR PAINT , THEN ONE FOR WATER ...REPEAT UNTIL ALL ARE OUT
3. A COUPLE STUDENTS CAN HAND OUT BRUSHES AND WATER COLOR PAPER
4. HAVE THE STUDENTS WRITE THEIR NAME ON THE BACK
5. PRESENT THE POWER POINT ON POLLY JONES~
6. THE NEXT STEP ~I BROUGHT IN A TENNIS BALL, BASKETBALL AND A PEACH FOR THE STUDENTS TO VISUALIZE LIVE OBJECTS AND TALKED ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED POLLY JONES( REAL LIFE OBJECTS)
7. THE STUDENTS THEN CAME UP WITH THEIR OWN ROUND OBJECT FOR EASE ....A DIFFERENT FRUIT OR SPORT LIKE SOCCER OR BASEBALL
8. THEY THEN DREW A LINE ACROSS THE PAGE HORIZONTALLY ( TO REPRESENT A COUNTER)
9. THE NEXT STEP WAS TO DRAW THEIR OBJECT ON THE COUNTER
10. THEN THEY TOOK THE NEWSPAPER(WHICH REPRESENTS DAILY LIFE)AND GLUED PIECES TO THE COUNTER AND ON THE OBJECT. MAKE SURE THEY GLUE WELL ...AL EDGES SHOULD BE DOWN
11. THEN THE NEXT STEP WAS TO USE THE LIQUID WATER COLOR AND PAINT THEIR OBJECT. THEY WILL PAINT THE NEWSPAPER TOO!
12. THE STUDENTS THEN COULD CHOOSE A DIFFERENT COLOR  FOR THE BACKGROUND...

 

AFTER DOING THIS PROJECT AND USING LIQUID WATER COLOR FOR THE FIRST TIME...YOU COULD USE THE WATER COLOR SETS, BUT THE LIQUID IS MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE AND FAST I THINK. IT IS SCARIER FOR SPILLS, BUT WE DID WELL IN BOTH MY CLASSES AND HAD NO INCIDENTS:)

  

Powerpoint is here.

Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud is one of the California greats - famous for his gentle paintings of beautifully arranged baked goods. This is a fun lesson for kids because it is so easy to relate to his happy art, and it's a stirring activity to imagine row upon row of delectable cookies, pies, cakes, donuts, etc. It's also easy to customize for different ages.

Materials: cardstock for template, scissors to cut the cardstock, large white paper, sharpies, and chalk pastels

Presentation: find slideshow here. Some simple facts about Mr. Thiebaud (pronounced "Tee-bo") are included in the slide presentation. Additionally you can read about his life here and here and share what seems relevant to you.

Activity: pass out cardstock squares and have the kids draw a shape of their choice with sharpie to be their template. Have them think of something sweet a la the paintings they saw in the slideshow - a lollipop, donut, cupcake, slice of pie, etc. {To do this in younger grades, you could have the templates already cut depending on the time you have - or even make copies of papers with the shapes already drawn, and skip to the coloring with chalk pastel step.} Then have the kids place the template on their white paper and outline their shape with sharpie. Have them repeat as they like on the page: show them how they can make rows, or whatever kind of pattern they like. Once the shapes are drawn, the children are to use the chalk pastels to fill in their shapes.

Animals Everlasting: Egyptian Animal Mummies

Slideshow here

Background Information from this really interesting article from National Geographic:

In 1888, and Egyptian farmer working his field uncovered thousands of mummified cats. Since then Egyptologists have found many, many examples of mummified animals - some buried in mass graves, some tucked away in the splendid tombs of the pharoahs themselves - which have taught us much about the daily lives and beliefs of Egyptians. Many animals were tucked into the tombs of pharoahs as companions - pets in life and in death. Some of the animal mummies were intended as food for the human mummies in the afterlife (cows, ducks, geese, and pigeons). Others symbolized egyptian gods - like bulls - or were considered inherently magical. One example of a magical animal is the crocodile (see the crocodile in the slideshow). Egyptians noticed that they always laid their eggs above the waterline of the Nile before flood season, so they became symbols of the water god of fertility and were very special offerings.

How did the Egyptian priests mummify animals? They snipped out all the internal organs except for the heart (mummies always keep their hearts), and then filled the cavities with natron, a kind of salt, packed in linen bags, to dry out the animal. Then they used palm wine to clean out the internal cavities where the organs were, and frankincense to seal the incision and perfume the corpse. After a drying out period in the hot and dry egyptian air (between 6-12 months), the animal was wrapped in bandages, with magical spells drawn on them to protect the creature on its voyage into the afterlife.

(This discussion ended up being lots of fun because I played egyptian music in the background (I will put the cd in the art closet, by the books on the second shelf), put on a goofy dress-up crown, and then used a beanie baby panda bear to demonstrate the mummification process described above. I will put the cut-open panda, plus his cotton entrails, the little bag of salt, and the wrappings in the closet next to the cd if anyone wants to use it)

Art Activity

materials: school glue & a handful of little bowls, clay, markers, and a 5" strip of rolled gauze or cheesecloth. Put a little bowl of glue (like with only a tablespoon) out for every 4 students to share (or, you could put it on a paper towel, on a tray)

Have the students use a tiny bit of clay to make a very simple animal shape. Truly, the simpler, the better - like, a body (without limbs, really) and a head. (This took us about 10 minutes)

(tip: to connect the body and the head it is useful to show them how to score the connecting ends (rough up the clay) before smushing them together, like this: (i used my nail to scratch the clay)

When they finish their shapes, pass out the gauze strips. They should wrap the animal as tightly as they can, stretching the gauze so it gets really thin. Then they can use their finger to get a tiny bit of glue, and rub it on the end of the wrapping, and on any parts of the gauze that stick out to smooth it down. (This was the most difficult part of the project - it takes a little bit of patience and smoothing to get the bandages flat).

When the glue dries (if they don't use so much, it should only take a few minutes), they can use their markers to decorate the wrapping with designs, etc. It would also be cool to use gold paint if you have time.

Family Fun's Van Gogh

This is from February 2010's issue of Family Fun magazine - it looks like a fun activity (albeit quite time intensive... probably this would need to be spread out over a couple of art sessions). If you need a slideshow to go along with this, click on the George Kelly Slideshare link for the Van Gogh presentation; additional historical background can be found in the other Van Gogh lesson(s) in this link.

Family Fun Henri Matisse

I found this in February 2010's issue of Family Fun magazine and thought it might be a fun, low key project. Click on the picture for a larger image (which you can print), and if you need images for a slideshow presentation, click over to the George Kelly slideshare site and use the Matisse presentation. You can also find more information on the life of Matisse if you click on on this Matisse lesson link.

Found Object Totem Pole

See page 12 of the 5th grade "Get Smart with Art @ the de Young" binder (American History: Colonial Revolution).

Please see binder for specific lesson plan.

Materials:

-Found objects - small pieces of wood, corks, bottles and caps, film cannisters, shells, small toys, cartons, foam, paper, cardboard, etc.

-Wood-type glue or hot glue (*needs adult supervision)

-Wire

-Optional embellishments like paint, feathers, fabric, buttons, sequins, etc.

Contour Drawing

This lesson does not have a powerpoint that goes along with it, as the focus is on improving drawing skills through two simple exercises. (As an art docent, you needn't feel like you must have spectacular drawing skills yourself to be able to teach the lesson. The focus is on improving observation skills.)

Supplies:

pencil, 2 pieces of paper, and have the students have a folder or notebook ready to use to hold over their drawing

One of the tricks for drawing what you see well is turning off what your brain would have you draw, and increase the connection between what your eye actually sees and your hand holding the pencil. The first exercise for practicing this is called Blind Contour Drawing.

-Have the students take off one shoe and put it on their desk at an interesting angle. (YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHOOSE A COOLER DAY FOR THIS SO THE ROOM DOESN'T GET TOO STINKY!)

-Have the students hold their folder with their non-drawing hand so that it covers their paper. You want for them to NOT see what they are working on, as counter-intuitive as this may seem. Then instruct them to pretend that their is an invisible string connecting their finger, guiding their pencil, and their eyeball. Have them very slowly pick a spot to start drawing, and trace the edge of the shoe and then the details, all without picking up the pencil from the paper or break eye contact with their shoe. They should NOT be looking at their picture. This exercise forces the artist to focus on what they are seeing EXACTLY without being distracted by trying to make their drawing match. After about four minutes, finish; they may uncover their papers. The pictures should look strange, more like scribble or super-abstract art than anything realistic. This is an exercise in looking and observation. Do this a couple of times.

-Now that they have practiced observing in such a strict way, they can put their folders away and get a new piece of paper. Having the students remember the idea of the invisible string connecting their drawing hand with their eyes, instruct them to draw their shoe; this time they may look at their paper. Have them go slowly, drawing the edges and details of their shoe exactly as their eyes see it. The students should take about 30 minutes to complete this drawing and if they are really focusing, there should be very little talking as it requires great concentration. It is amazing how drawings will improve when the students focus on that invisible connection between their hand and their eyes.

Klimt's Ladies & Gentlemen

This is a super fun art lesson from Deep Space Sparkle. Depending on how quickly your kids work, it may take two classes.

Supplies needed:

-pastels

-paper

-gold paint & paintbrushes

-scissors

Background information on Klimt that goes with our Powerpoint slides:

Gustave Klimt was born in 1862 and died in 1918. He was considered to be a Symbolist painter, meaning that his work emphasized imagination, dreams, symbols, and spirituality over realism, and his work was highly romantic.

He lived in Austria, and was born the second of seven children, the son of a gold engraver. When he first entered art school, his art was realistic, but as he grew artistically his work become more symbolic and mysterious. With his "Golden Phase", where he used gold leaf to make his paintings shine, he gained great critical success, but he was quite reclusive, and wrote little about his work. As he painted, he worked in a loose robe rather than normal clothes (kind of like some of the gentlemen he portrays).

After his death, his paintings have become incredibly valuable: slide # 3, Adele Bloch-Bauer, sold for 135 million dollars in 2007, the highest amount to date that someone has paid for a work of art.

Procedure: I followed the process described on the Deep Space Sparkle website, essentially having the kids first make a large drawing in pencil of either a man or a woman. We referenced the slides in the slideshow to talk about how their dresses and robes could be fantastical and loose - not too tied to reality in terms of depicting the shape of the body beneath. After they drew their figures, they colored them thickly with pastels (have them press hard to get vivid colors), then cut out the figures.

The final step is to cover a large piece of paper with gold paint. The paint can be solid or swirled - it's totally up to them, and if they want they can further embellish with pastels.

Making A Modern Mona Lisa

(adapted for use George Kelly from http://jmhs.mars.k12.wv.us/lewisclark/hadsell/lesson1/index.html)

Learner Outcomes:

o S Students will explore and analyze how the human face is proportioned

o Students will be able to perceive how the painting “Mona Lisa”, by Leonardo da Vinci, uses classic facial proportions, and learn historical background of this masterpiece and its creator. We’ll also discuss briefly the history of portraiture in art.

o Students will demonstrate their understanding of facial proportions by creating a portrait

o Students will further explore this topic with a creative writing assignment

Materials:

12” x 18” white drawing paper

pencils & erasers

oil pastels

Powerpoint presentation: portraits, Leonardo da Vinci & the Mona Lisa; facial proportion diagrams

Lesson:

Introduce portraiture as an art form used throughout history. A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other kind of art form that’s meant to show what someone looks like. People have always felt compelled to represent themselves and each other in art.

(if there is internet access: Portrait Detectives, http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/portraits/index.html, is a great interactive site – would be good to do together and would provide about a 5 minute discussion)

Slide 1: These are cave paintings made in Lascaux, France, that are thought to be 16,000 years old. What do you think the creators of these thought about themselves?

Slide 2: This is a self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh. What can you tell about him from this picture?

He was somewhat disturbed and painted this as he was recovering, in a mental institution, from an incident where he cut off his ear and sent it to a woman he admired as a present. Weird.

Slide 3: This is a portrait of the royal family of King Charles IV, in Spain, made by the court painter, Goya in 1800. Do you think that Goya respected the King and his wife and children? Can you tell how he felt about them by how he painted them? Was he trying to flatter them?

Slide 4: This is a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. Born the illegitimate son of a peasant woman, he was apprenticed by one of the most famous artists in Florence when he was in his early teens. Quickly his talent became apparent, and he’s generally thought to be the most genius human being to have ever lived – an accomplished artist, inventor, scientist and philosopher. He loved to experiment and kept many journals recording what he learned. He wrote with mirror writing, to keep his work secret. Among his inventions – the helicopter and hang glider.

Slide 5: This is the Mona Lisa. Painted in 1503, this work became famous almost instantly. The shadowy background is called sfumato, a word which means “Leonardo’s smoke.” Notice the plain dress, the extremely smooth surface of the canvas (you can’t see any signs of brushstrokes, not even up close), and her beautifully proportioned face. Many people notice her mysterious smile and wonder what it is that she’s thinking. What do you think?

o Turn lights on and discuss facial proportion. Point out that the eyes are in the MIDDLE of the head rather than up on the forehead. Have the students use their hands to measure their own facial proportions and lightly sketch on scratch paper where the hairline, eyes, nose, eyebrows, mouth, ears, etc. fall.

Refer back to the Mona Lisa and have students examine the painting…what kind of proportions did Leonardo use? Does it work?

Hand out the large drawing paper and have students lightly draw an egg-shaped oval, and proceed to make their own reproduction of the Mona Lisa – except how they think she would be dressed/coiffed today.

Add color with oil pastels. Have the students really take their time and visually develop the background, etc.

Writing activity: Write about the woman you’ve just drawn. Do a character portrait with words – describe her life, who she is, why she deserved a portrait, what accounts for her mysterious smile, the background of where she’s posing, etc.

Cezanne's Still Lifes: Overlapping Objects

^5th and 7^th Grade Art Lesson

written by Michelle Smit for Duniway Elementary, adapted with permission for use at George Kelly Elementary by Lynne Millar

Principle: Depth and Value

Concept: By overlapping objects within a composition, an artist can create the illusion of depth. By changing the value of the color across an object within a painting, an artist can make an object look 3-dimensional.

Objective: To draw and color in with pastels a still life in which the objects are overlapped to show depth and colored to show changes in value.

Supplies:

*One 12x18-inch piece of black drawing paper per student

*Pencils and erasers (for light sketching of still life objects)

*Rulers

*Oil pastels

*Fruit, such as a large apple or grapefruit, a lemon or lime, large squash, and an object such as a vase or bowl. Note: you’ll need about 5 objects per arrangement. How are the desks arranged? Are the students in groups, where you’ll need to provide more than one arrangement?

*Desk spot lamps or flashlights

*Black or other solid colored fabric

*Hairspray (for use as a fixative)

Pre-Class Prep: gather supplies

Set-up:

*Make a still life arrangement and place the bowl or vase amidst the fruit, on top of your fabric. Put your light source behind the arrangement or at an angle that provides interesting shadows.

*Have pastels, paper, rulers and pencils ready for distribution.

Lesson: Demonstration: Discussing Depth and Value

Share with the students that this is a lesson to fine tune good depth and strong value changes into their art. Talk about what depth and value are. Depth refers to the amount of “distance” projected by a composition. Ask them if they can think of ways to arrange objects in a painting to achieve a feeling of depth? Discuss ways like overlapping objects, which is what they will do today. Overlapping is a technique used to get some depth in a composition.

Define value for the students. Value refers to how dark or light something is. Warmer lighter values are shown on an object where the light is hitting it; as you move across the object it gets darker and cooler as you move to the shadow cast by the object. It is the change in the value of the colors applied to an object that make it seem real and appear more realistic or 3-dimensional.

Show the power point slides of Cezanne’s still life paintings. Give a little background on Cezanne (see end of the lesson) and point out to the students how Cezanne painted the colors the way the light made them appear rather than the color our brain would tell us it is: for instance, look at his apples. Are they perfectly red? Or does the light change the color?

Turn off the overhead lights and turn on the lamps and shine them on one side of the still life arrangements at each table. Have students note how the value of the colors across the objects in the still life change from the lit side to the shadow side. Talk about how the colors look warmer nearest the light and coolest in the shadows. Turn lights back on and get ready to draw!

Students: Drawing the Still Life

Pass out a piece of black paper, a pencil, a ruler, and a box of pastels to each student.

Explain that they will draw the composition they see on their tables on the black paper using their pencils (remind them to draw lightly-they will be going over the drawing with pastels.). Before they begin to draw, they need to know:

1. Draw BIG Shapes – fill the paper with their drawing! No tiny fruit and veggies in the center of the paper.

2. Overlap each object – Each object should overlap the one behind it. When they begin drawing they should start with the object that is closest to them, because you will see all of its edges. Then add the one just behind it, and so on.

3. Put in a horizon line – Now that their objects are on their papers, have them place a line just behind them to suggest the edge of the table in the distance. See how this line is placed in the samples. Students may use rulers to draw in their table top “horizon lines”.

Talk briefly with the students about the shadow side and light sides of their drawings- they need to know which side the light will be coming from in their drawings (right or left). Note for them that where the light hits the objects most directly, there will be what is called a “highlight” or very light spot that may even look white (show them on the pastel sample, too.) Have them lightly pencil small (penny size) circles on each of their three objects where they think the highlights should be.

Step 3: Painting the still life with Pastels

If everything is going well, your students should have some nice drawings that show the outline of each overlapping object. They should be able to tell what is in the front and what’s in the back (depth). They should have drawings that fill the page- nice big shapes!

Now students are ready to begin “painting” their still life with pastels. This is the step in the process where they put what they have seen and learned about “value” to work. What they want to achieve with their pastels is a change in the VALUE of the coloring across each object that clearly shows that they have light sides and dark sides which, when looked at in total, suggest a fullness and three-dimensional quality. Since they are using black paper, the darker side of their object can even have some of the dark paper show through.

Encourage the students to use color compliments on each object. For example, if they have a lemon in their composition, urge them to use white and yellow on the light side and purple (yellow’s color compliment) on the shadow side. If they want to color their pumpkin or butternut squash orange, have them make the shadow side dark blue. If they have a red apple the shadow side would have green, etc

• A note on using pastels-the more pastel they layer over the black paper, the more bright color they will get. If they want the color to be smoothed together, they can rub gently with their finger to blend.

• Have students start coloring their objects beginning with the one in back first. By working from the top down, they will avoid smearing their work in the foreground.

The table top can be colored in, but because their pictures have a definite light and dark side, they should be certain to leave black shadow shapes on the table that are attached to each object.

When the students are finished make sure their name and room number is on the back of the picture.

After Class: Spray the piece with hair spray to protect against smudging.

Instructions for Instructors

Vocabulary: Overlapping-where one thing is in front of another

Depth-refers to distance in a painting, from what is located in front or in the foreground to what is in the back or background. Changes in depth can be suggested in a number of ways, including:

• Changing the size of objects in a painting

• Changing the amount of detail you can see in the objects

• Changing the color (from warmer in the foreground to cooler in the background)

• Overlapping objects

Shading-a technique for showing different values of light and dark across an object(s) in a picture; a way of making a picture more realistic/3D

Architectural Drawing: Inspired by San Francisco's "Painted Ladies"

"Painted Ladies" drawing by a seventh grader

"Painted Ladies" drawing, seventh grader

"Painted Ladies" drawing, third grade

"Painted Ladies" drawing, third grader

(original lesson found here at deep space sparkle)

Objective: Discuss and define architecture, learn a bit about elements of Victorian Architecture through looking at pictures of San Francisco's Victorian "Pink Ladies" Rowhouses, and create a pen and ink architectural drawing using basic geometric templates.

Supplies: Paper, Pencils & Erasers, Sharpie Fine Tip pens, geometric cardboard templates (IN ART CABINET), Pink Ladies Slideshow

Lesson:

What is architecture?

Architecture is the designing and building of structures, which is a combination of science and art.

Every building that you enter into has been designed by an architect. What kind of things do you think an architect must think about before designing a building? (Ideas may include what a building is for, how the shape of it will help people use it effectively, how the way the building looks fits into the the buildings or landscape). Ask the kids to think for a minute about the buildings they regularly use (home, school, church, stores). Are there features of these buildings that make them attractive? Especially useful? Why do you think our school has a blue corrugated steel roof? (I don't know, btw, but am sure there is a reason!)

Begin slideshow. These are the "Painted Ladies" Victorian Rowhouses, in San Francisco. They are designed in a style of architecture that is known as Victorian, because that is how many buildings in England were built during the reign of Queen Victoria (1839 - 1901) and the popularity of the style caused architects all over the world to imitate it. There was an explosion of people who wanted to live in San Francisco from 1850 - 1901, and during that time there were around 50,000 Victorian homes built in the city. Unfortunately many of them were destroyed during the big 1906 earthquake and fire, but if you drive around the city in the Upper Haight, Fillmore, and Pacific Heights neighborhoods you can still see some really pretty examples.

Scroll through slides, and discuss some of the following information:

You can tell Victorian architecture because the following elements are often included in the design: turrets (those fancy little towers), large windows (some of them are paned with stained glass), decorative brackets, arches and curves, balconies, bright paint colors, and lots of trim.

Ask the students to point out some of these features in the pictures you show.

Additional points of discussion may include:

What do houses like this make you think about the person who designed them?

What were the designers of these homes trying to say?

Activity:

Have the students use the large rectangular cardboard templates to draw basic shapes for their own Victorian creation. Once they have maybe two or three tall rectangles drawn, have them add other elements using the other templates: windows, doors, roofs, etc. After they have the core of their drawing done, pass out the sharpies and have them trace over their pencil drawings. Then they can put aside the templates and add their own fanciful details using their imaginations: turrets, shingles, scrollwork, etc. If time allows, they can add color with markers.

(Practical tip: once the basic shapes for the drawing are down and traced in sharpie - i.e., the rectangle building shapes, make the kids put their pencils away and use just the sharpies for the remainder of the drawing. If they draw the entire picture in pencil and then try and trace it, it will take them forever and they will not finish in one lesson.)