Fall Still Life Drawing For HS Students

Below is a lesson plan that my partner and I had written to teach in a basic studio course given by our mentor teacher.  We decided to help offer students some different drawing techniques that they hadn't used before. The power point presentation given was on George Seurat to cover stippling, and Rembrandt to show cross hatching techniques.

Fall  Still Life



Lesson Overview:  This lesson will take place over a forty minute class period.  After a 5-7 minute slide show reintroducing artists from the previous week , and showing new examples, students will begin work on a still life drawing.  Students will spend the remainder of the class period working on drawing their fall still life using the technique of choice (stippling, cross hatching), or a combination of the two.  Emphasis will be placed on not using lines to suggest the exterior of items in the still life, as well as creating a ground line to place objects in a feasible space.

Theme/Subject matter: Observational Drawings

Learning Objectives

Student will learn:
-how to suggest volume and mass in a still life, as well as areas of light, medium and dark through stippling and cross hatching techniques.
-how to draw from observation what they see, not what they know.
-how to use a ground line in a composition to suggest a setting for objects drawn.
-how to utilize dramatic light settings for shadows and bolder contrast in their work.


Rationale:  Through this drawing activity students will gain a better understanding of how to utilize stippling and/or cross hatching in a still life.  Students will see how famous artists and their instructor(s) use these techniques in their own work.  They will be able to understand and communicate about the various techniques they have learned.  Students will gain cognitive growth though experimentation and exploration of media.

Standards Addressed:

Standard 1:  Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts
Performance Objective:  Students will create their own drawing from observation that suggests volume and mass.

Standard 2:  Knowing and Using Arts Materials and Resources
Performance Objective:  Students will use different types of markers to practice cross hatching and stippling, and will do so in a manner suggesting areas of light to dark.

Standard 3:  Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art
Performance Objective:  Students will view various drawings and paintings made by artists that utilized the techniques they will be working with.

Standard 4:  Understanding the Cultural Dimensions and Contributions of the Arts
Performance Objective:  Students will learn more about introduced artists, the works they produced and use of techniques.

Materials:  Bristol board 8x8, Bic Mark-it markers, Precise fine and extra fine point markers.
Still life set up materials: pumpkins, gourds, lights

Concepts and Vocabulary:
Overlap- to extend over or cover a part of something.
Stipple- to paint, engrave or draw by means of small dots.
Cross Hatching- to mark with two series of parallel lines that intersect.
Ground Line- line which marks the edge of a surface or area suggesting a definite space.

Instructional Procedures/ Strategies:
(Before class begins a still life will be set up at each table, and drawing materials put out.)

Motivation and exploration:  Class will begin with a slide show presentation and examples of instructor(s) work (approx 5-7 minutes).

Demonstration:  Done during previous class before warm up/ practice activity.

Implementation:  Students will begin working on their drawings.  Assistance and feedback will be offered to students during this time.  Students who finish early will be encouraged to produce a second still life study

Clean up:  About five minutes before the end of class students will be reminded of the time and to wrap up work on their drawings.  Students will place finished work and drawing materials at a table set up in the center of the room.

More About My Internship

The seven Wednesdays I spent this semester during Field Work III has to have been the best experience I have had to date being out in the field.  As mentioned in a previous blog my cooperating teacher was of great help in answering my questions and giving me advice for lesson planning and classroom management.  The experience I gained in giving a lesson plan to high school students has made me feel much more confident than I had before with talking in front of a class.  Of course, my favorite part of each day I spent in the school was talking to students about their artwork.  I love to hear when students get excited about what they are making, and much enjoy offering assistance when they are in need of it.  During my field work I was able to see a variety of lessons taught by my cooperating teacher.  For the basic drawing class students learned about making books.  The books were composed of recycled papers and were made to document works created through out the school year.  Many of the different observational drawings, including the stippling/ cross hatching ones from the lesson my partner and I taught were to be pasted inside.
Even though I am more of a drawing/painting person, I really enjoyed being part of the ceramics class my teacher had.  The projects I got to see during this time included animal sculptures, coil pots, thrown works on the wheel and nesting boxes.  In the beginning I thought I wouldn't be able to offer much assistance with such projects because of my limited experience with clay but I was wrong.  I forgot that I really had acquired at least a good base of knowledge working with it and was able to help a few students who were having issues keeping added portions of clay intact with the rest of their sculptures.

What also was nice about this experience is I was able to use the pugger and make clay for the students on days supplies were running low.  Using that machine was a first for me, but it was fun.  

Student Artwork: Cross Hatching & Stippling Warm Up Activity

Below are some examples of student artwork from a practice activity using stippling and cross hatching.  Although some students found stippling to be tedious work, most students preferred this method over cross hatching.  All of the drawings below were done from life using styrofoam spheres, cylinders and eggs.

This activity turned out not only to be a learning experience to students, but one for me as well.  In trying out this lesson I realized I needed to do something different with the lighting situation because in regular lighting the shadows on the objects drawn were hard to see and required some squinting.  This helped better prepare my partner and I for our bigger lesson in which we set up spot lights and turned off the regular over head ones in order to show stronger areas of dark and light for students to focus on in their drawings.

My field work partner and I thought it would be helpful to include a work sheet in the activity to help students remember the different terms and artists that had been introduced in the lesson.  Some students had taken this one step further by writing on their practice drawings what technique they had used.

Warm up activity: Drawing with cross hatching and stippling

Drawing with cross hatching and stippling

Sarah McDougal & Brette Higgins

Lesson Overview:  This lesson will take place over a forty minute class period.  After a five minute slide show introduction showing examples of drawings that utilize cross hatching and stippling a demo will be given.  Demos will be given in two separate groups of about nine students on the making of such marks and will take about seven minutes.  After the demo students will be given twenty minutes to produce two drawings, one for each of the techniques introduced.  Through this activity students will gain a better understanding of how to use these techniques in drawing.  Students will also learn to draw from observation what they see rather than what they know.

Theme/ Subject Matter:  Conveying mass and volume through drawing

Learning Objectives

Students will learn:

-how to use cross hatching and stippling in drawings to convey mass and volume

-how to draw from observation what they see and now what they know

Rationale:  Through this activity students will gain a better understanding of how to utilize cross hatching and stippling in their drawings.  Students will also learn how artists use similar techniques in their works.  They will be able to understand and communicate about the techniques they have learned. Students will gain cognitive growth through experimentation and exploration of media and will learn that there can be more than one solution to a problem.

Standards Addressed:

Standard 1:  Creating, Performing and Participating in the Arts

Performance Objective:  Students will create their own observational drawings.

Standard 2:  Knowing and Using Arts Materials and Resources

Performance Objective: Students will use different types of makers in order to practice cross hatching and stippling.

Standard 3:  Responding to and Analyzing Works of Art

Performance Objective:  Students will view various drawings made by artists that utilize the techniques they will be working with.

Standard 4:  Understanding the Cultural Dimensions and Contributions of the Arts

Performance Objective:  Students will learn about the artists whose work is viewed as well as materials and processes they use.

Materials: Bic Mark-it markers, Precise fine and extra fine point markers, bristol board 6x6, worksheet on artist info/ vocabulary

Concepts and Vocabulary:

Cross hatching- to mark with two series of parallel lines that intersect.

Stipple- to paint, engrave or draw by means of small dots.

Mass- a body of matter with shape.

Volume- the amount of space an object occupies.

Instructional Procedures/ Strategies:

(Before class begins drawing materials will be placed at each table)

Motivation and exploration:  Slide show of examples (approx. 5 minutes).

Demonstration:  In two small groups of approximately 9 students demonstrations will be given on how to utilize cross hatching and stippling to convey mass and volume.  Also students will be shown how to sign and date their works like artists. Students will then be instructed on where to place finished works (front of class) and drawing materials (table in back) when done.  Entire demo should take about seven minutes.

Implementation:  Students will begin working on their drawings, spending a total of twenty minutes working on them.  Assistance and feedback will be offered to students during this time.  During this time students will also complete a worksheet about information covered in the slide show introduction.

Clean up: About five minutes before the end of class students will be reminded of the time and to wrap up work on their drawings.  One student from each table who is closest to the front will hand in works.  One student from each table closest to the back will gather drawing materials and place them in their respective cans placed on a table in the back of the room.

 

Postmodern Principles Accordion Book

Postmodern Principles Accordion Books


Objective:

• to introduce students to postmodern principles
• to expand students' understanding of artistic elements
• to allow students to have individual  voice as an artist
• to practice craftsmanship with various materials

Materials:

• Handout on assembling accordion book
• Handout with defined postmodern principles and artist examples

• Cardboard covers
• Heavyweight paper strips (same height as covers), 2+ per student
• Small manila envelopes
• Colored construction paper
• Recycled papers and magazines
• Scissors
• Glue
• Drawing materials (pencils, markers, sharpies)

After looking at examples of artist work that uses the principles, and discussion on some of them students will create their own work using at least one of the principles.  Students will focus on a place they care about to create a collage using the principle(s) they chose to work with.  As part of the assignment students will incorporate a secret to their book that may better help readers understanding of it.  Students will also make an about the author page on the back cover of the book.  A sense of unity will be emphasized in order for students to create a book where all the pages can work together, holding a sculptural quality when the books are displayed in an open manner.

Internship: Recap on Class Discussion

I didn't know if we were supposed to write anything up before we had met, so I did anyway.  Here is my writing in response to the questions we were asked.

So far I am glad to say that I have been having a great experience during my internship.  The teacher I am working with is great!  She has been very helpful in aiding my partner and I  in planning our lessons, and has made us very comfortable with approaching her with questions, which she always answers very thoroughly for us.

The high school I have been placed in seems to be a great environment so far.  The school just received money for updates, and all the classrooms have a smart board in them.  The art rooms I have been in I think are set up well, with many areas for storage of materials, student artwork, and visual displays.  The computer lab has all new Mac computers in them, and one of the art rooms even has a pugger for clay.  Lighting is great in all of the rooms, and for convenience they even have outlets on extension cords that pull out of the ceilings.  Everything is very well organized in different storage areas, so the room isn't cluttered and supplies are easily accessible.

My cooperating teacher is very pro active in guiding students to their own solutions.  She has great control over her students, but does so with what seems to be little effort.  She is very positive and tries to motivate her students to do the best they can, and find solutions in their artwork that not only meet assignment standards, but make students proud to have created whatever it may be.  Her energy keeps the class moving forward.  I can see myself picking up many of her positive practices for when I am in my own classroom.

The kind of teacher presence that Janet has works very well, as mentioned in the beginning about how she keeps students in focus.  The way she moves her way around the room during work time, checking on student progress is very important, and she does so in a way that allows for each student to get the attention they need.  Her "teacher voice" definitely helps, not yelling but projecting far into the back of the classroom.  Most of the lessons I have seen her give keep students interested, which is very important to me.  I could not give a lesson to a class if I myself found it boring or not at all a challenge.  So far in my experience I am yet to find an occurrence or situation that makes me question my mentor teachers approaches.  The only questions I have had for the most part pertain to classroom management and keeping students in line and focused on the project at hand all of which she has addressed with me.

Postmodern Principles Book

I know this post is a little late but I figured better late than never.

For my postmodern principle book project I made a few before I was even close to content with my work.  Below is the best out of approximately 4 that I had made.  The idea was to make a collage of a physical place and represent it in a way using juxtaposition.  Since I have a love for the "greater outdoors" and nature in general I decided to first start by finding magazine clippings with lots of  mountains, trees, and beautiful blue skies.   Since juxtaposition deals with things being placed in a way they typically aren't I started to think about what doesn't belong out in nature.  The first thing that came to mind was stumbling upon a Starbucks in the middle of the woods.  It's common in many cities to see one just about every block, but it's not what one would expect to see in nature.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find the image I had wanted of one, and so I decided to play off that type of idea and decided to paste highly recognisable commercial logos.   In this way I used juxtaposition to comment on how I feel these commercial things start to gain more importance than the land around us and how eventually our emphasis on "stuff" will destroy the natural beauty in our world.

At a later point I will post the actual lesson plan format once I get a hold of it.

Using Critiques in the K-12 Classroom

In Nancy House's article she discusses the purpose of critique in the art classroom.  Some points which she makes that I also agree with are that a good critique should include positive reinforcement about successes in a work, as well as constructive criticism as a means for making improvements. House also points out a few benefits to both teachers and students in holding critiques:

• to evaluate work
• to assess if a projects objective was fulfilled
• practice for practices sake
• to develop critical awareness
• to learn from self and others

Through engaging in critiques in a K-12 classroom students are able to find out about ones own strengths and weaknesses as well as expanding ones visual aesthetics awareness beyond the arts.  In the article, House also mentions a few different types of approaches to art criticism:

•  Feldman Method- focuses on formal issues such as color, space and design elements
• "Ring around the tub"- personal conversation
• Hartung's Method- students are given cards with descriptive words that they place next to the best example of the word.
• Hildreth Method- "put your two cents in"  students are given pennies and cash them in, in order to discuss a work being critiqued
• Thompson Method/ PQP- Students in this method of art criticism are first praised for successes, questioned further to gain understanding of the work/process, and then other students propose what they would do if it were their work of art.
•  Written responses to works of art
• Number Works- Place numbers on each piece of art to be critiqued.  Students then choose a number from a hat.  Students share one positive statement and one bit of constructive criticism about the work they have chosen.  Then others are encouraged to comment and continue with the critique.

 Of these methods I find the "ring around the tub" to be the least appealing, and not because of it's name.  In this method, the class starts out by critiquing one students work at a time, moving down the line, and normally proves to be long, tedious and boring.  I feel that many teachers still structure their critiques like this, and that all the time spent on them could be much more beneficial. The Feldman method I find to be important to include.  Most critiques have at least some focus on formal issues.  I believe the Hartung method is most helpful in getting students to start thinking about how we look at art and how we associate words with visuals.  I also see useful qualities in the number works method in which everyone's work of art is guaranteed to have at least some response. I also like the emphasis on having at least one positive statement as well as constructive criticism that can aid the artist in producing stronger work.  The Thompson method also appeals to me because I appreciate a structure that starts with praise, or pointing out ones strengths.  After that, questions are asked in order to better understand the artist and the work, and a proposition is given as to what other students would do to strengthen a work if it were theirs.

Aesthetics as Critical Inquiry

In another article of his Tom Anderson illustrates ways of talking with students about art, but more specifically through methods of aesthetic inquiry for secondary and post secondary art education.  Instead of using critcards as suggested in the previously mentioned article, here he suggests a more open conversation on the meaning and value of art.  Students start of with their immediate interpretation and at a point the teacher then presents some more contextual information.  The teacher in this situation sets up for a debate but guides the conversation, occasionally jumping in providing additional insight that helps defend arguments.  A blackboard should be used to document points backing up each argument.  An area between the two should be used for


questions and reasons.  At a certain point this debate is cut off, and it should be noted that not in all cases is one answer better than the other, neither is there only one correct conclusion.  Even so, the teacher should direct the lesson and conversation towards the questions presented on the board. Through the presented method students learn how to use practical inquiry to form aesthetic theory.  The author suggests with this approach the conversation should end pointing out that questions answered about aesthetics in this way are answered as theory or persuasive argument.

In order to further address the question of meaning and value in art, students for the following class will bring in two objects, one which they consider an art object and the other they believe is not.  The following class has a discussion starting with the most basic question of why a particular object is art.  Point out where students suggest supporting ideas that correlate with current ideas in aesthetics, but don't immediately dismiss others.  Anderson also suggests writing assignments for students to do outside of class. Such assignments should have direct connection to the class conversations.  Some papers would include what is art, or if a debated artists work was really art.

I really like the overall idea of these open conversations structured with different questions.  As long as the classroom is a safe place where students are made to feel comfortable speaking, I believe this can structure a valuable learning experience.  This kind of back and forth dialogue can also better help students understandings of the new concepts associated with this method of learning.

Talking with Kids About Art

In his article, Tom Anderson suggests a model for art criticism that can be used with K-12 students.  It has been suggested that this approach to talking about art works well with all age levels, and even though I have not yet seen it in practice or tested it out myself, after looking at the structure I could imagine it to be so.  What the author suggests is a collection of four "critcards" that begin with asking questions about the appearance of the work, or immediate reaction, starting with the most basic or obvious features.  The second card is also a description card but deals more with the contextual qualities leading one to the meaning making part or the interpretation card.  The fourth and final card is about evaluation the work as far as ones personal experience with it, aesthetics, context, and finally if it was worth making and examining.  Below are images with the suggested format for the critcards.

Add caption

Interpreting Art: Reflecting, Wondering, And Responding

In Terry Barrett's book on analyzing art the author begins the first chapter by exploring concepts of interpretation by examining Surrealist paintings and offering an insight into his own interpretation of each artist's work.  Barrett also states "Anyone can engage in meaningful interpretive thought."  His idea of not saying "we see" and rather stating "I see" when interpreting each work is relevant because everyone has their own individual view point of a specific piece of art based on their own life experience and body of knowledge.  The author suggests that viewers or interpreters of art start with the literal aspects of what they see and then move on to find deeper meaning.  Sometimes an individual work of art may leave a viewer puzzled.  Looking at a wider variety of an artists body of work can offer insight into individual works by finding common elements, for example repeating symbols.  In interpreting art the author says one should still acknowledge prior knowledge and research on the topic.  Barrett also suggests that the selection of images we see of an artists body of work affects our understanding of it, and often only a small selection of ones art is shown and discussed.

 Many of Barrett's principles for interpreting art are in a way introduced in the first chapter, but they are focused upon more in detail in chapter eight.  Interpreting art is about making meaning of an art object.
The author provides a list of these principles, most of which I find very straight forward (but for a few I have offered a tad bit more insight into).

• Artworks are always about something
• Subject matter + Medium + Form + Context = Meaning
• To interpret a work of art is to understand it in language
• Feelings are guides to interpretation 
• The critical activities of describing, analyzing, interpreting, judging, and theorizing about works of art are interrelated and interdependent
• Artworks attract multiple interpretations and it is not the goal of interpretation to arrive at single, grand, undefined composite interpretation.
• There is a range of interpretations any artwork will allow
• Meanings of artworks are not limited to what their artists intended them to mean
• Interpretations are not so much right but are more or less reasonable, convincing, informative, and enlightening.
• Interpretations imply a world view 
• Good interpretations tell more about the artwork than they tell about the interpreter
• The objects of interpretation are artworks, not artists
• All art is in part about the world in which it emerged
• All art is in part about other art
• Good interpretations have coherence, correspondence, and inclusiveness
• Interpreting art is an endeavor that is both individual and communal (Interpretations that are individual are influenced by personal meaning.  Communal ones are influenced by a group with shared interests)
• Some interpretations are better than others (the best ones working as a persuasive argument that builds upon fact)
• The admissibility of an interpretation is ultimately determined by a community of interpreters and the community is self-correcting (As time goes on new views develop or are discovered, new light is shed upon a work and evidence for new interpretations arise)
• Good interpretations invite us to see for ourselves and continue on our own 

I really appreciate how the author wrote this book, all his points are articulated well, but without becoming overly verbose, loosing me in confusing and unnecessary language.  The chapters I covered are great for those new to interpreting art, but also for those who need a little refresher.  One of the most important stances that the author takes is that there is no one right interpretation for a particular work. This is really important for beginners to understand and I would make this very clear to students.  Everyone has an individual view of a particular work of art based on our own experience. At several times Barrett mentions the fear of over interpreting art that often holds one back, but the principles he has set up, as well as many of the questions asked of works discussed in chapter one, offer as an excellent guide in deep thoughtful interpretation.

Principles of Possiblity: Considerations for a 21st Century Art & Culture Curriculum

I have always enjoyed articles by Olivia Gude, and tend to agree with many of her ideas and opinions.  I tend to find her articles a good read and so I enjoyed this one.  She couldn't have put it any better than she had in the very beginning by stating "Has any art teacher ever reviewed the national or state standards for art education or the prevailing list of elements and principles of design and then declared, "I feel so motivated to make some art!""  The author then goes on to state that she doesn't feel so and I agree with her.  Gude puts emphasis on the need for big ideas being investigated in art and not just aesthetics.  Postmodern principles cannot stand as the primary aspect of an art curriculum.  In the article creative play is viewed as important but it is noted that experimentation with media on it's own is not enough to create valuable learning experiences.  More investigative content is needed in the curriculum to further engage students.  Projects need to open up a variety of opportunities for students to grow conceptually, and approaches towards projects that narrow exploration and growth need to be avoided.  I absolutely love Gude's example of the teacher who gives an assignment and restricts students to a warm color palette.  In reality this hinders students possibilities for creative learning experiences.  Gude's article puts emphasis on creating projects stemming from asking questions that are important to students.  Upon reflecting on these things students can gain insight into the self.  This is very important to adolescents who are facing a great deal of change in their life.  Projects stemming from issues important to students keeps them more engaged in what they are doing.  Other types of projects Gude finds valuable are those that focus on themes important to the community, as well as multicultural curriculum.  What the author refers to as "attentive learning" or art made through observation and experience of different environments is another approach that can bring up more complex questions for students to ask.  There needs to be a push for investigative learning, not just specific end results if we want to offer students valuable opportunities for diversity.  Gude states in her article that she has created this outline as a guide to aid teachers in creating meaningful curriculum that has the ability to "engage and empower."  I would agree that the issues she has stated are all real and that a different way of art education, like the one proposed here can offer students much more valuable learning experiences than many former generations have had.

A Middle School Curriculum: From Rhetoric To Reality

James Bean's article puts emphasis on reform of the middle school curriculum through the use of compelling themes.  There is also much importance placed on the use of interdisciplinary activities  The author points out the dramatic period of change students go through during early adolescence with new social situations and experimenting with different roles.  Students during this time tend to start thinking more conceptually, questioning values and other important issues.  They ask profound questions about who they are and the people they are becoming.  That is why curriculum with an emphasis on student's personal concerns, as well as larger social concerns are important to integrate into the classroom curriculum.  I agree with the author and his belief that whether the concerns of students are addressed and resolved or not has an impact on the quality of life in the present and in their futures. I also really appreciate and agree with the authors view on teaching a variety of skills and not looking at them as being isolated, rather developing them and using them with important themes that are being focused on.  The emphasis on using themes that grow out of students questions and concerns is important and I feel would prove effective in engaging students in learning.  It is, although, important to put the focus on issues that are widely shared not only amongst adolescents but also the the rest of society.  In choosing these themes students should be actively involved, but such involvement does not make the teachers role in planning curriculum any less important.   Once chosen these themes should be clear using a wide variety of skills and resources.  To be effective teachers must present a wide variety of learning possibilities.

I concluded that many of the different ideas proposed in the article remain relevant today.  It is important that the activities students are given address issues important to them, include the use of a broad spectrum of skills, demand higher level thinking and integrate a wide variety of themes.

Surrealist Games

Of the many Surrealist games that exist I find the Exquisite Corpse to be the most interesting one out there and appropriate for all ages.  It not only is fun but can be a great exercise to use as a beginning of the year ice breaker allowing students to become more comfortable working with one another. The range of imaginative results are never ending and can help show students that we all are capable of being creative.

Although I am not a big fan of Wikipedia because anyone can alter the content I did find a few interesting examples there as well as a simple explanation of how the activity is done.

Below is a video example of how an Exquisite Corpse can be done as well as a television interview with an artist on the topic.