Enduring Ideas: Creating the Curriculum

For high schoolers, identity is everything. From the clothes they wear, the music they listen to, to the friends they choose, teenagers are in a constant flux of identity exploration and change. This is why the enduring idea of "Exploring Identity" is a great theme to use as a framework for an Art 1 or 2D design class. The following curriculum is intended for High School Freshman or Sophomores. 

The first two projects of the year will focus on self-portraiture as a means of exploring identity. The first self-portrait that students will complete will be a representation of how they view themselves. Students will work from a photo and use the grid method. Students will have the option of bringing in a photo of themselves (must be school appropriate), or have the teacher take one for the assignment. Students are encouraged to take a photo outside of class to alter so that they can concentrate on the ways in which they want to depict themselves. Students will have to alter the image into black and white, print out the photo, grid both the final piece of paper and the image itself, and transfer the image using 2H graphite. Students will then use the remaining graphite value pencils to shade their portraits.

The second project out of five would concentrate on using line and color to create a self portrait contour drawing (refer to blog post about contour drawings for lesson content). After students render themselves in modified contour using mirrors, they will fill in the space with watercolors. Students should consider color choice as imperative--what connotations do each color carry? How do you feel when you see the color blue? Is that how you want people to feel when they see your portrait? ect. Students may choose to completely cover their paper in color (using at least 3 colors), or fill in individual sections of contour with a color scheme in mind. The final product should be a representation of how they think others view their identity in a abstract or non-representational way. 

The third assignment will utilize a multi media collage approach. Students are encouraged to explore their interests, desires, and future plans using torn or cut magazine images, text, and/or drawn/painted images. Students will consider the way they see themselves in a social context: What issues really matter to you? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What hobbies/interests do you have? Who are the most influential people in your life? Students should answer a handout list of questions like the ones listed above to begin brainstorming about their collages. They should consider all of their answers when designing their layout/composition. Students will use modge podge to attach and overlap their images. 

The fourth project will again focus on their future plans. Students will think about where they see themselves in 5 years. What roles will they play? What identity do they want to have? Students will create a thumb print using ink on white paper, scan the image into the computer, enlarge the image to roughly face size, and using tracing paper, write an "In five years I will..." letter to themselves using the lines of their fingerprint to guide their text placement. Students should consider text size, bold, underlines, and font when considering their piece. Students may chose to create their work using black, or colored ink. 

The final and most in depth piece of the semester will focus on the collective identity. Students will compose a photographic triptych of themselves in three of his/her social and/or cultural group. Students should first consider themselves in the social context of the school itself, the community as a whole, and the world at large. Students will take photos of themselves in their collective identities using props, strategic clothing, other people ect. arranged in a compostitionally appropriate way. This is the big picture piece: Who are you in relation to those around you? What social circles/clubs/hobbies do you partake in that help shape/define your identity?  

The Fundamentals of Art

Large, colorful posters with each element and principle of design should be
displayed throughout the art room.

In learning a new skill or process, the first thing step is to learn the basics; the fundamentals. In Art, the fundamentals are broken down into two branches: the elements and the principles. The elements and principles of design can be found at the core of every piece of art work that has ever been made. Whether consciously or subconsciously, artists create art according to these rules of design. The importance of these rules cannot be overstated which is why it would be one of the first lessons that would be taught in an Art 1 classroom.

First, students must be taught the basic definitions of each element and principle of design. This can be accomplished through a well designed and interactive power point in which the element is defined, discussed, and then an example of that particular element at work in an art work. Students should take notes and write out their own definition in a way they can understand it. Everyone knows what a line is, but not everyone knows how to define what it is in words. Students will be utilizing these elements and principles throughout their experiences in art and must demonstrate their comprehension of the topic. The easiest way to assess their knowledge is a quick and easy quiz (either written or a fun quiz game website). Or have them complete examples of each element or principle within a square on poster board accompanied by the definition in the above example.

To further explore and investigate the ways in which the elements and principles guide and explain our design choices, I would have them experiment with acrylic and watercolor paint to create a non-representational mixed-media piece concentrating on shape, color, pattern, and emphasis. Starting off the curriculum with an abstract/non-representational formalist piece will strengthen students confidence in future assignments by removing the pressure to 'get it right'.

Students will start with black acrylic paint and a foam brush to create the black shapes that are fully of energy and movement. Next, they will use either warm or cool watercolor to fill in parts of their work. They will be encouraged to experiment with mixing colors and layering colors. Finally, they will use stamps and white ink pens to create patterns and emphasis throughout their work.

Livening up Still Life

Ah the good ole' Still Life drawing. Students and artists alike have been setting up and rendering flower arrangements, fruit, and an assortment of other objects in the attempts to create a good still life. Personally, my drawing concentration has inadvertently forced me to complete countless drawings of bowls, glassware, bones, shoes, and almost any other ordinary object you can think of. You'd think I'd be better at it by now!! This lesson will prove to be challenging not only for first time art students, but for this teacher as well.

To begin, I would introduce students to examples of what still life is. We'll talk about the reasoning behind them and why an artist would want to draw/paint these scenes. The warm up/practice lesson will have students draw spheres, cubes, and Styrofoam cones that have been previously arranged and lighted. I will teach students how to use a straight edge to sight measure the distances and placements of objects. Proportion is vital in this lesson and we will spend time talking about and learning how to shrink/enlarge objects using those sight measurements. We will use work sheets to learn about shading with graphite and talk about lighting and shadow. The process of learning how to represent objects correctly is a difficult one and students will probably spend at least one full class period exploring and practicing the techniques discussed.

This lesson is perfect to follow a perspective lesson as students would already have some experience in placing objects in space. I would have an open discussion with students about what kinds of objects they would like to draw in their still life. Hopefully by now I will have collected various random and interesting objects for them to chose from. I want students to have a hand in choosing the content and placement of  the objects. We will work as a class to set up the still life in the center of the room. I will remind students of the techniques we had practiced previously and challenge them to either draw the entire scene, or focus on one section and enlarging the proportions. Students will initially draw out their still life on newsprint or a scrap drawing sheet so they can work on their proportions and placements. They will use light boards and tracing paper to transfer their drawings on to their final papers. Students will be encouraged to either use black and white, or a monochromatic color scheme when shading their final works. 

Gesture Drawing: Approaching The Figure

compressed charcoal gesture drawings
in a sketch book. 

Gesture drawing, my own personal brand of doodling. I began my ascent into representational figure drawing with a genuine love and interest in gestural drawings. Too this day, my sketch books are littered with small, medium, and large renditions of people and every day objects in fresh, quick lines. This lesson will focus on movement and rhythm and focus on reteaching students how to look at objects.

The most important thing about gestural drawings is that they are quick. An accomplished gesture maker can render an entire figure from head to two in well under 10 seconds. To begin this lesson, I would show a brief power point containing gesture work from artists (famous and unknown).I would emphasize the light and fresh marks of gesture and notify them of the time constraints. Like the contour drawing lesson, students will focus on their subject rather than their paper.

Gesture drawings in compressed charcoal on drawing paper.

In the warm up exercise, I would supply each student with plenty of newsprint (ideally each student would have their own pad of newsprint), and vine charcoal. I like vine best for gestural drawings because its workable and inherently light. Contrast can be built up easily and the freshness of the medium automatically forces students to reflect its qualities. Students will be standing up, facing the projection screen where I would start by showing gesture drawings of figures and ask students to copy them--under a 2 minute warning. They will do five of these kinds of drawings. Next, Students will create their own gestures using clothed figure models from [[http://artists.pixelovely.com/ ]]. The class mode pose generator features clothed models of both genders in intricate and interesting poses. They will do five more at two minutes. Continuing this trend, they will complete 10 poses at 1 minute, and 15 at 30 seconds. The excitement of the time constraint will be interesting to see in the classroom.

Gesture drawings from my first year in art school. Compressed
charcoal on newsprint. 

 I'm not sure I would encourage students to develop their gestures into a formal and complete work of art. For me, gesture is loose, free, and rhythmic, and that is the beauty of it--its not developed. Perhaps students would explore different mediums to further develop their gesture drawings. Water color, India Ink, pastel, and toned paper would be exciting choices for students to have and could create interesting tonal developments within the mark.

Gaining a New Perspective

Example of five point perspective drawing.
Gina Taylor's Art stockpile.

Perspective is probably one of the most important techniques and tools needed to draw accurate and representational subjects in art. Done correctly, students will have the feeling of getting it 'right'. Teaching perspective drawing would logically come after contour drawing and before still life as these three drawing techniques build upon one another.

To begin this lesson, It's important that students understand the various types of perspectives that exist in drawing: one point, two point, three, four point ect. I would start by introducing the various perspectives via power point and student/teacher examples. I remember in elementary school (and I hope this is a universal experience), working with perspective, where we drew a horizon line with a point in the center and made two straight lines out of that point to create a landscape with a railroad coming towards the forward plane. I would begin with that anecdote to remind students that they have already worked with perspective (either in previous art classes, or even in geometry).

Example of a two point perspective work sheet completed.

Work sheets that guide first time perspective drawers through the initial process are a great way to introduce students to the technique. Following along with me, we will work through one and two point perspective and then I would have them work on three point themselves (graded worksheet). Its important students use a straight edge and draw their lines lightly at first so that once the form is made, it can be darkened.

A student drawing a house in two point perspective.

Once we have practiced as a class with perspective and each student demonstrates basic grasp of the concept and the technique, we will progress onto completing a final drawing. One idea I have always wanted to do with students (elementary at first but it can be adapted for middle and high schoolers), is stacked cities. Using three point perspective, students will create their ideal city with buildings/shops/houses stacked upon one another. I'd first ask them to think about whats in their city, the challenge is how to incorporate different shapes stacked on top of each other while maintaining correct perspective.