Week 3: Art History Lesson

Art History Lesson

Enduring Idea: Identity

Rationale: Students will explore ideas of identity as a compilation of different traits, some that are unique, and some that are caused by outside influences.

Artists/Artworks: Rembrandt, Monet, Matisse, DaVinci, Mondrian, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Banksy, Chuck Close, Gursky, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Goldsworthy, Ellsworth Kelly, Cy Twombly, and others.

Key Concepts: History, criticism, aesthetics

Essential Questions:

     How have contemporary artworks been influenced by the works of the old masters?

     What are the similarities between your two artworks? Differences?

     How is your artwork response for this assignment affected by the other two you chose?

Objectives:

Lesson: We will introduce art history and criticism by projecting or pinning up two artworks from different time periods and discussing them in class.

Activities:

     Students will choose two artworks, one contemporary and one from a different period, from a list.

     They will discover the histories of both artworks and record them in their sketchbooks.

     They will practice art criticism by describing, interpreting, and judging, and comparing both artworks by writing their findings in their sketchbooks.

     They will make a final art piece as a response to their two chosen artworks. On the critique day, students will present their piece along with the two others and describe how they responded to them.

Formative Assessment:

     Students have written the histories of the two artworks they chose in their sketchbooks.

     Students have written a criticism of the two artworks in their sketchbooks.

     Their final artwork draws from elements found in the two artworks they chose.

     Their artwork was completed on time for the final critique.

          If a student misses the critique, they must write a couple paragraphs about their art piece and how it was influenced by the two artworks they chose.

Verbs and Lesson Plan 1

Inquire: Ask for information; investigate; look into. Students will study works of art and ask questions about them. Questions about materials, processes, interpretations, and apply those questions and answers to their own art.
Explore: Travel in or through an area in order to learn about or familiarize oneself with it; examine by touch. Students will use a variety of materials in art making and many students will be new to the materials, so they will be working on learning about the materials and learning how to use them in different ways.
Design: The art or action of conceiving of and producing a plan or drawing. Students will use sketchbooks to plan their projects before beginning to aid them in composition and help give me an idea of what my students will be working on and what they're interested in.
Research: The systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. Similar to exploring, students will experiment with different materials and figure out how the materials work for different projects.
Practice: Repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it. Students will learn proficiency in a variety of materials through repeated use in their projects.
Critique: Evaluate in a detailed and analytical way. Students will look at their own and other works of art and learn to observe and analyze and articulate their thoughts about the artworks.

Portrait of Dora Maar, Picasso

Enduring Idea: Identity

Artist: Picasso

Rationale: Students will explore visual identity through making a blind contour portrait similar to cubism and Picasso

Objective: Students will inquire into what makes this work of art unique, then apply those discovered traits to a portrait of their own through exploration of various materials and processes.

Lesson:
Have students write down traits and elements of Picasso's portrait
Talk about cubism and Picasso
Have students begin their projects

Activities:
     Students will make a list in their sketchbooks of unique elements found in the above Picasso portrait 
     Students will begin their portraits by making a blind contour drawing of a partner or themselves
     Students will then color their portraits using a medium of their choice, such as watercolor, pastel, or collage
    
Formative Assessment:
     Students used blind contour correctly
     Students applied several elements listed in their sketchbooks
     Their portrait is fully colored and shows a high level of craftsmanship

First Day of Class

After I introduce myself, my first lesson will be to have the students do blind contours of each other and turn them into Picasso-esque portraits.

Copying deKooning:

Springville Art Museum

Failure

For my failure project, I decided to make an Irish dancing solo dress out of butcher paper. I've heard from multiple sources that making a solo dress without a pattern is very difficult. I don't have a pattern but ever since I started doing Irish dance, I've wanted to make one for myself. A dress typically costs $500-$1200, so if one is able, it's more worth it to make one rather than buy it.

Solo dresses are usually made out of high quality fabrics, such as heavy satin or velvet. They are traditionally embroidered with elaborate designs taken from the Book of Kells and accented with rhinestones, sequins, and all things glittery. For competitions, there are rules surrounding the dresses, and performance in the competition can be affected by the dress. The dress always has a cape in back, long sleeves, high neckline, and skirt above the knee. Styles and fashions for the dresses are constantly changing, most recently with increasing amounts of sparkles, brighter colors, and shorter skirts. A few examples of past and current styles:


Past:

Current:

     ^ back view







My failure:

In Irish dancing, you're supposed to dance with your arms and shoulders back. I could not do so very well in my dress. I actually ripped a bit of the collar trying to do so. The skirt was too long. It was very loud when I tried dancing in it. I didn't use a pattern, instead using a dress I already had and tracing its parts onto the butcher paper, so measurements were a bit off and some things didn't match up right. I had to re-fold the skirt several times to get it to the right width to fit the dress. The whole thing is held together with scotch tape. My dress mostly fits the current style of dress, but for the skirt length. I don't have elaborate celtic designs on it, but the designs I have would be appropriate for competition.

Inside view:

Final Test Question 1: Color Theory

I think abstraction is making something we would recognize into something less recognizable. Abstraction isn't typically representational, but one could find representation in it. When we painted our skin colors, we were abstracting our skin into something less recognizable, but one could still figure out that the little squares are a skin color. Our black and white paintings are abstract in that they aren't representational at all. They're just black and white forms on paper, but someone could still read emotions or other representational forms into them..

Modernism is a breaking away of traditional forms. When painting our black and white paintings, we used sticks, which is a breaking away from the traditional use of brushes. They are abstract, which itself is a form that breaks away from traditional, representational painting forms.

Color theory is so interesting. When we painted our skin color, it was interesting how the different colors of paper made the skin color look different. When initially mixing the color, I thought I knew what color my skin was, but then comparing it directly to my skin, it looked really different. So I had to mix in different colors that I didn't think would actually be mixed into a skin color.

A modernist might view these images and just look at the use of paint and nontraditional materials. A postmodernist might look at them and interpret them according to postmodern ideas of race and diversity, how only black and white colors were used for the abstract paintings and the controversies that could go along with that, or they would be interested in the use of skin color and ideas of diversity in color in the labels of black and white.

3 questions to students:
What are some other nontraditional materials like sticks that could be used to make abstract paintings?
What ideas about race could be portrayed through the painting of skin color on the different colors of paper?
Does there need to be meaning in art for it to be art? Why or why not?

Me on the violin

Here's a link to my new Soundcloud station. I may or may not continue to post recordings, but there are four recordings up on it of me playing my violin with my husband on the ukulele. My dad sings in one of them.

https://soundcloud.com/user-522473970

Enjoy!