SIXTH GRADERS EXPRESS THEMSELVES
Grade: 6
Age: 10-12
Submitted by Rebecca Engelman, an art educator at Cathedral School in Bismarck, ND.
Objectives
Students will demonstrate an understanding of expressionism by creating a portrait of a friend who inspires a mood or feeling.
What You Need:
- 16 x 12 black paper (high quality construction paper works well)
- White chalk
- White Elmer's® School Glue
- Assorted chalk pastels (fluorescence if possible)
Introduction:
Give students information on artist who were considered Expressionists. (Van Gogh, Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Der Blaue Reiter) Use slides and reproductions to demonstrate the use of distortion and color to evoke emotions.
What You Do:
STEP 1
Assign each student a partner. As one partner makes a face which portrays a certain emotion, the other partner quickly draws him/her with white chalk on black paper. Emphasis that this should not be a realistic drawing. Use simple lines and large shapes. Try to capture the expression. Make sure the picture fills the page and extends to the bottom.
STEP 2
Use white glue to trace over the chalk lines. Practice controlling the flow of the glue on scrap paper. Let the glue dry undisturbed overnight.
STEP 3
Use pastel to color in all flesh areas. Use a finger tip to push the color into the edges of the glue.
go over the pastel with a colored pastel and gently blend. Have the students blend pink or red on the cheeks.
STEP 4
Let the students complete ther portraits with the colored pastels. Remind them to use only one finger when blending and to push the color into the edges of the glue. Talk about using colors in unusual ways to create a mood.
STEP 5
Complete the back ground taking the color all the way to the edge of the paper. Spray with fixative or hairspray to set the pastel.
More Information:
Recommended Books:
Discovering Great Artists
Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters
by MaryAnn F. Kohl, Kim Solga, Rebecca Van Slyke
All the ideas in this book reflect the style or techniques of great painters and artists such as Monet, van Gogh, Rembrant, da Vinci, over 80 artists from the Renaissance to the present day. All activities use materials found in most homes or classrooms.
Biography:
Rebecca Engelman has been an Art Specialist for Cathedral School for 13 years. She teach grades K-8 and is the recipient of the North Dakota Governor's Award for Arts in Education.
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