Symbolic Still Life Painting
Goals: Students will create a still life painting.
Objectives: Students will compose a still life, sketching and then paint it with watercolors.
Intended Audience: 6th Grade
This lesson may take between 5 and 7 class sessions, depending on the pace of painting, the last session includes a culminating activity.
New York Learning Standards Addressed:
1. Students will make works of art that explore different kinds of subject matter, topics, themes.
– Students will draw sketch and paint a still life.
2. Students will know and use a variety of visual arts materials, techniques, and processes.
– Students will employ knowledge of elements of design when creating their paintings and develop painting skills.
3. Students will respond critically to a variety of works in the arts, connecting the individual work to other works and to other aspects of human endeavor and thought.
– Students will critique effectiveness of their own paintings, as well as, others.
4. Students will develop an understanding of the personal and cultural forces that shape artistic communication and how the arts in turn shape the diverse cultures of past and present society.
– Students will choose the personal objects they use for the still life in a representative way, similar to the Audrey Flack paintings studied.
Materials:
watercolor paper
paint brushes
watercolors
paper towel
pencils
Pre-Requisite Knowledge: Students should have prior experience with watercolor paints and observational drawing.
Procedure:
1) Teacher will demonstrate for students how to enlarge a thumbnail sketch onto larger paper, preserving proportions and spatial relationships. Students will be reminded to sketch very lightly with their pencils.
2) Teacher will review watercolor basics with students, reminding students to paint lightly, working light to dark.
3) Students will get materials and work on their paintings. Teacher will go around room consulting with students on how to proceed/improve. Teacher will periodically highlight student’s work for praise or critique.
4) 5 minutes will be reserved at the end of class for cleanup.
5) At the end of the last (culminating) session, students will display their paintings and do a peer critique. Students will complete the self-assessment.
Resources: www.audreyflack.com
Assessment: Students will be assessed on participation, development of drawing and painting.
Rubric:
|
Criteria |
Needs Improvement 1 |
Average 2 |
Above Average 3 |
|
Student participates and contributes to class discussion |
Student does not pay attention or distracts from learning |
Student listens but does not participate |
Student listens and actively contributes to class |
|
Student draws still life successfully |
Student show little or no effort to complete drawing |
Student adequately draws still life |
Student demonstrates excellent drawing skills, developing thumbnail sketches successfully |
|
Students paints effectively |
Student painting is incomplete, or shows lack of effort |
Student paints competently, mixes colors effectively and shows good painting practice |
Student paints with above average skill, uses brushes and paints with technique, develops details and shadows |
Name _____________________
Student Assessment
1) My symbolic still life represents me because ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2) I made use of the elements of design by ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3) My painting is a good composition because _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4) If I made another symbolic still life I would do the following thing(s) differently ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________