Cycle 2 Week 4- Abstract Native American Salmon

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For week four, the lesson combines Native American art (timeline card “Early Native Americans”) and abstract art.  First, let’s define abstract.  It is a category of art that represents imagery in a simplistic or distorted manner.  Under this category is non-objective art, which takes out the recognizable image completely, and we are left with just lines, color, etc.  The Foundations Guide art idea for week 4 is non-objective, but using abstracted imagery can also effectively teach students to design well using lines, shapes, and color.

Just like the lesson from the Foundations Guide, this lesson encourages students to use the elements to create interesting and pleasing design.  Students must also think about space, balance, and repetition as they draw.  The fish in the project is a simplified shape, and the motifs inside are focused on design, not realism.  Let’s get started on the abstracted Northwest Native American Salmon! Continue Reading →

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Cycle 2 Week 3- Book of Kells

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For week three students will be doing an upside-down drawing.  The concept is about training our brains to see the image solely as a group of lines and shapes.  It also relates back to OiLs and the ability to describe and duplicate lines.

It is so, so, SO important to teach students to look at the object in front of them as they draw, and to study the lines that create that object.  People tend to draw the object they see in their mind rather than what they see in front of them.  For example, if asked to draw an apple on a table, many people would look at the apple once, then keep their head down and draw what they think a typical apple would look like.  We want students to constantly look back at the object and draw the nuances of the lines and curves- simply as a series of lines and curves, not an apple.

The lesson below relates to geography for the week.  The Book of Kells is a medieval illuminated manuscript created by monks in Ireland around 800 AD.  It is a great way to connect art to history to geography. Continue Reading →

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Cycle 2 Week 2- Geometric Bear

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Fine Art for week two is Mirror Images.  The exercises this week are great for training students to pay attention to shapes and angles, while also practicing the skill of manipulating images in their head.  They will need to study the shapes and be able to flip them around in their mind’s eye before they draw them.  This can be tough to do!

As in the last post, this project is tied to the science for the week.  Students will be drawing a picture of a bear.  For the 4th edition guide, this was tied to types of consumers (bears are omnivores, excluding polar bears which are carnivores.  Pandas are technically omnivores, but prefer to eat mostly plants).  Now that we are in the 5th edition, bears can be tied into biomes: from Giant Pandas in the tropical rainforest, Polar Bears in the tundra, and Grizzly Bears in grasslands and forests. (Bringing in a picture book about bears could be fun for younger students.) Continue Reading →

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Cycle 2 Week 1- Rainforest Drawings

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The first week of CC is almost here.  Woo hoo! (Or maybe, “Aagghhhh!”)  Here is a drawing lesson that incorporates some science from week one (plants and animals in God’s creation) along with the OiLs drawing techniques.  Below you will find three separate lessons (one for each age group) but all with the same theme.  The age group is a suggestion, so use the lesson that you feel is best for your class. Continue Reading →

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