That Art Where Its Squares and a Few Colors
The Elements of Art: Shape
Grade Level: 2–4
Students will exist introduced to one of the basic elements of fine art—shape—by analyzing the types of shapes used in diverse works of art to differentiate between geometric and natural shapes. They volition then create their own cut paper collage based on a theme they select.
Henri Matisse, Beasts of the Sea, 1950, gouache on paper, cut and pasted on white paper, mounted on sail, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1973.18.1
Curriculum Connections
- Math (geometry)
Materials
- Smart Board or computer with ability to project images from slideshow
- Heavy cardstock (to prevent curling when painted)
- Scissors
- Glue
- Large sized colored newspaper to adhere cut shapes to
- Foam sponges cut to various shapes
- Tempera paint in various colors
Warm-up Questions
What shapes do y'all recognize in Beasts of the Sea? Can you detect shapes that remind y'all of playful fish? a floating seahorse? spiral shells? waving seaweed? curvy coral? What about geometric shapes like squares, rectangles, and triangles?
Background
Everything has a shape, right? Just what exactly is a shape? Shape is a flat area surrounded by edges or an outline.
Artists use all kinds of shapes. Geometric shapes are precise and regular, like squares, rectangles, and triangles. They are often plant in human-fabricated things, like building and machines while biomorphic shapes are found in nature. These shapes may look like leaves, flowers, clouds—things that abound, flow, and move. The term biomorphic means: life-course (bio=life and morph= form). Biomorphic shapes are ofttimes rounded and irregular, dissimilar well-nigh geometric shapes.
An artist that loved to explore the possibilities of mixing geometric and biomorphic shapes was Henri Matisse. In the terminal few decades of his creative career, he developed a new form of art-making: the paper cutting-out. Still immersed in the power of colour, he devoted himself to cutting colored papers and arranging them in designs. "Instead of drawing an outline and filling in the colour…I am drawing directly in color," he said. Matisse was drawing with scissors!
Matisse enjoyed going to warmer places and liked to watch sunlight shimmering on the sea. He oft traveled to seaports along the French Mediterranean, as well visiting Italy, Due north Africa, and Tahiti. Beasts of the Sea is a retentiveness of his visit to the S Seas. In this work of art, Matisse showtime mixed paint to get all the brilliant colors of the ocean. Then he cut this paper into shapes that reminded him of a tropical sea. Lastly, he arranged these biomorphic shapes vertically over rectangles of yellows, greens, and purples to suggest the watery depths of the undersea globe.
Guided Practise
Students volition explore other artists who experimented with different kinds of shapes. View the slideshow below and have students betoken out the shapes they see and ascertain them as being either geometric or from nature/biomorphic:
Slideshow: Geometric or Biomorphic?: Shapes in Works of Art
Piet Mondrian, Tableau No. Iv; Lozenge Composition with Ruby, Gray, Blueish, Xanthous, and Black, c. 1924/1925
What kind of shapes did the artist utilize?
- Geometric? (Aye, triangles, a square, and rectangles.)
- From nature/biomorphic? (None.)
Edward Steichen, Le Tournesol (The Sunflower), c. 1920
What kind of shapes did the artist utilise?
- Geometric? (The artist used mostly geometric shapes.)
- From nature/biomorphic? (The large green shape—the vase—in the centre of the painting seems more than like something found in nature with its rounded edges.)
Vincent van Gogh, Roses, 1890
What kind of shapes did the creative person employ?
- Geometric? (No hard-edged shapes here.)
- From nature/biomorphic? (Yes, it makes sense that a painting of flowers uses biomorphic shapes—things "from life.")
Henri Matisse, Woman Seated in an Armchair, 1940
- Betoken out that this is the same artist every bit the one that created Beasts of the Sea, all the same, this one uses paint instead of cutting paper.
- Did he mix kinds of shapes in this painting too? (Yeah, the artist used shapes from nature and geometric shapes here.)
Activity
Using Matisse's Beasts of the Sea as their inspiration, students volition create their own colorful collage:
- Students will select a theme for their work. Like Matisse, they can choose a memory of a vacation as their inspiration.
- Also, like Matisse, students will make their own colored paper by painting entire sheets of white paper 1 color. Use heavy cardstock so the newspaper doesn't scroll.
- Using scissors, students will cutting the paper into different shapes that remind them of that identify.
- Then, they will arrange their cutting-out shapes on a large piece of colored paper. Encourage students to move the pieces around, rotate them, and experiment with layering.
- When they are satisfied with the blueprint, glue the shapes in place.
Equally an alternative to accommodate motor control differences, the teacher can provide sponges in pre-cutting shapes. Students would and then dip the sponge shapes into tempera paint and stamp them onto the paper.
Extension
While creating the cut-outs, Matisse hung them on the walls and ceiling of his apartment in Nice, France. "Thanks to my new fine art, I have a lush garden all around me. And I am never alone," he said. Accept students brainstorm unique means of hanging their artwork. How could they transform their environment? Could a hallway be lined with underwater scenes to make it seem like students are swimming to grade? If possible, execute their exhibition desires and invite others students to explore their work. Student artists should draw their process and choice of shapes to convey their theme.
The Elements of Art is supported past the Robert Lehman Foundation
National Cadre Arts Standards
VA:Cn10.1.4 Create works of art that reverberate community cultural traditions.
VA:Cr1.1.4Through observation, infer information about time, place, and civilisation in which a work of art was created.
VA:Cr1.2.2Brainstorm collaboratively multiple approaches to an art or blueprint problem.
VA:Cr2.1.3 Create personally satisfying artwork using a multifariousness of artistic processes and materials.
VA:Cr2.2.2 Demonstrate safe procedures for using and cleaning fine art tools, equipment, and studio spaces.
VA:Pr4.one.3 Investigate and hash out possibilities and limitations of spaces, including electronic, for exhibiting artwork.
VA:Re7.1.2 Perceive and describe aesthetic characteristics of one'due south natural world and synthetic environments.
VA:Re7.2.iv Analyze components in visual imagery that convey messages.
VA:Re8.1.1 Interpret fine art by categorizing subject field matter and identifying the characteristics of form.
Source: https://www.nga.gov/learn/teachers/lessons-activities/elements-of-art/shape.html
0 Response to "That Art Where Its Squares and a Few Colors"
Mag-post ng isang Komento