THE Curriculum for Creativity TM
R
The Elements of Art and Composition Elementary 4-5 Book One
Brenda Ellis
A Comprehensive Art Program Designed to Involve the Student in the Creative Process While Developing Observational Skills
PLUS Master Works Featuring American Art Art Instruction Newly Expanded and Revised
Getting Started
CONTENTS
ART SUPPLIES
Units 1-7: 4 - Ebony pencils 1 – vinyl eraser
Page Unit 2
Contents/ Art Supplies
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What Parents Want to Know Book Content and Scheduling What Students Want to Know The Mysterious Language of Art
1 – metal pencil sharpener 1 – sketch pad for drawing 1 - paper sack 1- drawing board (optional) Unit 8: 4- sheets of scratch-art paper (black on white or colored background) Units 9-10: additional supplies 1- white colored pencil (Prismacolor) 8- sheets black construction paper 1-scissors 1-glue stick
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5 6
The Elements of Art
1
Space
11 16 21
2 3
Line and Shape
Texture
The Elements Combined- Line, Shape, and Texture
22 4 27 5 32 6 37 7
Value Form
Form using Value
Local Value
Units 11-16: additional supplies 1 - Pigma Graphic marker 1mm (pointed tip marker) 1 – Pigma Graphic marker 2mm (flat tip marker) 1-ruler
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The Elements Combined- Values and Forms
43 8 48 9 53 10
Contrast
The Shapes of Natural Forms
Edges
DRAWING BOARD: A drawing board can be purchased at art supply stores, or can be cut from a small piece of 3/8 inch hardboard, found in lumberyards. Cut it to 15”x 16” for a small board, or 18” x 18” for a medium board. It is portable so you can draw anywhere.
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Composition
59 11 64 12
Balance Rhythm
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The Elements Combined- Solid and Textured Areas
70 13 75 14 80 15
Overlap
Depth
Proportion, the Face The Elements Combined- Lines, Forms, and Values
85
86 16
Movement
91 92
Evaluation Sheet
Bibliography
2
Getting Started
What Parents Want to Know Book Content and Scheduling
Artists have always focused on two groups of topics known as the elements of art and principles of design when learning to draw. These are the chosen topics of each unit in this book. Each topic is explored in four unique ways. This gives students enough experience with the topic that they naturally incorporate it into the way that they draw. It becomes part of their thinking as they draw any kind of subject matter. This kind of focus, and many opportunities to practice, is how children learn to draw. First Page of Each Unit Here students are shown which topic to focus on, explained in words and pictures. The creative exploration assignment guides students to observe the topic in their own environment, make connections to real-world experiences, and create a work of art from their observations and ideas. Building a Visual Vocabulary American Art Appreciation and History Second and Third Page of Each Unit Students are shown how the topic is used in master works and apply their new observations to a work of art that they create. Students also learn about artists and the times they lived in.
Techniques
Fourth Page of Each Unit Students learn how to use the materials and tools of art. They apply that knowledge to make original works.
Application
Fifth Page of Each Unit Students do a final project incorporating new techniques and application of the topic. They use a variety of references such as still life objects, landscapes, portraiture, photographs and more!
Scheduling Art Class Using this Book for One Full School Year
CLASSES PER WEEK: TWO
CLASS TIME: ONE HOUR
This schedule can be modified to fit yours. Keep in mind that students can work independently so it is their time you are scheduling, not your own. Schedule art class at a time when they can complete the art assignment, even if it runs over an hour. Once interrupted, students can rarely return to an activity with as much enthusiasm as they first had. The amount of time for completing each activity will vary greatly, depending on the student ’ s experience and personality. However, you should see that as they learn to use more of the elements within their pictures that they are taking more time on each piece. A goal would be to work up to spending one hour on a project by the end of the year.
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Getting Started
What Students Want to Know
THE MYSTERIOUS LANGUAGE OF ART
If the secrets of great artists were contained in a book, would you open it? We hope your answer is YES! There is much to learn from artists who have created all their lives. The first great secret artists share with others is:
1. Learn to observe the world around you- to really see it.
“OK”, you say, “I’m looking and I see the same things I’ve always seen.” We won’t let you be stuck there. The second part of this secret is:
2. Learn what to look for.
We tend to look at subject matter and make vague and arbitrary decisions about what we see. Comments such as “grass is green,” “faces are hard to draw,” “I can draw a horse from the side, but not from the front,” all show that we are focusing on our ideas about the subject , and not on what we see. If you’ve ever made statements similar to these, you are simply focusing on the wrong type of information. As you look at the world in the ways artists do, your art will greatly improve. This book is designed to show you just what those ways are. Do artists really see differently? After all, we all have the same kind of eyes and unless impaired in some way, we do see the same as everyone else. So artists see the same as everyone else, but they have learned to focus on a particular aspect of what they see, and at the same time block out other types of information. The language of art includes code words called the elements of art. You may have heard about these elements, which include space, line, shape, texture, form, value, and color. The third part of that secret tells us how to see the world using the elements of art.
3. Learn to focus on one element of art at a time, while drawing, and block out the others.
With practice, your mind can focus on any element of art you choose. Your mind can switch with lightning speed to any other element and back again or onto another. This makes it a powerful focusing and blocking out tool.
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UNIT 4
Lesson 1
Value is how light or dark something appears when compared to a value scale. A value scale is shown below, from light to dark. The star appears to have different values on each side.
A CREATIVE EXERCISE USING REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE
Making art is an opportunity to experience the world differently. One naturally takes more time when looking at objects. This closer look is called observation. Artists who practice observing things in the natural world improve their ability to see! The more they see, the more they experience the world. Why make art? Make art in response to the world you see and experience.
TRY IT: Use a magnifying glass to reveal new sights of common objects in nature. Discover something new that you have not noticed about an object before. Draw this discovery on a piece of paper. After drawing the shape, add darker value around the edges to make the object stand out. Draw right up to the edge of the shape as shown.
NOTE: If you do not have a magnifying glass, use a mirror. Seeing a reflection of a thing can be eye opening as well.
OBJECTIVE: to notice the unique features of objects and to develop awareness of shape. Adding a dark value around the edges makes students more aware of those edges.
22
When you draw a line, it is dark compared to the white of the paper. Dark stands out against light. This contrast makes the drawing pleasing to the eye. A drawing made of light lines is not as pleasant to look at because the lines do not contrast enough with the white of the paper. In Frederic Remington’s painting, the values are clearly seen. The black horse, the black shirt, and the black clothing of the fallen man stand out from the light, sun- drenched prairie and sky.
Frederic Remington (1861-1909), Aiding a Comrade , c. 1890. Photo Credit: Dover Publications Inc.
It is easiest to see values clearly when looking at a gray image like the one on the right. The lightest value is seen in the dust surrounding the fallen cowboy.
The sky and sundrenched landscape are a middle value.
The horses are a bit darker in value than the landscape that surrounds them. The artist uses the darkest values in a triangle that draws our eyes to the action.
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THE ARTIST: Frederic Remington (1861-1909) American Cowboy Artist Frederic Remington is best known for his action-filled paintings of cowboys and Indians. He loved horses and outdoor life as a boy. He drew Western characters and battle scenes, though he was not a cowboy himself. He lived in the state of New York and had to make trips to the West, which he did often. There he gathered information for his pictures. He
THE TIMES: Y oung men knew how to handle a gun and how to ride a horse after their involvement in the Civil War in the mid 1800 ’s , so becoming a cowboy seemed like a good way to continue the kind of life they’d become used to. After the war, there was a need for beef in the more populated Eastern United States. Texas had cattle roaming free. America needed people to round up the cattle and drive them from Texas to railroad depots in Missouri, where the cattle could then travel by train to the Eastern states. Men doing the job were called cowboys. Cowboys endured the harsh climate of the southwest and made camp outdoors each night alongside the cattle. White men, African Americans, Mexicans, and Native Americans became cowboys. Skirmishes with Native American tribes were still taking place at this time as shown in Frederic Remington’s painting , Aiding a Comrade . Newspapers told exaggerated stories about the Wild West and people in both America and Europe loved hearing about the heroes and outlaws who lived out West. When movies and TV were developed, America returned to telling stories of the cowboys through those new mediums. Cowboy stories remained popular throughout the 1950’s.
also made small-scale bronze sculptures of broncobusters.
MAKE AN OBSERVATION DRAWING!
It takes practice to draw solid areas of value. To get solid areas of value, draw simple shapes and fill them in. Keep the pressure on the pencil the same. Keep it lighter for light values. Keep it heavier for dark values. To make it fun, always choose shapes of things you like!
Value is created by using the side of the pencil as shown on page 19 and moving it back and forth. You can go over an area in different directions.
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How to Add Value to a Drawing
Lesson 3
To make a darker value, apply more pressure to the pencil . When applying dark values to the page, be careful not to smear the pencil marks with the side of your hand. Place a small piece of paper under your hand, resting on the paper instead of the drawing.
SOMETHING TO TRY: Make a value scale like the one shown on page 22. Draw five one-inch squares on drawing paper. Leave the first square white. Fill in the last square with the darkest mark the pencil allows. Draw the others as closely as possible to the values shown. Cut out your value scale.
1. Draw a picture in lines.
Draw first using line and shape to place the parts of the picture within the space of the page.
2. Add values to the picture. Look for light and dark by placing the value scale next to different areas. If drawing from real life, hold the scale in the air, overlapping the object, and decide which square it is most like. Once you decide which value to use, draw that value in your picture. Hold the value scale near the drawing if necessary, to see if it is dark enough. To make the darkest values, put more pressure on your pencil.
Add darks and grays using the value scale. Compare the values in the picture to the values in your value scale.
25
Student Gallery
Choose a photograph that shows light and dark values. Draw a picture of it, using both the lightest and darkest values. Use the value scale you made on page 25 to compare
values in the photograph.
YOU WILL NEED
Artists are unique in the way they handled values. Look at the values in your reference photo when planning how you will use value.
Drawing pencil Vinyl eraser Drawing paper Drawing board Pencil sharpener
Above, Kendal Dehnart uses different values in
the lines she drew. Lines showing the
REFER TO THE FOLLOWING WHEN DRAWING Find a book on a favorite subject that includes good photographs. Subjects could be: Sharks Space flight Trucks Ballet
edges of the horse and his rigging are dark and heavy, while lines showing the edges of the man are light. In the middle work, Jared Baughn uses light, middle, and dark values. Ariel Ellis, in the work at right, makes a dark value in the background. This makes the ballerina stand out.
LOOK BACK! Did you find a photograph of something you enjoy? Were light and dark values used in the drawing?
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UNIT 13
Lesson 1
When one object moves in front of another, blocking part of the other object from view, it overlaps. One way to achieve balance is to overlap objects and connect the edges as shown on the right.
A CREATIVE EXERCISE USING REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE
Sometimes an artist uses a subject in their work simply because they like it. Many people prefer hanging pictures of food or fruit in their kitchen, or flowers and landscapes in their living room. Some like to hang pictures of people they know on their walls. The next time someone asks your reason for drawing a particular thing, simply say it is because you like it. Ralph Waldo Emerson stated, “Every genuine work of art has as much reason for be ing as the earth and the sun.” We all understand the earth and sun as things we could not live without.
TRY IT: Choose several objects from your room that you are fond of. Arrange them and draw a picture of them.
OBJECTIVE: to use personal preference as a guide for choosing subject matter.
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When one object is in front of another and hides part of the object that is behind, we say that the two objects overlap. Overlap takes place from one point of view. This scene of a parade shows many overlapping flags. Overlapping is like a chain that links the shapes together.
Childe Hassam (1859- 1935), Allies Day, May, 1917 . Photo Credit: Dover Publications Inc.
Three flags overlap. The British flag overlaps a portion of the blue and white area of the French flag. The French flag overlaps the upper portion of the American flag.
The British flag overlaps the American flag. The area where they
overlap is shaded in here.
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THE ARTIST: Frederick Childe Hassam (1859- 1935) American Impressionist Painter Hassam studied in Europe for a time, but returned to New York to paint scenes of the life he saw on the streets and in homes. Hassam is famous for his series of 22 flag paintings. He began these before World War I started. The event that inspired him to paint flags was a "Preparedness Parade" held on Fifth Avenue in New York. Hassam’s flag paintings all take place on Fifth Avenue or Fifty-Seventh Street, near his gallery. In the painting, Allies Day, May 1917 we see the American flag and flags of those nations America would fight alongside, Great Britain and France. MAKE AN OBSERVATION DRAWING! When the world seems cluttered with too much information, you can block out the uninteresting information and find a view that is balanced. Look through a viewfinder to border what you see and locate a good composition. Measure, draw and cut a two-inch border within a sheet of black construction paper. Hold the viewfinder up and look for good compositions within your frame. Once a good arrangement is found, begin to draw. Hold up the viewfinder and refer to the view through the viewfinder as needed, while drawing.
THE TIMES: American Impressionism is the term given to those who lived in America and copied the techniques of Impressionism. These techniques included loosely applied brush strokes and intense color. Americans became aware of this style in the 1880’s when Impressionist art from Europe was displayed in Boston and New York. The movement had started twenty years earlier. Impressionism appealed to the tastes of the American public long before it was widely enjoyed in Europe, where it first started. Impressionism inspired a rtist’s colonies to sprout up in small American towns. There artists could paint the American scenery and live relatively cheaply. Groups of artists who thought alike could get together to talk about what they were painting and express new ideas. Today one still finds art colonies and centers throughout the United States where artists gather for fellowship and inspiration.
Cut one piece or glue two pieces together.
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How to Arrange a Still Life
Lesson 3
What is a still life? A still life is a group of objects that are inanimate or not moving. These objects stay still while you draw them and can include anything. They are usually objects that are smaller than a car.
To arrange good lighting for a still life, a table is set in front of a window. The artist sits with his or her side to the window. The drawing board and objects are in front. The form will be clear if the objects are arranged so that both a light side and a shaded side are seen.
LIGHT FROM WINDOW
SOMETHING TO TRY : Arrange a still life using two or three simply shaped objects. Overlap them, keeping the smallest objects in front or in view. Overlapping makes the subject more interesting to look at.
NO OVERLAP
OBJECTS OVERLAP
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Fruits and vegetables are fun to draw because of their shapes. Arrange a pile of them to draw. Look carefully at the overlapping shapes and concentrate as you draw them.
Student Gallery
YOU WILL NEED
Black ink marker (fine point) Black ink marker (broad, flat tip)
Pencil
Student work by Bethany Krebs shows overlap.
Vinyl eraser
Paper for Pens Drawing board
REFER TO THE FOLLOWING WHEN DRAWING
Arrange vegetables or fruits, stacked in a small pile.
Student work by Laura Smith shows overlap.
LOOK BACK! Did you overlap objects in the drawing?
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ART/EDUCATION
ELEMENTARY 4-5 BOOK ONE This THIRD EDITION gives students their first in-depth look at the elements of art in a simply written text with lots of illustrations in pencil, marker, and scratch art. The elements of art and composition are explored through beautiful color reproductions of American Art. • Text written in conversational manner means student can work independently • Full year course in one book includes 68 lessons with projects • Four unique projects in each unit include an exercise in creativity, art history and appreciation, techniques, and exploration of various subject matter • Special assignments broaden student’s experiences with art materials “This curriculum works. It makes artists! My children are really learning to draw, not just copy someone else‛s artwork, and to use their drawing in their daily lives. And it is so easy to use. ” Homeschool Parent – Nancy Gorman / Massachusetts “Artistic Pursuits does an excellent job of combining art appreciation with art instruction and interesting projects. I cannot emphasize enough how much I appreciate the user – friendly format of these books!” Homeschool Parent and Art Instructor – Devin Vaughn / Missouri “I got Artistic Pursuits because of its focus on art history and because there was nothing to copy; my son could choose his own subjects to draw. I had no idea how powerful this would be! …It is such a simple concept to use good materials and draw what you love, but it works!” Homeschool Parent - Beth Shreve / Washington
Use this book again and again! Non-consumable
Published by Artistic Pursuits Inc. www.artisticpursuits.com
Elementary 4-5 Book One USA
This book has shown thousands of students how to create original works of art while laying a solid educational foundation under their feet. Your role as parent/teacher is to praise and encourage. Isn’t that what you want to do anyway? Start today.
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