About the lesson:
In this lesson the students used watercolors to paint portraits of their families. We came together as a class to discuss possible uses of watercolor paints and brushes, and discussed the prompt of (drawing your family). After this short introduction, students took up sheets of paper and practiced with the medium by working out ways to represent their family members; whether portraying their personalities with abstraction or by creating a realistic portrait and showing their personalities in other ways. In their table groups they discussed their families with their peers, sharing funny stories, memories, and exploring creative ways they could represent these moments. Many of the topics explored where: realistic, abstract, posed, candid, setting, any special objects added, pets included or not, etc.. Then as a group we came back and had the students share what they did and share a little bit about their family. Through this process they learned how to use watercolor paints and thought deeper about how to visually represent members of their family and the family dynamic that they grew up in. This project was be very personal, providing some intrinsic motivation for the students and making it an engaging and insightful lesson.
Essential Understandings
Outcomes
Students will be able to:
Skills
In the third lesson with Cooper Home and Fossil Ridge, the students where introduced to a new medium. They explored watercolor painting through the prompt of creating a family portrait. Students went through the process of ideation by identifying the family members they wanted to portray, the traits that make them special, and the methods of representation they could use to depict them effectively. Through the process students shared ideas and personal experience. This also served to establish a positive community setting in which everyone was committed to enjoying art together. The personal connections to the prompt kept conversations on task, artists engaged in exploring the medium, and students receptive to growth through creative experiments.
After a short Introduction, students began practicing with the medium (watercolor paint). By connecting with their peers and utilizing the brainstorming techniques they explored in the previous lessons, students demonstrated an ability to manipulate the medium and conceive a personal narrative that gave them a sense of intrinsic value and relevance. Through intrinsic mark making students continued brainstorming ways to represent the subject matter, they continued exploring ideas on their paper through layering and expanded their thought process by discussing, painting, or using written word.
- Artists use critical thinking and organizational techniques to follow lesson guidelines
- Artists learn to enjoy the intrinsic value of art making
- Artists are productive and on task
- Artists create and innovate using the ideation process
- Artists establish a sense of comfort with the studio, materials, staff, and working collaboratively with peers
Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Students will be able to create their own rendition of a family portrait.
- Using their artwork, students will be able to enjoy making artwork that relays their personal style, developing a sense of intrinsic value, artistic identity, and community in the classroom.
- Students will be excited to share information about their family members, memories, and relate with their peers over these stories. The personal connection to their artwork and to their peers will encourage the growth of their ability to discuss their creative process and artistic decisions organically.
Skills
- Critical thinking and organizational techniques
- Creative problem solving and exploration through ideation
- Establishing a sense of comfort with the studio, materials, staff, and peers
- Water Color Painting and Drawing Techniques
- Introduction to methods of representation: Realism, Symbolism, Abstraction
- Critique Etiquette
In the third lesson with Cooper Home and Fossil Ridge, the students where introduced to a new medium. They explored watercolor painting through the prompt of creating a family portrait. Students went through the process of ideation by identifying the family members they wanted to portray, the traits that make them special, and the methods of representation they could use to depict them effectively. Through the process students shared ideas and personal experience. This also served to establish a positive community setting in which everyone was committed to enjoying art together. The personal connections to the prompt kept conversations on task, artists engaged in exploring the medium, and students receptive to growth through creative experiments.
After a short Introduction, students began practicing with the medium (watercolor paint). By connecting with their peers and utilizing the brainstorming techniques they explored in the previous lessons, students demonstrated an ability to manipulate the medium and conceive a personal narrative that gave them a sense of intrinsic value and relevance. Through intrinsic mark making students continued brainstorming ways to represent the subject matter, they continued exploring ideas on their paper through layering and expanded their thought process by discussing, painting, or using written word.
Many students began the process by creating symbols and imagery such as eyes and human figures. As they loosened up to the medium they began exploring ways to let the paint express its natural beauty and unique characteristics. They worked on allowing the paints to bleed into each one another and evaluated ways they could layer different colors and levels of opacity.
This student was new to the medium and began by covering the entire paper in a light wash. Then they worked on making the colors more vibrant through the process of layering. The student's goal was to assess the limits of the layering process and discover how many layers/water the paper could hold before it warped. The student also hoped to become more familiar with methods of blending watercolor pigments through this exercise before starting their family portrait. |
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This student chose to practice their representational techniques in conjunction with their experimentation with layering the paint. The student's aim was to combine a representational figure with a heart as symbolism. When asked about the incorporation of the heart the student stated, "It shows I love my mother very much".
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After much experimentation this student opted to embrace realism for her final family portrait. She practiced the smaller details like the eyes and portraying herself before moving on to create a portrait of her and her mother based off of a photo they took together. It was clear that this student was extremely thoughtful and engaged in what she was doing.
While walking around and observing the students, it was insightful listening to their ideas, and the stories that coincided with their artwork. Some students went with a more graphic style. combining text, symbolic imagery, and specific colors to represent their family. This student in particular wanted to represent her school pride and shared stories with the class about how much her high school family has meant to her. |
This student was very expressive and experimental. She experimented with color mixing and overlapping. This allowed her to see what colors popped and what colors were dulled when mixed with another color. She also tested different mark making techniques such as stippling, and line width variation. She resolved on combing imagery with text to depict her family members.
Each student took the time to think through problems, engage with their inner critic, and create artwork that was complete, personal, and engaging for them. These two students chose to use symbolism as the means for representing their family members. The different outcomes show us just how differently each student can connect their imagery to personal memories and ideas surrounding particular people. |
The lesson concluded with every student using their artwork to reflect on their creative process; by presenting and discussing their artwork to their table groups and the class. In reflection, students enjoyed the process of making their artwork, developing a sense of intrinsic value, development of painting skills through relevant and personal subject matter, and transfer of techniques into other aspects of their lives.