Organic O'Keeffe Crayon Resist

Submitted by: Theresa Parker
Unit: Organic shape (Georgia O'Keeffe) - Observational drawing
Lesson: Drawing plants from life
Grade Level: First and second grade (elementary grades)

 

GENERALIZATION:

Curvilinear lines make organic shapes.
Brief Description of Lesson:
Students observe and draw plant forms.

 

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES (What the Teacher Does)
1. Introduces O'Keeffe paintings, asking students to identify kinds of lines that define edges of flowers.
2. Showing a real plant, asks students to identify lines that define edges.
3. Models observing a plant without drawing (look at the plant to see all the types of lines that give the plant its shape).
4. Models drawing while looking at the plant (Draw the plant large enough that it reaches out and touches all the edges of the paper. While you draw press harder in areas that stand out to you and lightly in others).

 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

How are organic shapes made?
How do artists use organic shapes?2
Where do artists get ideas?

Resources:

Art objects: Georgia O'Keeffe, Calla Lily Turned Away,Petunias, or other similar images

 

Art Materials:

Oil Pastels. (or choice of drawing materials or Watercolor Paint.), 12" x 18" (30.5 x 46 cm) white Drawing Paper. (or choice of colored Construction Paper), assorted plants

 

Target Learning: The student:

Knows and uses curved lines to create organic shapes.
Recognizes and uses organic lines to create plant forms.
Understands and uses varying pressure to draw.
Sees nature as a source for ideas
Develops skills in observational drawing
Identifies organic forms/shapes in art

Assessment Criteria: The student:

Uses curved lines to create the curvilinear edge of an organic shape.
Uses organic lines to represent observed plants.
Uses firm and light pressure with drawing tools as seen in lightness and width of line.

CREATIVE PROCESS (What the Student Does)

1. Observes and identifies types of lines in painting reproductions and traces fingers over curvilinear lines.
2. Observes and identifies types of lines in living plant and traces fingers over curvilinear lines.
3. Looks at and then draws plant using choice of drawing materials - or paint.

Assessment Strategies:

Performance Assessment - modified rubric
Teacher journal (Drawing pressure)
Checklist

Evidence of Student Learning

Student drawings include plant forms made with curvilinear lines of different widths based on tool pressure.

 

Vocabulary:

curvilinear line
organic
pressure: hard, light

Life Applications:

Student recognizes kinds of lines in the natural and constructed world and draws with varying pressure. (ARTS EARLs 1.1 concepts and vocabulary. 1.2 skills and techniques (drawing pressure)

Added by Judy Decker:
A local florist or green house may donate use of their plants for this lesson.

 

There could be a follow-up on the life of Georgia O'Keeffe (just briefly - students could listen to Greg Percy's song "Georgia".. Students could create movements/dance to act out the lines/shapes present in Georgia's works). You could show some additional prints showing organic shapes - like from Henri Rousseau or Matisse (and maybe some with geometric shapes to see the difference) and ask students to identify the organic shapes). Perhaps show a work that has both organic and geometric shapes, too. You might also introduce a three dimensional work with organic form.

Science extension: learn about the parts of the plant - life cycle of the plant (this ties in with 2nd grade science).

 

Reference for Science Integration:

Botany Photo of the Day- different high-quality photograph every day, complete with background information. Visitors can also view the site's archives, which date back to April 2005 and browse previously featured photographs, which are divided into categories. Art teachers have permission to use these photographs for this purpose.

 

Resources:

DVD's

Georgia O'Keeffe. - This star-studded movie is about the artist's life. Celebrated photographer and art impresario Alfred Steiglitz is shocked to learn that the extraordinary drawings he has recently discovered were rendered by a woman. Deciding to display the work of then-unknown artist Georgia O’Keeffe in his gallery without her knowledge, the fiercely private artist orders him to remove the collection.

Georgia O'Keeffe A life in Art - This film is a very good short film on the life and paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe. Gene Hackman narrates.

Great Women Artists: Georgia O'Keeffe - The program provides an in-depth look into her life, and includes numerous examples of her works while examining her style which made her unique in the world of art. This original program also features spectacular imagery and many rare historical photographs.

 

Books

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Collections - Georgia O'Keeffe has been the subject of many fine art books, but this generously designed volume is a standout. Published to mark the tenth anniversary of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, it showcases 335 works.

Georgia O'Keeffe and New Mexico: A Sense of Place. - This book catalogs O’Keeffe’s work in side-by-side comparisons of 20 paintings with recent, commissioned, full-color photos of their actual sites, which pinpoint the exact perspective of the paintings.

 

 

Submitted by: Sue Stevens
UNIT: Still life - Georgia O'Keeffe - Nature - Color
Lesson: Glue Relief Flowers - with Gel Markers
Grade Level: Elementary - Middle School - High School (examples are high school)

 

1

 

Materials:

Elmer's Washable Clear Glue - (regular school glue will work - but doesn't dry as clear)
Construction Paper - they are designed for black paper.
Also useful Metallic Crayons
Black Paper (Use high quality Construction Paper so that colours are bright and the glue lines are gray rather than black. Sue uses a paper called "Hopper Hots" which is a fade resistant light-weight card stock which is available in large sheets. (No longer available) Elementary teachers might want to try Tru Ray Construction Paper)
Pictures of flowers (You could have the students find their own for homework, or take the class to a computer lab and search/print). Actual flowers are helpful, too - OR use high quality "silk" flowers (you should have some that look realistic)
Drying Rack. or space to dry (must be large enough to have all the sheets lay flat for 24 hours)

Instructions:

  1. Students should have in front of them the black paper, a bottle of glue, and their picture of a flower. Students should work direct onto the paper (pencil lines will show through the glue). Looking at the picture, students should create a basic contour drawing of the flower in glue on the black paper. To create good glue lines, the bottle should ALWAYS be pulled (not pushed), and should also be SQUEEZED at the same time (there needs to be a fairly thick line of glue created). The glue will dry clear, and on black paper will look like shiny black.

  2. The glue drawings need to dry overnight (you can tell when it is dry).

  3. Once the glue is dry, students can start to colour (color). Students should aim for good dimension and texture, realistic colours (colors) are not necessarily important. Using the various crayons, students should apply a thick amount of colour, blending using different coloured crayons. If crayon gets on the glue lines, they can be cleaned at the end with a slightly damp tissue and a fingernail.

  4. Optional - color negative space.

Alternate Lesson: Glue Line with Watercolors

This is a popular lesson - and appeared in Arts and Activities magazine.

 

Materials:

Flowers and or plants, Watercolor Paper
(or heavy drawing paper), White Glue., Watercolor Paint., Sable Brushes, Ultra-Fine Point Markers. (optional)

 

Procedures:

  1. Draw flowers/plants directly on the watercolor paper (no pencil outline). Draw all contours with glue (any white glue that dries clear will work)

  2. Let dry completely

  3. Paint with water colors

  4. When dry - outline with the ultra fine point Sharpies (optional - they look striking without the outline, too)

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