Using some artwork posters as a reference I first put one up and had the students point out the shapes they noticed in the artwork. What was impressive in their responses was not only did they notice the basic circle, triangle and square, but also polygons, trapezoids, and seeing shapes within shapes.
After noticing the shapes, I then drew a large rectangle on the board to represent their piece of paper and did a demo explaining what they were to do next. I used basic shapes to "copy" via observation the artwork I had pinned up onto the whiteboard.
Next I put up a new work and had them pull out their pieces of paper. As I called on them to tell me the shapes they saw this time, we all drew that shape onto out paper in the appropriate place. I pointed out to them where that shape should be drawn in relation to the borders of their paper as well as the object/shapes around it. This process went along until we had the basic sketch of the painting we were copying. I then allowed them time to draw in the details they saw after we got the main bigger shapes drawn.
One question I found interesting was "we're allowed to copy artwork?" Which I thought was a great thing for them to learn, that we learn by observation and seeing what others have done before us. My hope for their art is that they will continue to look at artwork they like to expand their visual library to then create ideas and works of their own.
I think this lesson really solidified their understanding of shapes and how they work together to provide a larger image and that shapes are in everything we see in the world around us.
I think it was a successful lesson. The only part I might do differently would have been to give them each a copy of the painting so they could see it better.
~Photos to come~
