Lessons for visual art education – where it's about the process, not the product
Author: anita sagastegui
Description of the Unit – To celebrate Halloween, students chose a famous painting featuring any kind of portrait, such as one of Vincent van Gogh’s or Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits. They recreated the painting onto posterboard, cutting out the area with the face so that they could ultimately “wear” the painting as a Halloween costume!
Continue reading “7th & 8th grade – famous painting halloween costumes”
Description of the Unit – Following our previous unit on shape, this unit will emphasize what students learned while introducing them to positive and negative space, and the way they interact with one another. We will also reinforce the concepts of cool and warm colors via the expression of a warm-colored sky.
Description of the Unit – Students will be “introduced” to Monet and will learn all about the ways he approached painting the world around him. Students will try to recreate his painting of water lilies, paying attention to their brushstrokes and the colors they choose.
Description of the Unit – Students explored the interesting history and dramatic artistry of masks of First Nations people of the Pacific Northwest. Taking inspiration from the colors and patterns observed in these masks, students made their own masks primarily using…egg cartons!
Activity statement – 7th and 8th grade students developed their pen drawing skills via the illustration of a landscape.
Activity statement – Students will learn and practice essential colored pencil techniques (some of which can also be applied to painting, as well as chiaroscuro drawing) to create a realistic still life.
Description of the Unit – Students observed and discussed Vincent van Gogh’s famous painting, Starry Night, and, using what they noticed in the painting regarding color, texture and movement, attempted to recreate it in oil pastel.
Description of the Unit – Students learned all about the element of texture in art, both two- and three dimensional. They created textured mountains out of ripped paper and rubbing stencils, and then added the soft, wispy texture of the aurora borealis and the lake below using chalk pastels and brushes.
Description of the Unit –
This is one of my favorite art units to teach, because it involves one of my favorite art forms to practice: linoleum block printmaking. There is something so satisfying about carving through that soft linoleum block, watching the shavings curl off the blade. Students love this art form, too, and always request it every year (I offer it as an elective).
Description of the Unit – This delightful unit introduces students to optical illusion art. Students will observe and discuss different examples of optical illusion art, focusing particularly on the work of Bridget Riley. Using basic measurement skills, students will create their own two-color optical illusion design.
In the K-8 Art Studio with Anita Sagastegui 