Charcoal
Elementary Art Lesson
GUIDED EXPLORATION
Lindsay Abramo - Master of Arts in Teaching - School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Students explored materials using ABSTRACT SHAPES and CHARCOAL Each student created drawings using charcoal techniques demonstrated at the beginning of the lesson. This material exploration gave the students an opportunity to experiment with a new drawing material. Each student was instructed to follow specific guidelines when creating their compositions.
Compositional Guidelines: 1. Fill the entire page 2. Shapes must remain abstract and include both organic and geometric forms 3. Shapes cannot overlap or touch one another
Exemplars
Technical Guidelines: Each composition needed to include the following: 1. Three charcoal techniques learned during the demonstration
2. Three values or shades
Student Work
THIRD GRADE ART CLASS
Light
Medium
Dark
3. Two different ways of drawing with the charcoal
Side
Point
Lindsay Abramo Master of Arts in Teaching School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Lindsay Abramo Lesson Plan TITLE: Guided Exploration: Charcoal GRADE LEVEL: Elementary TIMELINE: One 45 minute period DESCRIPTION: For this lesson students will use abstract shapes and charcoal to create drawings. The students will be given the opportunity to experience using charcoal as a new drawing material. The students will be introduced to the material and provided a technical demonstration. They will use their drawing skills and follow the guidelines to create abstract compositions. Essential Questions: • How can learning the technique of a new drawing material help strengthen the student’s drawing abilities? • How can the students experiment with charcoal to push their creativity? • How can students manipulate lines and charcoal techniques to create an abstract drawing? OBJECTIVES: (3 - match state goals) • Students will use their knowledge of line and shape to create their abstract drawings • Students will be able to use the appropriate charcoal drawing techniques • Students will be able to create a abstract composition STATE GOALS: STATE GOAL 25: Know the language of the arts. A. Understand the sensory elements, organizational principles and expressive qualities of the arts. 25.A.1d Visual Arts: Identify the elements of line, shape, space, color and texture; the principles of repetition and pattern; and the expressive qualities of mood, emotion and pictorial representation. STATE GOAL 26: Through creating and performing, understand how works of art are produced. A. Understand processes, traditional tools and modern technologies used in the arts. 26.A.1e Visual Arts: Identify media and tools and how to use them in a safe and responsible manner when painting, drawing and constructing. STATE GOAL 27: Understand the role of the arts in civilizations, past and present. A. Analyze how the arts function in history, society and everyday life. 27.A.1a Identify the distinctive roles of artists and audiences.
Lindsay Abramo - Elementary School Lesson Plan - Charcoal Exploration
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MOTIVATION / ACTIVITIES: • Classroom Activities: • Discussion • Talk about drawing • Assess prior knowledge about abstract shapes, geometric vs. natural shapes • Introduce the charcoal drawing materials • Talk about types of charcoal (hardness) • Provide a demonstration on how to use the drawing materials • How to use the charcoal, eraser, blending stump • Talk about the difference between: • Charcoal that is blended or not • Using side of charcoal vs. point Introduce the project • • Describe the project’s guidelines • Compositional Guidelines: • Fill the entire page • Shapes must remain abstract and include both natural and geometric forms • Shapes cannot overlap or touch one another • Technical Guidelines: • Utilize three charcoal techniques learned during the demonstration (smudging, erasing, shading) • You must show three values or shades (one dark shape, one medium shape, and one light shape) • Use two different ways of drawing with the charcoal (side and point) Start the project • • Rub the side of a piece of vine charcoal on the paper and cover the entire surface • Once the paper is covered use a paper towel to blend the charcoal • Using the point of a compressed charcoal pencil draw shapes or doodles to fill in the paper (These doodles can be geometric shapes (i.e. squares, triangles, circles) or organic shapes (ie. zig zags, squiggles)) • Once the paper is filled with abstract shapes, begin filling in the shapes • You can use shading, smudging, erasing or anything you would like to create the details in each shape. CLOSURE: Ask the students what they thought about drawing with charcoal. Look at all the different ways you can use charcoal to create all kinds of abstract shapes in their artwork. MATERIALS: • Charcoal of varying hardness (vine charcoal, compressed charcoal pencils) • Paper (thick enough for charcoal) • Blending stump
• • • •
Paper towels Kneaded erasers Masking tape Newspaper
Lindsay Abramo - Elementary School Lesson Plan - Charcoal Exploration
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Charcoal Exploration
STEP BY STEP
1
2
COVER paper with CHARCOAL
3
RUB charcoal with PAPER TOWEL
4
DRAW abstract SHAPES and FILL PAPER
FILL in SHAPES Double Check:
5
FINISHED!
✓ PAGE is FILLED ✓ Shapes are ABSTRACT ✓ Shapes DON’T OVERLAP ✓ 3 TECHNIQUES ✓ 3 VALUES ✓ SIDE and POINT of charcoal is used
Lindsay Abramo - Master of Arts in Teaching School of the Art Institute of Chicago