ACTION FIGURE COLLAGES
6th Grade
THE ART OF COLLAGE: PAPER PAINTING TECHNIQUES
Relationship to the Unit: In the second lesson of the unit titled “Miriam Schapiro Action Figure Collage,” students prepare for their collages by establishing a palette with painted paper. Students chose an action for their self portrait action figure from a list of their favorite sports, interests, and hobbies, and practiced positioning the human figure in action poses. In preparation for a series collage self portraits in the style of Miriam Schapiro’s figures from her accordion book “Rondo,” students choose an environment or setting for their figures that could correspond with a specific palette. Students learn about different watercolor techniques for painting paper, and make decisions about which colors and techniques to use. After a period of instruction in which the teacher demonstrates watercolor techniques, students begin the paper painting process at stations set up at their table.
Relationship to Life:
Problem/ Activity Statement: Establish a palette of colors, textures, and patterns that correspond with the environment of the action figure self portrait. Paint 3 to 5 sheets of paper with the following watercolor techniques: Wax crayon resist, wet on wet, salt and tissue paper dabbing. Explore and practice the different techniques and make a decision on which techniques work best for specific environments.
Goals: Students should...
Understand: How to expand the repertoire of 2D art processes, techniques, and materials with a focus on the range of effects possible within each medium (MACF Standard 1.5)
Know: For color, use and be able to identify hues, values, intermediate shades, tints, tones, complementary, analogous, and monochromatic colors. Demonstrate awareness of color by painting objective studies from life and free- form abstractions that employ relative properties of color (MACF Standard 2.7).
Be able to: For texture, use and be able to differentiate between surface texture and the illusion of texture (visual texture) (MACF Standard 2.9).
Objectives:
Instructional Concepts:
•Working from art allows students to see ways in which artists have graphically solved problems symbolically or compositionally.
Exemplars:
“Rondo” Accordion Book - Series of Collages by Miriam Schapiro
“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle
“Unitlted” Teacher Collages
Teacher’s process and product visuals:
Motivation: During the previous lesson, students chose from a list of their favorite sports, interests and hobbies in order to begin their action self-portrait. In this lesson, students are shown the familiar images of Eric Carle, and are encouraged to explore the material and choose their favorite watercolor techniques. They are also shown the way in which collage has influenced the teacher’s paintings and how painted paper and other materials are combined. Students have the opportunity to choose their own palettes including colors, textures and patterns.
Topic Questions:
Relationship to the Unit: In the second lesson of the unit titled “Miriam Schapiro Action Figure Collage,” students prepare for their collages by establishing a palette with painted paper. Students chose an action for their self portrait action figure from a list of their favorite sports, interests, and hobbies, and practiced positioning the human figure in action poses. In preparation for a series collage self portraits in the style of Miriam Schapiro’s figures from her accordion book “Rondo,” students choose an environment or setting for their figures that could correspond with a specific palette. Students learn about different watercolor techniques for painting paper, and make decisions about which colors and techniques to use. After a period of instruction in which the teacher demonstrates watercolor techniques, students begin the paper painting process at stations set up at their table.
Relationship to Life:
- Instructional Importance:
- Developmental Needs:
Problem/ Activity Statement: Establish a palette of colors, textures, and patterns that correspond with the environment of the action figure self portrait. Paint 3 to 5 sheets of paper with the following watercolor techniques: Wax crayon resist, wet on wet, salt and tissue paper dabbing. Explore and practice the different techniques and make a decision on which techniques work best for specific environments.
Goals: Students should...
Understand: How to expand the repertoire of 2D art processes, techniques, and materials with a focus on the range of effects possible within each medium (MACF Standard 1.5)
Know: For color, use and be able to identify hues, values, intermediate shades, tints, tones, complementary, analogous, and monochromatic colors. Demonstrate awareness of color by painting objective studies from life and free- form abstractions that employ relative properties of color (MACF Standard 2.7).
Be able to: For texture, use and be able to differentiate between surface texture and the illusion of texture (visual texture) (MACF Standard 2.9).
Objectives:
- Demonstrate a knowledge of watercolor techniques by experimenting and choosing the one’s that correspond best with certain environments.
- Analyze the effect of painted paper in Miriam Schapiro and Eric Carle’s collages.
- Identify where the artists use specific colors, textures, and patterns in their collages
- Use a palette of colors, textures and patterns that correspond with the environment of the action figure.
Instructional Concepts:
- Quotes from artists and theorists:
- Formal Concepts:
- Texture can be used to create surface variety.
- Balance can be achieved through the arrangement of line, shape, color, texture, space, or form within a composition.
- Artistic Behaviors:
•Working from art allows students to see ways in which artists have graphically solved problems symbolically or compositionally.
Exemplars:
“Rondo” Accordion Book - Series of Collages by Miriam Schapiro
“The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle
“Unitlted” Teacher Collages
Teacher’s process and product visuals:
- Teacher exemplar of the final product (A series of 3 action figure collages in an accordion book format) illustrates the teacher’s decisions for establishing cohesive palettes of colors, textures and patterns.
- Teacher exemplar of watercolor technique pages and materials for collaging.
- Teacher-made visual that shows the possible watercolor paper painting techniques the students can use and what effect each may have.
- Teacher exemplar of personal collages and paintings the incorporate painted paper and palette specificity
- “To-do list” informs the students what they should have accomplished by the end of the class period, and in what order.
Motivation: During the previous lesson, students chose from a list of their favorite sports, interests and hobbies in order to begin their action self-portrait. In this lesson, students are shown the familiar images of Eric Carle, and are encouraged to explore the material and choose their favorite watercolor techniques. They are also shown the way in which collage has influenced the teacher’s paintings and how painted paper and other materials are combined. Students have the opportunity to choose their own palettes including colors, textures and patterns.
Topic Questions:
- What is collage?
- What materials do artists use in their collages?
- How do Miriam Schapiro’s collages represent a variety of colors, textures and patterns?
- What type of materials would you want to use in your collage?
- How can you paint your own paper?
- What watercolor techniques could you use to paint your paper to show a variety of colors, textures and patterns?
- How does Miriam Schapiro vary her painted paper and collage elements?
- What kind of techniques do you think Miriam Schapiro uses for her painted paper?
- How do you think Eric Carle makes his collages? How does he paint his paper?
- What kind of environment is your action figure self portrait taking place in?
- What kind of color palette can you use to represent the environment such as time of day, weather, and mood?
- How can you create a variety of textures and patterns in your paper painting?