Unit: Line
Elements of Art: Line, Shape, Space, Form
Curriculum Standards:
Standard 1: Creating, performing and participating in the arts
Standard 2: Knowing and using arts materials and resources
Standard 3: Responding to and analyzing works of art
Standard 4: Understanding the cultural dimension and contributions of the art
Materials:
Pencil, 9”x11” paper, Thin Sharpie, Glue, Scissors, Magazine and Colored Paper, Sign Language Alphabet
Instructional Objective:
The students will create a positive space contour line drawing of their hand being held in a sign language letter. They will draw this from observation. In the negative space they will create a collage with a theme of their choosing. Students will become knowledgeable of contour line and how it can define either the positive or negative space of an image.
Motivation:
Give the students the chance to learn the sign language alphabet and how to spell out their name. The students will get to draw the first letter of their first or last name.
Show the students examples of contour line drawings, sketches and artwork, including wire sculptures.
Artists:
Pablo Picasso, Rachel Ducker (wire sculpture artist)
Vocabulary:
Contour Line, Line, Space, Shape, Positive Space, Negative Space, Background, Collage
Delivery of Instruction:
Previous Lessons:
Day 1:
Day 2 – 3:
Day 4 – 10:
Closure:
Display each student’s completed Contour Line Hand Drawings and critique. Questions to focus on:
Extended Practice:
Sketchbook Homework:
Wall Text:
Contour line is the outer most line of a space. Sometimes it will show the definition of the positive space and other times will outline the negative space, or background. The students learned the Sign Language Alphabet and drew their hand in a specific letter using contour line. In the negative space they created a themed collage.
Resources:
Elements of Art: Line, Shape, Space, Form
Curriculum Standards:
Standard 1: Creating, performing and participating in the arts
Standard 2: Knowing and using arts materials and resources
Standard 3: Responding to and analyzing works of art
Standard 4: Understanding the cultural dimension and contributions of the art
Materials:
Pencil, 9”x11” paper, Thin Sharpie, Glue, Scissors, Magazine and Colored Paper, Sign Language Alphabet
Instructional Objective:
The students will create a positive space contour line drawing of their hand being held in a sign language letter. They will draw this from observation. In the negative space they will create a collage with a theme of their choosing. Students will become knowledgeable of contour line and how it can define either the positive or negative space of an image.
Motivation:
Give the students the chance to learn the sign language alphabet and how to spell out their name. The students will get to draw the first letter of their first or last name.
Show the students examples of contour line drawings, sketches and artwork, including wire sculptures.
Artists:
Pablo Picasso, Rachel Ducker (wire sculpture artist)
Vocabulary:
Contour Line, Line, Space, Shape, Positive Space, Negative Space, Background, Collage
Delivery of Instruction:
Previous Lessons:
- Line: Draw 16 different kinds of line repetitively. Include 4 shapes.
- Space: Practice drawing a simple still life using contour line. Do 1 blind drawing where the students can’t look at their paper; do 1 positive space drawing where the students focus on the details of the still life; and do 1 negative space drawing where the students focus on drawing the space around the still life.
Day 1:
- Introduce the project by showing the students examples of contour line artwork (including drawings and wire sculptures) and a teacher example.
- The students will first draw their hand while holding their hand in a sign language letter. Limit the student’s letter options to the first letter of their first name or last name. If neither appeals to them then their other option is a peace sign or “#1” sign.
- Demonstrate a good way to get started, by drawing a medium size circle towards the center of the paper to signify the palm of the hand, and mapping out where the wrist and arm will go by drawing the two outer lines.
- Advise the students to draw what they see, and that drawing from life is mostly about observing and looking! Also remind the students that this is a positive space contour line drawing of their hand, meaning that they are not drawing in the background, they are including the details of the hand but there should be no shading.
- Let the students practice drawing their hands.
Day 2 – 3:
- The students will draw their hands in a sign language letter on a 9”x11” white paper.
Day 4 – 10:
- Show the students different examples of collage and the many ways artists use collage. Some cut, some tear; some use color to create an image and some cut and paste images together.
- Discuss what a theme is. The students should choose a theme or a unified idea to collage their background. Nothing should intrude on the positive space.
- After setting in place a routine for taking and cleaning up materials, allow the student’s time to collage the negative space of their images.
Closure:
Display each student’s completed Contour Line Hand Drawings and critique. Questions to focus on:
- What do you think of the outcome?
- Is there anything you would change about your project now that you have seen the outcome?
- What theme worked the best for the negative space? Why?
Extended Practice:
Sketchbook Homework:
- Trace your hand and draw the lines you see on your palm.
- Draw a contour line drawing of a pair of shoes.
Wall Text:
Contour line is the outer most line of a space. Sometimes it will show the definition of the positive space and other times will outline the negative space, or background. The students learned the Sign Language Alphabet and drew their hand in a specific letter using contour line. In the negative space they created a themed collage.
Resources:
- www.rachelducker.co.uk
- www.artsconnected.org/toolkit
- Art Now Volume 2, edited by Uta Grosenick
- Techniques of the Great Masters of Art