oh heck... i'll add one more version! Britto post #3.

I have one fifth grade class I see for only one half hour a week, I travel to the classroom, there is no sink.
So basically when you count that out- in 30 minutes- with the three minutes it take the kids from the other class to come in, the two minutes it take the students to actually clear off their desks, and one more minute to get settled... we're looking at 24 minutes. Then add on me actually introducing the lesson??!....(you know so the kids actually know what the they're supposed to be doing for the time they have left)... add on another 5 minutes- give or take 3 minutes for my demonstration and 3-5 minutes for my kids to actually get their materials and put their bums in the chairs... we're looking at 15 minutes left.... oh right..... AND we need be cleaned up by the end of 30 minutes too.
So that's 10 minutes of work time. once a week. (if i'm lucky due to testing and school play rehearsals and whatnot.)

As I've said before I am VERY strategic about figuring out what my priorities for objectives to be completed and concepts to be grasped are when time is so precious.

So here we are... my other fifth graders completed the extended Britto/Braque lesson but what do I want this class to be able to get out the lesson with such a limited amount of time?...

I decided to focus on:
Class 1: Observational and Contour drawing.
   Each student did a practice drawing and a real drawing of ONE objet, then traced with black crayon.
   (Also add on a "table line" if they remember to.)
Class 2: Break up the space and Analagous Colors.
   Each student drew lines to break up the space of the object a la Britto, traced in crayon, painted in with
   an analagous set of tempera paints (pre-mixed by me).
Class 3: Break up the background.
   Students used pencil and white craypa to to break up the background- then they used only BLACK
   water color to paint different shades of gray.

These came out great! (I can't believe it!)

Braque and Britto - Part 2... some finished pieces

Here are some of the final results from my Braque & Britto still life lesson using analagous colors, pop art, observational drawing, contour drawing, painting, and other fun elements!

Version A:
Here we worked with the background first... I gave the students the opportunity to choose how they wanted to finish the objects- using black and white craypa.
(I think next time I would do the objects in watercolor.)

Version B:

Here we worked with analagous colors of tempera paint and filled in the objects first. 

The background we filled in with Crayola Slick Sticks---- here I made a discovery**

I had tested these at the Crayola booth last year at NAEA and loved them so I ordered a few packages, I've been very particular about how I use them. 

I was under the impression they were OIL PASTELS... then my students went to watercolor and resist over them... and guess what?... they turn into watercolor paint! It ended up working in our favor, but I had no idea. 

Braque & Britto ... post number 1

I began to map out a still life/observational drawing lesson inspired by Romero Britto, then I went to the Met in NYC about a month ago and had the most amazing discovery.... George Braque's "The Studio".

Braque's painting had the same use of outline and broken up space that Britto uses in his work. 

The craziest discovery- when I was doing research on the artists I found out that Braque died in 1963 and Britto was born in 1963-- how weird is that?!! 

"Braque and Britto"... the words just flow together so easily, it was meant to be!

The above images are slides from the power point I created to introduce my students to the work of Romero Britto, George Braque, still life art, and pop art. I will post the entire power point for use soon. 

I am in the middle of doing this project two ways with my fourth and fifth graders. We are almost finished and it has been really successful. 

**We began by doing CONTOUR drawings of three objects (a tall glass bottle, and two different pitchers).

Then the students traced them with black crayon. 

Version A (grade 4):

Students broke up the space in the BACKGROUND first - using the way Britto breaks up the space through out his pictures and filling in with patterns. We used black crayon to outline and Crayola Oil Slicks to fill it in. 

Version B (grade 5):

Students broke up the space throughout the entire composition and took overlapping of lines and spaces into consideration.

The students are filling in the OBJECTS FIRST. 

We are doing a study of analagous colors- 

and each object was filled in using one trio of analagous colors. 

Here is my analagous color chart-- my mantra is 

"Analagous colors are THREE COLORS IN A ROW, JUST LIKE WINNING TIC TAC TOE".

You'll never forget it...

Stay tuned as our project continues!!... :)