4 part still life project - middle school

4 Part Still Life Exploration with 8th grade

on 18x24 paper split into 4 9x12 sections

Students chose their still life object.

It had to be bigger than their hand with limited text.

I steered them away from stuffed animals and fuzzy/furry textures. 

I would absolutely do this project again and keep the order in which I introduced the parts. 

This was wonderful for differentiation-

it allowed all levels of students to learn a lot, better their skills, and feel comfortable. 

1. Realistic pencil drawing of the entire object with shading. 

(2-3 class periods)

2. In the style of Romero Britto. 

(3 class periods with introduction/quick slide show)

Students must zoom in on the object, with the option to abstract it. 

Using marker they broke the section down and filled it in with bright color to make it pop. 

(toaster abstraction)

3. Collage

(3-4 class periods depending on type of collage they chose, with slide show)

Students could choose the composition for this section- with the option to zoom & crop or showcase the entire object. 

I showed LOTS of examples of different types of collages. 

They could choose their materials- I suggested magazine cut outs, newspaper, or tissue paper. 

They had to include a background. 

4. Acrylic painting

(2 class periods with introduction to painting/demonstration)

This was the final section of the four.

Students had to look at their image as a whole and figure out what type of composition was needed in order to make the entire paper feel balanced. 

Most of them have never used acrylic paint before. 

Color options and backgrounds were up to the them. 

Students decided if they wanted to paint the object in colors true to life or not.

Suggestions if you are limited on time:

- you can cut down squares & stripes ahead of time

to collage for stripe or checkerboard backgrounds

- select the objects ahead of time and limit the objects they can choose 

More finished examples to come!

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!!... :)

Look to Britto for a little love...

Just a thought to store away for next year....

I love love love Jim Dine- do not get me wrong (and love to use his prints as inspiration for Valentine's Day lessons)- however I was in Miami this past weekend and visited Britto Central - Romero Britto's Gallery on Lincoln Road.
They had an entire wall of hearts - to boot the paintings were hung in the formation of a heart for Valentine's Day. I didn't get to take a picture and can't seem to find one but I'm going to email the gallery and ask for one for teaching purposes. The images above were some examples of the hearts though.
His paintings would be great inspiration for Valentine's Day art class lessons!