Alan E. Glodt Saudi Aramco Schools‐Abqaiq [email protected] or [email protected] 20 Art Lessons Incorporated Into One Incredible Portfolio Learn to incorporate lessons in measuring, cutting, templates, folding, sign making/bubble letters, design, shape, balance, sketching, figure drawing/proportion, emotions/expressions/hair, fashion design, planning/thumbnails, space/gridding, line drawing, color, painting (watercolor and tempera/acrylic), and organization into one unbelievable student made portfolio; within which they will protect their work during the year and transport the years accumulated art projects home at the end of the year. If you don’t have a lot of cubbies or storage shelves for your young artists to store their accumulating work this project is an absolute life saver. Creating student made portfolios not only teaches students at least 20 incredible art lessons (many more could be incorporated), already in your curriculum; it also solves limited space and storage problems keeping artwork clean, tidy, and protected. You may progress through as many grade levels as your situation requires. Even the first efforts are dynamite but as they progress into their second and third attempts they become truly phenomenal. An integral benefit of this project is how it organizes and causes to be saved; a level of work for each student. At the end of each year they take it home, mom and dad display and archive it, because it represents what their student did during that period of their lives. Many parents have related that they can’t wait for their son or daughter to have children of their own so when they reach the same grade level they will be able to compare the parents work with the grandchild’s. Count Them‐Twenty (20) Art Lessons: Here’s what I do Lesson #1‐Reading Rulers and Measuring: I start with 70x 100 cm white heavy card; teach the students how to read rulers, measure (standard and metric), and incorporate a little geometry so they realize that they need to measure two (2)points to achieve a parallel line. Lesson #2‐Cutting‐Scissors and Exacto Knives (older): They measure and cut‐out one 17.5 cm x 34 cm corner. Lesson #3‐Using Templates: They learn to use the cut‐out corner as a template to trace and cut out the remaining three corners. Lesson #4‐Folding: Next they learn to carefully line up and fold their portfolio so it is square and neat. Lesson #5‐How to Make Bubble Letters/ Sign Painting: Students learn to sketch letters where they want them, then go around individual letters without touching any lines to make them “fat”, and erase the original lines. Then they learn that to make a sign truly readable the letters should all be one color, if light the background should be dark; and if dark the background should be light. I tell them to start thinking about colors at this point. They choose one (1) color and watercolor (wet on dry) their possessive names, ART, and grade. Lesson #6‐Design: Now they are ready to design the cover. I hand out a cover thumbnail (attached) and teach them how to make things overlap other things; how it’s OK to have shapes go off the page, the rule of odds, and emphasis points. Lesson #7‐ Shape: I explain the difference between organic and geometric shapes and how they can incorporate either or both into their design. Lesson #8‐Watercolor/Value: Students learned wet on dry technique when painting their bubble letters; now they learn wet on wet technique when painting the shapes on their cover design. I just have them do several individual shapes, not all. They learn about mixing and how you achieve different values of the same color by the amount of water they use. I have them use watercolor on the cover and tempera or acrylic for the inside so they get a lesson in each different media. Lesson #9‐Balance: Students are taught to paint areas of the same color all over their covers to create balance. Lesson #10‐Light Sketching: I like to include a lesson just on light sketching and how important it is so you can erase unwanted lines later. Lesson #11‐Figure Drawing/Proportion: My little wooden art dummy “George” helps me with poses as children learn that the legs and arms have two (2) parts, that the thighs are the same size, as are calves, biceps, and forearms. We do one minute figure studies of different poses always drawing the body first, hips second, then head, both thighs, both calves, both biceps, both forearms, and then adding feet and hands (see attached worksheets). Even first graders become very good at this quickly. Lesson #12‐Emotion/Expressions/Hair: I have some really great handouts that show different emotions and expressions and how to draw them with the simplest lines (see attached). Then, I have students pick out their nine (9) favorites, reproduce them on the nine (9) ovals handout (see attached), and invent nine (9) different hair styles for each. Lesson #13‐Fashion Design: Now drawing proportional “Georges or Georgettes” is easy and they learn how to design as many different kinds of clothing, hats, shoes, and accessories, in as many different poses as they can think of. Lesson #14‐Planning/Thumbnails: Next, with all the information the students have gathered; they plan what they wish their finished portfolio to look like. Lesson #15‐ Space/Gridding: Students learn how to grid and “blow‐up” their thumbnail to fit the new space of the larger portfolio and replicated their ideas. Lesson #16‐Line Drawing: Then they darken the lines they wish to keep and erase the sketch lines leaving no “ghost lines” to distract from their art. Lesson #17‐Color: Now is the perfect time to teach color lessons. Depending upon the level; I teach primary, secondary, complimentary, analogous, and tertiary colors. They learn about shades, tints, and tones. Lesson #18‐Brushes: Students learn the difference between brushes, what they are used for and why. They used watercolor brushes for the cover; now they learn the difference between them and oil brushes. They learn the different part of the brush and how to clean and care for them properly. Lesson #19‐Tempera or Acrylic Painting: Students learn how to mix primaries to make secondary’s, primary’s and secondary’s to make tertiary’s, complimentary colors to make gray, primaries to make black, warm black and cool black, to mix dark into light. They learn how much paint to take, to mix on their palette, and what to do with extra paint. Lesson #20‐ Organization/Clean and Neat: Students learn how to keep their artwork clean, neat, unbent, and organized in their newly created portfolio. Some Pictures of the Process nd 2 Grade Portfolios displayed at Fine Arts Attachments:  Cover Blank (to design the cover) Night         Thumbnail Portfolio Blank (to design the rest) Draw George (for learning how to draw proportional people) Draw George Blanks (for one minute figure studies) Emotions (choose your favorites) Expressions (fewest lines possible) Hair Styles (after they try to invent their own) Nine Ovals (for faces and hair styles‐they pick their favorites) Fashion Design (for learning how to draw clothes) 