ART 396 COMPLETE LESSON

Objective/Goal of the lesson:

Objective 1: Students will reflect on the art piece using VTS/art criticism questions.

Objective 2: Students will write a short artist statement about their interpretation of said piece after VTS
questions.

Art Standards:

[Link].1: Identify and interpret works of art that reveal how people live around the world and what
they value.

[Link].1: Establish the validity of perceived cultural symbols within an artwork.

[Link].1: Use knowledge of one’s own culture and heritage to explore personal identity.

[Link].1: Make inferences about time, place, and culture in which a work of art was created, citing
evidence.

Materials:

- Pencil (1 per student)

Procedure:

Steps:

1. Review what the students have been working on previously in Visual Arts: looking at simple
portraits and building onto each step each day. Ask them what the four steps are for visual
literacy. Review the elements (line, color, shape, form, value, space, and texture) and principles
(proportion, movement, rhythm, unity, balance, variation, contrast, emphasis, repetition, and
harmony) of art; ask students to name and briefly describe them. This will be a whole group
discussion, they don’t need to raise hands for this, make sure they are not talking over one
another. They are allowed to look at their elements and principles of art vocabulary packets for
help. This will take around 5-7 minutes.

2. Introduce the students to working on a more complex portrait and let them know we are putting
all the steps together for this lesson. Let the students know that they will be working on
analyzing a portrait themselves after we do one together. This introduction discussion should
take around 3 minutes.
3. After reviewing and introducing today’s topic, the students are going to be shown The Old
Guitarist Portrait by Pablo Picasso on the smart board via a presentation. For this step we are
going to be focusing on one question, and that is What can you see? Answers will vary, but we
are only looking at the surface level of this portrait now. Ask students to describe in detail what
they are seeing (ex: if they see a certain color in the picture, is it a dark or light? Are there any
complimentary colors in the picture? What does the value look like? Are there different
proportions?) Make sure to incorporate the elements and the principles (refer to step 1 for a
reminder of what the elements and principles are). I am looking for around 10 details they can
notice but if they come up with 5-7 that is fine as well. This should take around 7-9 minutes.

4. After students identify what they see using descriptive words as well as principles and elements,
move onto the second step for visual literacy learning and that is: How does it make you feel?
Ask students this question, their answers will vary. Make sure to reassure the students that
everyone is going to have a different opinion on how this portrait makes them feel and that is
okay. I am looking for around 5-7 students’ feelings on this portrait. After they share their
feelings, feel free to share your feelings as well. Ask students to think critically about how they
feel when it comes to this portrait. This will take around 5-7 minutes.
a. Here are some helpful example discussion questions:
i. If this portrait makes you feel sad, what clues you in on that sad feeling?
ii. How do the principles play into this?
1. Is there positive or negative proportion that affects your feelings?
iii. How do the elements affect how you feel?
1. What does color tell us here? What type of colors are used?
iv. How does the position of his body make you feel?

5. Thirdly, the students are going to focus on what this painting is trying to tell us. This step is a
little difficult because, the students need to set aside their feelings and opinions and focus on
what the artist wants the viewers to understand from the painting. Students often have a tough
time with this, so if they need some redirection, you can show the era this piece was made in.
From there the students’ answers can vary but I’m looking for answers similar to the following:
not liking one’s appearance, finding solitude in the only thing that made him happy: his guitar,
maybe this depicted homelessness since he doesn’t have much clothes on and his bones look
skinny and fragile like he hasn’t ate a good meal in a while, showed him being blind with his eyes
closed etc. I am looking for around 5-7 students’ answers. This will take around 9-10 minutes.
a. Here is the history:
i. The painting was created in 1903-1904, during Picasso’s blue era: the era of
sadness which prompted cold, sad, gross colors (blues, greens, and greys). In
this era, he depicted what society thought was failing and disregarded. He made
a lot of art that showed homelessness, poverty, people who where at a
disadvantage from society and lots of isolation.
 6. After learning about the history and sharing their interpretations, students can take this
opportunity to go through the last step. This last step in the visual literacy learning process is
judgement. The question asked to the students is What are your judgments on this art piece?
Here they can see if the portrait fits the criteria that the artist talked about. Answers will vary.
I’m looking for around 5-7 students’ answers. This section will take around 5-7 minutes.

7. After the students have gone through the whole visual literacy learning process for this piece,
this is the time that they will have to write a short reflection about their interpretation of The
Old Guitarist on the half sheet of paper given to them. This should take between 3-5 minutes.

8. Once students are done with their reflections, they will turn it in to the turn in basket on my
desk; after we have a discussion about what they’ve learned today. I would review the steps of
the visual literacy learning process, how the elements and principles of art are applicable here,
and what they took away from the portrait. This will be 3-5 minutes.

9. Finally, I would hand them their homework to do at home: a packet to use the visual literacy
learning process on a different portrait. Basically, what this lesson was but, having them do it on
their own. This will take less than a minute to hand out.

Assessments: How will the students show they learned the material? Remember these should align with
the objectives.

Assessment Objective 1: Students will answer the questions on handout 1 and turn that in.

Assessment Objective 2: Students will write a statement about their reflection of the art piece and
turn it in at the end of the lesson. Students will also turn in their completed homework packet the
next day.

An explanation of how this activity exercises visual literacy skills and how it could relate to a larger
unit of study:

- This activity immensely utilizes visual literacy skills. We know that visual literacy is important in
relation to this activity because the students are actively using each step, using critical thinking
skills to analyze the given painting. During the procedure the students are asked four important
questions that help include the visual literacy learning process as well as checking students’
comprehension of the lesson. The following questions are addressed: What do you see? What
do you feel about this painting? What is the painting trying to tell us? And finally, what are your
judgements about this piece? These four questions ask the students to analyze and delve into
deeper thinking, by using a visual aid. The elements the students are exposed to are colors-the
painting is full of blues and greys, which reflects his blue era, his period of sadness which
prompted those cold, sad, gross colors. Another element that was used is lines, we can see how
the lines in the painting are defined in his bones, we can see horizontal and vertical lines that
 give the painting a 3D look. We can also see texture here, above the mans head looks like there
were rough drafts placed underneath the final painting, so lots of crumble walls. We can also
see texture to see how the man is frail, and weak as you can see his bones almost popping out
of him. This activity could be used in a lesson that relates to emotions or even mental health;
the only light color we see here is in the guitar-the only thing keeping this old man alive through
the dark, grey world around him. I think it can show that even the most successful people,
(referring to Pablo Picasso) go through hardships as well; and that you can always find the good
in the bad. Or I could tie this into a lesson that deals with language arts, maybe analyzing a
poem that fits the theme of sadness then looking at this portrait and comparing the two.

PAINTING:
HANDOUT 1.1 REFLECTION PARAGRAPH

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________
HW HANDOUT

Directions: Analyze the portrait below using the visual literacy learning process. Go through each step,
writing your answers to each question.

Motherhood, 1901 by Pablo Picasso

First look at the portrait, what do you see? Don’t judge, form opinions yet, this is just what you see.

How does this painting make you feel? Please be descriptive.

What do you think the artist is trying to tell us about this piece? You have permission to use your
chromebooks or ipads to look up the history of this piece.

Based on the history of the piece, use your own judgement to think, is this is an accurate or non-
accurate piece of work?
ELEMENTS OF ART VOCABULARY HANDOUT 1.3

The following vocabulary words are words you need to know for the elements of art. Please use this
sheet to look back on if you get stuck.

Line:

Color:

Shape:

Form:

Value:

Space:

Texture:
PRINCIPLES OF ART VOCABULARY HANDOUT 1.4
The following vocabulary words are words you need to know for the elements of art. Please use this
sheet to look back on if you get stuck.

Proportion:

Movement:

Rhythm:

Unity:

Balance:

Variation:

Contrast:

Emphasis:

Repetition:

Harmony: