Art History: Ancient Egypt

In Art History, once we finished up with prehistoric art, we moved on to Mesopotamia and then Ancient Egypt.  So far, even though we only meet every other day, we are keeping on track extremely well with my planned out timeline for the school year.  We have three more weeks left for the first quarter and my goal is to cover Ancient Greece by the 10 week marking period.  We just finished with the Minoans and Mycenaean, and will be starting Greece on Tuesday this week.

Here is my student's diorama for Egypt, as well as her essay.  At this point, I will start going through her essays to point out areas that she could elaborate on her ideas, and I plan on teaching her the Chicago style of citations (footnotes and end notes).  For her next essay, I'm going to require her to use citations as well as cite the textbook we are using in her essay.  We will build slowly from there!

         Ancient Egypt is, by far, one of the most impressive cultures in history.  From the sky-high pyramids, to the mummification of their dead, tot he solar religion system, Egypt has obviously amazed archaeologists, historians and even artists for centuries.  The ancient Egyptian style of art is shown through paintings and carvings on the inside of pyramid walls, sculptures created to honor gods and the dead, and the actual structure of their buildings, such as pyramids.  Throughout this unit, I learned all about the culture of Egypt, which helped to further my understanding of the artwork from this time period.  The ancient Egyptians used techniques that differentiate their art from other cultures around this time, such as the canon of proportions--a twisted perspective of the human body, showing a front view of the shoulders and torso, a side view of the head, hips and legs, and identical hands.  Gods and goddesses are shown with human bodies and animal heads in all Egyptian artwork.  What truly amazed me about the Egyptians is their idea of permanence.  Temples and artwork alike were created very strategically and with much thought in order to assure that they would last forever.  This idea is also shown through the mummification of the dead, as a way to prepare their people for a permanent afterlife.  Ancient Egypt has had a great impact on the world of history, religion, and art.

          For my Ancient Egypt project, I I decided to decorate a diorama to look like the inside of a pyramid.  To achieve the ancient pyramid feel, I used spray paint in yellow and red to create a golden look to the pyramid walls on both the inside and outside of my diorama.  Inside, I painted a large depiction of Egyptian artwork on the back wall, with two men and a god shown in a line.  To make this look extremely realistic, I used the cannon of proportions to paint the figures.  Their heads are shown from a side view, although their bodies appear to be from the front view.  The god I painted has a bird mask for a head, as Ancient Egyptian art depicted gods and goddesses with animal heads.  On the two side walls of my pyramid, I painted hieroglyphics as a writing form, but the writing style they sued includes shapes of objects rather than letters.  Symbols I used include the eye, hands, and a turtle. I also created an Egyptian pharaoh in a sarcophagus out of modeling clay, dusted with gold and blue pigments to give it a shiny appearance.  Surrounding the Egyptian sarcophagus are four jars, also made out of clay, which would have been used to hold the mummy's stomach, liver, intestines, and lungs.  These jars are decorated to represent the head of the mummy.  Ancient Egyptian culture has had a major impact on cultures throughout history, and the world.

Art History: Prehistoric Art

This year, I am excited to say that I have an Art History course that I am able to offer students college credit through SUNY Potsdam, the institution I attended and earned my degrees through.  While I originally had 3 students in it (which I thought was amazing, considering history is a tough sell at my district), a math class was moved during the summer and I lost two students, leaving me with one student.  Either way, it's still great, we are getting some bonding time, and I'm making art along with her!

We are using the Annotated Mona Lisa as a textbook for this class, and we began with Prehistoric Art.  In an attempt to make this class not just lecture (and I'm glad I decided on this because it would be really hard to lecture every day to ONE student), we are incorporating a historical art project every few cultures.  As part of the project requirements, my student can create whatever she wants, as long as she displays the characteristics of that culture AND uses an artistic technique by the culture, such as making her own brushes and paints, or using a paint technique or a material specific to that culture.

We started with prehistoric art, of course, and when we got to the project, she decided (and I thought it was a GREAT idea) to make a diorama for each culture!  So, as we progress through the year, she will have a pretty awesome, 3-D timeline made!  Along with each project, I ask her to write a two page essay that discusses her project in terms of the techniques and materials she used, how those might reflect the ancient culture, and how her project and decisions as a whole represents that culture.  In a college art history class, you usually have to write some sort of term paper, usually 10 pages minimum (at least I had to!).  The cooperating professor approved my plan of multiple 2 page essays, and as we progress through the year, I will teach her how to properly cite using the Chicago format of footnotes/end notes.

We used tissue paper, hot glue, and then Liquitex Spray Paint (which is INSANELY AWESOME!) to create the caves.  We also made our own egg yolk tempera, which we will utilize again for our Egyptian dioramas, except that we will have to make some gold paint!

My current student taking the class is a senior and is potentially going to college for art, whether she majors or minors in it.  She loves writing, so I've sort of tailored this class with her in mind.  Here is her first completed project and her first short essay, written completely by her without an edits from me:

          The Prehistoric Era dates back to about 35,000 BC and is one of the first eras known to create artwork. Artworks were created during this time mostly to adorn the body or to decorate.  The artwork created by people during this time period can be defined as cave paintings and small sculptures.  The artists, mostly female, would make all their own materials, such as the paint created from charcoal, clay, water, blood, and even urine.  The paintbrushes would also be handmade, from materials such as twigs, human hair, and grass.  Sculptures would be made of ivory, bone, stone and antlers.  This time period had a long lasting effect on artists and people around the world, as this was the beginning of the world of art.

         For this project, I chose to create a diorama to represent a cave filled with cave paintings, a fire, paints, and a cave woman.  I spray painted the diorama to look identical to a cave, and also built tissue paper up along the left side to give the cave a more realistic appearance.  I added texture to the inner part of the cave to show a rough, rock-like texture on the floor and walls.  Next, with the help of my teacher, I made my own paint from pigments, water and egg yolks.  This process was very interesting and I loved the experience.  I used these paints to decorate the inner walls of the cave, painting such things as wild animals, hunters, and hand prints. The idea for the wall paintings came from the notes I had taken in class, and are accurate depictions of what would have been present on cave walls.  I also added a human figure, a cave woman, to the diorama.  She is dressed in a leather "dress", which would have been created from an animal hide hunted, most likely, by the men.  I chose to add a woman over adding a man because most cave painters would be women, which we know because of the small hand prints visible on the walls.  The hand prints were used as a "signature" for the artwork, and can be found throughout many caves.  I created a fire displayed on the inside of the cave because the paintings were normally found deep inside the caves, where it would have been colder.  I also added some of the paint I made into small shells, since these were used to hold paint during this time period.

         Overall, I found this project to be a great experience and I really enjoyed it.  I believe my diorama accurately represents a cave woman and the wall paintings.  The overall process was unique because I've never made my own paint before, which I found to be interesting.  I also like that I added several identifiable factors into my diorama, which helped to show that it's based in the Paleolithic Era.

My diorama I made with my student.  :)  Not nearly as good as hers!

VanGogh Essays

I have finally finished correcting the VanGogh essays my 5th graders did, and I have to say I'm impressed by a few.  Quite a few of them really did not want to write at all because it was art class and I hate to say it, but they won't be happy with their grade.  They're teachers also were not very happy because they've been working very hard on essay writing in class.  And, never mind the fact that state testing is starting next week!

Anyways, I wanted to share a few of the essays that I really enjoyed reading.  When students wrote these essays, I did have the September 2012 Scholastic Art magazine available for reference, as well as 5-6 VanGogh books from the library.  These students obviously used their resources as well as information they retained in their memory from the VanGogh presentation.

Essay #1:

     Do you know facts about VanGogh?  He was one of the most tragic artists who ever lived.  Van Gogh was born in Holland in 1853 and died in France in 1890.  VanGogh didn't want to be a painter until he was grown up.  He worked in a bookstore and he was a preacher like his dad.  He went to different art schools to learn how to draw.
     Mine is a landscape and my landscape is compared to Starry Night.  Ours are the same because we both have swirls in our sky.  Also we both have a building.  Also VanGogh has bushes.  I'm now going to tell you how they're different because I don't have trees and he does.  He also has buildings and I don't because I only have 1 building.
     I used lines and texture.  I used them in my barn and my sky and I used them with a short brush.  I went back and forth.  I have nothing that I want to change because I think it looks good.  Well I would like to change the sky but that's it.
     I like his artworks because it has lots of elements.  Also because he has lots of sad colors.  I have seen Starry Night and that's my favorite. Starry Night is my favorite because it has my favorite colors on it.  Also I like Starry Night because it has bright colors on it.
     I would ask him what painting out of all of them he likes best.  I would ask him that because he has so many paintings and I think that he has a favorite.  If I would get to see him I would tell him that some of his paintings are hanging up in McDonald's and I would tell him that I like his Starry Night.
I loved this essay because it was surprising from the particular student who wrote it!  I honestly hadn't expected it to be as detailed as it was.  I also really loved that the student made the connection at our local McDonalds!  There are faded reproductions of VanGogh's art hanging in the restaurant.  The student told me that they had been at McDonalds and realized those were VanGogh paintings.  When they started talking about it, they said the workers there were asking questions to see what the student knew!  I was impressed.

Essay #2:

          Do you know who Vincent VanGogh is? Vincent was named after his brother that diet.  He after when painting used a very small variety of colors.  No one wanted to buy any of his paintings.  His brother Theo sent him money because he was poor.  Theo was four years younger than Vincent was.  Vincent and his brother were really close.  Now do you know some things about Vincent VanGogh?

          Have you ever drawn or painted something and compared it to a famous artist's painting?  I compared my painting "Alone" to Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night".  Our artworks are the same because well one the texture of our sky.  Then because we both used a tree in the foreground of our paintings.  They are not alike because his tree is different from mine and in his your like looking down on a village.  Also because his has houses and buildings and mine doesn't.  Can you somewhat understand how my painting and his painting are alike and unlike?

          Do you know what the elements of art are and how to use them?  In "Alone," I used the line element in my sky.  My sky is swirly like Vincent's sky in "Starry Night."  Then I used texture in my tree.  I dotted the leaves on my tree.  If I could change anything about my painting, it would probably be the shape of my hills and where they are in my painting.  Can you name all the elements of art?

          Do you like Vincent Van Gogh's art?  I like his art because each painting says something and has its own personality.  Each of his paintings are different and are special in their own little ways.  They are based on emotions and feelings.  I think they are one of a kind and unique in their own way. My favorite is Starry Night because I really love the colors, the style, the texture.  I just love everything about it!  What is your favorite painting by Vincent Van Gogh?

          If you could ask or tell anything to Vincent Van Gogh what would it be?  I could ask him something it would be how or what inspired him when he paints.  Then if I could tell him anything it would be why I love his art and that I think he is a brilliant artist.  I hope you have enjoyed my essay and that you want to read it again.
This essay was the best one I had.  The student used awesome details and a lot of art vocabulary!  It was also one of the most well-supported essays that was written!

Essay #3:

          Do you know some facts about Vangogh?  First Vincent wanted to paint pictures of things he cared about.  Vincent painted a picture of poor people and called it The Potato Eaters.  Second Vincent made friends with artists named Paul Signac and Georges Seurat.

          Do you know the difference and similarities between my painting Blue Vase and Van Gogh's painting Vase with Sunflowers?  First the difference is Van Gogh's painting is all yellow but my painting is blue.  They are similar because we each used one color throughout the painting.

          Do you know the elements of art I used for the painting Blue Vase?  First I used line in the vase's designs.  Second I also used space in the painting when I put the vase and flowers closer than the wall behind them.

          Do you know why I like Van Gogh's art?  First I like his art because he uses a lot of paint.  My favorite painting is Starry Night.

          If I could ask Van Gogh one question I would ask him why do you like painting?  If I could tell Van Gogh something I would say I like your art.

Essay #4:

          Vincent Van Gogh was an artist who painted hundreds of paintings in his whole lifetime, though he only sold one.  He cut off his ear and sent it to his ex-girlfriend.  Ya, Vincent was seriously messed up.  He shot himself in a field during his blue time.

          My artwork is compared to Vincent's painting Flowers.  They are the same because they are both flowers in a vase.  They are also both lights and darks from the same color and we both have it on a table with a wall in the background.  Our artwork is different because they are different colors.  Also that they both have different flowers.  His flowers are some droopy and some straight and mine are all straight.

          In my artwork I used line, form, colro and value.  I used value when I painted tints and shades of the same color.  I used color when I painted color onto the canvas.  I used line because I used lines that go in different directions.  I used form when I drew my flowers and the vase.

          I love Vincent's artwork because he is a very good artist and I like how he uses swirly lines and tints and shades of one color.  My favorite would be Starry Night.

          If I could ask VanGogh one question i would ask him if he could give me art lessons.  If I could tell VanGogh something I would tell him that his artwork is fantastic and that I love it.  But of course, I can't do any of this 'cause he's dead.

This one is pretty good but I think it's pretty funny because of the random comments written in as if the writer was talking out loud!

          

Van Gogh Rubric & Essay (More Common Core!)

I have been working on creating rubric for my 5th grade Van Gogh unit and I wanted to share them, particularly to get your take on the essay portion.  As I said in my previous post, I haven't really been doing much Common Core in art, but I'm trying to change that.  By no means am I an English teacher, but I did write upwards of 20+ art history papers and a thesis in college, so I hope I have asked good enough thought-provoking questions!

This rubric is the rubric for the final, monochromatic project.  I'd like students write a short essay about their artwork and Van Gogh. We will mat/frame their essay and display it together with their paintings.  I plan on sharing this with their teachers to see if there is any way I should tweak these questions, write my directions, or review how to write an essay with them.  I'm not even sure if they have really done short essays (though I'm sure they have).  Please let me know if you have any input on this...I would greatly appreciate it!

As I'm posting this, I am adding another paragraph...Which elements of art did you use in your artwork? How and where?