Lesson: Cubist Contour Still Life

Grade Level: High School - Art I/Beginning Art

Overview:

The students will learn about still life and cubism in this lesson. They will each bring in an object for the teacher to assemble one still life for the center of the room. The students will sit in a circle around the still life. They will have a designated amount of time to draw in the contour lines of the still life from that angle. They when time is up they must move four seats to the right and begin drawing from a new angle. This will be repeated 5 times for 5 different drawings. From there the students will use the multiple angles of the drawing in a collage like a cubist artwork in which fractures the picture plane into multiple angles. They will then choose an appropriate limited color palette to complete the artwork.

Objectives:

The student will be able to…
Knowledge

• Identify styles and techniques used in Cubist artwork
• Use 5 different views of the still life in the drawings

Skill

• Draw 5 still life contour drawings from the class still life
• Construct a cubist composition of multiple sides using all 5 contour drawings
• Compose a unified negative space to accompany the contour drawings

Value

• Discuss their thoughts and opinions on the Cubist style
• Select their own object to bring in and add to the class still life
• Choose a color palette for their composition (complementary, analogous, etc.)

• Standard 1: Student Choice and Vision - Students' emerging interests are at the core of visual literacy and an arts curriculum that promotes voice and ownership in learning.
• Standard 2: Critical and Creative Thinking – Students coordinate artistic processes to imagine, create, realize and refine ideas in both conventional and innovative ways.
• Standard 3: Authentic Application and Collaboration - Students engage in artistic production individually and collaboratively to address genuine local and global community needs

Vocabulary:

• Cubism
• Pablo Picasso
• Contour Line
• Drawing
• Collage
• Juxtaposition
• Still Life
• Planes
• Fractured
• Planes
• Complementary
• Analogous
• Tertiary
• Monochrome
• Primary
• Secondary

Materials:

• Objects for still life
• Water color paper
• Pencils
• Scissors
• Glue
• Water colors
• Paint brushes

Teaching Instructions:

1. Prior to the lesson the students are asked to each bring in an object for a still life.
2. Introduction: "Who knows who Pablo Picasso is?" "What is he known for?" "Did you know he began training as an artist at the age of 7?"
3. Show examples of his early works. "In the early years, he painted in a realistic manner. As he got older his style changes as he experimented with various types of media and techniques."
4. Show examples of his cubism: Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, Bread and Fruit Dish on a Table, and Still Life with Chair Caning.
5. "Cubism is a style of painting Picasso developed with artist, Georges Braque using monochrome colors. He took apart objects and looked at them in terms of their shapes, fracturing the planes into sections."
6. Ask students, "What objects do you see in these paintings?" "How has be broken up those objects?" "What colors did he choose?"
7. Transition, "Now lets look at Picasso's line drawings.
8. Show students a few examples of his line drawings.
9. Ask students, "What do you notice about these drawings?"
10. Explain that these are contour line drawings because the shape is what the artist is focusing on, not the shading or shadows.
11. Instructions: "You will pick a seat around the still life, and take your 5 pieces of water color paper, a pencil, and an eraser with you. I want you to draw a portion of the still life that you see from the seat you are at. Focus on completing a contour drawing. I will give you 10 minutes to make the drawing. When the time is up, I will ask you to rotate four seats to your right, and take a seat. You will begin on the next piece of paper, a contour drawing from this angle. In the end you will have five drawings of the still life from 5 different angles."
12. "It is important that you only focus on the contour lines, no shading."
13. By the end of class the students will have their 5 contour drawings completed.
14. The students will cut out each of their contour drawings how they please along the lines.
15. After all of the objects are cut out the students will arrange them on their sixth piece of paper in a composition showing the fractured planes of the objects.
16. The students will glue down the pieces when they have decided on a composition.
17. They will then choose a color palette to color their collaged contour drawing.
18. Remind students of the color wheel.
19. Show the color wheel, and ask students, "What are the primary colors, what are the secondary colors, what are the tertiary colors, what is monochromatic, what is analogous, what is complementary?"
20. Tell students, "Choose one of these types of color palettes to paint your collage.
21. The students will begin to paint in their drawing with the desired color palette.
22. Tell students, "Keep in mind the negative space on the paper. What could you do with the negative space to make it look like part of the painting?"
23. Closure: The students will hang their paintings on the wall for a class critique. Each student will talk about the successes and troubles with the project and process. They will also say what they could add or remove or do different to make their project better.

Extensions/Modifications:

• For students who may need extra assistance I can allow them to focus on one object in the still life each time they rotate seats. I can have a printout of one of Picasso's contour drawings so they can refer to it to remind them to only draw the lines. When choosing a color palette, I will show the student what they look like together and have them pick which one they want to use.
• For advanced students, they can add other materials to their collage, such as printed papers, fabrics, etc and explain that Picasso played around with collage frequently experimenting with other objects. The students must have a specific choice for using such materials and they should complement the composition.

Resources:

Images:

• Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler
• Bread and Fruit Dish on a Table
• Still Life with Chair Caning

Books:

• Picasso Line Drawings and Prints, by Pablo Picasso
• Projector and Computer: to show images