UNIT  PLAN:  A  STUDY  OF  SELF-­‐EXPRESSION  THROUGH  VISUAL  ARTS  Grade  Level:  High  School  –  ART  1    Essential  Questions:  What  is  self-­‐expression?    How  can  visual  arts  be  used  for  self-­‐expression?    Is  self-­‐expression  important?    How  can  I  use  self-­‐expression  to  positively  influence  others?  

National  Art  Standards  

NAEA.VA.9-­‐12.1  CONTENT  STANDARD:  Understanding  and  applying  media,  techniques,  and  processes    NAEA.VA.9-­‐12.1.P.2  PROFICIENT:  Students  conceive  and  create  works  of  visual  art  that  demonstrate  an  understanding  of  how  the  communication  of  their  ideas  relates  to  the  media,  techniques,  and  processes  they  use    Project  1:  The  art  of  cartooning:    Roy  Lichtenstein,  J.  Howard  Miller,  Dan  Piraro,  Art  Spiegelman  

Lesson  1:  Introduction  to  Cartoonists  –  Introduction  to  contemporary  artists  who  are  cartoonists  or  inspired  by  cartoonists,  followed  by  research  and  reflection  activity  for  students.  

Lesson  2:  Demonstration  on  creating  a  one-­‐panel  cartoon  -­‐  Discussion  on  examples,  layout,  composition,  followed  by  sketch  activity  in  students’  journals.    

Lesson  3:  Students  will  create  a  one-­‐panel  cartoon  inspired  by  the  artists  who  we  learned  about  or  another  cartoonist  of  their  choice  accompanied  by  an  Artist’s  Statement.  

 

Project  2:  Collage  Project:  What's  in  Your  Head?    Vincent  Van  Gogh,  Freida  Kahlo,  Frank  Frazatta,  Julio  Reyes  

Lesson  1:  We  will  study  the  human  head  and  standard  proportion  rules  for  creating  a  realistic  head,  followed  by  a  graphic  organizer  activity.      

Lesson  2:  Demonstration  on  how  to  draw  a  human  head  from  different  angles  using  volunteers  from  the  classroom  followed  by  partner  drawing  activity.  

Lesson  3:  Demonstration  on  collage  –  Discussion  on  composition  and  themes  of  collages  followed  by  student  journal  collage  assignment  and  reflection.      

Lesson  4:  Students  will  draw  their  own  head  with  minimal  features,  and  collage  images,  material,  and  words  that  represent  their  identities,  followed  by  an  in-­‐class  critique.    

 

 

Project  3:  Figure  Drawings:  Express  Yourself!  (Self-­‐Portraits)  

Lesson  1:  We  will  have  a  guest  speaker,  a  local  artist  who  specializes  in  the  human  figure  show  their  work  and  give  a  brief  overview.      

Lesson  2:  We  will  study  the  human  figure  and  the  standard  proportions  that  are  used  to  create  a  figure  followed  by  step-­‐by-­‐step  graphic  organizer  activity  for  student  practice  

Lesson  2:  We  will  study  gesture  drawing,  including  study  of  movement  and  emotion/  expressive  qualities  followed  by  in-­‐class  quick  gesture  drawing  activity  from  a  live  model.  

Lesson  3:  Students  will  use  what  they've  learned  about  creating  a  story  in  their  cartooning  project,  creating  a  proportionate  head  in  their  collage  project,  and  their  knew  knowledge  in  figure  and  gesture  drawing  to  create  a  final  self-­‐portrait.    The  self-­‐portrait  should  include  a  gestural  pose  of  some  sort  to  convey  a  sense  of  movement  or  emotion.  The  student  can  choose  the  media  that  they  would  like  to  work  with.    I  will  demonstrate  how  to  use  various  media  as  we  work  through  the  projects.    The  students  will  write  an  Artist's  Statement  about  their  work.    We  will  have  a  gallery  walk  as  the  final  critique.