A method of using both brain hemispheres in an art lesson is to brainstorm before drawing with a short writing assignment. Prewriting gives students composition choices they would have missed otherwise. For example, in a recent lesson entitled “What I wish for the world”, the initial causes they wanted to draw about included world peace, world hunger, and global warming, the three we always hear about. But, after having them list all the wrongs they perceive in the world, they were able to draw less clichéd work: an end to human trafficking, access to health care for everyone, affordable college educations for all, better electronic communication for everyone. Powerful artwork was created as a result of the introspective writing at the beginning of the lesson.
Another way I use writing in class is to analyze works of art, our own and more famous works. Students build fluency with language and writing in the safety of the art-room. Many of my writing prompts have no right or wrong answer. At first this is disconcerting for students who want to read a text, find a concrete answer and move on. Unlike the math or science classroom, there are few absolutes in art. As students write about art, they expand the boundaries of both art and writing. They focus on the process and meaning of their work, not on the work alone. According to Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland, authors of a study on whether art education improves students’ academic achievement, “Students who study the arts seriously are taught to see better, to envision, to persist, to be playful and learn from mistakes, to make critical judgments and justify such judgments.”
Resources for Teachers
• Have students write for 10 minutes about the scene they would choose as a background for a self-portrait, then create a self-portrait.
• Have students think of a catchy name for a new product, write a description of the product, then design a package for it.
• Show students one of Georgia O’Keefe’s detailed pictures of natural objects. Ask them to imagine they are holding the object, then write about the textures, weight, smells, sounds, etc., the picture evokes. Finally, have students create an O’Keefe inspired piece.
• Display a painting. Ask students to describe the wordless message the artist is conveying.
• Let students brainstorm prior to creating art about a theme or idea. Have them list everything that comes to mind before creating a piece to represent the idea. From the list, they choose elements to include in the piece.
• Tarr-Schweitzer. Art Journal Topics. McDonald Publishing, 1997
• Edwards, Betty. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Penguin Putnam, 2002
• Lauer, David A, and Stephen Pentak, Design Basics, Thompson Wadsworth, 2007
• Kleiner Fred S., Christin J. Mamiya, and Helen Gardner. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2004
• Boulton, Ian, Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, and Jennie Fleming, eds. Writing for a Change : Boosting Literacy and Learning Through Social Action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006.
Student Samples:
What I Wish For the World
By Jackson Hallberg
“This drawing illustrates pollution and construction taking over and destroying natural earth. The car in the drawing portrays all of the electronics and heavy machinery taking over. It illustrates change in the environment. This change is not good and the painting represents how we need to fight pollution and change how we are going about in our daily lives. (We could) drive less and use less electricity, stop constructing over nature, and fight pollution. The drawing illustrates what is happening to the world and that nature is disappearing. It illustrates that we need to change to stop all of this from happening.”
What I Wish For the World
By Morgan Aguirre
“My change illustrates pollution. I want this change because right now pollution in the air and water is a big problem, especially in cities. I think the world needs to be cleaner to help people’s health. To bring about this change in pollution, I can try to encourage people to recycle their trash instead of dumping it in water or in landfills. I can also try to encourage people to quit driving vehicles that fill the air with gasses and chemicals that are bad for the atmosphere. My drawing illustrates change because the water and air in the city is clear and not polluted. And I am illustrating a change in the polluted cities.”
A Change I Want
By Robbie Grove
“My drawing shows the men and women of our military getting to come home. I want this change because I think that more than enough of them have lost their lives. I’m sure they miss their families and I know that they are missed. I don’t really think there is anything that I could do, but I do believe that if we, as a nation, want it bad enough, we can achieve it. With all of the changes that Obama is bringing, hopefully one is to bring home the troops. My drawing has members of the U.S. Army getting off of a plane with a big ‘Welcome Home’ sign. It shows a change because there is still a lot of military over in the Middle East.”
A Change I’d Like to See
Name Withheld
The change that my drawing illustrates is a change I would like to be made in the mental health care facilities and community. I want this change because of my dad, who has a few very serious mental disorders and the mental health care providers are very careless and release him and other patients before they are well. As of right now, there’s not much I can do but talk to the different social workers. But in the future I would like to work in this field and try my hardest to make a difference, and a lasting impression in the lives of the people who need help, a positive one. I feel my drawing net the assignment because I drew what I would believe to be the mind of a person with a mental disease. In my opinion I captured the confusion and illustrated the change well.
A Change I Want
By Amber Ross
“My drawing illustrates a female president, preferably having the same views as me, when I am able to vote. A female president has never been elected. I thought it would be a valuable change. Although I believe gender wouldn’t necessarily change any opinions on certain things. If the right woman was running, I could vote for her, influence others to vote same as me, or I could even run myself when of age. Living in the U. S. and reading much history, I know we’ve never had a female president, and it could possibly be a great change.
Student Commentary
What I’ve Learned
By Desirae Akers
I’ve learned more in art class this year than in my whole life. Before I was in art I thought I was a pretty good ‘drawer’, but I was wrong. Being in art this year, I actually learned how to draw. I learned what it takes to draw and how to make it look good. With my three pictures I drew I learned mostly about shading, putting details where needed, and make it your own.
One of my favorite drawings was the manly hand holding a jar of lightning. That alone took me a while to get down. I learned how to look at the picture differently to draw the hand, which was difficult for me. I also learned that going dark isn’t a bad thing. In saying that, it leads me to the other picture I shaded darkly: my House of Wax – Melting Lady. I drew it because I love that movie and she looked really cool. It took me some time to make her look good melting and not look sloppy.
Finally, I have my dinosaur drawing. That was one of my first drawings in art class. It is one of my favorites because I believe I can draw better than I ever have if I just take my time and try. It ended up looking real good. This picture alone had very many details. If you pretty much look at it, I did learn a lot in art class. Without my new knowledge of art, I would still be a sucky drawer, and it would have been a shame, because I love drawing.
Learning Style Self-Assessment
By Taylor Daughtery
By taking that quiz, I learned that I use my right side of the brain more than my left. This explains my difficulty understanding certain types like one of my friends. However, I’m glad that I learned this bit of information because it might keep me from being so critical when I analyze my work. I also find this stuff to be really interesting because I had never heard of the whole ‘right and left’ brain having certain characteristics/traits.
My Three Favorite Drawings
By Tracy White
The reason why I chose to draw a picture of the ocean is because I really like the way the ocean looks. I like that this picture has a lot of colors. While I was drawing this all I could think about was how the ocean looked after the sun went down in South Carolina. I have learned a lot while drawing this picture like how to make thins blend in with other.
My second drawing is of a man with a work shirt on that says his name on it. He has black hair, mustache, and a goatee. This man reminded me of my daddy’s partner when my daddy was a plumber. I really like that this man is the first person that I have drawn. While I was creating this art work I was thinking about how my daddy always used to talk about him. I have learned while creating this that if you keep up your practice you can get the drawing to be anything that you want it to be.
My last drawing is of an old bridge down in the middle of Columbus, Ohio. I think that this picture of the bridge is the best picture that I have drawn. I really like that this picture has many sorts of colors. I was thinking about all my memories my family and I had at that bridge. I learned while drawing this bridge that you can draw your memories.
Self Assessment of Favorite Drawings
Alex McKenzie
In my favorite drawing, there are ten different colored foods with their color written out. Red is written in black letters with a red apple elsewhere on the page. All the colors are written in different fonts. It started out as the word ‘RED’ written on a sheet of drawing paper. After that, I just looked at a pack of markers and wrote out nine other colors. Then, I thought of different foods that are those colors. For example, grey is pepper and brown is a peanut.
Comparison of Three Horizons
By Jordan O’Rourke
The three pictures I drew are all of the same scene, just different views. One is at a bird’s eye view. Another is at a normal straight-on view, and one is a worm’s view. Each one has more sky and less land than the next. In the last one, all you can see in the top of the mountains and the top of the tree.
In the bird’s eye view one, you can see whole mountains, lots of grass, and a whole tree. In the normal view one, you can only see about half of all that. And in the third you can only see the top, with lots of sky above it. There is more sky in each one because it’s like you’re looking up, and so less land goes from your view.
I think that the bird’s eye view is most effective. I think this because you can see the most land in this one. So you can see all of the mountains in this one. The way that the mountains and trees are looks like you’re looking down. I was able to draw more in this one.
I don’t like the normal view one. I don’t think it is effective because you can only see half of everything. There is more sky and sky is just blank space. That is the same reason I don’t like the worm’s eye view one. There is a lot of sky, so it’s mostly blank. Only the bottom of the picture in the worm’s eye view has drawing on it.
Post a Comment
