
Modigliani Self-Portrait
Grade: 3rd-6th
# of 50 minute sessions: 4
Modigliani Self-Portrait
Grade: 3rd-6th
# of 50 minute sessions: 4
Some artists create everyday like clockwork. They take their canvas and easel and go to a mountain top or a cliff and paint for hours on end until they have a masterpiece or hurl their canvas over the cliff like Cezanne in a fit of frustration. I am not that kind of artist. I have never been that kind of artist and yet my whole life I have been Liza the artist. I was the girl in high school who spent countless hours in the art room listening to Depeche Mode on her headphones shading and mixing colors. I attended art school, have a B.F.A. in painting, and went onto a successful career as art teacher in the public schools. I created my own art and displayed it in galleries in my spare time. Then one day in October of 2013 I got the call that ended my artistic career: I was finally pregnant. I had tried for several years to create what would become one of my two greatest masterpieces, not knowing that this news would make me completely redefine myself.
Maybe you’re reading this saying I shouldn’t have to give up my artistic pursuits to be a mom. You’re right. There are plenty of people who have babies and manage with a helpful family member, daycare, or sleep schedules to continue their interests. I have fully committed myself to being a mom and put this part of myself on the back burner. My practice as an artist has ebbed and flowed throughout my life. Three summers ago before my pregnancy I was creating art everyday, and now nothing since. The blog is filling the creative void to express what art left behind. I do miss it, but not terribly because I know one day it will consume my life again.
On of the most exciting periods of music and art to study when I was a teenager and pre-teen was the Psychedelic era. It seemed radical, revolutionary, and free. Freedom is what those pre-teens and teenagers are craving so why not peak their interest with a lesson on John Lennon and Richard Avedon?
Title:Beatles Psychedelic Self-Portraits
Grades: Gr 4-8
Art Lesson Plan-4 50 minute sessions
Enduring Idea: Heroes and Heroines
Rationale: Throughout, time humans have created or selected heroes to teach lessons that portray virtuous characteristics and noble archetypes that help an individual, a nation or a culture survive and thrive. Artists, have often been influenced by heroes and have portrayed real or mythological heroes in their artworks.
Materials: pencils. erasers, markers, 12″x 18″ white paper
Resources: Beatles by Avedon, John’s Secret Dreams: The John Lennon Story, examples of psychedelic art (Peter Max, Richard Avedon, concert posters), self-critique form
Preparation: precut white paper to 12″x 18″, gather examples of psychedelic art, and create an exemplar, create a self-critique form students can use to check their work according to the criteria they were given to complete the assignment
National Arts Standard Anchor (s):
#2. Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
#8. Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
Objectives:
*Students will learn about the life of John Lennon and the Beatles
*Students will learn why John Lennon is considered a hero
*Students will become familiar with the psychedelic art of the 1960’s
*Students will create a self-portrait in the style of Richard Avedon’s portraits of the Beatles.
Vocabulary:
Psychedelic, Abstract, Self-Portrait, Repetitive Pattern
Interdisciplinary Standards:
Procedures: Day 1: S will view teacher exemplar. T will review the lesson steps. S will listen to the book John’s Secret Dreams: The John Lennon Story. T “Why did John Lennon stage a bed in?” “What did John Lennon believe in?” “What can we learn from his actions?” S will pair up and trace their heads on a white paper in pencil. Day 2: T will review the lesson steps. T will review with class the examples of psychedelic art using the Elements of Art and Principals of Design. S will use a ruler and pencil to add a psychedelic pattern to his/her self -portrait. Day 3: S will review the steps of the lesson and vocabulary. S will begin coloring in his/her self portrait with bright colored markers. Day 4: S will finish coloring in his/her self-portrait. S will use the self-critique form to self-critique his/her project using the elements of art and principals of design. S will hand in his/her project along with the self-critique form for grading.
Assessment:
S neatly and carefully drew the outline of his/her head on the paper and added a repetitive pattern. 3/10
S neatly and carefully colored in his her self-portrait using bright bold colors to create abstraction. 4/10
S answered all the questions on his/her critique form, demonstrating thoughtfulness as to how they describe their project using the elements and principals. 3/10