From Leonardo to Pablo

In 4th grade we study Realism and Cubism. We do self portraits using facial mapping and learn about Leonardo da Vinci. We also study Pablo Picasso and his different periods of art. We concentrate on Cubism and do a portrait on the internet. After printing our portraits, we create clay relief sculptures. Our art classes are 75 minutes long and the whole unit takes about 5 art classes to complete.

******************************************************************************** Day 1: Introduction to Leonardo da Vinci and Realism. We discuss facial mapping and use it to compose a realistic self portrait using mirrors, pencils, markers, erasers and 2 pieces of paper(one for our drawing and the other for our facial mapping guidelines). We also use a black sharpie marker to draw our facial mapping guidelines and our pencils and erasers for our actual realistic drawing.

******************************************************************************** Day 2: Completion of Realism - Self-Portrait. We complete all of the important parts of our face and finish all of the details on our drawings. For those who finish early, they may add colored pencil to their portraits.

******************************************************************************** Day 3: Introduction to Picasso and his Art Periods - Emphasis on Cubism. I show students a PPT. presentation on Picasso and we look at several of his Cubist portraits. We hand out laptops and go to the following website. Here we compose a Picasso Cubism portrait and print it out. Below are 2 student examples:

******************************************************************************** Day 4: Relief Sculpture - Cubism Portrait. This class period the students learn about relief sculpture, clay, tools and procedures. Using the printed compositions from last art class, each student constructs a Cubism portrait relief sculpture from clay.

******************************************************************************** Day 5: Ornamentation of Clay Sculptures. Once all projects have been fired in the kiln, the students are ready to add acrylic paint, glitter, wire, beads, buttons, feathers, whatever to their sculptures. I give them the option of using modpodge or another type sealant before they add the other details.