Artful Assessment

Ocean Prints

Visual Arts Lesson, Mixed grades 3/4

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

• Describe and interpret N. C. Wyeth’s Dark Harbor Fishermen.
• Identify and use patterns and repetition in artworks.
• Identify and use positive and negative shapes and spaces in artworks.
• Create an ocean-themed collagraph print.
• Present their work using proper vocabulary and write a reflection about their work.

LESSON ACTIVITIES
Teacher Reflection 1
Patterns in Dark Harbor Fishermen (one 45-minute class)

• Begin by discussing Dark Harbor Fishermen with the class.
  • What do you see? What is happening in this picture?
  • Who do you see? What are they doing?
  • What else do you see in the painting?
  • What time of day is it? Why do you think so?
  • Describe the light in the painting. Where is it coming from? How does it create shadows?
  • What is the mood of the painting? Why do you think so? How does the light impact the mood of the painting?
  • How does the artist feel about the fishermen? Why do you think so?
• Direct the students to pay close attention to the repeated forms in the image.
  • What are the repeated elements in the painting? Where are they?
  • Are they consistent across the picture plane? Where and how do they change?
  • How does this create visual interest?
  • Would this work be as interesting, for instance, if all the boats were the same size and pointing in the same direction? Or if Wyeth had spread the seagulls evenly across the painting?
• Point out that the boats are essentially the same oval-like shape in different sizes and at different angles. Where do these shapes overlap? The seagulls, baskets, and even the men’s hats also act as repeated shapes and forms that interact to create a rhythmic, harmonious composition.
• Discuss the concept of positive and negative space as a compositional tool. Return to Dark Harbor Fishermen and demonstrate, either verbally or in sketch form, the negative spaces in this painting. Discuss how Wyeth used negative space to emphasize certain areas of the painting and to add drama. Explain to student that they will be using these concepts of shape, pattern, and repetition in their own artworks, but that they will be making prints instead of paintings.

Collagraph prints (five 45-minute classes)

• Return to Dark Harbor Fishermen and review with students the conversation they had about the painting. Ask if anyone has any new thoughts they would like to share. Next, explain that they will be making prints, with the following goals:
  • Using repeated elements to create patterns
  • Create a compelling composition
  • Express an ocean theme, in keeping with Dark Harbor Fishermen.
• Work together as a class to create a project rubric so that students know and understand the criteria for the project. Use the Self-assessment – How did I do in Printmaking? as an example.
• As students begin to work on their prints, use the Teacher Checklist/Rubric – Motor Skills to help you observe and assess students’ skills.

Teacher Reflection 2

• Have students plan their ocean designs. They can make sketches of the kinds of fish, animals, and plants they want to feature in their print. They can also sketch out a general composition for their print if they wish. Using a variety of materials (yarn, twine, foam pieces, illustration or mat board pieces), have students create the fish, animals, and plants for their underwater scene. They can shape the elements using yarn like a line, or they can use foam or board to draw and cut out the elements. Students will arrange the objects on the 12-inch diameter circle of mat or illustration board. Once they have created the design they want, they can glue the elements to the board.
• Before students begin printing, have them create background sheets for their final prints. Using watercolor paints on the 12-inch square white paper, have students paint abstract watercolor washes. Students can paint one background using warm colors and another background using cool colors. This will make an interesting comparison when they print the same black image on top of these colors.
• Once the watercolor sheets are dry and ready, students can make their prints. Students will first make a test print on one sheet of 12-inch square white paper. Students can use either a brush or a brayer to roll the printing ink onto the surface of their board. Once their board is inked, place a piece of paper on top of the board and run it through the press. If there is not a press available, roll a rolling pin or brayer gently over the paper just one or two times to transfer the ink to the paper. Students will learn a lot from this test print: how much ink to use, how their design transfers to the paper, and how the design is reversed on the paper.
• Once students have completed the test print, they can make their final prints on their watercolor sheets. When the prints are dry, ask students to choose which one they like better – the warm color background or the cool color background. They will mount this print on black paper as their final piece. Ask students to discuss why they chose that print. What criteria did they use to choose this print? Some ideas include: Is the printing clear? Do the colors work well together? Does the black printing integrate with the watercolor wash?
• Students will glue the print onto the 18-inch square black construction paper. They will use markers and/or pastels to decorate the black frame for their print.
• Once the projects are completed, conduct an “Art Talk” with the class. Have the students present their work to the class and discuss the shapes they made, how they repeated and overlapped those shapes, what colors they used, and how they illustrated the ocean theme. Allow the students the opportunity to comment on each other’s work and how it relates to Dark Harbor Fishermen. Students should complete the Self-assessment – How did I do in Printmaking?, then they should write about their work using the Student Reflection sheet.

Teacher Reflection 3
Teacher Reflection 4

MATERIALS
•    Paper and pencils for sketching
•    12-inch diameter circle of mat board or illustration board, one per student
•    Yarn, twine, foam pieces for cut out shapes, other found objects no more than 1/8-inch thick
•    Scissors
•    White glue or a hot glue gun (teacher use only)
•    12 x 12-inch heavy white paper, three sheets per student
•    Watercolor paints, brushes, cups for water, paper towels
•    Black printing ink
•    A printing press (or rolling pin)
•    Brayers
•    18 x 18-inch black construction paper, one sheet per student
•    Metallic markers and/or pastels