Feel the Force!

Language Arts Lesson

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to:

• Describe and interpret the expressive qualities of Winslow Homer’s Weatherbeaten.
• Recognize the different characteristics of seascape and landscape paintings and how artists use landscapes to express feelings.
• Create a variety of patterned papers.
• Create a dramatic and expressive landscape or seascape using their patterned papers.

LESSON ACTIVITIES

Teacher Reflection 1

Landscapes, seascapes, and Winslow Homer’s Weatherbeaten (one or two 45-minute classes)

• Begin the lesson by discussing landscape and seascape paintings in general with the class. Have several examples (they can be any style or time period you wish) of landscapes and seascapes displayed in the classroom and discuss what they see, what they like about the paintings, and how the paintings make them feel. Discuss color, texture, composition, atmosphere, and mood. Why do artists choose to paint landscapes and seascapes? Why are artists inspired by nature?
• Introduce Homer’s famous seascape painting, Weatherbeaten, to the class. Explain to the students that Homer lived at Prouts Neck, which is on the coast of Maine in Scarborough. Ask the students to take a few quiet minutes just looking at the work, then discuss the work as a class.
  • What would it feel like to be there? Have them consider each of their five senses when they imagine being in the scene.
  • What time of day is it?
  • What season is it?
  • What is the weather like?
  • How does this work make you feel?
  • What are your different reactions to the work?
• Next, explain that students will be creating a collage landscape, and review the collage technique. Have students begin to think about what kind of scene they will create in their collage. To get started, students can think about an experience they have had in nature. How did being in a certain environment make them feel? How do they feel in a thunderstorm? In a snowstorm? At the beach on a sunny day? Hiking in the autumn woods? At sunset? At sunrise? At the stormy sea? At a calm lake at twilight?  Have them imagine the scene that evokes strong feelings for them and create a sketch of that scene, which will serve as the basis for their landscape collage.

Teacher Reflection 2

Patterned papers (two 45-minute classes)

• With their landscape ideas in mind, students will make their own patterned papers to use as the collage elements.
• Paste paper
  • There are several recipes for making homemade paste (usually a combination of water and flour cooked in a double boiler), but one idea that is less labor intensive is to buy pre-made wallpaper paste. (www.ehow.com/how_2167326_paste-paper.html; www.sdmart.org/pix/pastepaper.pdf)
  • Divide the paste into smaller containers and mix tempera paints into the paste to create the colored paste
  • Using a damp sponge, wet the sheet of paper
  • Using a large brush, coat the surface of the paper with a thin layer of paste
  • Using a variety of tools (combs, brushes, stamps, etc.) create a pattern that covers the whole sheet
  • Set the sheets aside to dry
• Crayon resist
  • Students draw abstract designs with crayons on large sheets of paper and then paint a watercolor wash over whole page.
• Students may also use different kinds of paper for their collages, including colored tissue and construction paper. Explain that the different weights of the patterned and solid papers will have different effects in their collage.

Landscape/Seascape collages (four or five 45-minute classes)

• Share and display the following project criteria with students before they begin work on their collages:
  • A well-balanced composition
  • Excellent craftsmanship
  • Use of a variety of papers
  • Express an emotion
  • Create a sense of place
• Using their sketches as inspiration, have the students create a collage landscape or seascape with the different kinds of paper. Students can also share their patterned papers with each other.
• Students can use white glue or a diluted glue/water solution to adhere the collage elements to the paper.
• Have the students consider the following art elements and how they will convey the mood or feeling the students wish to communicate:
  • Color (darks and lights, warm and cool colors)
  • Texture (the different weights of the papers)
  • Size or scale
  • Adding the figure of a person interacting with the natural forces in the scene can enhance the emotional effects.
  • Working in layers and overlapping papers can create different effects
  • The different edges created by cutting or tearing the paper can add interest and texture to the work.
• When students have worked for a day or two on their collages, have the students share their work with each other as a mid-point review. Divide the students into pairs or small groups and ask them to look carefully and comment on each other’s progress. Refer to the criteria for the project established at the beginning of the lesson.
  • What do you like about the work of your peers?
  • What advice can you give?
  • What questions do you have about their work or do you need some help for your own collage?

Teacher Reflection 3

• When students have completed their collages, display the landscapes and seascapes. Have students complete the Self-assessment—Landscape collage. As a class, discuss their collages.
  • What do you see in each other’s work?
  • What emotions are being expressed?
  • What do you like?
  • How do are these works similar to and different from Homer’s Weatherbeaten?

MATERIALS

• A variety of landscape and seascape images
• 8 1/2 x 11” white paper for sketching
• Pencils
• 12 x 18” white paper, several sheets per student (for patterned papers and for the collage)
• Paste (flour and water, or pre-made wallpaper paste)
• Paste paper tools (combs, brushes, stamps, etc.)
• Crayons
• Watercolor paints and brushes
• Assorted colored tissue paper
• Assorted colored construction paper
• Scissors
• Modge Podge or white glue