Submitted by: Jennifer Wagner
UNIT: Computer Graphics - Lessons Using Kid Pix®
Grade Level: Kindergarten/Elementary
Turning Your Computer into an Easel
Introduction: Using the following lessons, the teacher will be introducing artists to the students and then allowing the students to create their version of the artists original work.
Needed:
- Computer (PC/Mac)
- Printer (color preferred)
- print paper,
- Software: Kid Pix® is preferred, but Creative Writer 2, Crayola Art Studio, MS Paint, etc. will do.
Activity: Artist #1 - Mondrian
Introduction: (Pieter Cornelis Mondrian 1872-1944)
Painting
Title: Composition
in Red, Yellow, Blue
In the early 1900s many artists tried various abstract ways of representing reality. Mondrian went beyond them. In his final compositions he avoided any suggestion of reproducing the material world. Instead using horizontal and vertical black lines that outline blocks of pure white, red, blue or yellow, he expressed his conception of ultimate harmony and equilibrium. Mondrian was born on March 7, 1872 in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. He studied at the Amsterdam Academy from 1892 to 1895 then began painting on his own. Most of his early works were landscapes. In 1909 he began a series of paintings of trees in which he developed an increasingly abstract style. He moved to Paris, about 1912, where he was influenced by the cubist painters. During World War I, Mondrian painted in The Netherlands. There he helped found De Stijl a magazine of the arts that influenced European painting, architecture, and design. He also began to formulate his own aesthetic theories. His style, and its underlying artistic principles, he called neoplasticism. The later paintings, which date from 1920 until his death, have simple titles, such as ‘Composition in Red, Yellow and Blue’ painted in 1926, and ‘Composition in White, Black and Red’ (1936). Mondrian lived in Paris from 1919 to 1938. He moved to London in 1938 and left there for New York in 1940. His works were admired by other artists, but did not sell. His final painting, called ‘Victory Boogie Woogie’, was still unfinished when he died in New York City on February 1, 1944.
KID PIX ASSIGNMENT:
Step 1: Choose the line tool
Step 2: Choose the color black
Step 3: Choose the third of the fourth thickness for your line (bottom tool bar)
Step 4: Draw 5 or 6 vertical lines and 5 or 6 horizontal lines.
Step 5: Using the eraser, erase some of the connector lines so that you are left with open white spaces.
Step 6: Using your bucket tool, use the colors BLACK, RED, YELLOW, or BLUE to fill in your spaces. Be sure to leave some white areas.
Step 7: Save your artwork as Mondian (add your computer #) .bmp (or PICT, JPG, or GIF for the Mac).
Step 8: Print out a copy of your work for your personal copy and also one for a teacher copy.
Web
links on Mondrian:
Activity:
Artist #2 - VAN GOGH
Introduction:
(Gogh, Vincent Willem van (1853-1890),
Painting
Title: Starry
Night
Dutch postimpressionist painter, whose work represents the archetype of expressionism, the idea of emotional spontaneity in painting. Van Gogh was born March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, son of a Dutch Protestant pastor. Early in life he displayed a moody, restless temperament that was to thwart his every pursuit. By the age of 27 he had been in turn a salesman in an art gallery, a French tutor, a theological student, and an evangelist among the miners at Wasmes in Belgium.
He had very turbulent mood swings. Later in his life, he invited Paul Gauguin, whom he had met earlier in Paris, to join him. After less than two months they began to have violent disagreements, culminating in a quarrel in which van Gogh wildly threatened Gauguin with a razor; the same night, in deep remorse, van Gogh cut off part of his own ear. For a time he was in a hospital at Arles. He then spent a year in the nearby asylum of Saint-RŽmy, working between repeated spells of madness. Under the care of a sympathetic doctor, whose portrait he painted (Dr. Gachet,1890, Louvre, Paris), van Gogh spent three months at Auvers. Just after completing his Crows in the Wheatfields (1890, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh), he shot himself on July 27, 1890, and died two days later.
KID PIX ASSIGNMENT:
This assignment has Two Parts
PART 1 - Making the Background of Starry Night
Step 1: Choose the rectangle tool - You will be filling the page up with different colored rectangles
Step 2: You will choose blues, greens, yellows, blacks, whites, purples
Step 3: Draw rectangles......They may overlap. The color you use most often will be the prominent color. Keep this in mind!
Step 4: Once you have filled your page with rectangles, choose the mixer tool and mix up your picture. It usually takes at least 10 mixes to get the background effect you wish.
Step 5 - Save your picture as Starry Night (add your computer #) .bmp
PART II - Making the Foreground
Step 1 - Using your pencil tool.....choose a dark color and draw a line near the bottom of your background. (This will become your ground area)
Step 2 - Using the Paintbrush tool.....look for the TREE tool. Choose the black color and draw several trees on your picture. (They will appear as in silouette)
Step 3 - Using the circle tool.....Choose a yellowish color.....draw the moon
Step 4 - Using the pencil tool - You can add dimension to your moon and also add swirls and stars
Step 5 - Save your work again. (You will need to click on YES, you wish to overwrite the file)
Step 6: Print out a copy of your work for your personal copy and also one for a teacher copy.
Web links on Vincent Van Gogh
Artcylopedia's
choices- some of mine are below:
How
Van Gogh Made His Mark - interactive exploration of four
landscape drawings introducing the creative genius of Van Gogh
the draftsman. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Van Gogh Gallery -
Comprehensive site of Vincent Van Gogh's work. Site
assembled by David Brooks of Toronto, Canada.
Van Gogh's Letter Sketches 133 Sketches are listed
Van Gogh and Gauguin
Exhibit -- Enter the experience (used Flash)
Van
Gogh and Gaugin - The Studio in the South Learn about both
artists and view the slide show. Art Institute of Chicago
Van Gogh - Carol Gerten's
Fine Art. Click on small thumbnail images. Link to
biography.
Van
Gogh Museum Life
and times
Vincent Art Gallery. This
site has quality reproductions for sale - many images (click
Gallery). Artists
who inspired him
Vincent
Van Gogh - Mark Harden's Artchive has biography and links to
quality images.
Van
Gogh at Ettens: Sketches and Billboards ThinkQuest site-
created by students for students. (Site is temporarily off line
- check back later)
Van Gogh's
Van Gogh's Virtual Tour National Gallery of Art.
"Van
Gogh" (No Stereo) - song by Greg Percy - Songs
in the Key of Art: Volume I
Information on Facts of Van Gogh found in Microsoft Encarta 99.
Activity: Artist #3 - Picasso
Introduction: (Picasso, Pablo Ruiz y (1881-1973)
Painting Title: Large
Heads*
Born in Malaga on October 25, 1881, Picasso was the son of José Ruiz Blasco, an art teacher, and Mar’a Picasso y Lopez. Until 1898 he always used his father's name, Ruiz, and his mother's maiden name, Picasso, to sign his pictures. After about 1901 he dropped "Ruiz" and used his mother's maiden name to sign his pictures. Picasso's genius manifested itself early: at the age of 10 he made his first paintings, and at 15 he performed brilliantly on the entrance examinations to Barcelona's School of Fine Arts. His large academic canvas Science and Charity (1897, Picasso Museum, Barcelona), depicting a doctor, a nun, and a child at a sick woman's bedside, won a gold medal.
Picasso had may different "periods" during his lifetime. The BLUE period was the time that he used many shades of blue in his art. The ROSE period featured many rose and reds. (He also is known to have fallen in love during this time.) His PROTOCUBISM was marked with the images of African, Greek and Iberian art. CUBISM and CUBISM Sculpture followed. This is demonstrated by the breaking down and analyzing form. Then showing it from different angles.
Picasso is considered the greatest artist of the 20th century. He was unique as an inventor of forms, as an innovator of styles and techniques, as a master of various media, and as one of the most prolific artists in history. He created more than 20,000 works.
*Note: I would find a different work of Picasso. I could not find a quality image of Large Heads online - Large Heads (1969) Ludwig Collection: Aachen, France.
KID PIX PICASSO ASSIGNMENT #1:
This first assignment includes scanning the Picasso's clown
Step 1: Open the file entitled Picasso clown
Step 2: Using your bucket, color in the clown.
Step 3: Using the typewriter tool, type in Picasso's Clown by (insert your name)
Step 4: Save as Clown (add your computer #) .bmp
Step 5: Print out a copy of your work for your personal copy and also one for a teacher copy.
KID PIX PICASSO ASSIGNMENT #2:
Before beginning this assignment, all students need to view "Main Aux Fleur" (available in previously mentioned book)
Step 1: Using the line tool, draw your stems
Step 2a: Use the stamp tool, and control/shift to add flowers to your stem
OR
Step 2b: Using the pencil tool, draw your own flowers and fill them in using the bucket tool
Step 3: Using the pencil tool, add your leaves
Step 4: Save as MAF (add your computer #) .bmp
Step 5: Print out a copy of your work for your personal copy and also one for a teacher copy.
KID PIX PICASSO ASSIGNMENT #3:
Remind students of CUBISM. Students will need to view different pictures of Picasso's cubism.
Remind students that things are exaggerated!
Step 1: Using the circle tool, draw an oval.
Step 2: Using the stamp tool, choose an eye stamp and make it one size bigger by clicking on Control...stamp where you wish.
Step 3: Using the stamp tool, choose another eye stamp, make it two sizes bigger (control/shift) and stamp where you wish
Step 4: Continue adding to the face by using stamps. Change sizes to show cubism. You may place them where you wish.
Step 5: Use the paintbrush tool to create the hair. Use the two tone paintbrush tool to give dimension.
Step 4: Save as Cubism (add your computer #) .bmp
Step 5: Print out a copy of your work for your personal copy and also one for a teacher copy.
Web links on Picasso:
- On-line
Picasso Project—Chronology,
biography, and lots of images of Picasso's paintings. This site
has many photographs of Picasso throughout his life. Spend some
time on this site to find out all the things about Picasso you
always wanted to know. Thumbnails of images on home
page take a while to load. But be careful, you could get lost
for hours!
- Pablo
Picasso: Online
Link to more of these quality sites recommended by Artcyclopedia.
- National
Gallery of Art- the Early Years
The National Gallery provide an on-line exhibit of some of
Picasso's earliest works--showing his genius at a very young
age. This exhibition is the first comprehensive survey of
Picasso's art before cubism. See Teacher's
Guide for lesson plans and activities.
- Pablo
Picasso's - Les Demoiselles d'Avignon Conserving a
Masterpiece - Web site from Museum
of Modern Art (NY) goes into the conservation process of this
work.
- Carol
Gerten's Fine Art. You
will find two pages scanned images of some of Picasso's most
important works as well as a biography from Microsoft Encarta®
(Block ads with FireFox or Mozilla browser)
- Mark
Harden Artchive: You will
also find authoritative information about the styles of
Picasso's painting/work. Links to images found on the Web for
each time period in Picasso's life (block ads with FireFox or
Mozilla Browser)
- Picasso
Matisse Linocut Five
pages of images - including linocuts, etchings, posters
and ceramics. Does have several mature themes. Chronology
with several photographs
- Picasso
Exhibition: Masterworks Fine Art
Five pages of images. Includes etchings lithographs and linocuts
- Fine art prints.
- Pablo
Picasso: The Official Site
(in French, English and Spanish). Older students (middle school
and above) may find this site interesting. Print is very
small for the biographical information.
- Treasures
of the World: Guernica
PBS site. "It is modern art's most powerful antiwar
statement... created by the twentieth century's most
well-known and least understood artist."
- Olga's
Gallery - Six pages of
images. Includes many self portraits (one very early
portrait from 1896) and biography
with links to more information. 260 images - not all suitable
for children. This site has pop-up ads in Internet Explorer -
Mozilla blocks the ads
- Guernica
Cover Up News article. The
tapestry reproduction, which hangs outside the entrance to the
UN Security Council, was initially covered on Jan. 27. A UN
spokesman said a blue curtain provided a better background for
cameras covering news conferences and speeches.
Activity: Artist #4 - Georgia O'Keefe
Introduction:
(O'Keeffe, Georgia 1887-1986),
Painting
Title: Red Canna
(this link is for a poster of Red Canna)
Georgia O'Keeffe was an American abstract painter, famous for the purity and lucidity of her still-life compositions. O'Keeffe was born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and studied at the school of the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Art Students League of New York. She taught art in Texas from 1913 to 1918. In 1916 the American photographer and art gallery director Alfred Stieglitz (whom she married in 1924) became interested in her abstract drawings and exhibited them at “291,” his gallery in New York City; her work was shown annually in Stieglitz's galleries until his death in 1946 and was widely exhibited in other important institutions. O'Keeffe, who moved to New Mexico in 1949, is best known for her large paintings of desert flowers and scenery, in which single blossoms or objects such as a cow's skull are presented in close-up views. Although O'Keeffe handles her subject matter representational, the starkly linear quality, the thin, clear coloring, and the boldly patterned compositions produce abstract designs. A number of her works have an abstracted effect, the flower paintings in particular—such as Black Iris (1926, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City)—in which the details of the flower are so enlarged that they become unfamiliar and surprising. In the 1960s, inspired by a series of airplane flights, O'Keeffe introduced motifs of sky and clouds, as seen from the air, into her paintings. One of her largest works is the mural Sky above Clouds (1965, collection of the artist), which is 7.3 m (24 ft) wide. O'Keeffe's paintings hang in museums and private collections throughout the United States.
KID PIX ASSIGNMENT:
Step 1: Choose the pencil tool. Draw a line (about 1/2" from the center) vertical from the top to the bottom. This does not need to be straight. This will be your focal point.
Step 2: Using the line as your starting point, draw several lines in either direction to create your petals. You may put lines within lines. Remember to add some jagged lines to create dimension.
Step 3: Begin with the color you wish to be your primary color. Start at the bottom, your color should become a bit lighter as you work your way up.
Step 4: Choose your second color, again, work your way up.
Step 5: Choose your highlighting color. This color will be used the least but show in all areas. You may wish to lighten as you get higher.
Step 6: Use your pencil tool to go over certain lines to give them more definition.
Step 5 - Save your picture as Flower (add your computer #) .bmp
Step 6: Print out a copy of your work for your personal copy and also one for a teacher copy.
Web links on O'Keeffe
Activity: Artist #5 - SEURAT
Introduction: (Seurat, Georges 1859 -1891),
Painting Title: Sunday
Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte
A French painter who was a leader in the neo-impressionist movement of the late 19thcentury, Georges Seurat is the ultimate example of the artist as scientist. He spent his life studying color theories and the effects of different linear structures. His 500 drawings alone establish Seurat as a great master, but he will be remembered for his technique called pointillism, or divisionism, which uses small dots or strokes of contrasting color to create subtle changes in form.
KID PIX ASSIGNMENT:
Step 1: Choose the pencil tool
Step 2: By using the pencil, you will make dots to make your tree trunk. Do not place the dots too closely so that they are connected. Each dot needs to be separate.
Step 3: Use either a darker color, or a lighter color to create either a highlight or a shadow on your tree trunk. Change the size of the pencil down and put dots near the first dots you made. These can be overlapping HOWEVER, do not cover your first dots.
Step 4: Next you will draw the leaves on the tree. Your bigger dots will be your primary color. Use smaller dots to add contrast, shadow or highlights. If you choose to add apples....these can be placed OVER your first dots.
Step 5: Continue with your sky in shades of blues/grays and also add some clouds. Remembering to not overlap your first dots. (Highlights and contrasts may overlap a bit)
Step 6: Add your sun!
Step 7 - Save your picture as Seurat (add your computer #) .bmp
Step 8: Print out a copy of your work for your personal copy and also one for a teacher copy.
Web links on Seurat
Activity: Artist #6 - MATISSE
Introduction: (Matisse, Henri 1869 -1954),
Painting Title: Beasts
of the Sea
Henri Matisse is often regarded as one of the most important French painters of the 20th century. Early in his career, he was the leader of the Fauvist (meaning Wild Beasts) Movement, a painting style which focused on pure colors used in an aggressive and direct manner. His style changed many times over the years, but he never gave up his art. Matisse continued creating even into his 80's, when cancer had taken over his body. This was the time when he created the papercuttings that he is perhaps best known for. Matisse understood perfectly the relationship between color and shape, a talent which rightfully earned him the name "Master of Color."
KID PIX ASSIGNMENT #1:
Step 1: Choose the rectangle tool. You will draw two vertical rectangles side by side with about 1 inch between the two.
Step 2: Your two rectangles will blend into each together with color but not necessarily with pattern.
Step 3: Begin with your background color.......choose a darker color for the left with a lighter contrasting color for the right.
Step 4: Using the pencil tool, rectangle tool, or circle tool.....draw some different shapes, patterns on each side. Looking at the example, you might want to add some waves and some spirals.
Step 5: Using the bucket, begin to fill in your areas. Using darker colors on the left, lighter on the right....but have one or two colors that are in both rectangles.
Step 6: Using the pencil tool, choose a dark color to add some slashes or waves on the top of your picture.
Step 7 - Save your picture as Matisse (add your computer #) .bmp
Step 8: Print out a copy of your work for your personal copy and also one for a teacher copy.
KID PIX ASSIGNMENT #2: (Christmas Eve)
Step 1: Using your rectangle tool, draw an empty rectangle to cover about 3/4 of your page vertically.
Step 2: Using your circle tool, add a circle to the top of the rectangle to make the top of the window.
Step 3: Using the eraser, erase the lines in the center to create an open stain glass window.
Step 4: Using the line tool, divide your stain glass window into sections.
Step 5: Draw a design on the left side of your stain glass window in one section.
Step 6: Using the truck tool, draw a box around your design, click on Edit Copy...move your truck to the opposite area and click Edit Paste. (You should get a copy of your design)
Step 7: Continue with designs on the left and copy to the right.
Step 8: Using the rectangle tool, you will add a box/rectangle that runs through the center of your artwork. Using your pencil, draw a design and then fill it in with the bucket. THIS WILL NOT BE SYMMETRICAL.
Step 9: Using either WHITE or YELLOW, draw some designs over the top of your design to add contrast.
Step 7 - Save your picture as Matisse2 (add your computer #) .bmp
Step 8: Print out a copy of your work for your personal copy and also one for a teacher copy.
Web links on Matisse:
- Matisse
for Kids - Baltimore
Museum of Art. Excellent site for students to explore.
- Henri
Matisse Online - Artcylcopedia
- Henri
Matisse - Web Museum - brief overview of work of Matisse
- Henri
Matisse and the Fauves Selected images - from the
National Gallery of Art.
- Musee
Matisse de Nice English site is not finished - click on
English - then view paintings, sculptures and more in French -
click on les oeuvres.
- Matisse/Picasso
commercial gallery site with biographies of Matisse and Picasso
and selected works.
- Henri
Matisse - Carol Gerten Fine Arts - 2 pages of images and
brief biography - preview before using with students. (Use
Mozilla browser to block pop-up ads - some objectionable
banners ads - Mozilla will block source)
- Henri
Matisse - Olga's Gallery - Good source for teachers to find
images (158 total - preview before using with students). Site
has pop-up ads and pop-under ads. Use Mozilla to block.
- Henri
Matisse - Mark Hardin's
Artchive - biography and links to images online. Several images
with music theme. Has pop-under ads now in Internet Explorer.
- Matisse
& Picasso Companion site for documentary portrait video.
Site has biographies, timelines and selected images.
Turning Your Computer Into An Easel
Additional Information To Assist You
Helpful Hints
- Use different kinds of paper to print on.
- Avery for Kids has special kid labels, and also has software to help make stickers (which is included free with the labels)!
- Use overhead transparencies to make sun-catchers
- Use t-shirt paper to make a great new t-shirt! Or also to make quilts!
- Use colored paper and let the kids draw designs in white! These look great when printed out
- Let the students do 1/2 of the artwork on the computer and then add to the printed copy with chalk, paint, glue, collage....to use different mediums of art.
- Play museum...let the students walk around the lab and view each others work. In addition to this...have critique cards which they fill out and you pass out to the students later. They have to say something positive about another student's artwork!
- Display the artwork. Laminate the artwork for the students. (for some reason, they eat this up!) And if you have a webpage, get parental permission and put the pictures up!!!
