Submitted by: Ken Schwab, Leigh High School, San Jose CA
Unit: Watercolor
Lesson Plan: Art 2 Watercolor  O’Keeffe style  - Gallery
Grade Level: High School (adaptable for Elementary and Middle School)
Pastel Lesson below  
Ball Point Pen Poinsettia illustration by Marvin Bartel
Have some fun! Start with Greg Percy's song "Georgia"  
Alternate Lesson: Glue Relief Flowers by Sue Stevens

Materials needed: Newsprint Illustration board Pencils -colored pencils Erasers Plants and flowers Watercolors Palettes Brushes Paper towels Teacher made hand out Alternate: Use pastels -- tempera or acrylics Alternate: Use watercolor pencils

See Gallery for this lesson

Objectives: Students will become aware of the work of Georgia O'Keeffe - critique various works closely observe nature - focus on subtle color changes focus down on flower of other object of nature - find beauty in nature effectively use elements and principles of design Resources: Georgia O'Keeffe Online - Artcyclopedia Georgia O'Keeffe - links to artwork. Site by Jackie Hudson, fan of Georgia O'Keeffe. The page has broken links and needs to be updated. Check before using with students. Georgia O'Keeffe images From Carol Gerten's Fine Art   Biography This site has advertising. Check before using with students. Great O'Keeffe Bio by Ellen. The young artist, years with Stieglitz and in New Mexico. Shows representative work from different times in her life. Georgia O'Keeffe images from Happy Shadows bones, landscapes, flowers, abstractions, trees, crosses and churches. Quality images. Teacher made Handout (See Ken's example) Optional:  Experimental Watercolor Techniques.

Procedures:

1. Look at the work of Georgia O’Keeffe and discuss the use of cropping down the format and looking deep into the flowers for the composition.

2. Using live flowers in class make several contour studies of the flowers or groups of  flowers.  Make them large, such as 11" x 14".  Optional: After you draw the contours crop it down with a ruler so that the background or negative space is reduced and you could even have some areas stick outside the format - See example

3. Transfer with graphite onto illustration board. Keep the lines light.

4. Demonstrate three watercolor techniques, Wash, Wet on wet, and Lifting (gradation).  Use paper towels to dry up the brush for the lifting technique.  Practice a small area of the composition by transferring a small area on scrap board.  I have them do this for a grade.

5. Start when ready using many layers of color to bring out the transparency of watercolor.  

6. Critique student work

Suggestion: Contact a local florist for flowers. They may provide them as a public service - good PR for them. Credit the florist them when you post the or display the work. If real flowers are not available, get an assortment of quality silk flowers that you can use from year to year. Students should be discouraged from copying published photographs of flowers as that could be considered "copyright infringement" - creating a "derived" work from a published copyrighted photograph. While this practice could fall under "Fair Use" in a school situation, it may not pass legal muster in the "real world".  If you plan on doing this lesson from year to year, have students take photographs of flowers, or photograph some yourself.

Assessment: (sample rubric adapted from Marianne Galyk)

Student Comments:

Teacher Comments:

Also see:  Georgia O'Keeffe - Sue Galos  Adaptation - Sue Galos

Using Pastels - work from Ken Schwab's High School students

Follow the same procedures substituting pastels. Student work on colored paper for best results. Work large. I imagine these drawings are close to 18" x 24". 

I have had to reduce the size of these images....Hope you can still appreciate their beauty. ~ Judy Decker 

Work from Andy DiConti's Middle School students

Andy's students worked on watercolor paper to give this rich textural look.

Submitted by Theresa Parker
Unit: Organic shape (Georgia O'Keeffe) - Observational drawing
Lesson: Drawing plants from life - focusing down on shapes and lines
Grade Level: First and second grade (elementary grades)

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:  How are organic shapes made? How do artists use organic shapes? Where do artists get ideas? GENERALIZATION:  Curvilinear lines make organic shapes. Brief Description of Lesson: Students observe and draw plant forms. Resources: Art objects: Georgia O'Keeffe, Trumpet Lily, Purple Petunia, or other similar images Art Materials: oil pastels (or choice of drawing materials or watercolors), 12" x 18" white drawing paper (or choice of colored papers), assorted plants

Target Learning: The student:
Knows and uses curved lines to create organic shapes.
Recognizes and uses organic lines to create plant forms.
Understands and uses varying pressure to draw.
Sees nature as a source for ideas
Develops skills in observational drawing
Identifies organic forms/shapes in art

Assessment Criteria: The student:
Uses curved lines to create the curvilinear edge of an organic shape.
Uses organic lines to represent observed plants.
Uses firm and light pressure with drawing tools as seen in lightness and width of line.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES (What the Teacher Does)
1. Introduces O'Keeffe paintings, asking students to identify kinds of lines that define edges of flowers.
2. Showing a real plant, asks students to identify lines that define edges.
3. Models observing  a plant without drawing (look at the plant to see all the types of lines that give the plant its shape).
4. Models drawing while looking at the plant (Draw the plant large enough that it reaches out and touches all the edges of the paper.  While you draw press harder in areas that stand out to you and lightly in others).

CREATIVE PROCESS (What the Student Does)
1. Observes and identifies types of lines in painting reproductions  and traces fingers over curvilinear lines.
2. Observes and identifies types of lines in living plant and traces fingers over curvilinear lines.
3. Looks at and then draws plant using choice of drawing materials - or paint.

Assessment Strategies
Performance Assessment - modified rubric
Teacher journal (Drawing pressure)
Checklist

Evidence of Student Learning
Student drawings include plant forms made with curvilinear lines of different widths based on tool pressure.

Vocabulary:
curvilinear line
organic
pressure: hard, light

Life Applications
Student recognizes kinds of lines in the natural and constructed world and draws with varying pressure.
(ARTS EARLs 1.1 concepts and vocabulary
1.2 skills and techniques (drawing pressure)

Added by Judy Decker:
A local florist or green house may donate use of their plants for this lesson. 

There could be a follow-up on the life of Georgia O'Keeffe (just briefly - students could listen to the song about Georgia O'Keeffe by Greg Percy -Songs in the Key of Art. Students could create movements/dance to act out the lines/shapes present in Georgia's
works). You could show some additional prints showing organic shapes - like from Henri Rousseau or Matisse (and maybe some with geometric shapes to see the difference) and ask students to identify the organic shapes). Perhaps show a work that has both organic
and geometric shapes, too. You might also introduce a three dimensional work with organic form.

Science extension: learn about the parts of the plant - life cycle of the plant (this ties in with 2nd grade science).

Reference for Science Integration:

Botany Photo of the Day -  different high-quality photograph every day, complete with background information. Visitors can also view the site's archives, which date back to April 2005 and browse previously featured photographs, which are divided into categories. Art teachers have permission to use these photographs for this purpose.

Submitted by Sue Stevens
UNIT: Still life - Georgia O'Keeffe - Nature - Color
Lesson: Glue Relief Flowers - with Gel FX Crayons
Grade Level: Elementary - Middle School - High School (examples are high school)

Materials:

Crayola Project Glue - (regular school glue will work - but doesn't dry as clear)
Crayola Gel FX Crayons - they are designed for black paper.
Also useful Crayola Gel FX Metallic Crayons
Crayola Gel FX Pencil Crayons
Crayola Twistable Metallic
Black Paper (Although school grade construction paper does work, the colours (colors) are not as bright and the glue lines are grey rather than black.
Sue uses a paper called "Hopper Hots" which is a fade resistant light-weight card stock which is available in large sheets. Non glossy black bristle board would work. (Elementary teachers might want to try Try Ray Fade Resistant Construction paper)
Pictures of flowers (You could have the students find their own for homework, or take the class to a computer lab and search/print). Actual flowers are helpful, too - OR use high quality "silk" flowers (you should have some that look realistic)
Drying Rack or space to dry (must be large enough to have all the sheets lay flat for 24 hours)

Instructions:

1. Students should have in front of them the black paper, a bottle of glue, and their picture of a flower. Students should work direct onto the paper (pencil
   lines will show through the glue). Looking at the picture, students should create a basic contour drawing of the flower in glue on the black paper. To create good glue lines, the bottle should ALWAYS be pulled (not pushed), and should also be SQUEEZED at the same time (there needs to be a fairly thick line of glue created). The glue will dry clear, and on black paper will look like shiny black.

2. The glue drawings need to dry overnight (you can tell when it is dry).

3. Once the glue is dry, students can start to colour (color). Students should aim for good dimension and texture, realistic colours (colors) are not necessarily important.
   Using the various crayons, students should apply a thick amount of colour, blending using different coloured crayons. If crayon gets on the glue lines, they can be cleaned at the end with a slightly damp tissue and a fingernail.

4. Optional - color negative space.

Alternate Lesson: Glue Line with Watercolors

This is a popular lesson - and appeared in Arts and Activities magazine. 

Materials: flowers and or plants, watercolor paper (or heavy drawing paper), glue, watercolors, brushes, ultra fine point Sharpies (optional)

Procedures:

1. Draw flowers/plants directly on the watercolor paper (no pencil outline). Draw all contours with glue (any white glue that dries clear will work)

2. Let dry completely

3. Paint with water colors

4. When dry - outline with the ultra fine point Sharpies (optional - they look striking without the outline, too)
   

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