Teaching art concepts can promote better artistic expression.
The three facets of teaching art concepts are cognitive, technical and expressive. These three domains can be interwoven so that the concepts are most fully comprehended and given expression. Teaching art concepts includes promoting understanding of the vocabulary of art, presenting visual examples by artists for consideration, discussion and encouraging students to explore the techniques and media themselves.
Instructions
1. Choose a concept to introduce, such as the concept of "line" in art. Prepare a lesson plan on the concept of line. The format should include objectives, procedures, materials and assessment. Objectives may include that a student know the definition of a line as it applies to visual media, recognize line in its myriad forms in exemplar artwork and produce a work that uses line appropriately and thoughtfully. Procedures should describe the steps you will take to introduce and demonstrate the concept and the process you expect students to follow in their own work. The materials list will include exemplar art you will show as well as media needed for students to complete the project. Describe the assessment and standards you will use to evaluate student work and understanding.
2. Show examples.The cognitive part of an art lesson on a concept should include not just the vocabulary but also visual examples as well. Use art history books and exemplar art prints to show how other artists have used line in their work. For example, any number of line drawings by Pablo Picasso are readily available in art history books or prints. Other artists who used line extensively in their work include Joan Miro, Henri Matisse and Leonardo da Vinci.
3. Encourage students to express what they are learning by discussing how the use of line serves its creator's purpose in each artwork observed. Ask questions about the qualities of the lines they observe in the examples you show. As different line qualities can be used intentionally to evoke a response in the viewer, ask students to interpret how the artist uses line to manipulate the viewer's response. For example, a hard, slashing heavy line may give the impression of anger or speed in the context of the image, while a soft careful line may evoke a dreamlike quality. Elicit student opinions on whether or not the artist is successful in his attempts.
4. Give students technical experience by having them use art materials to practice creating drawings or paintings using different kinds of line. Briefly demonstrate the technique if necessary. An example of an appropriate assignment to explore the concept of line would be "Choose an emotion and use line to illustrate it."
5. Assessment of student learning can include both formal and informal aspects. A formal assessment of a media-based project would rate the work against a checklist that describes the criteria for a letter grade. For example, a work that merits an "A" would show proficient use of the media, imaginative visual imagery and successful completion of the task. Informal assessment could include noting student understanding through his contribution to discussions about the work of others as well as his own.
