My mentor started this project by asking the students to draw 20 different kinds of lines on a large (14″ x 17″) piece of white paper. she verbally suggested that all the lines criss cross, as much as possible. She then instructed they colour in a focal point in a bold color and using rule of thirds, choose the space. The project was left at this state for almost two months, because several other projects and events took precedence.
Now nearing the end of January, I was told that these students needed to learn and practice several other art elements & principles before the end of the term (March), so I had them do various: patterns, textures, and values. Each one started with a How To video found on YouTube and a few simple practice exercises for each one. I was able to complete these smaller tasks in about 2 to 3 sessions each. Patterns were the most elaborate, starting with incorporating a little collage trick into the mix… The students were to cut out a patterns from a magazine and glue it to a paper, then copy and continue the pattern they chose using coloured pencils.
Once all these exercises were complete, the students were given instructions to take the Line review pages from the start of the year and fill up the whole page with certain minimums of each art element and principle. What you are seeing in this posting are a few of the results. As a unit, I would say this takes about twelve to fifteen (75min) sessions to complete for these Grade 8 classes… keep in mind that some IB reflective requirements were included, but given as bonus work, because these students weren’t yet started in IB-MYP routines.
The New Renaissance Mindset 