UNIT OVERVIEW

Course: Hiking & Nature Drawing, Grades 10-12

Estimated Time:  20-22 Class Meetings, 80 minutes each

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Title: It's Natural: Responding to Nature with Invention and Observation

Enduring Idea: Artists respond to nature by creating images that engage both observation and invention as methods for expression.

 

Unit Description:

This unit appears early in the curriculum for "Hiking and Nature Drawing", a 10-12th grade course designed to explore the connections between being outside and creating art.  In this unit students develop increased freedom and fluency with drawing as a tool for building skills of perception, observation, and invention. Guided drawing and painting exercises conducted outdoors are designed to lead students in an in-depth consideration of the outdoors and how they relate personally to nature and environmental issues. Students will have a completed "study book" at the end of these exercises which they will reference directly as a resource.  Students will learn about diverse artists who are/have been engaged with these questions and then develop a plan for a piece of art that visually represents their personal perspective. In their final artwork students will apply skills of observation and invention and use the drawing and painting materials introduced in the earlier lessons.

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National Core Art Standards:

• VA.Cr1.1.Ia Use multiple approaches to begin creative endeavors

• VA.Cr2.1.IIa Through experimentation, practice, and persistence, demonstrate acquisition of skills and knowledge in a chosen art form.

• VA.Cr3.1.IIa Engage in constructive critique with peers, then reflect on, re-engage, revise, and refine works of art and design in response to personal artistic vision.

• VA.Pr4.1.IIa Analyze, select, and critique personal artwork for a collection or portfolio presentation.

• VA.Re7.1.IIa Recognize and describe personal aesthetic and empathetic responses to the

• natural world and constructed environments.

 

1. What broad, overarching understandings are desired of students?

• Practice improves ability

• Artists invent, observe, and make editorial choices when drawing

• "Nature" has many meanings

• Artist's responses to nature are varied and influenced by lived experience as well as artistic choices like style, material, and subject

 

2. What are the overarching “essential” questions that support this unit?

• How do artists expand their drawing practice by incorporating new ways of mark making?

• How does invention, observation, and repetition change art making?

• What is “Nature”, what is “natural”?

• How are artists influenced by nature?

 

 

3. As a result of this unit, students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of:

• Methods for Blind Contour Drawing, Field Contour Drawing & Pointillism

• How to use observation, invention, and editing strategies in crafting a personal work of art

• The diverse ways artists respond to nature

• How to use art materials and imagery to communicate personal perspectives

 

4. What “essential” and unit questions will focus the discussions and activities of this unit?

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Project 1: Freedom to Draw

• What do we think of as "good drawing"?

• How can we expand our drawing fluency and freedom by incorporating new ways of mark making, using both observation and invention?

• How does repetition and practice change our art making?

 

Project 2: Color, Play, and Invention in Painting

• How can we apply invention and observation in painting?

• How and why did Pointillists create a new variation on an age-old medium?

• How can we apply the methods of pointillists to paint forms rather than lines?

• How can we use primary colors to create a full range of colors?

 

Project 3: Learning about Artists / My Personal Visual Response

• What is Nature, what is natural?

• How have various artists been influenced by nature or are using their art to respond to environmental issues?

• What does nature mean to you?

• How will you use preliminary drawings to inform a more personal/long-term work that communicates your perspective?

 

5. Key Vocabulary or Concepts: line, shape, Contour, series, nature, Pointillism, composition, Principles of Design, drawing from observation, choosing the frame, visual reference, symbolism, expressionism, realism, abstraction, critique  

 

6. Major Learning Activities:

Project 1: Repetitive practice with specific strategies in drawing and painting using direct observation outdoors, and invention strategies derived from alternative mark-making practices.  Students create a book to keep the progression of their drawings visible.

Project 2:Continue exploring alternative mark making outdoors with watercolor and color science/theory, derived from the methods of pointillists. 

Project 3: Learn about how other artists have been influence by and respond to nature/ environmental issues. Create a personal response to nature/environmental issues utilizing observation, invention, and expressive imagery.

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References:

Hare, T. (2016, February 15). Use This Flowchart to Help Your Students Write Authentic Artist Statements - The Art of Ed. Retrieved from https://www.theartofed.com/2015/09/25/use-this-flowchart-to-help-your-students-write-authentic-artist-statements/

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Hare, T. (2016, February 15). Use the Studio Habits as a Guide for Reflective Self-Assessment - The Art of Ed. Retrieved from https://www.theartofed.com/2016/01/15/using-the-studio-habits-as-a-guide-for-reflective-self-assessment/

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