LINE Line is one-dimensional and can vary in width, direction, and length. Lines often define the edges of a form. They can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal, straight or curved, thick or thin. They lead your eye around the composition and can communicate information through their character and direction. SHAPE Shape defines objects in space. Shapes have two dimensions height and width and are usually defined by lines. Most young students love talking about shape, and it is easy for them to find shapes in nature as you walk to the galleries. COLOR Color has three main characteristics: hue (red, green, blue, etc.), value (how light or dark it is), and intensity (how bright or dull it is). Colors can be described as warm (red, orange, yellow) or cool (blue, green, violet), depending on which end of the color spectrum they fall. TEXTURE In a two-dimensional work of art, texture gives a visual sense of how an object depicted would feel in real life if touched: hard, soft, rough, smooth, hairy, leathery, sharp, etc. In three-dimensional works, artists use actual texture to add a tactile quality to the work. Children can understand that texture is what we feel with our fingertips. Artists help our eyes feel what our fingers would if we could actually touch a work of art. Have the children touch whatever they are wearing and describe how it feels with one word as a start to this discussion. PATTERNS You can note repetition in nature (leaves on trees, ivy on wall, etc.); in our environment (cracks in sidewalks, bricks on buildings, etc.) and in art (many examples in the galleries). Recognition and description of patterns is in the visual arts standards for all of the young students, beginning in Kindergarten. They love finding patterns, and they are most likely expected to create patterns in projects they do in class. We have fun examples in the Scott, such as Karl Benjamin s #4 and Vertical Zag l by Louise Nevelson, both in Gallery 6. In the HUG there are wonderful patterns in the furniture marquetry, in the rugs, and even in the architectural wall designs.
Once your students have an understanding of the most basic concepts, you can bring in these additional elements SPACE Space in a work of art refers to a feeling of depth or three dimensions. It can also refer to the artist's use of the area within the picture plane. Beginning discussion of space best revolves around the concepts/definitions of foreground, middle ground, and background. It can be supplemented by concepts of light and/or dark. For example, the sunlight in Constable's View on the Stour draws your eye to the middle ground. In the Scott, Thomas Moran s A Mountain Stream and Rock Towers of the Rio Virgin both use light and shadow to define space. FORM Form defines objects in space. Forms exist in three dimensions, with height, width, and depth. Some students are ready for form, especially by 3rd grade, and during discussion will volunteer terms like cylinder, cube, and sphere. COMPOSITION The arrangement of elements in a work of art. All works of art have an order determined by the artist. Composition creates a hierarchy within the work, which tells the viewer the relative importance of the imagery and elements included. We can lead students into a beginning recognition of the importance of composition. Even the youngest students can develop an understanding of composition, without necessarily being able to use the word itself. While discussing line, we can help them see how the artist's use of line encourages us to look all around the picture. We start with simple things such as the rake pointing towards the boat in View on the Stour, or the paths and/or river leading the eye into Durand s Strawberrying. We can get more detailed as the children show they are ready by their responses; for example, when a student sees the pink scarf in the painting The Clavering Children brings attention to Catherine.
Other ideas and suggestions K 3 SOCIAL STUDIES CONCEPTS 1. Family and neighborhood: When Constable was growing up, he walked a curving path to school at the church you see in View on the Stour, so he later painted "his neighborhood." Pioneers Home, Eagle Cliff, White Mountains in the Scott shows an early American neighborhood. 2. Caring and community: Examples might be, Breakfast in Bed and McGorley s Cats in the Scott, and The Clavering Children in the HUG. 3. Understanding rules, basic laws, and citizenship issues: Everyone responds to the George Washington portraits in both the HUG and Scott; and third graders may recognize Abraham Lincoln in the Scott. The rule category helps us a lot. K-3 students respond readily to discussions of "good museum manners. Historical and cultural information revealed in our art can relate to these social study concepts. K 3 VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS Exposure to art from a variety of times and places is among the visual arts standards for the K-3 group, and we are blessed with many works of art that meet this requirement. Artists tell us about their time and place or that of their subjects... What clues do they provide? Another visual art standard is discussion/consideration of which works of art can actually be used and which should only be viewed. For example, decorative art objects versus art used in daily life (appliances, furniture, cars, dishes, etc.). K-3 should be introduced to a variety of subjects: landscapes, seascapes, portraits, still life, animals, and abstracts. Also, various kinds of art, such as ceramics or pottery, paintings, sculpture in marble, clay or bronze, woodworking or carvings, metal works in silver/gold, jewelry, and fabric/weavings/rugs. Most K-3 students like to make art. Ask a group of Kindergarteners if they like to draw or paint and usually all of the children will raise their hands. They are very enthusiastic about art! We get to use that enthusiasm and work with it. A docent may ask the students Why do they make art? or What are reasons for making art? HELPFUL LEADING QUESTIONS If you could walk into (or be in) this picture where would you like to go (or be)? If you could ask this person (or these people or these children) a question, what would you ask? Is there anything that surprises you (or puzzles you) about this work of art? (This is a good way to start a conversation about Puck or Bronco Buster in the Scott or Pinkie in the Hug.)
POSSIBLE THEMES "How would you like to live here?" In other words, What can art tell us about the lives of people from other times and how their lives differed from or are similar to our lives today? In the Scott, you can narrow it down to "What can we learn about the lives of children shown in art from different times?" (There are enough works of art spotlighting children or children's activities in different galleries of the Scott, while in the HUG the children are mostly concentrated in the large drawing room, so this theme would be too limiting.) "Let's look for the motion or locomotion, the movement in art." We all like to move, to dance, skip, run, or walk. Let's see if we can find movement in art. Can a painting or a statue show us movement? As they begin the walkover to the galleries, the children can chant "motion, motion, locomotion" while moving their arms in a circle like the wheels of a train. (If you want to try this, it can connect with your explanation about Henry Huntington s railroad work. The children like to know how he became so wealthy.) This theme can work even if you decide you don t want to have your students do the chant and locomotion. "Can art make you happy, sad, calm, or mad?" With the older children, the third graders, you may deal with "emotion in art" by looking for ways artists express "feelings" or "make us experience feelings" through their art. This can connect well with discussions of line, pose, color, and composition. However, because K-1 students are very concrete thinkers, they might have trouble with color expressing feelings, although you could still explore how a particular work of art makes them feel. They react to the mother holding her child in Breakfast in Bed (sometimes they think she is a big sister), and they often go oooh (mostly girls) when they see Catherine holding the puppy in The Clavering Children. "Making choices." When you create art, you make choices about what color you will use or what you will draw. All artists make choices. Let's see what choices we can discover in the art we see today. "Art as story." We all like to hear stories, read stories, or tell stories. Let's look for stories in the art we see today.
ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS Remember to ask questions that the children can answer simply by looking at the work of art. It is a good idea to define vocabulary words the first time used, for example, explaining in your introduction that you are a docent and a docent is a teacher who teaches in a museum. We should not assume the children have any prior knowledge, but work with them from their current awareness and understanding. Part of our introduction time with them is to assess this a bit and get to know them. Use the K-W-L approach: ask the students what they know about art, what they want to know, and at the end of the tour review what the group learned. A final disclaimer: The examples given in this handout are provided merely to jump start your thinking. You will develop the ideas and approaches that work best for you in introducing these concepts to the children. Portions of this handout have been adapted from the Getty s website. For further information and specific examples go to http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/elements.html.