Candy Compositions

Grade Level

7-8

Duration

Ten classes, 45 minutes

Materials

Variety of candy, board, glue, paper, pencil, oil pastel, and spotlights (teacher recommends these desk lamps because they are inexpensive, don’t get hot, and clamp onto tables)
* This teacher buys candy in bulk from amazon. She selects candy that is visually appealing and doesn’t have distracting labels. Candy corn, life savers, peppermints, “fruit flavored starlight hard candy,” and lollipops work best for her.

Media

Oil pastel

Lesson Objectives

The student will…
• learn how to create an identifying and understanding the elements of composition within an artwork.
• explaining how artists use these elements to guide the viewer’s eye, analyzing how compositional choices affect the overall tone and message of a piece
• applying these principles to create their own compositions with a clear focal point, balance, and visual flow.

Introductory Activity

The teacher walks students through a guided practice of drawing a ring pop with oil pastel to teach them the oil pastel technique. The teacher provides printouts of a ring pop. The teacher demonstrates six steps for amazing oil pastel drawings; see photos. The students draw each step along with the teacher. The teacher recommends construction paper so they can see where they’re drawing the white.

Look at the work of Wayne Thiebaud.

Lesson Process

The teacher explains composition guidelines. Students are taught to fill the whole page, utilize cropping and overlapping, and the rule of thirds. For explaining rule of thirds, the teacher recommends students avoid putting the subject dead center, have a focal point, and simplify. The teacher copies 3×4 inch boxes with rule of thirds grids on them onto card stock. The students sketch 3 different arrangements of candy and have a tablemate check that they followed the composition guidelines, and then the student can glue it. Hot glue works best.

Next, light the candy compositions with spotlights to create shadows. This teacher uses lights that clamp on the table and each student then sets their glued down candy arranglemnts and photographs them with the light.

Practice using blue or purple for shadows, no black allowed. Students sketch the composition on good paper. 5. Add oil pastel. Every piece of candy must include highlights, shadows, and cast shadows. Last, students add a background.