Greek Sculpture Paintings

Grade Level

9-10

Duration

This was a 15-week project (2 lessons a week, 1hr each) with all the preparatory work, responding tasks, and final cumulative artwork. The final artwork execution took about 6-7 weeks

Materials

A4 sketchbooks ((8.5″ x 11″), pencil, black and white acrylic paint, chalk pastels, MDF board

Media

Acrylic Painting

Lesson Objectives

The student will…
learn about ancient Ancient Greek art
complete a tonal chart
complete an observational drawing of a Greek sculpture
understand how to annotate their works
create a cumulative final painting by referring to their value chart and reference images
final work will display

Introductory Activity

All students will learn about ancient Ancient Greek art of the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods and the progression of figurative sculpture work. Students also looked at the artworks of Australian artist Matthew Quick.

Lesson Process

Students will generate 4-6 ideas of possible sculptures (from high-resolution images the teacher sourced). The student will select two images and develop line drawings of these sculptures on A4 (8.5×11) paper. Students were encouraged to explore possible compositions by cropping. Later, students developed with value.

Students are then given prompts to annotate their creative processes. This helps students explain what they have done and to help reflect on and evaluate the work.

Explain what it is that you have done.
What media have you used?
What is successful in your work? Use art elements and principles to describe.
What could be improved in your work? Use art elements and principles to describe.

Next, students created painted value charts. Students were then provided scrap pieces of MDF to complete small versions using black and white opaque acrylic paints. Students drew their favorite composition lightly onto the board and painted it referring to their value charts. This small version allowed students an opportunity to explore and practice with the media.

The final painting is then enlarged onto a larger MDF board and painted. Students then went back into their artworks using grey chalk only, to develop more contrast. Students were expected to follow class rules concerning painting, including: