Second Lesson - Second and Third Visit

                                        Emotions and Feelings

Students may feel as though they are alone in a world full of people, but this is not true. We are  alike in many ways and all different. We may go through things differently but we all experience the same emotions. We are also unique and need to learn to embrace these differences knowing that everyone is different and strange in their own way. Otherwise we would all be the same person, which would make the world a very boring and colorless place. To help my students understand this we will talk about the enduring idea of feelings and their representations in art, namely in Abstract Expressionism.

                                                      Outcomes

1. Students will interpret and analyze the many components of a composition to reach      

the overall meaning in reference to emotion.

2. Students will realize that the meaning of lines and colors are not set in stone.

3. Students will better understand and be able to interpret color.

 

Goal

Students will ultimately feel more comfortable in their bodies and the world by exploring their personal emotions and their method for handling them.

Artists

Van Gogh

Henry Matisse

Andre Derain

Jackson Pollack

Helen Frankenthaler

Elaine de Kooning

Leonardo Divinci

Vocabulary

Abstract Expressionism

Fauvism

Composition

Line

Warm colors

Cool colors

Outline

           The class will first discuss the many different feelings and how they each affect their lives. Does the emotion affect how; they act, dress, do their hair, the faces they use, how they walk, etc. Once we have discussed this as a class they will split up into groups of three or four and talk about these questions. What makes you sad or happy or angry? Do you want to feel this way? How do you get out of these moods or how do you make them last? What makes them worse and what makes them better?

             After we come together and share some group insights we will view examples of feelings, or emotions, displayed in art (See list of artists). I want my students to analyze what the feeling of the paining may be and discuss how the artist reaches this emotion. What colors are they using? What about their composition makes the audience feel the feeling? Are they using bold strokes or small precise strokes? What would happen if you changed one of the components? Would the feeling change as well?         

               I want to steer the students away from the idea that red is always a symbol of anger. For example when it is mixed to be a less violent shade it can work for other emotions such as joy, or when it is grouped with other colors such as yellow, orange, and green it can imply anything from happiness to growth to summer. The same idea applies with different types of lines, just because it is horizontal does not mean it only symbolizes stability just as a jagged line does not always indicate instability or chaos.

Activity

     Using oil pastels and different kinds of music we will create four different pieces that represent what we are feeling during each song. Students are free to use any technique or object to create the feeling.. When we are done (next class) we will come together and talk about what we think that person was feeling when they drew the piece. What about the piece makes us think this? What if they would have used different colors or different lines?

Now that students better understand how different elements work together to induce or represent a feeling, they will pick one or two of the pieces they drew and rip or cut them up, kind of like we did in our collage project, and create a new piece that represents the emotion you draw out of the hat. 

Assessment

After their piece is complete they will write a paragraph of 3-4 sentences. This should describe the emotion they represented in their piece and how they created this feeling with their oil pastel collage. Did the colors help? What about the thickness of the lines? Or maybe where you put the different colors and lines (this is composition)?

How does knowing that we all have the same emotions but show them differently make you feel about yourself?