Last week, we studied French artist, Henri Matisse, and looked at his cut-paper collages. These collages included abstracted shapes and figures that were meant to represent something.
At the beginning of the year, we learned about the elements of art and just recently finished learning about each of the principles. It is necessary that the students know these terms because we will use them throughout the semester frequently in the creating and critiquing of their work.
This project allowed the students to apply their knowledge of these elements and principles of art while letting them be creative and make art about something that they find interest in. Each student picked an element and principle from a bucket that they had to use in their work. They were then able to pick a theme of choice.
They started by brainstorming and sketching and ended up with these wonderful finished collages!
- Line
- Negative space
- Organic shape
- Geometric shape
And one of these principles:
- Balance
- Contrast
- Emphasis
- Movement
- Pattern
See if you can guess which ones they got!
Each student got one of their peer's collages and had to guess which element and principle they used and explain where they saw it and how the artist displayed them. The students were able to show me that they not only know the definitions of the elements and principles of art, but that they also know how to use them in their work as well as recognize them in others' work.
Needless to say, I'm very proud of them!