The Dot

 

Grade: 1st 

Date: January 

Medium: water colors 

Reason for the Lesson:  The children will have to opportunity to experiment with the use of water colors and create their own dot or “not-a-dot”  This lesson will also introduce the kids to the concept of space in art. 

Element of Art:  Space.  By filling in the dot with watercolors they are creating a “positive space” image. If the children paint around the outside of the dot, leaving the inside white, this is an example of a negative space image.  

Positive space is best described as the areas in a work of art that are the subjects (in this project, the dot), or areas of interest. Negative space is area around the subjects, or areas of interest. 

Prep Time: 10 minutes (to prep water colors) 

Class Time: 45-60 minutes 

Materials:  The Dot, By Peter H Reynolds, water colors, brushes, water color paper with dot  

Instructions: 1. Start by reading the story The Dot. (While one docent is reading the story, the other can set up the water color paints)  

2. Before handing out the white paper with the dot on it, have the kids decide whether or not they will paint the inside or outside of the dot. This is a good place to explain the basic concept of negative and positive space.  

3. Encourage the children to use lines and shapes to completely fill the positive space (inside the dot) or the negative space (outside the dot). 

4.  There is a lot of opportunity for artistic freedom with this project.  There is no right or wrong way to fill in the space.  For best results, encourage the kids to use a lot of different colors, expect for brown and black. 

The Dot 

 

Credit: http://dripdripsplattersplash.blogspot.ca/2011/10/first-six-weeks.html