Shel Silverstein and the Elements of Space and Perspective

Title of Lesson:  Shel Silverstein and the Elements of Space & Perspective

Reason for Lesson: Lesson was designed to create an understanding of the elements of line and space, & using the artwork from the children's literature author and illustrator, Shel Silverstein.

Label:  Positive and Negative Space

            Viewpoint Perspective

Prep Time:  10-15 minutes

Preparation prior to lesson:  Give each student a pie

ce of white drawing paper, a paint brush and black tempra paint.

Read the Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Class Time:  60 minutes.

Materials:  Tv, Smartboard or overhead projector.  White drawing paper.  regular pencils. Black Tempra paint & paint brushes. 

Instructions to Lead Lesson: 

1.  Begin the lesson by introducing Shel Silverstein as this month's author.  Use the books we have to show his works and the typical illustrations used in his works.

2.  Read The Giving Tree 

3.  Then introduce students to the Elements of Art that we will work on this month:

Define Positive and Negative Space and then Perspective.

         

Simply put, Positive Space is best described as the areas in a work of art that are the subjects, or areas of interest.

Negative Space is the area around the subjects, or areas of interest.

By utilizing your positive and negative space in different ways, you can effect your overall composition and the Perspective at which you see the object.

For Example:

Examples of uses of positive and negative space...

Balance of Positive and Negative space

                   the entire composition is balanced= same amount of positive & negative space

                                      Mostly Negative Space

                            

                        using mostly negative space creates a far away perspective

                                                Mostly Positive Space

                                   

                                               mostly positive space= closer perspective

Now define Perspective and note for students that the perspective changes when there is more positive space.  The subject has moved "closer"

Perspective is a method of creating the illusion of depth

Viewpoint is the spot (point) from which you, the artist, is looking at (viewing) the scene.

            Normal Viewpoint :what an object looks like looking at it standing up and even

            Low Viewpoint : what an object looks like when looking from below it

           

Now have students create their own "Giving Tree", deciding whether or not they want to have:

1.         a Balance of Positive & Negative Space....  OR

            More Negative space, which creates a far away Perspective, or

            More Positive Space which creates a close up Perspective.

2.  Decide what viewpoint they are going to use

            Normal Viewpoint would have a much smaller "ground" area.

            Low Viewpoint would have a bigger "ground area

Using the white paper and regular pencils first to outline their drawing.  Then use the black tempra paints to create their trees.

They should have thick branches and thin branches, short ones and long.

Make sure their edges are clean.

Have them start with thin branches first, getting a feel for how they want their trees to look.  They can continue to make their lines thicker and longer to create their tree and create their

            "space" & "perspective"

Credit: http://thevirtualinstructor.com/positive-and-negative-space.html

Some branches are thicker, some are thin, but I will continue to refine this when I start painting.

  The trunk of the tree is too short.    So, I ended up lowering the viewpoint perspective  (lowering the ground area)  so that the trunk could be made taller.

Positive and Negative Space Zentangle

What is Zentangle?

Zentangle is a method of drawing simple repeating patterns.  Creating beautiful designs that come from a relaxed state.  Like yoga or meditation, this relaxed focus decreases stress, increases mindfulness, and enhances creativity.  .

And how did Zentangle come about? 

A man, Rick Roberts (a former monk and maker of native American flutes), was watching a woman, Maria Thomas (a tremendously talented calligrapher), putting details into an illuminated manuscript she was working on…

 “One day, Maria told Rick what she experienced as she drew background patterns on a manuscript she was creating. She described her feelings of timelessness, freedom and well-being and complete focus on what she was doing with no thought or worry about anything else.

“You’re describing meditation,” Rick said.

Rick and Maria wondered if they could create a simple system so others might enjoy a similar experience. And so began the journey towards discovering this simple and elegant system called Zentangle.”

What is Positive and Negative Space?

Positive Space is the area of interest or shape. 

The negative space is the area around that shape.

The white pear is the positive space, the black color is the negative space.

Reason for lesson: to learn to principle of art that is positive and negative space

Supplies: 8x10 construction paper, colored sharpies, newspaper

Time for lesson: 1 to 1.5 hours

Lesson Plan

Begin lesson with a description of positive and negative space. Then explain Zentangle and how it began.

1. Begin by folding paper vertically in half. DO NOT FULLY CREASE. Just have the students touch down the top and bottom to create a slight line in the center of the paper

2. The students will use ONE color sharpie for the entire project. This can be a dark color of their choice. Light colors like yellow don't stand out and should be avoided. Open the paper and draw a line down the center of the paper

3. Draw a second line right next to the first to create a THIN stem

4. Have the students put a small dot at the very top of the stem on the right side of the line at the very top of the paper. Using three fingers to measure have the students place SMALL dots down the paper alternating between left and right sides of the stem.

5. Now have the students measure three fingers from the edge of the paper and make a SMALL dot directly across from the dots they made on the stem.

6. Making an arc (or an upside down c) have the students connect the dot from the center stem to the outer dot.  (The first and last arcs will be off the top and bottom edges of the paper.) Then repeat the same arc from the center stem to the outer dot underneath to make a leaf shape. (if some students are having trouble connecting just two dots you can add a third dot for them to follow in the center)

7. Now we will introduce positive and negative space. The leaves on the right hand side of the paper will be decorated in the positive space, The leaves on the left will be left blank and the space around them (or negative space) will be decorated.

8. Have the students brainstorm some different repeating patterns. Anything can be a zentangle pattern. It is simple shapes or lines that are repeated over and over. Captures the students ideas on the white board. Here are some simple examples.

9. The students will be using the SAME pattern for the entire project. Please remind them to pick one pattern and use it throughout the project.

10. Once the students have chosen their pattern. Begin with the leaves on the right and have them fill their leaves with that one pattern in the positive space.

11. Once they are done with the positive space leaves on the right use the same pattern to fill in the negative space around the leaves on the left.