Graffiti and Perspective
Grade 10
Lesson 1
The first lesson will focus on introducing students to the history and culture of graffiti and its association with hip hop. Students will learn about toys and writers and the differences between them. It is important to introduce some writers to them right off the bat, (artists like Banksy, Space Invader, and Swoon would be good to introduce). I would definitely discuss artists in detail, and show work examples.
The first lesson will introduce students to tags and have them start working on their own by the end of the lesson. I will get students to brainstorm about places that they have seen tags around the city. By next class students will be experimenting with permanent markers to further bring out their identity within their tags. Students will submit one final tag and fill out a reflection that has students describe urban art’s culture and its relationship with identity. It will also have students identify principles and elements of art and design that they encountered in this assignment and how they would assess themselves on this project.
Students will:
History of urban art: Get students to list and discuss song artists of icons that they know and like, discuss what this means to them. Show clip of rapper’s delight. Begin a quick question period of what hip-hop has to do with urban art. Begin to explain the hierarchy of urban artists and how students will progress through this hierarchy to become writers. Why is this important? What does it mean to you? I would do an exit slip to have some insight into how the class feels about the topic.
Learning Activity #2
Introducing the tag: Bring in examples and show Banksy and Swoon’s tags and my own tag and name. What if you had your own label, symbol or tag, where would you want to put it? What would it mean? Discuss how it relates to identity. Get students to experiment with their own tags. Talk about the impact of seeing multiple pieces by the same artist, especially before the internet, what does that mean? How temporary is it, and how does this affect it? There are discussion topics with a partner, group, or as a class.
Learning Activity #3
Bring class back together to introduce the use of markers (demo) and how it can affect how you design your tag. Get students experimenting with them and working on their tags with them. I would also get students to share their tags with a partner, and comment on each others work.
Lesson 2
Students will be turning their tags into stencils using Mayfair or thin cardboard (depending on resources) after students submit a tag. I will first show them examples of stencil work in the world around them. By creating a stencil, students will really have to think about positive and negative space. This stencil will then be used for students to experiment with aerosol paint. This must be done outside and students needs to be forewarned to wear clothing that can get damaged. Students will reflect on this lesson by discussing the process of creating the stencil (what worked well, what didn’t) as well as experimenting with the materials and how it affected the way they applied their tag to a surface (use of color and nozzles to adjust way paint came out). The students will make two stencils in order to adjust their cutting lines and how they want their tag to look. We will spray onto a thick poster board that each student can take home once it’s dry.
Lesson 3
Students will then move into urban art as a sculpture. Students will use cardboard or wire to turn their tag into a three-dimensional object while focusing on line and positive and negative space. I will show students Bansky's work on a London phone booth for inspiration. By changing the format of the tags to three-dimensions, students will discover the change in how the work is perceived. This assignment allows for students to use a different type of media to cover outcomes they would usually cover for drawing but provides an alternate way to cover them if students find they lack strength in drawing.
Lesson 4
Students will:
1. Advance their urban art skill by creating works with imagery.
2. Analyze the work of David Hockney and EVOKE to understand perspective and imagery in urban art.
3. Begin to work with perspective and imagery while considering composition and scale.
Learning Activity #1
Have students take an image of a scene that they can use as a source. Ensure that they are not to be replicating exactly. We will brainstorm as class what kinds of scenes people could do, as well as show examples to the class, to aide them in changing perspective. Show images of Hockney’s work at the time to give students a stepping off point.
Learning Activity #2
Students will then create their own scene/space and try creating an interesting composition. They will have to consider the questions: What makes a composition interesting? How does a modified perspective change it? Where is your eye drawn to, where does it move?
Learning Activity #3
Students will then work to create a figure/character that they can work into a scene or manipulate its stances. I will show them examples of work, and we will brainstorm as a class of possible ideas. Students can create complementary characters if they want.
Incorporate imagery and introduce students to the concept of murals. Students will test what makes specific attempts work. Scale would be a topic to be addressed in this assignment as well as what it means to be a mural writer in urban art culture. David Hockney’s paintings are a great example of incorporating imagery or a scene, and have an urban artwork quality due to changing perspective. The best way to limit this so that students have an idea of where to start is to have them create a character or depict a simple scene and address different perspectives. This latter option is probably best for my unit since it still has a primary focus on perspective. Canadian writer EVOKE is a perfect example for this lesson as he distinguishes himself as a new school artist by portraying imagery instead of letters so the lesson addresses the change in urban art history.
Lesson 5
This lesson is the only one that is really focused on realism. Students will grid out a drawing of a train going back into space. They then have to cover each rail car in graffiti and adjust it so that the perspective is correct as it goes back in space. The grid element provides help to students who struggle with realistic drawing and enhances student learning and still keeps those students happy who like to work in realism.
Students can then connect their railcars to one another, you could have your whole class connect their part of the train, and if you are doing this then you should give dimensions for the railcars so that they match, or you can have the railcars outlined for them.
Lesson 6
By making a mural, students enter the role of writer as their artwork becomes more complex and no longer just an artist tag. It is important to show students examples of more complex work during this lesson. BLU is a good example to show how he takes one object and complicates it by animating it. We will have a class discussion about murals, and murals that students may have seen around various cities. It is good to add limits to the assignment or else students won’t know where to start. Students will take a character of their choosing and place them into a mural (there are some great examples of this if you Google ‘graffiti murals’) or they will pick a societal issue (ie: a development or endangered species) and address it through the mural. Students will get to work with a larger than normal scale and collaborate with other students as they arrange a composition together to go on display at the school.
Students will:
1. Begin their final project by combining elements that they have learned already and creating a mural, raising them to the level of full-fledged writer or new school artist. Students should be encouraged to create their own style and their own mural on a canvas, they will sketch their mural first, and then they can use any materials that we have used in this unit to create their final piece of work. You could put all of the art peices together afterwards to create a giant class mural, or leave them separate.
Learning Activity #1
Brain storming in partners and then in small groups, then we will discuss various ideas as a class. Students can go through past artwork for inspiration and work together for motivation.
Learning Activity #2
Students can then get started after discussing their ideas with me.
Additional Activities:
Activity
Divide students into groups to create a large collaborative color wheel for each group.
Criteria:
a) Create a color wheel with primary, secondary and tertiary colours
b) Arrange hues according to value. The darkest shades are at the center of the wheel and the lightest shades are on the periphery. (Teacher will draw a diagram on the board to help students visualize)
Materials needed:
Paint samples
Scissors
Activity
Have students select colors from their wheel to create juxtaposition.
a) Students must use at least 2 colors for each grouping
b) Students will record their observations into their sketchbooks using paint
Materials needed:
Color paint samples
Activity
Students will apply their comprehension of color advancement and recession by painting an abstract form. This is an exercise for students to apply their learning.
Criteria:
a) Students will choose a simple abstract form (examples: circle, oval, square, dot, dash, etc.)
b) Students will use their sketchbook to record their process
c) On large paper, students will paint a piece that demonstrates advancement and recession
Materials:
Paper
Paint
Sketchbooks
Grade 10
Lesson 1
The first lesson will focus on introducing students to the history and culture of graffiti and its association with hip hop. Students will learn about toys and writers and the differences between them. It is important to introduce some writers to them right off the bat, (artists like Banksy, Space Invader, and Swoon would be good to introduce). I would definitely discuss artists in detail, and show work examples.
The first lesson will introduce students to tags and have them start working on their own by the end of the lesson. I will get students to brainstorm about places that they have seen tags around the city. By next class students will be experimenting with permanent markers to further bring out their identity within their tags. Students will submit one final tag and fill out a reflection that has students describe urban art’s culture and its relationship with identity. It will also have students identify principles and elements of art and design that they encountered in this assignment and how they would assess themselves on this project.
Students will:
- Understand the history of graffiti (urban art) and its association with hip-hop.
- Gain knowledge about the hierarchy and norms of writers.
- Begin to establish an artist identity by creating a tag.
History of urban art: Get students to list and discuss song artists of icons that they know and like, discuss what this means to them. Show clip of rapper’s delight. Begin a quick question period of what hip-hop has to do with urban art. Begin to explain the hierarchy of urban artists and how students will progress through this hierarchy to become writers. Why is this important? What does it mean to you? I would do an exit slip to have some insight into how the class feels about the topic.
Learning Activity #2
Introducing the tag: Bring in examples and show Banksy and Swoon’s tags and my own tag and name. What if you had your own label, symbol or tag, where would you want to put it? What would it mean? Discuss how it relates to identity. Get students to experiment with their own tags. Talk about the impact of seeing multiple pieces by the same artist, especially before the internet, what does that mean? How temporary is it, and how does this affect it? There are discussion topics with a partner, group, or as a class.
Learning Activity #3
Bring class back together to introduce the use of markers (demo) and how it can affect how you design your tag. Get students experimenting with them and working on their tags with them. I would also get students to share their tags with a partner, and comment on each others work.
Lesson 2
Students will be turning their tags into stencils using Mayfair or thin cardboard (depending on resources) after students submit a tag. I will first show them examples of stencil work in the world around them. By creating a stencil, students will really have to think about positive and negative space. This stencil will then be used for students to experiment with aerosol paint. This must be done outside and students needs to be forewarned to wear clothing that can get damaged. Students will reflect on this lesson by discussing the process of creating the stencil (what worked well, what didn’t) as well as experimenting with the materials and how it affected the way they applied their tag to a surface (use of color and nozzles to adjust way paint came out). The students will make two stencils in order to adjust their cutting lines and how they want their tag to look. We will spray onto a thick poster board that each student can take home once it’s dry.
Lesson 3
Students will then move into urban art as a sculpture. Students will use cardboard or wire to turn their tag into a three-dimensional object while focusing on line and positive and negative space. I will show students Bansky's work on a London phone booth for inspiration. By changing the format of the tags to three-dimensions, students will discover the change in how the work is perceived. This assignment allows for students to use a different type of media to cover outcomes they would usually cover for drawing but provides an alternate way to cover them if students find they lack strength in drawing.
Lesson 4
Students will:
1. Advance their urban art skill by creating works with imagery.
2. Analyze the work of David Hockney and EVOKE to understand perspective and imagery in urban art.
3. Begin to work with perspective and imagery while considering composition and scale.
Learning Activity #1
Have students take an image of a scene that they can use as a source. Ensure that they are not to be replicating exactly. We will brainstorm as class what kinds of scenes people could do, as well as show examples to the class, to aide them in changing perspective. Show images of Hockney’s work at the time to give students a stepping off point.
Learning Activity #2
Students will then create their own scene/space and try creating an interesting composition. They will have to consider the questions: What makes a composition interesting? How does a modified perspective change it? Where is your eye drawn to, where does it move?
Learning Activity #3
Students will then work to create a figure/character that they can work into a scene or manipulate its stances. I will show them examples of work, and we will brainstorm as a class of possible ideas. Students can create complementary characters if they want.
Incorporate imagery and introduce students to the concept of murals. Students will test what makes specific attempts work. Scale would be a topic to be addressed in this assignment as well as what it means to be a mural writer in urban art culture. David Hockney’s paintings are a great example of incorporating imagery or a scene, and have an urban artwork quality due to changing perspective. The best way to limit this so that students have an idea of where to start is to have them create a character or depict a simple scene and address different perspectives. This latter option is probably best for my unit since it still has a primary focus on perspective. Canadian writer EVOKE is a perfect example for this lesson as he distinguishes himself as a new school artist by portraying imagery instead of letters so the lesson addresses the change in urban art history.
Lesson 5
This lesson is the only one that is really focused on realism. Students will grid out a drawing of a train going back into space. They then have to cover each rail car in graffiti and adjust it so that the perspective is correct as it goes back in space. The grid element provides help to students who struggle with realistic drawing and enhances student learning and still keeps those students happy who like to work in realism.
Students can then connect their railcars to one another, you could have your whole class connect their part of the train, and if you are doing this then you should give dimensions for the railcars so that they match, or you can have the railcars outlined for them.
Lesson 6
By making a mural, students enter the role of writer as their artwork becomes more complex and no longer just an artist tag. It is important to show students examples of more complex work during this lesson. BLU is a good example to show how he takes one object and complicates it by animating it. We will have a class discussion about murals, and murals that students may have seen around various cities. It is good to add limits to the assignment or else students won’t know where to start. Students will take a character of their choosing and place them into a mural (there are some great examples of this if you Google ‘graffiti murals’) or they will pick a societal issue (ie: a development or endangered species) and address it through the mural. Students will get to work with a larger than normal scale and collaborate with other students as they arrange a composition together to go on display at the school.
Students will:
1. Begin their final project by combining elements that they have learned already and creating a mural, raising them to the level of full-fledged writer or new school artist. Students should be encouraged to create their own style and their own mural on a canvas, they will sketch their mural first, and then they can use any materials that we have used in this unit to create their final piece of work. You could put all of the art peices together afterwards to create a giant class mural, or leave them separate.
Learning Activity #1
Brain storming in partners and then in small groups, then we will discuss various ideas as a class. Students can go through past artwork for inspiration and work together for motivation.
Learning Activity #2
Students can then get started after discussing their ideas with me.
Additional Activities:
Activity
Divide students into groups to create a large collaborative color wheel for each group.
Criteria:
a) Create a color wheel with primary, secondary and tertiary colours
b) Arrange hues according to value. The darkest shades are at the center of the wheel and the lightest shades are on the periphery. (Teacher will draw a diagram on the board to help students visualize)
Materials needed:
Paint samples
Scissors
Activity
Have students select colors from their wheel to create juxtaposition.
a) Students must use at least 2 colors for each grouping
b) Students will record their observations into their sketchbooks using paint
Materials needed:
Color paint samples
Activity
Students will apply their comprehension of color advancement and recession by painting an abstract form. This is an exercise for students to apply their learning.
Criteria:
a) Students will choose a simple abstract form (examples: circle, oval, square, dot, dash, etc.)
b) Students will use their sketchbook to record their process
c) On large paper, students will paint a piece that demonstrates advancement and recession
Materials:
Paper
Paint
Sketchbooks