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Sumi-E Abstract Animals

 

3rd Grade Level

Objectives: Students will...

  • Learn about and create abstract interpretations of animals based on Japanese sumi-e art

  • Use oil pastels to make minimalist drawings of animals

  • Create tints and shades of colors while blending white and black oil pastels to their colors

  • Use good craftsmanship in coloring in whole areas using blending and bold strokes of color

 

This lesson was so much fun to try different ideas and watch it evolve. Lots of students at this age level have never encountered "minimalism," a completely new approach to art for them. 3rd graders were learning about "minimum" and "maximum" in math, so we talked about how all they needed was the smallest amount in their art to get an idea across. It was tons of fun to give them a base of structure and to let their imaginations go wild.

 

We started with a powerpoint about minimalism and sumi-e painting. We looked at a couple images of incomplete or abstract animals and I had them guess what animals they were. While they were looking at the images I passed out a long, thin sheet of paper and a black pastel to each student (I tried white, tan, brown, gray paper... all had wonderful results). I had them write a very large number 0-9 on their paper.

Now I put some sample sheets of other student examples as well as "cheat sheets" of how to use one number in different ways. I had students think-pair-share of what animal their number could create. Using a pencil I had students sketch a minimal amount of details onto their animals (remind them, minimum is least!). I took my examples down at this time since students were very inclined to copy one of the ideas, and that was much less fun than what they could come up with on their own.

 

Each student got a pack of oil pastels to begin coloring their animals. To keep a minimal approach I had each student start with just one color. We picked an area to start coloring our animal. Each student then took their black pastel and we created a shade together. We then found our white oil pastel and created a tint nearby, looking at the differences that shades and tints create.

 

Students paired up with their partners again to make sure each student had one color, a tint, and a shade. When all were good to go they got to pick up to two more colors and finish their animals. We wrote our names vertically down the side of the art and put borders on the banner.

 

Both the students and their homeroom teachers loved this lesson! The paper fit perfectly on the lockers and soon the whole 3rd grade wing was a colorful zoo. We also tried variations on this project, including watercolor paint and watercolor squeeze markers as well as drawing the animals some kind of food to eat. They all turned out lovely and each gave the students tremendous opportunity to make the lesson their own.

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