3 sessions; 40 minutes per session

1. SWBAT use shapes and color to create harmony
2. SWBAT see how overlapping and multiple layers create depth
3. SWBAT create a unique abstract art work
4. SWBAT explore with texture, collage and de-collage

1. Cardboard (1 piece per student 8x10 or larger)
2. white and black tempera paint
3. Small pieces of cardboard or mattboard to spread paint with
4. Glue sticks
5. Magazines, news paper and old maps
6. markers
7. colored pencils
8. Various materials to create texture (bubble wrap...)

Need these materials? Visit Blick!

1. Share video from art21 about Mark Bradford and talk about the materials he works with.
2. Intro abstract art and how you create interest by using multiple layers.
3. Students will begin to create the first layer in the painting, they will write words on the cardboard using markers (I have them write names of places around their home town and things they like to do there...we integrate western expansion to this project)
4. After they have filled it up they start to collage pieces from magazines and newspapers and maps of our area on to the board. Tell them to look for unifying COLORS or SHAPES, not pictures of things, they want to find unity in color and or shapes.(I limit the amount of magazines ,1 on each table)
5. Glue the middle of the torn pieces, leave the edges so we can Pull or de-collage them up in about 10 minutes.
6. Decollage, have them hold the papers down in the middle where they glued and SLOWLY tare them up. As they do it should leave some interesting textures, if the cardboard tares that is OK!
7. they will add a layer of white paint to create unity and help to glue edges down, plus it is fun to see how the markers react with the paint. If they spread the paint thin with a small piece of cardboard it will be opaque that is what we want, we want to SEE the bottom layer.(make sure they paint to the edges!)
8. the next day( usually day 3 for me) we add more unifying color. Have them find the dominant color and a shape, then repeat it to create movement, use colored pencils.( I tell them no more than 3 colors)
9. Finish by adding some texture with black paint. Have them blot and add the texture to create a final layer to unify the work.

Students will answer the questions about their work, do you see depth in the piece? Explain how your eye goes for a walk in the art work.

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/mark-bradford

I love to display these pieces as one big work of art. We hang them all together to create a large mural, like Mark Bradford!

[K-4] Students use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories

[K-4] Students use art materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner

[K-4] Students know the differences among visual characteristics and purposes of art in order to convey ideas

[5-8] Students generalize about the effects of visual structures and functions and reflect upon these effects in their own work

[K-4] Students select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning

[5-8] Students integrate visual, spatial, and temporal concepts with content to communicate intended meaning in their artworks

[K-4] Students understand there are various purposes for creating works of visual art

[K-4] Students understand there are different responses to specific artworks

[5-8] Students compare multiple purposes for creating works of art

[K-4] Students understand and use similarities and differences between characteristics of the visual arts and other arts disciplines

[5-8] Students compare the characteristics of works in two or more art forms that share similar subject matter, historical periods, or cultural context

Contemporary Art

Balance, Contrast, Movement, Texture, Unity/Harmony

Collage, Colored Pencil, Marker, Painting, Tempera

Geography