Millet
to Matisse Lesson Plan: Elementary Level
Content
Area: Visual Arts
“Small
Still Life Paintings ala Courbet”
Grade Levels: 1st through 5th grades
Apple, Pear and Orange is a small (5-1/8"x8-1/8")
and beautiful still life painted by the artist Gustave Courbet.
Courbet was the leader of an art movement known as Realism that
took root in France around 1850. The Realist painters tried to
show the real world as they saw it, regardless of its beauty or
ugliness.
"Apple,
Pear and Orange" presents exactly what the title describes.
Oftentimes the Realists would paint still lifes to study the basic
shapes of everyday objects.
Objective/Classroom
Activity:
Paint your own Realistic still life of fruit, making it the same
size of Courbet's "Apple, Pear and Orange". Then add
an "elaborate" frame, similar to decorative frames of
the 1800's. This still life will focus on the elements of line,
shape, color, and value; and the principle of pattern.
Questions
to Guide Your Instruction:
- What is
Realism?
- What is
a still life painting?
Core Content
Links: AH-E-4.1.31, AH-E-4.2.37, AH-E-4.1.32, AH-E-4.1.33,
AH-E-4.1.37, AH-E-4.1.39
Vocabulary:
- Realism
- An art movement in France that began around 1850 and strove
to portray real life.
- Still life
- A work of art that depicts a group of objects (non-living
things)
- Primary
colors - The colors from which other colors are made: red, yellow,
blue
- Secondary
colors - The colors made by mixing together two of the primary
colors: orange, green, purple
- Value -
Lightness or darkness of a color
- Tint -
Any color plus white
- Pattern
- A design made by repetition of lines, shapes, or color
- Composition
- The arrangement of objects in an artwork
Time Frame:
Five 40-minute classes
Materials:
- 8-1/2"x11"
white 80 lb. paper
- 5-1/8"x8-1/8"
white 80 lb. paper
- 1-3/4"x11-1/2"
strips of white poster board
- Tempera
paints: Red, yellow, blue, white
- Paint brushes
- Pencils
- Scissors
- White glue
- Black crayons
- Plastic
forks
Motivational
Tool: Gustave Courbet's painting Apple, Pear and Orange
Procedure:
Day One:
View and discuss Courbet's Apple, Pear and Orange. Talk
about the colors and the arrangement of the fruit. Discuss the
meanings of Realism and still life. Then make your own still life.
Fill the 8-1/2"x11" paper with pencil drawings of at
least six different types of fruit. While drawing be sure to focus
on the shapes of the fruit. Draw big and fill up the space. (You
will have more fruit than you'll need for your still life, but
this gives you some choices.) Go over all pencil lines with a
black crayon.
Day Two:
Review the primary colors and how to make the secondary colors
by mixing two primary colors. Paint daubs of primary colors on
four of the 1-3/4"x11-1/2" strips of white poster board
(your future frame). Then paint your fruit using only the primary
colors or mixtures of the primary colors.
Day Three:
Review how a pattern is made. Then draw a patterned tabletop on
the 5-1/8"x8-1/8" white paper. Paint it with tints of
the primary colors and/or their mixtures. Then mix all three primary
colors together (no white), and brush this mixture over the 1-3/4"x11-1/2"
frame strips. While this paint is still wet scratch patterns into
the strips with a plastic fork.
Day Four:
Cut out your fruit and arrange them on the patterned tabletop,
trying out at least four different types of arrangements. Be sure
to experiment with touching and overlapping of different fruit.
Then choose your favorite composition and glue these pieces of
fruit onto the tabletop. Draw a decorative border (wavy, zigzag,
etc.) on each of your frame strips, cut them out, and glue the
frame strips to the side of your still life. Display and enjoy
everyone's still life masterpieces.
Assessment:
Prompt: Gustave Courbet's painting Apple, Pear and Orange
is an example of a Realistic still life. The Realists tried to
show reality and often painted still lifes to observe the shapes
of everyday objects.
Directions: Paint a small still life of fruit. Explain how your
piece is similar to Courbet's, and how you have used the elements
of art and pattern.
Scoring
Guide:
4 - The student makes a still life with good composition,
good craftsmanship, and clearly displays the use of pattern, tint,
and primary and secondary colors. The student describes the artwork
and techniques, and compares it to Courbet's piece using the correct
art vocabulary.
3 -
The student makes a still life with good composition, acceptable
craftsmanship, and generally displays the use of pattern, tint,
and primary and secondary colors. The student describes the artwork
and techniques, and compares it to Courbet's piece using an overall
correct art vocabulary.
2 -
The student makes a still life with little regard to composition.
Minimal attention has been paid to craftsmanship. The properties
of pattern and color are poorly displayed. The student describes
the artwork and techniques, and compares it to Courbet's piece
using a limited use of the art vocabulary.
1 -
The student makes a still life with no regard to composition.
Craftsmanship is very poor. The student displays no knowledge
of the properties of pattern and color, and mentions none of the
art vocabulary.
0 -
Blank, no answer or irrelevant response.
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