preparatory work for the Surfaces project

lower and higher order questioning assignment with second years

Lower and higher order questioning assignment in relation to the three given images and the two objects

Learning outcomes:

At the end of the lesson with the two objects and the three given images the students should be able to:

Ø      Understand how to look at an object/image objectively before making their minds up on whether they like it or not.

Ø      Confidently ‘read’ an obscure object/image by asking themselves probing questions about it.

Ø      Enjoy the experience of, and wonder at looking and responding to unseen objects/images all the more.

Ø      Appreciate that the CONCEPT can be as important and sometimes more important than the end result for some artists/craftspeople

Object One:

The disco heart

Lower:

1.   What is it?

2.   What does it remind you of?

3.   What is it made of?

4.   Where do you think it is kept?

5.   What is it for?

6.   Who do you think would like it?

7.   How old do you think it is?

8.   How do you think it feels to the touch?

Higher:

1.   How old do you think it is? How can you tell?

2.   Do you consider it to be art? Why/ why not?

3.   Do you think it has aesthetic value? (Is it pleasing to the eye?)

4.   If you met the designer of this piece what would you ask him/ her about it?

5.   Do you think it could appear in an art gallery? Why?

6.   Come up with a suitable title for this piece if it was in an art gallery.

Una Burke’s image

Lower:

1.   What is it?

2.   Is it art?

3.   Who would wear it?

4.   Write down five words to describe it

5.   What evidence is there that it is linked to protection/defence?

6.   List the materials used in it?

7.   How does it make you feel?

Higher:

1.   What is the artist/designer trying to bring across?

2.   Compare it to Botticelli’s “Primavera”, which is older? How can you tell?

3.   Do you agree that the designer preferred to have the image seen from this angle rather than from the front? Why do you think this is so?

4.   Why do you think the artist/designer chose this particular colour for the material?

5.   Would the image be as effective if the studs were removed? Why / why not?

James Hanley’s ‘Arsenal’

Lower:

1.   What can you see?

2.   Who is the man in the painting?

3.   Is this a modern painting? How do you know?

4.   Describe what is going on in the background.

5.   List five words to describe the emotion in the piece.

Higher:

1.   Why is the man seated in what appears to be a bare, run-down room?

2.   What evidence is there that this man is expecting a tough battle?

3.   What does the word arsenal mean?

4.   Compare the two men in the painting. What are their similarities and differences?

5.   What would happen if the painting was reversed so that the man and the horses were to the front and the man was in the background? Would the painting be more interesting or less? Would you enjoy it more or less?

The ‘Eight’ logo:

Lower:

1.   What is it? Describe what you are looking at.

2.   How was it created? What medium?

3.   Is it a clever design? Why?

Higher:

1.   What might the logo be used for?

2.   Why go to this trouble? Why not simply write it with the letters e-i-g-h-t?

3.   Compare this to your creative lettering done in September. How are they different? How are they similar?

4.   How might it be used to help young children who have difficulty with numbers?

5.   Come up with ideas for another method of writing eight to communicate what eight means? Draw/write these ideas.

6.   Using this logo as an example, write/draw two numbers between one and ten in an equally creative way.

The Pig:

The Pig

Lower:

1. What is it?
2. Do you like it? Why? / Why not?
3. What kind of pattern is on the surface of it?
4. How does it make you feel and why?
5. Do you like the colours of it?
6. What do you think it feels like to the touch?
7. What do you think it is used for?

Higher:

1. Is it art? Why? / Why not?
2. Is it aesthetically pleasing?
3. If we changed the colours to dark and sombre ones, would it change your view of the piece? Would it change a young child’s view?
4. If we took the eyes away, what would happen?
5. What does the shape/form suggest to you? Would you change it? Why? / Why not?
6. It is a piggy bank. Where do you think the idea of saving money in a pig came from? Why not save in a horse for example??
7. What would this piece say about the person who owns it?
8. What would it say about the craftsperson who made it?

The Ambassadors (1533) by Hans Holbein

The Aesthetic Window

The entry point through which learners respond to formal and sensory qualities of a subject of work of art. For example: the colour, line, expression, and composition of a painting. Questions: How would you describe the lines that you see? What colours do you see in this work of art? Does what you see seem balanced or off-balance? What emotions appear to be expressed in this work of art? Describe this object in detail.


Targeted questions assignment – third year life drawing

First step – what do I want them to know?? I.e. the Learning Outcomes

The Learning Outcomes (at the end of this lesson the student should…)

- Understand how tone creates depth (B)

- Have developed his/her observational skills (size-relationship of parts

  to the whole) (B)

- Understand the importance of good composition in completed work (A)

- Understand the difference between drawing what you see and what

  you think is there ( e.g. a hand holding a glass has to be drawn as it

  appears, no matter how ‘unlike’ a hand it may seem to you in your

  drawing) (A)

- Be able to reasonably evaluate his/her own drawing-in-progress, (and

  his/her classmates’) and attempt to make changes along the way. (A)

(“A” standing for advanced level, “B” standing for basic level of

understanding. Of course there is some overlap)

The Questions

These should be divided accordingly and asked before (to focus the looking), during (to

evaluate how things are going) and after (as a critique/review).

Tone:

- Why not simply do a line drawing?

- Why do we use tone?

- How do we create tone? (Point out a good example from their work)

- Why did (Mary) use a lot of tone on this particular area of her life drawing?

Size relationships/ Observation:

- How wide do you think our shoulders are in relation to the size of our head on

  average?

- How many ‘head-sizes’ does it take to get from the top of the head to the floor

  when standing?

- How long are our arms actually? (Everyone stand up and realise that they are

  quite long!)

Composition:

- How much space on the sheet (A2) should we use up?

- Why is it important to use up the space well?

- What would the outcome be if we drew too small on the sheet?

- Looking around the room point out a piece of art where there is good

  composition.

Drawing what you see and not what….

- Describe the model’s hands as we see them in the pose, through words.

- Did you manage to draw them reasonably accurately?

- Look at (Tom’s) drawing; is his drawing of the model’s hands and the book/glass

  well done? Why?

- The model was looking down in the pose, what does this mean when we have to

  draw her eyes?

Evaluating your work

- (Everyone look away for a few seconds then focus on their own drawing again)

- How is the drawing going? What areas look good? What areas appear out-of-

  proportion?

- Where will you take the drawing from here?

- (Mary,) pick a drawing that is of a good quality and tell us why you picked it.

- What could the student improve on?