COOPERATIVE CIRCLE PAINTING – Line, Colour, Unity

Students will be able to:

• work together to create a painting that looks as if one person has painted it;
• create a variety of lines;
• create a variety of mixed colours and textures;
• demonstrate technical accomplishment and creativity;
• support their ideas with evidence found in the works.

Have students:

• imagine they have been dropped into the painting and are wandering through it;
• write a descriptive paragraph of what they see;
• create 'fancy names' for the colours and textures in the paintings;
• write the names on small papers and place them beside the colours;
• write the steps for creating specific colours or textures on the painting;
• place the written steps beside the painting and use a piece of string or yarn to connect the steps to the specific colour/texture;
• work in a small group and pretend their painting is a planet;
• decide on the characteristics of inhabitants of their planet; 
• create the characters using construction paper and found objects;
• place the characters around the outer rim of the paintings;
• write about the inhabitants and their planet in a graphic story.

1. Use the Get Ready to Paint guide available this website to organize paint kits for each group.
2. Cut out circles, one for each group. (Download - Cut_Circle.pdf)
3. Print copies of the Clean-Up sheet - one for each group. (Download - Washable_Paint.pdf)
4. Download and display Elements of Design, and Principles of Design posters available on this website.
5. Gather posters or art cards of a variety of paintings.
6. Download art images from the Internet, for example,
   Degas
   Gericault
   Munch
   Chardin
   Klee
7. Cover tables with newspaper to keep the tables clean and provide a space to try out paint colours and techniques.
8. Place students into groups of about 5.

1. Prior to beginning the painting lesson ask students to number off.
2. Give each table a clean-up sheet that indicates the job each number must do. 
3. Before starting the challenge go through each job, for example, 'Hands up if you are number 3 and 4? Your job is to wash the brushes and return them to the bucket at the back of the room.’
   - This will ensure that everyone participates in the clean-up and that they know exactly what they have to do when you call for clean up at the end of the class.
4. Ask one student from each table to get a paint kit. 
   - Ask this student to be responsible for returning the kit in good condition at the end of the lesson. 
5. Introduce the challenge.

1. Display the completed paintings as if they are in a gallery. Place the information cards beside each painting. Ask students to work alone or with others.
   - Examine the paintings carefully and be prepared to tell three things that you found interesting.
    
2. Model what you mean - I find this area interesting because it feels as if I can float inside the painting. I think this effect is achieved by the contrast between the dark lines and the blurry, orange paint. Some of the orange paint is bright, some pale and some is in-between. It reminds me of looking out of my window when the sun is going down.
    
3. Invite students to walk around the room examining and quietly discussing the works. Once they have had about 10 minutes, call the group back to a central spot. Ask who wants to share. Go to stand around the painting the student is referring to. Ask if anyone else has something to share about this painting. Move from painting to painting in this way until many students have had a chance to talk about what they have discovered in the paintings. This is a good opportunity to point out how unique all the works are. Even though you all had the same challenge, you all solved it differently. That is what makes art so wonderful and exciting.
    
4. During the discussion include references to:
   - Informal patterns that may appear that create rhythm.
   - Contrast - discuss how it is used to balance the design.
   - Movement - discuss how colour and lines get the eye to travel through the whole space.
   - Feelings the work evokes and why/how.
   - Unity - that feeling that one person has painted it, and how it is achieved.
    
5. Observe that this work is called a painting. Paintings can be large or small.
    
6. Talk about how the group had to figure out some way to organize the lines, then figure out where to put the colours so the painting would be interesting and provide surprises to the viewer. Creating art means you have to figure out how to use elements like lines, colours and textures and decide how to put them in some kind of order or composition. Sometimes it looks as if there is no real order, everything is just all over the place, and then when you look closely – giving looking time – you see that the artist has ...
    
7. Ask students to select an art card that connects with one of the circle paintings, tape or pin it beside the painting.
    
8. Ask students to take turns sharing their thinking. 

1. Observe students as they work – thoughtful focus, discriminating, seeking more information, elaborating, experimenting.
2. Observe students as they discuss their designs – speaks with a clear voice, looks at audience while speaking, points to areas in the painting, provides accurate information, answers questions from the audience effectively.
3. Observe students as they listen – looks at presenter, asks effective questions, supports ideas with evidence found in the painting.
4. Use a checklist to track progress. (Downloads - CIRCLE_PAINTING_tracking.pdf)
5. Have students use the self-assessment form to evaluate their work. (Downloads - CIRCLE_PAINTING_self-assessment.pdf)