LINES! LINES! LINES! – Elements of Art, Colour

Students will be able to:

• create a crayon resist line design;
• create 20 different expressive lines; 
• identify the emotions different lines communicate;
• demonstrate technical accomplishment and creativity; 
• support their ideas with evidence found in the works.

Have students:

• use a sketchbook/journal to record as many different kinds of lines as they can see in and around their classroom and neighbourhood over the course of a week;
• work in small groups to share their findings and describe the emotions each line communicates;
• create a list of descriptive words that can be used when discussing lines;
• find pictures of artworks that use expressive lines and match them to some of the lines they have recorded;
• work together to create a bulletin board that demonstrates what they have learned about lines.

1. Prior to this lesson you may want to have your students do the Lines Worksheet available on this website. (Downloads – LinesWorksheet.pdf)
2. Gather, and make available, books about lines, for example, Just Line Around, by Kinsy McVay; The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art, by Barb Rosenstock; and Leon's Lines, by Ember Estridge
3. Photograph students against a light backdrop leaving lots of whitespace.
4. Print each image on 21.6 cm x 28 cm (8.5" x 11") copy paper. 
5. Download and display the Line and Colour posters available on this website.
6. Download images that demonstrate the use of expressive lines from the Internet, for example,
   Kandinsky1
   Kandinsky-Yellow-Red-Blue
   Elephant King
   Golden Fish
   Mount Washington
7. Create a partially completed example.

1. View and discuss one of the paintings, for example, Yellow-Red-Blue, by Kandinsky. Ask students:
   - What do you think is happening here?
   - What do you see that makes you say that?
   - What do you notice about Kandinsky’s use of colour, shape and line?
   - How do the lines contribute to the mood of the painting?
2. Review, or introduce the idea of Elements of Art, the building blocks of visual art – line, colour, shape, texture, space, and form.
3. Review, or introduce some characteristics of expressive lines.
   ​Draw and record them on a chart paper, for example,
   - thick lines – bold, strong
   - soft, fuzzy lines – peace, gentle
   - horizontal lines – calm, restful, stillness
   - vertical lines – height, strength, stability
   - soft, shallow curved lines – comfort, safety, relaxation
   - deep, sharp curved lines – confusion, agitation, turmoil
   - jagged, zigzag lines – anxiety, excitement, danger
   - diagonal lines – energy, movement
4. Introduce the challenge.

1. Place students into small groups. 
2. Ask them to: 
   - share their work and discuss the things that are especially effective and why
   - talk about what they found satisfying about doing this project
   - talk about how they might use what they learned in a different way
3. Share ideas with the whole class. 
4. Ask students to tell how they felt about doing this project.

1. Observe students as they work  – thoughtful focus, discriminating, seeking more information, elaborating, experimenting
2. Observe students as they discuss the art works – active listening, insightful contributions, supporting ideas with evidence found in the artwork and from personal experience.
3. Use a checklist to track progress. (Downloads – Lines_tracking.pdf)
4. Have students use the self-assessment form to evaluate their work. (Downloads – Lines_self-assessment.pdf, or Primary-Lines_self-assessment.pdf)