Grey, like Theo van Doesburg

You need:

1. white drawing sheet
2. black construction paper
3. ruler
4. charcoal
5. pencil
6. glue

Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931) was a Dutch painter, architect and writer. He was charmed by the abstract art of Kandinsky and the cubism of Picasso. In 1917 he founded the magazine De Stijl (The Style), in which he and other artists could publish their innovative ideas. Well-known artists who also belong to De Stijl are Piet Mondriaan, Bart van der Leck and Gerrit Rietveld.

Characteristics of the Stijl artists:

• use of primary colors and non-colors 
• horizontal and vertical lines
• use of geometric shapes 
• strive for balance and harmony in the artwork

Van Doesburg, Composition 12 - abstraction of a landscape, 1918

In this lesson we discuss an artwork from 1917 that hangs in the Guggenheim New York. No primary colors, but only the non-colors black and white and everything in between.The goal for this lesson is not to copy the work, but to practice the technique of working with charcoal. 

Van Doesburg, Composition in grey, 1919

Look at the painting and discuss what stands out:

• no color, only non-colors
• geometric shapes with some rounded corners
• suggestion of depth: some surfaces appear to rise through the use of light and 
• dark next to eachother 
• only horizontal and vertical lines 

How to make your own Van der Leck? 

First practice drawing with charcoal on a scrap. Press hard, soft, wipe. Get to know the material this way.  

Divide the sheet into rectangles using a pencil and ruler. Color with charcoal. Make sure that lines between the rectangles are clearly visible. Create color nuances by pressing harder or softer, rubbing and wiping. 

Stick the work on a black sheet. 

Elements of art: color, nuance, line, shape. 

Artworks made by students of grade 5.

Portraits like Rembrandt

You need:

1. drawing sheets A4 size
2. charcoal
3. paper towels
4. black construction paper for background 

Chiaroscuro is a tecnnique in artworks which display an extreme contrast is between light and dark to create a dramatic effect. 

Titus, son of Rembrandt van Rijn (Rembrandt, 1660)

Narcissus, the man who fell in love with himself, Caravaggio (1597-1599)

Show these two paintings. What do you see? Where are the dark parts, where the light ones? Why is that? What's the artists goal? What do you feel when you see these paintings?

Students sit in pairs facing each other and create a portrait of each other using hatching and swiping techniques. Of course the background is dark, the face light.

by students of grade 4  

Zebra

You need:

1. drawing sheet A3 size 
2. drawing sheet A3 size
3. tea
4. glue
5. sand
6. brush
7. charcoal
8. wool in black and white
9. scissors

After reading The zebra who ran too fast fro Jenni Desmond we did this lesson. 

Dillute glue with a cup of strong tea and add some sand. Paint the large sheet with this. Color and texture will emphasize the natural habitat of the zebra. 

Fold the other two sheets in half and cut a neck and head (oval). 

Use charcoal to draw vertical lines on the head and horizontal lines on the body. Cut ears and draw lines on them. Cut pieces of white and black wire and paste them. 

Elements of ard: line, shape and texture.
Techniques: cut and glue, draw with charcoal

Moon behind tree

Made by a student of grade 6

You need:

1. white drawing sheet 
2. charcoal
3. chalk pastels 
4. indian ink
5. brush 

Use a saucer to draw a moon in the center of the sheet. Colour it with yellow chalk pastel. Colour the rest of the sheet grey using charcoal: around the moon it's brighter than further away.
Draw a branch and paint it with Indian ink.

What's in your egg?

 

You need:

1. white drawing sheet A5 size 
2. charcoal
3. yellow sheet for background 
4. hairspray

A great lesson for Easter, to be done in several grades. 

Start this lesson with a yeaser: Imagine you break your egg on Easter, and it shows something very different than just the egg.... Draw this imagination with charcoal on a white sheet.
Give instruction on how to work with charcoal. Point out that charcoal stain quickly, and give students tissues with water to clean. Show that the charcoal stripes could be blurred by smearing. In this way the shadows on the egg can be made. Tell charcoal can be erased with kneaded eraser.

Let the children first practice to experience for their self how you work with charcoal.
Then they draw the two  seperated halves of an egg with that's what in it between them. The egg should not just hang not in the air, but has to lie somewhere on or in (grass, cloth or similar).

Fix the drawing with hairspray and staple or paste it on a yellow background.

Made by students of grade 3

Wacky witches

You need:

1. charcoal
2. chalk pastels
3. white drawing paper A4 size
4. black construction paper for background
5. hairspray

How do you recognize a withc? What animals or things do you associate with a witch? What does an angry witch look like? Think of characteristis like mouth, eyes and eyebrows.

Tell children to practice first in drawing with charcoal. Explain how differences in colours have to be made. Tell them to use an eraser to erase the charcoal lines, and a tissue or your fingers to sweep out the colour.

The instruction is: draw an angry witch with charcoal and use a cold colour for the face. Draw the contours of the face first with charcoal. Then colour the face with chalk pastel. After this mouth, eyes and nose can be drawn with charcoal. Finish the drawing with charcoal. Make sure you add some typical witchy things like a cat, a bat, a spiderweb etc.

Opart like Vaserely

You need:

1. white paper
2. markers
3. ruler and pencil
4. charcoal

Show the children works from Victor Vasarely. What do you see? Do you recognize the optical illusion? How did Vasarely make this? Do you see the shapes coming out from the background? What colours and shapes has been used? We call this opart or optical art. Tell children they are going to make an opart drawing today. Every child becomes a white sheet of paper and starts with outlining one or more round objects like a lid or a dish. Draw curved lines from above to below and from the right to the left. Draw a grid pattern behind the circle with squares from 1,5 to 1,5 cm. Teach children how to do this, it appeared not to be that easy...:) When finished, colour the squares in the circle like a checkerboard. 1. Go slow and think first, a mistake is easily made. 2. No two colours should be right next to eachother (side to side) 3. Colours should always be corner to corner with eachother To accentuate depth, we used a piece of charcoal and drew a shadow around the ball.