Strategies
Art Critique
It is essential to introduce guidelines on how to critique works of art. The ability to evaluate art is one of the most useful skills an artist can possess. Art students must learn the skills of critiquing art for many reasons. To begin, successfully critiquing art will give the level knowledge and skill needed to advance as an artist. The ability to self-reflect and make critical judgments is essential for improving in any field, but especially the artistic arena. Secondly, as patrons of art, including a person getting a tattoo, students must be able to recognize good quality art in comparison to art that has weak elements. Lastly, critiquing art teaches us about our taste in what we like or dislike in an art piece, which will be the perfect starting point for students to begin the art creation assignment for this unit.
Classroom Procedure for art critique
When we observe a work of art, our minds go through a process. Organizing that process for my students is essential for having an effective class discussion, so I will teach steps of art criticism in my classroom in a simple four-step process. Description is the first step in art criticism, and in my opinion, it is the easiest and most natural because our minds naturally take notice of what is present in the work of art. For example, having my students begin first only telling me what it is that we are looking at just to get the discussion going. The next step is Analysis, referring to how we see the elements of art and principles of design in a work of art. In this step, the student is guided to interpret the lines, color, the composition of the artwork. Another principle of design such as balance, rhythm and proportion and unity within the work must be analyzed to see if the formal qualities of the work were successful and if not, analyzing the work will teach students what makes a work of art unsuccessful. As we move forward, the student is guided to interpret the work of art. I have found that this is the most difficult step for my students. They always want to skip this step and move on to making a judgment. Therefore, teaching students how to find meaning in a work of art is important.
Creating meaning is hard. Students are quick to answer without taking the time to contemplate their response. Getting the students to slow down their thoughts will require careful attention to the delivery of the instruction. While implementing this unit, my students will practice the skills necessary for thoughtful, genuine reflection. Many times, students’ initial response to a work of art or a question is quick and at the surface level. Their responses at times are very predictable. With this in mind, I plan to push beyond the initial response and require students to dive deeper into making a judgment. That’s what true judgment is, not one’s immediate reaction.
Often there is no wrong answer but higher level thinking skills must come into place to pull out of the visual images messages that the creator of an artwork may have been trying to communicate. Finally, the student will be guided through the last step of the critique which is Judgment. Judgment only asks us if the work is successful. What is important in this step is to remind students that the art may not be their favorite, but it may still be successful.20 I model this to the class by saying something like this, “I believe this work is successful because the composition and sense of light are used to evoke a strong sense of depth, and all the colors work together harmoniously to portray the mood. However, I am not a fan of tattoos.”
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Stop and Start Times & Questioning
The approach that will be used to teach this concept will be whole group discussion in the form of “Stop and Start Times and Questioning.” Stop and start times depict the points in the lesson where the greatest learning takes place. During this time students can “turn and talk’ to each other answering a teacher-provided question, then when I bring the whole group, students will share their opinions.
Turn & Talk
After every art class, we use the T. A. G. teaching strategy to close the lesson. This strategy engages art students in conversation. The “T” stands for, Tell. The student will tell his neighbor something good about what they created that day in art. The “A” stands for, Ask. They must then ask the friend a question about their art work. Finally, the “G” stands for giving. They must then give a suggestion to the classmate on how to improve their art. This visual is free and can be found on the Art of Education website at www.artofed.com.
Art Vocabulary Word List
Codex, Celtic Art, Monks, Monastery, Abbey, Vellum, Icon, Iconography, Symbols, Celtic Knots, Knot-work, Scripts, Calligraphy, Runic Style of Script, Illuminations, Manuscript, Bifolia
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