Elements of Art Lesson: Focus on Shape

There are 7 Elements of Art; Line, Color, Value, Texture, Form, Space, and Shape

The Elements of Art are a lot like baking ingredients. When you bake, you use   flour, eggs, salt, oil, and sugar.  When you mix them up in different ways and proportions you can make bread, cake, pancakes, muffins, and  doughnuts,  The point is, you use the same ingredients and make different things. 

The 7 Principles of Design are a lot like different ways to mix up the ingredients but I'll talk about that another time.

Today I'm sharing a fun and easy art project with the focus on the Element of Art: Shape. I introduce two main types of shape; Geometric and Organic.

Geometric shapes are shapes also learned in math class, circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, ovals, octagons, etc.

To do:  Make a Geometric Shape Collage
Read the book When a Line Bends...A Shape Begins.   It has beautiful illustrations and clever rhymes about shapes. 

Draw geometric shapes and print them off on colored paper for the students to cut out. Or give the students stencils and rulers to draw out their own geometric shapes.

List the Geometric shapes they must use at least one;  circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, ovals, octagons. They can use more of any one they like.

Students can make a pattern design, people, robots, rockets, cars, city, plants, creatures, etc. They must have at least one of each shape on the list.  I loved the variety and creativity of each student's pictures

To do:  Make an Organic Shape Collage

Read the book Henri's Scissors. It's a good introduction to Henri Matisse. In the book he cuts out shapes from nature like leaves, fruit and birds.  

Give the students colored paper to cut out their own shapes from nature and then arrange and glue the shapes on their black paper. 

A historical  connection to Matisse is made on the Art History Timeline Staircase to  Matisse's 8 1/2 foot tall The Dance.