We used the book “The Emotional Profile” for this lesson to build a vocabulary of color and shape as it related to emotional values. The video and chart below will help with this part of the introduction. Students use a contour drawing of their profile to divide their paper in half. Inside the profile are colors, shapes, and patterns that express what they student knows and feels about themselves. Outside the profile are shapes, colors, and patterns that address either how they see the world, how the world sees them, or how they see their future.

​I use an old projector to cast shadows and trace student profiles onto watercolor paper. As we line up and trace students are also writing self-reflections in 2 lists. What I know about myself verses how they see the world, how the world sees them, or how they see their future. In the margins of their notes they draw in little shapes and colors that coordinate with their writing as part of their notes. When these are ready they move onto a sketch on copy paper that I have provided with a basic facial profile.
 
When these sketches are complete, we do some peer feedback and sharing. I encourage student to be vague about their explanations if they feel they might be uncomfortable revealing too much information. For example, if colors or shapes represent a divorce, students could instead say, “These represent a difficult time.” I model this as I speak about my own work. I show them that a particular dark area represents the passing of my father, but If I was uncomfortable saying so, I could say, “This represents a sad event in my life.”
 
Our main concern when critiquing work is that it feels complete. If there are large unaddressed areas, how can we fill those? We check that our peers understand the essential ideas of how color and shapes represent emotional values. We also check that we have avoided cliché imagery and worked abstractly. So instead of a happy face, we used brightly colored circular shapes and patterns. Instead of a heart, we represented love with the colors and shapes that emulate the feeling of love, not some corporate Hallmark symbol.
 
When our sketches have been critiqued, I do a demonstration of how I expect my students to use watercolors in their paintings. I challenge my students to incorporate color mixtures as they work and they can exceed expectations with color gradients in shape areas. We outline in sharpie and go back in with patterns to complete these expressive works. We tie into the work of the Abstract Expressionists for this unit and look at some of Rothko, DeKooning, Joan Mitchell and Alma Thomas’ work analyzing their use of color, pattern, and shape. 

​Every culture and every historical period see the world in a unique way. I wanted my students to explore some of these ideas with using a personal resource they would reinterpret. My challenge to them was to choose something personally significant and recreate it up to 9 times in the way historical periods or cultural artists might. When students chose cultures to emulate, they were encouraged to research their own cultural backgrounds for resources. Popular choices were self portraits and pets, others chose animals or objects that were symbolic to themselves.
 
I shared with them a compilation I collected of Mona Lisa images in various styles as a reference. Students were encouraged to find examples of period or cultural pieces to emulate to gain a deeper understanding of the aesthetics of the style. 

​We spoke a bit about cultural appropriation so that we could be authentic about our work. In my example, I chose the cultures of Ireland and Japan because of my Irish heritage and that I had spent a year in Japan studying art.  I spoke about my struggles making my example. My first attempt at Cubism did not appear fractured enough and was based too closely to my photo reference. It did however fall under the umbrella of Expressionism so I relabeled it that. My second attempt at Cubism was more disjointed and fractured so it felt more authentic to the style.
 
Students worked on 6-inch squares of watercolor paper or 6 by 8-inch rectangles based on their compositions. Though 9 pieces was our goal for 3 weeks, I said if they only created 8 or 6 they could still be displayed in a group but my expectation would be that they were on task the whole time. To that end I gave 2 grades for the project. The first was “Studio Habits,” and every student started with a 100% on that grade. If they were on their phones, off task, didn’t clean up or set up properly, then 2 points would be deducted from this grade each time. They could lose no more than 10 points in a single class period. The final grade was based on my project rubric. If a student maintained a 100% for their “Studio Habits” but only created 6 pieces, then I knew it was an honest attempt at the project and they would not lose points for completeness, whereas another student who only completed 6 yet had a low “Studio Habits” grade would receive a deduction.
 
Every day I would circulate around the class and offer advice, feedback, and an informal critique. Though we did this as a watercolor project, any media would be acceptable. When we were at out half-way point, we stopped for peer critiques to help re-focus out work, share successes, and offer advice. These were written, formal, and I gave them a small literacy grade for their writing based mainly on completeness and on-task writing.
 
At the conclusion, students wrote about their selected symbol, what they felt they did best with and what they might do if they were able to re-do a specific image. This was paired with a diagram letting viewers know what styles were created. The exhibition was a big hit in our school, with our History teachers looking for ways to possibly team up for a future exploration. 

Written Critique and Feedback are Critical

1. Literacy is important in all subjects
2. Reflection empowers the artist
3. It allows students to learn from each other
4. It illuminates success and reveals weaknesses
5. It is a real-world career-based skill

 
In the rush of day to day teaching, critique is something I use to dread. I wanted to spend my time creating and moving on to the next exciting project. I didn’t want to “waste” my time writing and ruminating over my artwork. It wasn’t “fun.”
 
But “Artwork” is a 2 part word, and critique is an essential part of the “work.” It can be formal, informal, deep, or quick. If you are doing a 1-day exploration, a 1 sentence reflection may be all that is warranted. Perhaps on a sticky-note as they exit your room and mentioned at the beginning of the next class.
 
If an exploration takes 3 weeks of time, then a mid-project reflection and a vigorous critique may be the best way to end a unit that has taken so much valuable time. As a teacher, I have been inspired by some critiques to explore new assignments. I can see what students have understood or missed. Their critiques can be a wonderful opportunity to reflect on my lessons. Am I still creating relevant content, or is it time to rework some lessons and jazz them up?
 
Below is a PDF you may download and use with your students. (Please do not remove the attribution.) They are taken from the pages of my book, The Workbook For Art Teachers which you can find HERE on Amazon. A student edition can be found HERE. My advanced workbook can be found HERE.