Emulation is a tried-and-true lesson that gives students a chance to "step in the shoes" of an artist. It is also the genesis of my "If Picasso" book series. I used the books with my classes so they could see many examples of animals in the style of diverse artists throughout history.
Though I usually restrict this lesson to artists who have passed, I opened it up this year to any artist whose work has been exhibited in a gallery setting. This would allow students to explore artists who are famous or emerging, or perhaps less well known. In the case of one of my students, they explored the work of their grandmother, whose paintings were exhibited in their local gallery. She had recently passed and it gave my student an opportunity to create a special work of art for their family. This was not something I expected and made me glad to have loosened my usual restrictions.
The instructions were fairly straight forward: Create an original artwork of an animal in the style of an artist you admire, relate to, are culturally connected to, or like. Demonstrate your understanding of media we have used in this course with proper set-up, media use, technique, clean-up, and storage.
I prefer to do this as a last major project for my introductory students (Art 1 grade 9) and allow them to use any art medium they have used during their course with me. I had two students that wanted to explore printing, so I gave them individual tutorials even though it was not a material we actually covered in our introductory course.
Students had to complete a worksheet to research their artist. This included:
Every day they were expected to have the 4 examples of the artists work next to their own work. If questions arose about color choices, techniques, textures, etc., these became valuable resources. When a student asked, "what should I put in the background?" I would reply, "What did your artist put in the background?"
An additional worksheet from my workbook tracks student progress. They recorded the start and due date, and created a list of interim goals. (Sketch completed, Image transferred, Underpainting, etc) These goals would differ based on the media and the artist chosen, so goals for a painter would be different for goals for someone doing a sculpture or a print.
On the same worksheet was a percentage chart for me to initial. It looked like a thermometer labeled from 0% complete to 95% complete. I would initial how far along students were daily and I went around the room to check progress and offer advice, tips, praise, etc. If a student was stuck at 30% for 2 days, I knew quickly that we needed to have a chat and see what was holding them up. I also noted on my attendance sheet if students were focused, distracted, or off task. This was recorded as a separate "Studio Habits" grade. I let students know they all started with a 100%, but that points would be taken off daily if I saw them off task, on their phones without permission, not setting up their area properly, or incomplete in cleaning up. This was a very independent exploration, and the Studio Habits grade was extremely helpful in assessing their productivity. 20% of my rubric addresses time-on-task, so I could refer to the Studio Habits grade for that portion of their rubric.
Another issue I knew might come up was that if a student chose an artist like Pollock, it would be possible for them to finish this 2 week project in a couple of days. If that was the case, they would choose a second artist to emulate, or create an artwork, in the time remaining, of their own choice. Only a couple of students needed to do a second project, and I have mini canvases available for early-finishers who want to paint.
At the end of the exploration, students created a display sheet to be hung next to their artwork. This included the name of their artist, 3 facts about the artist, key features of the artist's work, and the reason they chose the artist. They used glue sticks to glue their sample images to this display sheet.
Though I usually restrict this lesson to artists who have passed, I opened it up this year to any artist whose work has been exhibited in a gallery setting. This would allow students to explore artists who are famous or emerging, or perhaps less well known. In the case of one of my students, they explored the work of their grandmother, whose paintings were exhibited in their local gallery. She had recently passed and it gave my student an opportunity to create a special work of art for their family. This was not something I expected and made me glad to have loosened my usual restrictions.
The instructions were fairly straight forward: Create an original artwork of an animal in the style of an artist you admire, relate to, are culturally connected to, or like. Demonstrate your understanding of media we have used in this course with proper set-up, media use, technique, clean-up, and storage.
I prefer to do this as a last major project for my introductory students (Art 1 grade 9) and allow them to use any art medium they have used during their course with me. I had two students that wanted to explore printing, so I gave them individual tutorials even though it was not a material we actually covered in our introductory course.
Students had to complete a worksheet to research their artist. This included:
- 3 Facts about the artist
- 4 examples of the artist's work
- Explanation of what makes the artist's work unique
- What they would need to do to emulate that artist's work successfully
Every day they were expected to have the 4 examples of the artists work next to their own work. If questions arose about color choices, techniques, textures, etc., these became valuable resources. When a student asked, "what should I put in the background?" I would reply, "What did your artist put in the background?"
An additional worksheet from my workbook tracks student progress. They recorded the start and due date, and created a list of interim goals. (Sketch completed, Image transferred, Underpainting, etc) These goals would differ based on the media and the artist chosen, so goals for a painter would be different for goals for someone doing a sculpture or a print.
On the same worksheet was a percentage chart for me to initial. It looked like a thermometer labeled from 0% complete to 95% complete. I would initial how far along students were daily and I went around the room to check progress and offer advice, tips, praise, etc. If a student was stuck at 30% for 2 days, I knew quickly that we needed to have a chat and see what was holding them up. I also noted on my attendance sheet if students were focused, distracted, or off task. This was recorded as a separate "Studio Habits" grade. I let students know they all started with a 100%, but that points would be taken off daily if I saw them off task, on their phones without permission, not setting up their area properly, or incomplete in cleaning up. This was a very independent exploration, and the Studio Habits grade was extremely helpful in assessing their productivity. 20% of my rubric addresses time-on-task, so I could refer to the Studio Habits grade for that portion of their rubric.
Another issue I knew might come up was that if a student chose an artist like Pollock, it would be possible for them to finish this 2 week project in a couple of days. If that was the case, they would choose a second artist to emulate, or create an artwork, in the time remaining, of their own choice. Only a couple of students needed to do a second project, and I have mini canvases available for early-finishers who want to paint.
At the end of the exploration, students created a display sheet to be hung next to their artwork. This included the name of their artist, 3 facts about the artist, key features of the artist's work, and the reason they chose the artist. They used glue sticks to glue their sample images to this display sheet.
Signed editions of my "If Picasso" books are available at the North Carolina Art Museum Gift Shop and Amazon.
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