A lesson based on artist Amber Share’s “Subpar Parks” series.
Illustration by Amber Share, see her work at www.ambersharedesign.com or click on the image above.
Opinions are like farts... everyone has them from time to time. Opinions can be a hot topic, especially when they are unpopular opinions about things we love! This can be a fun "hook" to grab student attention.
We have all started a year based on a project tied to the prompt, “What did you do this summer?” I had my students reflect on their favorite 4 venues, including something they visited this past summer, and search through unreasonable 1-star reviews. I told them if it sounded like it was written by a spoiled child, it was probably a good one to collect. My worksheet can be downloaded here.
I then introduced them to the work of Amber Share, www.ambersharedesign.com .
We have all started a year based on a project tied to the prompt, “What did you do this summer?” I had my students reflect on their favorite 4 venues, including something they visited this past summer, and search through unreasonable 1-star reviews. I told them if it sounded like it was written by a spoiled child, it was probably a good one to collect. My worksheet can be downloaded here.
I then introduced them to the work of Amber Share, www.ambersharedesign.com .
| unreasonable review worksheet |
They laughed and chuckled at the juxtaposition of such positive images paired with unreasonable reviews. We analyzed her work and came up with 3 hallmarks of her style.
1. The text is a dynamic art element in the illustration & has shadows.
2. She incorporates a strong use of analogous colors.
3. The artist creates space with foreground, middle-ground, background, and overlap.
We agreed that these were three things that we too could do. We shared our reviews with our peers and discussed which of our 4 venues and reviews would make for the best illustration. We also edited the text to be short and snappy. This might mean clipping the text to one particular line, or using an ellipsis to join two good parts. We also discussed the importance of avoiding bullying like if a review called out someone by name or disparaged their physical appearance. We also set aside anything that might not be school appropriate. For some teachers this might mean certain language, but I allowed my high school students to substitute cartoon lettering like #@&% for a single curse word they might encounter.
Students started with small sketches in their workbooks. If they needed a second, they used copy paper I had available. They were to create a layered image that showed depth, and incorporate block lettering as if it was another visual element. I have THIS short video to help them do that. I worked at the same time on a sample based on a restaurant I visit called Bojangles, famous for their fried chicken and biscuits. The review I found said “Too greasy… very limited grilled chicken options.”
1. The text is a dynamic art element in the illustration & has shadows.
2. She incorporates a strong use of analogous colors.
3. The artist creates space with foreground, middle-ground, background, and overlap.
We agreed that these were three things that we too could do. We shared our reviews with our peers and discussed which of our 4 venues and reviews would make for the best illustration. We also edited the text to be short and snappy. This might mean clipping the text to one particular line, or using an ellipsis to join two good parts. We also discussed the importance of avoiding bullying like if a review called out someone by name or disparaged their physical appearance. We also set aside anything that might not be school appropriate. For some teachers this might mean certain language, but I allowed my high school students to substitute cartoon lettering like #@&% for a single curse word they might encounter.
Students started with small sketches in their workbooks. If they needed a second, they used copy paper I had available. They were to create a layered image that showed depth, and incorporate block lettering as if it was another visual element. I have THIS short video to help them do that. I worked at the same time on a sample based on a restaurant I visit called Bojangles, famous for their fried chicken and biscuits. The review I found said “Too greasy… very limited grilled chicken options.”
As students worked I passed out this scaffold worksheet to help document their progress and feedback. They filled out the top portion, and our grading rubric was on the back. The instructor section is where I would initial where I felt their progress was from day to day. The lower left was an area for a mid-project peer review to check that our requirements were being met. Though this could be done in any media you have available, I chose for my student to work in watercolor pencil which could be blended with water if they finished early to keep them on-task. I had a few advanced students try this lesson as well and they were allowed to use any media they would like.
When sketches were complete, we paused and reflected in groups on digital citizenship asking ourselves, what is fair? What is reasonable? Do we reflect on our own experiences in thoughtful ways? How can we as digital citizens use critique to help and uplift each other? Students wrote their responses to the final question on a large post-it note which became part of our display. We began each class with a short 3-minute reflection on digital citizenship or speaking about how we speak to each other face to face versus how we might communicate online. We had some really valuable daily discussions.
As students worked on their final paper, I noted for them some things they could do in their artwork to exceed expectations if they had time. Though not required, they know that to earn 100% on a project they need to go a bit beyond just meeting our three requirements.
For more about my grading method, visit THIS blog post.
I contacted Amber Share through her website and let her know what we were up to and she was excited to know her work was inspiring my students. We were excited to learn she is about to launch her new book, Subpar Planet!
I always include literacy connections in my lessons, so every student displayed some written reflections next to their work answering these two questions:
1. What was unreasonable about the review?
2. What kind advice could you leave the writer of the review?
I’ll leave you with these images of student work and our resources.
- Use of a ruler or compass
- Use of perspective in their image
- Detailed textures or patterns
- Richly layered colors
- Inclusion of fairly detailed hands or faces
For more about my grading method, visit THIS blog post.
I contacted Amber Share through her website and let her know what we were up to and she was excited to know her work was inspiring my students. We were excited to learn she is about to launch her new book, Subpar Planet!
I always include literacy connections in my lessons, so every student displayed some written reflections next to their work answering these two questions:
1. What was unreasonable about the review?
2. What kind advice could you leave the writer of the review?
I’ll leave you with these images of student work and our resources.
If you need a resource to develop your lessons, THIS BOOK is one I wrote with 50 lessons that can be personalized and use nearly any media you have available for grades k-12. It's a starting point as you develop your own lessons. If you need more help with pedagogy, (how to teach art) Then THIS BOOK is one I wrote to explain my process developed over 30+ years. It's free on Kindle if you have an Amazon account. More of my resources can be found HERE. If you click on any image, you'll be linked to the book on Amazon.
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