Unit: Peter Reynolds: Creatriology

Grades: 2nd & 3rd

ISH

Medium: Water Color Resist

Durations: 1-30minutes, 1- 1hour

Kansas State Standard VA:Basic:1.1.1

Materials

Standard 1: Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes

Benchmark 1: The student explores a variety of art media, techniques, and
processes.
Indicator 1: manipulates a variety of media, such as paint, dough, clay, crayons,
paper, and fibers.

9x12in 60# Paper

Crayons (Black, Navy, and/or Purple)
Tempera Cakes (or Watercolors)
Paintbrushes
Water
Painting Mats

Objectives

Elements of Art

Students will explore the creativity in not having to draw things right.

Line, Texture, Color

Students will create an ishly self-portrait using crayon contour lines.

Students will experiment with crumpling their paper to add an abstracted

watercolor resist and texture to their ishly self-portrait.

Principles of Design

Art Production
30 Minutes Read Ish & Discuss
1 Hour Create Ish Artwork
30 Minutes Read Ish & Discuss
Anticipatory Set: Raise your hand if you like to do something that you arent very
good at. (ex. Mrs. Anderson likes to dance but shes not very good at it) Raise your
hand if someone has ever made fun of you for not being good at something. How
did that make you feel? (Take 3 answers)

____

Vocabulary
-ish : a suffix meaning approximately.
Abstraction: freedom from
representational qualities in art.
Cubism: A movement in modern art that
emphasized the geometrical depiction of
natural forms.

State Objective: Today were going to read a book about a boy named Ramon
who loves to draw, but when his brother makes fun of him it doesnt seem as fun
anymore. Lets find out what happens to Ramon.

Art History/Resources

Input & Guided Practice: Read the book Ish written & illustrated by Peter
Reynolds. Ask questions as you read (Listed in Art Criticism/Analysis Questions)

Pablo Picasso, Three Musicians, 1921

Pablo Picasso, Seated Woman, 1937

(ISH.PPT) Show the students some work by Pablo Picasso & Paul Klee. Discuss
how sometimes your drawings dont have to look exactly like the object to still be
beautiful.
Pablo Picasso Picasso took objects and jumbled them up. He painted them like
you were looking at them from lots of angles all at once. The nose may seem like
youre looking at it from the side but then you see two eyes! Do you see two of my
eyes when I stand sideways? NO! We call that Cubism. Its a type of art where the
artist tries to show us all sides of an object all in one drawing
Paul Klee Paul Klee made 9000 artworks in his lifetime, thats a lot of art! He
ISH

Ish by Peter H. Reynoldss

ISH.PPT (Google Drive)

Paul Klee, Senecio, 1922

Paul Klee, Cat and Bird, 1928

Modifications/Notes
If time remains after painting or after
reading and discussion, read Peter H.
Reynoldss other books, The Dot & Sky

didnt stick to just one kind of art. Sometimes he painted like the Cubists, like
Picasso, and other times he painted in other styles. If youre going to paint 9000
pieces of artwork I guess youd want to change it up, or else you might get bored.

Color.

Demonstrate: Show exemplars. Talk about the process for making their ishly
self-portrait. (Draw the line portrait in crayon Write Your Name Ish on the
bottom of your drawing Scrunch it up in a ball Paint one color all over the
outsides smooth it out repeat until you have two or three different colors
smooth out).
Check for Understanding: Ask students- Does your self-portrait have to look
exactly like a photo would? NO! Do you always have to make your drawings look
exactly right for them to be good drawings? NO! Why do you think were
crumpling up our drawings before we paint on them? (Because Ramon crumpled
up his drawings and we want to make the same texture.) Who can tell me what our
Elements of Art are today? TEXTURE & LINE.
Closure: Next time you come in well draw our ishly self-portraits and scrunch
them up to create our crumply texture. When you have some free time, draw some
ish drawing of your own!
1 Hour Ishly Self-Portraits Scrunch Watercolor Resist
Anticipatory Set: Raise your hand if you can tell me the Elements of Art we
talked about last time. TEXTURE & LINE. Has anyone drawn an ish drawing
since our last class? (Take 3 answers)
State Objective: Today were going to use black crayons to draw an ish selfportrait with line. Then well crumple it up and add some paint so we can see the
texture of our crumple.
Demonstrate: Show exemplars. Quickly demonstrate the process for making their
ishly self-portrait. (Draw the portrait in crayon Write Your Name Ish on
the bottom of your drawing crumple it up in a ball with the drawing on the
outside Paint one color all over the outsides (dont use too much water, the paper
will rip) smooth it out repeat until you have three different colors smooth out
Check for Understanding: What do I mean when I say an ish self-portrait?
What do we do first? Put name on back of paper (First name, Last name, Class
name) Draw ish self-portrait using black crayon crumple it up into a ball
Paint one color all over the outsides very carefully smooth it out carefully
repeat with a different color smooth out place on drying rack.
Guided Practice: Using black crayon, students will write their name and class
name on the back of a 9x12in piece of 60# paper. On the front side, students will
draw their ish self-portrait; being sure to make dark lines with the crayon.
Students should also, underneath their portrait, write their Name-ISH (ex. Mrs.
Anderson-ISH). Once their line drawings are complete, students will crumple up
their paper, making sure the drawing is visible on the outsides. Using a medium
size brush students will apply tempera paint from cakes with a generous amount of
water to the outside of their crumpled paper. Slowly and carefully, students will
un-crumple their paper and re-crumple it another way. With a different color,

ISH

students should try to fill in any white spaces they see. If the colors mix together
that is just fine. Even more carefully, students should un-crumple their ish
drawing and place it flat on their painting mat. (Students who finish early may take
a second sheet of paper to free draw/ paint. They should leave this paper on the mat
with their ish painting.)
Closure: Students should place their finished ish self-portraits on the drying
rack, clean their brush, and wash their hands. Final questions: What is the Element
of Art we focused on for this project? LINE! What are the Elements of art we used
today? LINE, TEXTURE, & COLOR Does your drawing have to look right to
be a good drawing or for you to enjoy it? NO!

Aesthetic Questions
Does a drawing have to look exactly like the object to be a good piece of art?

Art Criticism/Analysis Questions

Before Reading:
- Have you ever loved doing something and then someone laughed at you or
told you, you were bad at it, and then you didnt like it as much anymore?
While Reading:
- Why does Ramon draw? (Just for his own enjoyment)
- How did Ramon feel when Leon laughed at his drawing?
- Have you heard people say hurtful things about someones art?
- What could Leon have said to Ramon to be kinder?
- What are some nice things you could say to encourage other artists?
- What happens to Ramon after he gets discouraged? What do you think look
right means? Now, why is Ramon drawing?
(All the enjoyment in drawing leaves him and he just wants to make his drawings look
exactly like the object)
- What does Marisol mean it looks vase-ish?
- How does Ramon feel when his sister compliments his work?
- What does savor mean? (to take time to appreciate something) Why did Ramon
not draw one day but instead savored it?
After Reading:
- What are some new ideas Ramon finds for his art once he starts to see the world
in this new, an -ish way? Why hadn't he thought of these ideas before? (point out to
students that his earlier work habits required that he always look at what he was
attempting to draw)
- What are some new ideas Ramon finds for his art once he start to see the
world in this new, -ish way?
-Why hadnt he thought of these ideas before? (point out to students that his earlier
work habits require that he always look at what he was attempting to draw)
- Why do you think the author wrote this book? What did he want us to learn?
(keep trying, it doesnt have to be perfect, sometimes close or ish is good on its own.)
- If you like your artwork is that enough? Do other people have to like it for it
to be good?
- Are there some artworks that you like that dont look right?

ISH