Laura Edwards

Unit Plan
Theme: 2-D Abstraction
Grade level: 9th grade
Class time needed: 8 class periods
Supplies: Water color paper, water color tubes, sable brushes, fine tip pens, canvas’, acrylic
paint, paint brushes, ribbon, embroidery thread, beads, cardboard boxes, toned paper, HB
pencils, rulers, still life objects, mat board, white conté crayons, black charcoal, watercolors
(burnt sienna, raw sienna, burnt umber), watercolor palates, sable brushes, fine tip pens,
newspaper, scissors, drawing boards, spray mount adhesive and black construction paper.
Equipment: laptop or desktop computer, projector, projector screen, display case
Rationale: I chose to focus on the topic of abstraction because it allows for students to create
freely without the worry of whether their art looks “just right.” Additionally, this provides the
students with the opportunity to learn about the different types of abstract art. My students
will learn about Kandinsky, Arp, Pollock, and Picasso; as well as create projects that reflect the
abstract style of each of these artists.
Background Info:
*Kandinsky: “art independent of one’s observations of the external world”
Vasily Kandinsky, Black Lines (Schwarze Linien), 1913
Vasily Kandinsky, Improvisation 31 (Sea Battle), 1913
Discussion of what is abstract art? What makes Kandinsky’s art abstract?
Cross hatching, hatching, stippling, scumbling lesson with fine tip pens
Review of geometric and organic shapes and proper use of watercolors
Abstract color and line project
Students will use watercolors to create either geometric or organic shapes or a combination of
both
When the watercolor is dry, students will add either cross hatching, hatching, stippling, or
scumbling to their paper in fine tip pen.
Objectives:
Studio: Students will be able to utilize the artistic elements of color and line through the
use of watercolors and fine tip pens.
Art History: Students will be able to identify two pieces of abstract art by Vasily
Kandinsky.
Art Criticism: Students will be able to identify representational art from non
representational art.
Aesthetics: Students will be able to create a piece of non representational art.
Time needed: 2 class periods
Supplies: Water color paper, water color sets, paint brushes, fine tip pens
Next class period information:
*Arp: created art based on “chance,” would throw scraps of paper and glued them
wherever they landed.
*Pollock would fling paint onto a canvas and allow gravity to take control in a similar
manner. Both of these artist gave up part of their artistic control and let the universe
create the art.
 Jean Hans Arp, Untitled (Collage with Squares Arranged according to the Laws of
Chance) 1916
Jackson Pollock, One: Number 31, 1950
Students will view the slides and learn about Arp and Pollock. The artistic element of
balance will be emphasized in their art.
Gravity Abstraction Project
Students will utilize gravity in their works of art. They will be instructed to employ balance in
their composition as well. An area will need to be sectioned off and the floor will be covered
with cardboard boxes. Students will be encouraged to use unconventional materials in their
artwork, and ribbon, string, many types of paper, and beads will be available to them. Paint will
be available and students can add water to create different consistencies to drip on their
canvas’. Students are free to create a composition of their choice, as long as it is able to hang
properly and dry in a timely manner.
Objectives:
Studio: Students will be able to utilize multiple mediums to create a balanced
composition
Art History: Students will be able to identify artwork by Arp and Pollock
Art Criticism: Students will be able to identify representational art from non
representational art.
Aesthetics: Students will be able to create an abstract composition on their canvas.
Time needed: 2 class periods
Supplies: canvas’, acrylic paint, ribbon, embroidery thread, beads, cardboard boxes, aprons
Next class period information:
*Picasso: developed cubism with Georges Braque, inspired heavily by Cezanne. Cubism
highlighted the belief that objects should be captured by showing multiple points of
view. Forms are simplified, broken apart, and reassembled. Emphasized geometric
shapes and planes.
Pablo Picasso, Portrait of Ambroise Vollard 1910
Pablo Picasso, Head of a Woman 1909
Pablo Picasso, Girl with a Mandolin 1910
Emphasize the multiple viewpoints present in Picasso’s work, highlight that every
geometric shape or plane is depicted as if it is from a different viewpoint as the next.
Cubism Project
Goals in the 4 Disciplines:
Studio Art- Students will be able to use and clean up after watercolors, felt tip pens, and acrylic
paint in order to employ the artistic elements and principles of color, line, balance, and point of
view.
Art History- Students will be able to attribute certain pieces of art to either Kandinsky, Arp,
Pollock, and Picasso.
Art Criticism- Students will be able to identify abstract art from representative art, and name a
couple artists associated with abstraction.
Aesthetics- Students will be able to create artwork that reflects the abstract style of Kandinsky,
Arp, Pollock, and Picasso.
Full Lesson
Lesson title: Cubism Project
Grade level: 9TH grade
Focus: What is cubism? How do I create a cubist piece of art?
Time needed: 4 class periods
Objectives:
Studio art- Student will be able to create a composition utilizing a variety of materials to
accomplish different textures
Art History- Student will be able to identify a piece of work by Picasso
Art Criticism- Student will be able to identify works of art from the cubist movement
Aesthetics- Student will be able to create a multi-media composition showing multiple
views of various objects
CCCS: NJ VISUAL ARTS STANDARD 1.3.12.D.2
Produce an original body of artwork in one or more art mediums that demonstrates mastery of
visual literacy, methods, techniques, and cultural understanding.
Materials needed: Toned paper, HB pencils, rulers, visually interesting still life objects, white
conté crayons, black charcoal, watercolors, watercolor palates, sable brushes, fine tip pens,
newspaper, scissors, drawing boards, spray mount adhesive and black construction paper.
Equipment: laptop, projector, projector screen
Visual Resources: PowerPoint (attached), exit slip (attached), and rubric (attached)
Motivation: What artistic elements are present in cubist paintings? What are some examples of
cubism you can think of? What does cubism remind you of?
Procedure: (prior to class set up still life objects on a rolling cart)
I will greet my students as they enter and I will ask them to find their seats. Once
everyone is settled, I will ask if anyone saw any cool art outside of school or if they
talked about any art in their other classes. I will invite students to share their art
experiences, or I will share an art connection of my own.
Next I will present my PowerPoint.
I will go through each slide and present the information. I will highlight the connection
between Cezanne’s brushstrokes and the geometric shapes in Picasso and Braque’s
work. I will point out how Picasso’s style changed over time but still maintained multiple
viewpoints. I will introduce the concept of collage to my students through the
PowerPoint.
I will check student comprehension by asking “Who was Picasso inspired by?” “Who did
he work with to create cubism?” and “what do you notice present in each piece of
cubist art?”
I will show my students many examples of
cubism and collage to familiarize them with
these concepts.
After going through the PowerPoint, I will explain that we will be creating a cubist drawing of a
still life today in class. I will pass out a ruler, toned paper, a HB pencil, and an eraser to each
student. I will wheel the still life to the center of the room. I will pass out drawing boards as I
arrange students around the still life and make sure that every student can see clearly. I will put
a spotlight on the still life to give it dramatic highlights and shadows.
While students are arranged in a circle around the still life, I stand in the middle and model how
to create a cubist still life.
First, I will use my ruler to create 5 lines on my paper in varying directions. I will model for the
students how to begin an outlined section and draw part of the still life within the ruler marks.
After one section is done, I will switch seats and complete a different part of the still life from a
different viewpoint. I will explain to my students that they can feel free to simplify the forms
within the still life and to think of them as geometric shapes. I will instruct students to continue
drawing sections of the still life from different viewpoints with their pencil until their entire
sheet of paper is filled in.
Students will begin working independently, drawing sections of the still life, switching seats,
and drawing the same object from a different angle.
I will walk around the room and monitor my students’ progress and keep them on task.
If a student is a fast worker and finishes early, I will explain that they will be completing each
section of their drawing in a different medium, and I will give them a preview of what materials
will be available to them. I will ask them to brainstorm which material they wish to use in each
delineated section for next class.
When there is 10 minutes remaining in class, I will ask my students to stop working and to put
their artwork in their portfolios. I will collect all drawing boards, rulers, pencils and erasers and
students will return their seats to the proper location. I will then pass out an exit slip for
students to complete. Explain that this is a formative assessment and that it will not count
towards their grade. Students will pass in their exit slips as they leave the classroom, and I will
assess whether my students need more instruction on cubism.

Exit Slip:

1. Who created this piece of art? 2. What artistic movement is this piece from?
______________________ __________________________

3. Name one characteristic of Cubist art. _________________________________________

Class Period 2
I will greet my students as they enter and I will ask them to grab their portfolios and find
their seats. Once everyone is settled, I will ask if anyone saw any cool art outside of
school or if they talked about any art in their other classes. I will invite students to share
their art experiences, or I will share an art connection of my own.
I will ask students to take their work out of their portfolios and I will walk around and
assess where my students are in the project. If any student clearly did not retain the
information from the lass class period based on their exit slip, I will go over the
information with them individually at this point. I will hand students who are still
drawing the still life a drawing board, a pencil, and an eraser and I will ask them to set
up around the still life. For students who have competed the drawing aspect of this
project, or are very close to completing this part, I will complete a small class demo for
how to add value to their drawings with white conté crayon in combination with
charcoal. I will demonstrate how to collage newspapers within a section and how to use
the spray adhesive in the spray booth to glue them down. I will also demonstrate the
proper use of the watercolors, how to create a watercolor palate, how to treat the
brushes, and how to achieve a smooth wash. Lastly, I will invite students to use the
cross hatching, hatching, stippling, and scumbling lesson from earlier in the unit to add
value to a section.
Students will continue to draw their still life, and use different materials to add shade
and tone to each section. I will walk around the room and monitor my students’
progress and keep them on track. For students who finish their work early, show them
how to mount their work and invite them to create an artist statement for their
artwork.
When there is 10 minutes left in class, I will ask my students to start cleaning up. I will
collect the drawing boards, pencils, erasers, and students will clean and return the conté
crayons, charcoal, watercolors, watercolor palates, brushes, and scraps of newspaper.
I will close with a class discussion on what the students like about cubism, what they
don’t like, and which materials they like and dislike using.

Class Period 3
I will greet my students as they enter and I will ask them to grab their portfolios and find
their seats. Once everyone is settled, I will ask if anyone saw any cool art outside of
school or if they talked about any art in their other classes. I will invite students to share
their art experiences, or I will share an art connection of my own.
I will ask students to take their work out of their portfolios and I will walk around and
assess where my students are in the project. Hopefully, most of my students are at a
point where they can finish the multi media shading of each of their sections by the end
of this class. For students who just finished their drawing, I will demo the use of
materials for them to begin shading. For students who are clearly not going to finish
their work today, I will instruct them to come in during lunch, a study period, or after
school to finish. Students will obtain materials themselves and will work throughout the
period to complete their work. Students who finish early will learn how to mount their
work and will spend the remainder of class creating an artist statement for their piece. If
 a student is already finished with this, they can assist me by hanging their and their
peers’ artwork in the display case in the hallway outside the classroom.
Students who do not have time to create an artist statement in class will create one for
homework.
When there is 10 minutes of class left, I will ask my students to start cleaning up.
Students will clean and return the conté crayons, charcoal, watercolors, watercolor
palates, brushes, and scraps of newspaper.
I will close with a question for my students to think about; why did Picasso and Braque
create art in the cubist style? What were they trying to say through their art?

Class Period 4
I will greet my students as they enter and I will ask them to grab their portfolios and find
their seats. Once everyone is settled, I will ask if anyone saw any cool art outside of
school or if they talked about any art in their other classes. I will invite students to share
their art experiences, or I will share an art connection of my own.
Students who completed their cubist still life and artist statement for homework will
mount and hang their work in the display case with their artist statement. The class will
then complete an art criticism using the following prompts; “What did the artist do
well?” “What could they improve?” “What artistic elements can you identify in this
work?” These will be written on the wall on a sheet of paper as a reminder for students.
Students will be assigned a peer’s work and will be given a couple minutes to look at
their peer’s work and determine the answers to the prompts provided. Then students
will go down the line and share what they liked about the piece, what could be
improved, and point out the artistic elements they found. Since it is an uneven number
of students, I will begin and demonstrate for my students how this activity should be
completed. I will make sure my students know that negativity will not be tolerated in an
art criticism. After everyone’s work has been talked about, students will be given a
chance to talk about their own work to the class. They can share their artist statement,
the challenges they faced in this activity, or which material they liked working with best.
Students will then return to the classroom and will sketch in their sketchbooks for the
remainder of class time. When class is a minute away from
ending, I will display the following piece of art on the board
and offer a reward to any student who can name the title and
artist of the piece of art.
Georges Braque, Guitar and
Fruit Dish
Students’ work will be graded based on the following rubric:

Category 0 2 2.5 3
Multiple Views Student does not Student attempts Student uses two Student creatively
use multiple to use two viewpoints within uses more than two
viewpoints within viewpoints within their still life viewpoints within
their still life their still life drawing. their still life
drawing . drawing. drawing.
Use of Student did not Student attempts Student uses more Student properly
Materials use any materials to use more than than one medium uses at least two
besides graphite one medium within their mediums within
pencil. within their drawing. their drawing.
drawing.
Effort Student does not Student attempts Student takes their Student effectively
take time to to take time to time to develop uses class time to
develop their develop their their drawing and develop drawing
drawing and drawing, but does does not rush. The and does not rush.
rushes through not submit their project is The project is
the process. work until two submitted one day submitted on time.
days past the due late.
date.
Craftsmanship The student does The student The student uses The student uses
not use the attempts to use the the materials the materials
materials materials properly properly and skillfully and cleans
properly and does and attempts to cleans up after up after themselves.
not clean up after clean up after themselves. The The work is very
themselves. The themselves. The work is relatively neat and looks
work is messy. work is messy. neat. complete.
Total
_____/12

Budget for materials:

Water color paper - pkg of 50 9"x 12" sheets 1 package $8.65
water colors- set of 10 colors 7.5 ml each 1 set $26.32
fine tip pens-set of 16 micron pens, $23.79 per set 2 sets $47.58
canvas’- pack of 24 canvas boards $18.56 per pack 2 packs $37.12
acrylic paint- variety of 8 colors, 74 ml each, $17.38 two packs $34.76
paint brushes set of 12 mixed nylon brushes, $5.19 a pack six packs $31.14
ribbon- assorted 40 yards 1 pack $3.19
embroidery thread- set of 24 colors, 8 yards each 1 pack $7.36
beads- variety of metallized beads, 8oz I pack $11.39
cardboard boxes- recycled
toned paper- 19"x24", $0.85 each 25 sheets, $21.25
HB pencils- pkg of 12, $6.65 each 3 packages, $19.95
Rulers- 12" ruler $1.69 each 25 rulers $42.25
still life objects- bring from home
white conté crayons- box of 12 2B crayons $16.48 a box 3 boxes $49.44
black charcoal- set of 12 compressed charcoal $5.89 a pack 3 packs $17.67
watercolor palates- plastic mixing trays $3.61 each=$90.25
newspaper- bring from home
scissors- 12 pairs of scissors $17.89 per pack 3 packs $53.67
drawing boards - 12.5"x26" board $13.59 each 25 drawing boards $339.75
spray mount adhesive- 7oz can $7.35 each 2 cans $14.70
mounting board- 20" x 30" $5.22 each 25 sheets $130.50

Total cost of materials: $986.94

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