Glitter, Glitz, and Heather Galler

After completing a traditional still life, students expand and apply their new skills by building a still life in the art room with simple forms.  This new drawing is embellished with shapes, lines, and color to create patterns, variety, and unity.

Duration
Multiple days
Lesson Type
Traditional Lesson

Lesson Created By: AmeliaLorenz

Lesson Partners: ABC (Arts in Basic Curriculum)

Essential Question

How do artists create patterns, variety, and unity with the elements of design?

Grade(s):

  • 3

Subject(s):

Recommended Technology:

Screen or projector for discussing the work of artist Heather Galler.  We use an image from the artist's etsy site projected onto a large screen TV.

Other Instructional Materials or Notes:

9x12" sketch paper or copy paper
pencils
simple forms for still life such as cylindrical cans or jars, boxes, geometric forms
9x12" heavy paper suitable for painting
color and black Sharpie or other permanent markers
glitter tempera in primary and secondary colors
paintbrushes

Lesson Progression

Day One

  • Directed drawing and observation with the teacher of basic shapes and forms. 
  • Create basic forms from 2-dimensional student generated or pre-made templates. (the "net" in math)
  • Observe and draw art room objects such as canisters or pencil boxes, noting basic shapes and their relationship to the form.
  • (Math Standard SCCCR 3.G.4)

Day Two

  • Observe the work of contemporary American painter, Heather Galler participating in a group discussion about her use of color, shape, and line to create pattern, variety, and a sense of unity in everyday objects.
  • Read and discuss assessment rubric.
  • Practice drawing the objects of the still life individually.
  • Construct the still life on the table.
  • Teacher demonstration of proportion, placement, and overlapping.
  • Draw objects with attention to proportion, placement, and overlapping. 
  • Teacher observation, praise, and/or correction as necessary.

Days Three and Four

  • Use corrected sketch to complete a marker drawing of the still life on heavy paper
  • Use lines, colors, and shapes to create pattern, unity, and variety with color sharpie markers.
  • Complete the composition with glitter tempera.
  • Participate in Group Critique.

Teacher Notes

We used lidded solo cups for glitter tempera and paper towels for cleaning brushes between colors.  This extended the life of the tempera through the entire lesson conserving about half the pint of each color.  One 8 pint set served 6 classes with enough left for another lesson.  Use your old watercolor brushes.  Glitter is difficult to wash out.

Critique guidelines and rubric

View Resource

Teapot, Cakeplate and Roses by Heather Galler

View Resource

Assessments

Group Critique Guidelines

 Heather Galler Still Life Rubric

Ongoing teacher observation and feedback