Nature Curriculum prototype: Natural paint.


For my prototype I made paint out of a red and yellow soft rock (maybe sandstone?) That I  gathered from the desert.

Recipe:
crushed rock (for pigment)
1 egg yolk (to act as a binder)
1/4 teaspoon water

1) crush your rock in to a fine powder in a bowl, using a stick or some straight tool.
2) If you are crushing multiple rock colors, mix the colors you want  by mixing the powders together. 3)Set powder aside.
4) Separate egg yolk form the egg white.
5) Place egg yolk and 1/4 tsp. water in a clear bowl. Mix together well.
6) Mix in rock pigment powder. mix well.
7) Paint!
8) To preserve the paint, keep refrigerated.

Natural Container

Natural Container

 I love avocados, and was interested in how peels, are natures most primitive container- holding within them food, and nutrients. I think it is so interesting how they container grows with the thing it contains. We normally make a container to protect and hold something precious, but the fruit and nut acknowledges from conception that what it holds is precious and plans accordingly.

I wanted to pay homage to our naturally grown containers.

Exploring Nature Curriculum Sketch

Unit Idea: Students will learn to engage with nature through using man made, and raw materials.

Lesson 1 : Viewing nature within a frame.

Objective: Have students look critically at how nature is depicted in art.

Assessment:   Two Art critiques as a class: one working critique in a small group with 3-4 students,  while the work is in progress, and one final critique one on one with the instructor when the work is completed. An artist statement will be typed and displayed next to the work , on the class online gallery and in a student show at the end of the unit.

 Questions: What qualifies as nature? What qualifies as man-made? Why do we film, paint and record nature? What is the value of bringing inside a piece of work depicting outside?  Are humans afraid of nature? Should nature be feared?

 
 Activity: Have students research a nature artist from this list:

Ansel Adams , Claude Monet, Andy Goldsworthy, Kitty Lange Kielland, Mark Dion, Thomas Doughty, Andrea Lira, Polly Morgan, Sara Goldschmied, Elonora Chiari.

Choose a favorite work that the researched artist has produced and try to imitate it using only materials found in the classroom.(art supplies, recycling, etc)

Lesson 2 :  Nature Sketch

Objective: Have students examine the nature that surrounds their school, and learn to depict it, accurately.

Resources: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/the-remarkable-notebook-of-a-19th-century-naturalist

http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/the-remarkable-notebook-of-a-19th-century-naturalist

http://www.epsi.net/graphic/historic.html

Assessment:  Art critiques as a class: one working critique in a small group with 3-4 students,  while the work is in progress, and one final critique one on one with the instructor when the work is completed. An artist statement will be typed and displayed next to the work , on the class online gallery and in a student show at the end of the unit. 

Questions: What can studying something up close teach about its purpose or design? Why were most naturalists also artists in the post renaissance age? Does observational drawing also serve a scientific purpose?

Activity: Students will research naturalist scientists and their field journals form the 17th-20th centuries, and examine the type of observational drawing skills used to depict and communicate knowledge about nature and species to the world. Students will then go outside and gather a piece of nature from their surroundings (a flower, a piece of bark, a leaf, etc.) and make a detailed scientific observational drawing of the piece.

Lesson 3 :  Drawing WITH nature

Objective:  Students will learn to use natural materials to make their art supplies: paint, paper, and mark making tools.

Assessment: Students will do a one page write up on the method they used to make their materials, and will demonstrate their materials to the class.

Questions: How are art supplies made today? How did people make art supplies before modern technology? When did art materials become less natural or more synthetic? Is there a difference in creating with modern art materials? With more natural materials?

Activity: Students will be divided into 5 different groups and using internet research, as well as personal innovation, produce 1 of 4 listed art materials:

-paper/ canvas/ drawing board

- paint

-glue

-mark making tools

(if students would like to make a material not listed above they must ok it with the teacher)

Students will demonstrate in a group presentation, how they made their material, and how it is used.

Lesson 4 :  Landscape Painting- Plein Air

Objective: Students will learn the basics of Plein Air painting.

Assessment: Students will do a half page write up on their experience with painting outside vs. inside. There will be an in-class critique of their work.

Questions: Why is light important to calculate, when painting outside? How is painting outside different than painting inside?

Activity:

Plein Air paint.