Click here for lesson alignment with the primary, junior and Intermediate Visual Arts Curriculum

What is "good" art? Is it realistic? Is it detailed and accurately drawn? Does it have pretty colours? What if we want to express an unhappy feeling through visual arts? For example, an artist might paint a picture of unhappy people and choose elements of design that reflect this feeling. Therefore, this painting might not be realistically drawn or have pretty colours. Would this artwork be "good"?

The Visual Arts Curriculum provided by the Ontario Ministry of Education challenges us to broaden our views of the purposes of art. It requires that we understand that art is a form of self-expression.

See Two approaches to creating artwork for more details.

To teach self-expression through visual art, equip students with a chart as shown. Variations of this chart can be used from grade 1 through grade 8. For a more simple chart, reduce the number of "elements of design". For a more complex chart, increase the number of "moods".

As a teacher-lead class activity, the students should match the cards to the moods that seem to best suit them. A completed chart might look like this:

When the chart is complete the students will have groups of colours, shapes and lines that are suitable for expressing happiness or unhappiness (positive or negative). The students should practice using these groups to illustrate how they feel about a rainy day, a story that they read, or perhaps an adventure with a friend, etc. For an assignment such as this, it is important that the students use only the appropriate elements of design from the chart. And, they should not receive instructions such as, "fill your entire page" or "use lots of detail".

A more advanced chart, with more specific moods, might look like this:

As students advance, they can create their own charts for specific purposes. For example, you may pose the question, “How does the main character of the story feel when...?” The students should decide on a feeling and create a chart with examples of lines, shapes and colours. Then, as they do their picture, these elements should be included. Perhaps evaluation can be based on the number of elements of design that students have included on their charts and how well they used these elements in their artwork.

This chart can be modified for different grade levels. For younger grades it would be wise to discuss only one element of design at a time. For example, the teach could ask, “which colours make use feel happy? angry? lonely?” Leave the rest of the chart for another day. For older students, the chart can be expanded to include more elements of design such as texture, space and form. The moods of the chart can also be expanded or changed.

Important Note: students will not agree with which elements of design match with the given moods. These choices are individual and based on life experience. It is much more important to focus on the idea that elements of design can be used to express moods. Therefore, there is no incorrect way to fill in the chart. However, in general, the culture in which we live often determines the following associations:

Critical Thinking: Use the self-expression chart when looking at and discussing artwork created by others. Ask students to identify moods found in artwork. Ask students to identify elements of design that were used by the artist to create the mood.

Extensions and Integration: Self-expression through visual arts can be used in many ways within language arts, social studies, history and more. A variety of lessons appropriate for primary, junior and intermediate students is offered on the teachers' resource CD entitled Self-Expression through Visual Arts.

 

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