Before and after an exploration into narrative - art project

Arts & Activities, March, 2003 by Kelly Clark

MATERIALS

* Small art reproductions

* Illustration board

* Pencils and erasers

* Watercolors *

* Colored pencils *

* Pen and ink *

* Media choice depends on reproduction.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* connect art history to studio art through the study and reproduction of style.

* study and interpret narrative.

* utilize inventiveness in narrative and may employ humor as in parody.

* further their technical skill in the study of an artist's style.

* develop their aesthetic taste by making their own selection of artist.

In art, studying reproductions is an academic tradition for learning. Drawing from plaster casts, slides and printed materials is an accepted substitute for access to the original work.

In art education, referencing the masters--both traditional and modern--is a valuable tool in connecting art history to studio investigations. It breathes life into the art-history curriculum, while giving students' work mature and complex guidance.

My classes have utilized art reproductions in various lessons and have usually met with success in combining the given with their own hand. Most recently, we referenced artists for use in investigating narrative in composition. Students were given a choice of several artists, which allowed them to become more personally involved with the work than if the artist had been assigned.

The works provided were selected for variety in technique and concept, but all had use of narrative in common. Obviously, teachers would pick works suited to their class--in my case, the selection of Norman Rockwell, Edward Gorey and Jonathan Green permitted students to work in color or value, with loose or tight marks, and with obvious or mysterious story lines.

Norman Rockwell was a favorite with students who share a controlled technique with an illustrational style. Edward Gorey's value work with line was a secondary consideration for students who seemed to be attracted to the dark interpretations of his narrative. Jonathan Green was an artist with whom most students were unfamiliar, and they were taken with his loose, colorful brushwork.

We used postcards because they were expendable and easy to format in this problem. The selected image becomes the center panel and, with the exact measurement, the students sandwich the image with two of their own. They create the "before" and "after" in the narrative, allowing them to combine the study of technique and mark-making with a connection to art history.

The objective of selecting an artist and closely studying and reproducing his or her artwork is combined with interpreting the work's meaning and producing original narrative through the creation of "before" and "after" panels. These objectives are subtle and are conveyed in a spirited approach to art history.

The effect of these works is kinetic and compares to cells in film or frames in comic strips. The results allowed students to express their voice in the narrative rather than the process. It was interesting to take the given and make the work part of a series. It also brought elements of humor to the class and work. We found a new way of picturing art history--as moments in time or slices of life.

Kelly Clark teaches art at Middlesex High School in Middlesex, N.J.