PHILOSOPHY.
You are working towards your student building a relationship with a particular artist. The end goal is to get to know, to appreciate, connect with, recognize, become friends with, build a relationship with- not individual paintings, but with the artist. Nor are you trying to critique particular technicalities of a work, but to know the work and relate to it as something familiar. When it is seen again someday, the student will say “I know that picture” just as you would say “I know that friend.”
The second thing you are working towards is forming an eye for beauty in your students. Viewing beautiful will bring out a sense of what is beautiful in their own work and lives.
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METHOD.
The Foundation.
This is the must-do basic.
Instructions. Teacher Prep.
___1. Read the selected quotes from Charlotte Mason on Picture Study.
___2. Computer search – the ‘most famous artists everyone should know’.
Choose an artist that does beautiful work.
See this post for my opinion (based on CM) on beauty and modern art.
___3. Choose an artist.
___4. Computer search – ‘most famous paintings of’ your chosen artist.
___5. Choose 6 paintings. CM did 6, we do 12.
___6. Find the highest pixel pic you can and copy and paste it to a document, or download.
___7. Get color copies made- one for each student. You can use regular weight paper to keep the cost down, if your students are taught to handle the prints with care (don’t wrinkle them).
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Instructions. Student Lesson.
___1. Explain.
If this is new to your students, explain what they will be doing:
“I am going to pass out some pictures.
Treat these carefully. Don’t wrinkle them or toss them around.
Keep them face down on the table.”
___2. Pass out the prints face down.
Keep them face down until directions are explained.
___3. Explain.
If this is new to your students, explain what they will be doing:
“When I tell you to, turn the page over.
You will look at it for quite a while.
We won’t talk, only look.
You might look at it longer than you think you need to. But keep quietly looking. If you think you are done before I say stop, quietly challenge yourself to find something else. See what else you can see.”
___4. Begin looking.
Depending on the subject matter and how long they have been doing picture study (training their habit of attention and observation), will depend on how long you can have them look. Up to two minutes might be a goal for a picture that has a fair amount of detail.
___5. Look and Look again.
After a minute or so (if they cannot go that long, that is ok, work towards lengthening the time), “turn your paper over carefully
see if you can see in your mind all the details of the picture.
With your mind, can you see all the middle and edges of the painting?
If not look again, and fill in the parts you could not see with your mind.”
After getting better at picture study they will not need to go back and look again.
___6. Collect the prints.
___7. Describe.
Have the students describe all the details that they can – all the facts.
e.g. “there is a child with a rope, she is wearing a blue dress, she has brown hair, … it is sunny, there are puffy clouds…in the right corner there is a bird with white bands across his wings…. the sea is choppy with waves, it is dark…… Describe all the objects and colors.
___8. Discuss the feeling of the painting.
e.g. “is it a happy painting…. what time of day….. why do you think the girl is running….. what does the artist want us to tell us…. what does it remind you of…. where do you think the sun is in this painting…. what does this painting make you feel like…
___1. Instructions. Student Lesson.
If this is new to your students explain what they will be doing:
“I am going to pass out some pictures.
Treat these carefully. Don’t wrinkle them or toss them around.
Keep them face down on the table.”
___2. Pass out the prints face down.
Keep them face down until directions are explained.
___3. Instructions.
If this is new to your students explain what they will be doing:
“When I tell you to, turn the page over.
You will look at it for quite a while.
We won’t talk, only look.
You might look at it longer than you think you need to. But keep quietly looking.
See what else you can see.”
___4. Begin looking.
Depending on the subject matter and how long they have been doing picture study (training their habit of attention and observation), will depend on how long you can have them look. Up to two minutes might be a goal for a picture that has a fair amount of detail.
___5. Look and Look again.
After a minute or so (if they cannot go that long, that is ok, work towards lengthening the time), “turn your paper over carefully
see if you can see in your mind all the details of the picture.
With your mind, can you see all the middle and edges of the painting?
If not look again, and fill in the parts you could not see with your mind.”
After getting better at picture study they will not need to go back and look again.
___6. Collect the prints.
___7. Describe.
Have the students describe all the details that they can – all the facts.
e.g. “there is a child with a rope, she is wearing a blue dress, she has brown hair, … it is sunny, there are puffy clouds…in the right corner there is a bird with white bands across his wings…. the sea is choppy with waves, it is dark…… Describe all the objects and colors.
___8. Discuss the feeling of the painting.
e.g. “is it a happy painting…. what time of day….. why do you think the girl is running….. what does the artist want us to tell us…. what does it remind you of…. where do you think the sun is in this painting…. what does this painting make you feel like…
Extra Frills.
These are things you can add, but not vital. Beware: Don’t kill yourself over them. If this sends you into overwhelm, remember the Single Eye. Go back to the above Foundation and stay there. What I outlined above is all you need to nourishingly feed your students’ minds.
1. Choose an artist that lived at the time of the history your students will be learning.
2. Give a short bit of biographical information on the artist at the beginning of the term or before each picture is shown.
3. Give a short bit of information about each picture.
4. Use my Picture Study Teacher’s Notes to guide your lesson.
5. Find a Living Book on the artist and read it either aloud or assign it to your student.
6. Use the works mentioned in the book as your picture of the week to study.
The featured picture is by Albert Bierstadt, Rocky Mountain Landscape.