Arctic
Lesson Plan 7 - Anishinabe Art and Sense of Place
LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Students will work individually, in small groups, and as a class to internalize
new strategies and vocabulary for engaging with artwork. Students will apply
their newly acquired knowledge by directly engaging with artwork they
create in response to questions about sense of place and by engaging with
artwork from contemporary Canadian First Nations artists. Students will gain
an awareness of how environment, sense of place, and stories are integral to
culture and identity.
TIME REQUIRED
Four to seven hours
LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Students will explore how the stories of First Nations peoples are connected
to the relationship between land and people, and reflect upon the beliefs
surrounding that relationship.
• Students will learn a question-based strategy to directly engage with artwork
and use this strategy to practice making and supporting qualitative
judgments about artwork.
• Students will be introduced to the formal elements of art (line, shape, colour,
texture, and space) and apply the information through direct engagement
with artwork.
MATERIALS
(PROVIDED)
• four matted prints of paintings with artist information attached to the back
• three response guides for teacher
• four worksheets for students:
• Inspiration Mind Map • Formal Elements of Art
• Engaging with Art I & II
• Choose and Create
MATERIALS
(TEACHER SUPPLIED)
•
•
•
•
•
•
BACKGROUND
Note: This lesson plan and provided resources uses the term “Anishinabe,”
which means “first people,” to refer to the First Nations groups also called
“Ojibwe” or “Ojibway” in Canada. Information on the origins and uses of the
terms Anishinabe and Ojibwe can be found at http://edsitement.neh.gov/
lesson-plan/anishinabe-ojibwe-chippewa-culture-indian-nation#section-20360
photocopies of worksheets, if desired
large pieces of paper and coloured markers for mind maps
five Post-it notepads
laptop/computer
access to the Internet
digital projector
In traditional Anishinabe way of life, material choices and formal elements of
art and visual culture (colour, shape, line, and texture) reflect the
environment in which the artists live and interact. Contemporary First Nations
artists including Isaac Bignell, Benjamin Chee Chee, Norval Morriseau, Daniel
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Pitchegigwaneh, and Cecil Youngfox, are influenced by elements of traditional
Anishinabe culture, historical events, and socio-economic challenges faced by
communities in contemporary life. All of these factors may influence the artists
subject matter and methodology for creating artwork.
Entering into a dialogue about formal elements of art is a bridge to
a discussion of content, meaning, and connections to historical and
contemporary events. Artworks can be considered as vessels that mediate
engagement between people in relation to each other and to the world. Artists
engage with other people and their own environment through their artwork.
Viewers are able to discuss the artwork with one another, and compare and
contrast their own viewpoints with those of others.
SUGGESTED PROCEDURES
Note: This lesson plan is composed of four parts.Teachers can choose to use
follow the entire lesson plan or select parts best suited to their class.
Day 1
Materials: Inspiration Questions Response Guide, Inspiration Mind Map
worksheet (photocopied), Choose and Create worksheet (photocopied), poster
paper, markers, Post-it notepads, art materials (chosen by the teacher) for
homework activity
1. Before class, write each of the five questions from the Inspiration Questions
Response Guide in the center of a large sheet of paper and start each mind
map with an idea. Place one of the papers where the entire class can see
it, and place the four remaining papers and markers for writing at different
stations around the room.
2. Tell students that they are going to respond to five questions to start
thinking about how the place and time in which they live shapes their
experiences.
• Work as a class to create a mind map in response to one of the questions. Encourage students to not worry about which ideas are right or better
than others, but to quickly generate as many ideas as possible.
• Read the four remaining questions and have students divide into four groups. Have each of the groups go to a station and create a mind map
on their large piece of paper, using the markers.
3. Redistribute students into five groups so that each group has students from
each of the four previous groups. Hand out an Inspiration Mind Map
worksheet to each student and a Post-it notepad to each group. Place the
class mind map at an additional station in the room.
• Have each group go to one of the mind maps. Each student should
consider the ideas and place a Post-it note beside the idea that they find most interesting.
• Have students discuss with their group what they find interesting about the ideas and what they think about their group members’ explanations. Each student should then record two ideas that interest them from the mind Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
maps on their Inspiration Mind Map worksheet.
• Have the groups rotate around the room until all five groups have visited and discussed each mind map.
4. Hand out a Choose and Create worksheet to each student and have each
student complete their worksheet individually. For homework, have students
create an artwork in response to the idea they select through completing
their worksheet.
• It is recommended that you complete the worksheet and make an artwork
in response to your selected idea. Your work will serve as a basis for the
initial discussion.
• It is up to the teacher to decide upon the media, size, and amount of time suggested for the artwork.
Day 2
Materials required: Engaging with Art Response Guide, Engaging with Art
I worksheet (photocopied), your artwork and student artwork created for
homework
1. Before class, read the Engaging with Art Response Guide.
2. Tell students that they are going to talk about an artwork as a class, and
then break into small groups to talk about the works they created at home.
Hand out two copies of the Engaging with Art I worksheet to each student.
• Show the class the artwork that you created in response to an idea from the mind maps. Lead the class through answering the three questions on
the worksheet as a strategy to talk about and critique your artwork.
• Have each student take out the work they created at home. Have students
break into groups of two-three and use the second copy of the Engaging
with Art I worksheet to discuss each other’s artworks. Tell students that it
is okay if someone thinks that their artwork is about something different
than they originally intended, and it is also okay to explain what their
artwork means for them. Emphasize that regardless of the perspective,
it is important to provide evidence from the work of art to support the
suggested meaning, just as it is necessary to provide credible reasons for
opinions in Social Studies or examples from the text to support responses
in Language Arts.
3. Ask students if there is a difference between what their artwork means for
them and what their artwork meant for their group members. What are the
benefits and challenges of an artist and a viewer having different ideas
about what an artwork is about?
Day 3
Materials: Formal Elements of Art Response Guide, Formal Elements of Art
worksheet (photocopied), access to the Internet, digital projector
1. Before class, read the Formal Elements of Art Response Guide. Become
familiar with the website http://www.artsconnected.org/toolkit/index.html.
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
2. Pre-lesson activity: Have students access: http://www.artsconnected.org/
toolkit/index.html for an interactive introduction to the formal elements of art.
3. At the beginning of class, access:
http://www.gallery.ca/en/see/collections/artwork.php?mkey=104329
for a reproduction of Artist and Shaman Between Two Worlds by
Anishinabe artist Norval Morrisseau. Project or display the reproduction for
the class to use to answer some questions on the worksheet.
4. Hand out a Formal Elements of Art Worksheet to each student, and tell
students that they will work as a class to complete the worksheet. Some
questions require students to look at the reproduction of Artist and Shaman
Between Two Worlds for examples of concepts, and the remainder of the
questions require students to choose their own examples.
Day 4
Materials: Engaging with Art Worksheet II (photocopied), four matted prints
with information about the artist attached to the back, student artworks
1. As a class, briefly review the formal elements of art.
2. Hand out an Engaging with Art Worksheet II to each student and have them
get out the artwork they created at home.
3. Show the class the four matted reproduction prints of paintings from the
Discovery Kit. Have students choose which print they would like to work
with and divide into groups. Make sure there is a roughly even distribution
in the class, and distribute each print to the corresponding group.
• Have students read the information sheet on the back of their print for
back-ground information about the artist, and use their Discovery Kit print
and their own artworks to complete their Engaging with Art Worksheet II.
4. As a class, discuss how the four Anishinabe prints and student artwork
reflects the time and place in which the artist lives and their experiences
in that time and place. Encourage students to consider the artworks as
a way the artist relates to other people, the world, and objects. Encourage
students to reflect on how those relationships, as expressed through the
artwork, allow viewers to relate to one another and to the world.
CONTINUING THE
JOURNEY
• Find an exhibition in the community that engages with themes consistent with the curriculum. Divide students into groups and have each group do
initial research on an artist in the exhibition or the exhibition venue. Have
each group present their findings to the class; for example, each group can
select one member to act as the artist or venue director, and the other
students in the group interview him/her for an upcoming newspaper article.
Visit the exhibition as a class. Have each student choose a work that interests
them, and write a short critique of the work, keeping in mind the strategies
they learned to engage with artwork, as well as background information
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
from research on the artist and exhibition location.
Suggested exhibition venues in Edmonton, Alberta:
• Art Gallery of Alberta
• Royal Alberta Museum
• Gallery A at the University of Alberta Museums
• Latitude 53 Contemporary Visual Culture
• Harcourt House
• SNAP (Society of Northern Alberta Print-artists) Gallery
• Visual Arts Alberta Association Gallery
• Alberta Craft Council Gallery
• Bearclaw Gallery (commercial gallery featuring the work of contemporary Canadian Aboriginal artists)
• Have students build an online gallery featuring their artwork and artist
statements.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Day, Michael. Children and Their Art: Art Education for Elementary and Middle Schools. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2012.
Douglas, Katherine M. and Jaquith, Diane B. Engaging Learners Through Artmaking: Choice-Based Art Education in the Classroom. New York:
Teachers College Press, 2009.
Drapeau, Patty. Differentiating With Graphic Organizers: Tools to Foster
Critical and Creative Thinking. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press, 2009.
EDSITEment! “Anishinabe - Ojibwe - Chippewa: Culture of an Indian Nation.” http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/anishinabe-ojibwe-chippewa-cul ture-indian-nation#sect-activities. Accessed July 22nd, 2011.
Edwards, Betty. Colour. New York City: Tarcher/Penguin, 2004.
Foss, Brian, Paikowsky, Sandra, and Whitelaw, Anne, eds. The Visual Arts in Canada: The Twentieth Century. Don Mills, Ontario: University of Oxford Press, 2010.
Gamblin Artists Colors Co. “Navigating Colour Space (NCS).” http://www.
gamblincolors.com/navigating.color.space/index.html. Accessed July 11, 2011.
Gaudelius, Yvonne and Speirs, Peg, eds. Contemporary Issues in Art
Education. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Hirschfelder, Arlene and Yvonne Beamer. Native Americans Today: Resources and Activities for Educators, Grades 4-8. Englewood, C.O: Teacher Ideas Press, 2000.
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Nelson, Karna L. and Price, Kay M. Daily Planning for Today’s Classroom. Belmont: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2003.
Implementing the Open Minds Education Concept in Your Community – a guide. Calgary: Campus Calgary/Open Minds Program, 2008.
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History: A View of the West. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008.
Tanner, Helen Hornbeck. The Ojibwa. New York: Chelsea House, 1992.
Tate, Marcia L. Graphic Organizers and Other Visual Strategies: Grade 5. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press, 2009.
The Art Institute of Chicago. “Education.” http://www.artic.edu/aic/educa tion. Accessed July 11, 2011.
Thunder Bay Art Gallery. Benjamin Chee Chee: the black geese portfolio and other works : October 16 - December 15, 1991, Thunder Bay Art Gallery. Thunder Bay, Ontario: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 1991.
Turtle Island Productions. “The Ojibway Story.” http://www.turtle-island.com/
native/the-ojibway-story.html. Accessed July 20, 2011.
Warren, William W. History of the Ojibway People. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2009.
This lesson plan was a project for the Friends of the University
of Alberta Museums’ 25th Anniversary Internship in Museum
Innovation 2011, made possible by:
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Inspiration Questions Response Guide
These four thematic questions were formed to integrate “Component 10 (ii) Subject Matter” from the Level Three Art
Curriculum and “Strands of Social Studies” from Social Studies Kindergarten to Grade 12.
1. How does living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada influence your relationship with the natural
environment?
• Example: I love the forest in the summer because I get to spend time in Edmonton’s River Valley and parks like
Hawrelak Park. Spending time there makes me feel that recycling is important and I want to encourage my family to
recycle.
2. What inspires you when you create artwork?
• Example: I love animals and I have a dog named Shadow. I love drawing Shadow running because he looks so free
and happy.
3. How does living in Edmonton affect your experiences compared to a grade five student living in
another community? (Think about Edmonton’s physical geography, climate, and natural resources.)
• Example: Since I live in Edmonton, I have clothes for a variety of temperatures, such as shorts for the summer and a
winter jacket for cold months. A grade five student living near the Equator would not have a winter jacket and might
not have experienced snow before.
4. How do you communicate with your friends and family compared to a grade five student in 1950?
(Note: teacher may substitute any date in the past)
• Example: I like to talk to my friends outside of school, just like grade five students in 1950. • Example: I use a computer to message my friends, but computers didn’t exist in 1950.
5. What are some of the similarities and differences between a story you imagine and a story you
read in a newspaper?
• Example: Stories in the newspaper are based on facts, and my dreams are based on both facts and imagination.
• Example: Everything that I imagine is from my own perspective, and a story in the newspaper is from a journalist’s
perspective. It is hard to have a neutral perspective for either.
• Example: I cannot control what I dream about, but I can choose what to read in the newspaper. I can write a letter to
the editor if I disagree with what I read in the newspaper.
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Engaging with Artwork Teacher Response Guide
Sometimes experiencing artwork is intimidating because it feels like there is pressure to immediately understand the meaning
intended by the artist. Asking three simple questions and focusing on giving clear, simple responses is a strategy to diminish
the pressure of engaging with a piece of art. View responses to the questions as possibilities instead of right and wrong
answers to encourage creative and dynamic discussion.
The questions are:
1. What is it?
2. What could it be about?
3. How could it be about this in a better way?
These three questions can be used by students as a strategy to engage with artwork, such as with the print of the painting
Learning by Benjamin Chee Chee from the Muse Discovery Kit. For example:
1. To begin, tell students that you have never seen a piece of art before before and you have temporarily lost your sense of
sight. You are faced with a mystery object, and the students must work together to describe it to you. Ask the class,
“What is it?” Encourage students to respond with simple, clear answers, such as the following:
• It is a small white paper rectangle. There are two geese, and both are looking at us. The geese are in the middle of the
page and fill almost the entire space.
• The geese are different sizes: one goose is larger and has a beige cheek, and the second is smaller and is all black.
• The necks, heads, and feet of the geese are solid shapes and their body and wings are thin curvy lines.
• The geese fill almost the entire page.
• The title is Learning.
2. If necessary, pretend that you are gaining understanding by briefly summarizing the simple statements. Next, ask the
students to use these statements to try to explain to you, “What could it be about?” Encourage students to use their
previous statements to support their ideas, such as the following:
• One goose is smaller and looking up at the larger goose. The title is Learning, so the smaller goose could be learning
something from the larger goose. Perhaps this is about learning skills, knowledge, and traditions from elders.
• There are only three colours: black, white and beige. The geese are the only elements on the page. Perhaps this is
about simplicity and focus.
3. Briefly summarize the “what could it be about” statements. Lastly, use a suggested explanation and ask, “If the object is
about this, how could it be about it in a better way?” An example could be:
• This reproduction is very small. If it were larger, the geese would seem more alive and in motion. It would seem like the
small goose was learning from the larger goose that very moment.
These questions can be used by any audience and to engage with any artwork, from students talking about drawings they
created at home, to museum-goers, professional artists, and art critics discussing famous works of art.
Using these questions in a classroom setting will help students build confidence in their ability to respond to visual
information. Having knowledge of the formal elements of art gives students the vocabulary to respond with relevant and
precise statements. Students can then use their statements to formulate ideas about possible meanings of the artwork; these
possibilities are supported by direct responses to the artwork. Students can also bring in previous knowledge of the artist,
technique, and content (what is depicted in the image) to enrich their discussion.
This strategy of engaging with artworks encourages further curiosity and engagement because students can then compare
and contrast their ideas and opinions with the ideas and opinions of others. Students can evaluate ideas and opinions they
encounter based upon first-hand experience with the artwork.
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Formal Elements of Art Teacher Response Guide
Works of art have form, the work’s visual appearance, and content, the work’s subject matter or what the work represents.
Meaning results from both the interaction between form and content chosen by the artist and from the reception of the
artwork by the viewer. Form can be broken down into the formal elements of line, shape, colour, texture, and space.
Line
Line is a mark where the length is much greater than the width, often so much so that line is perceived to have only length.
Lines drawn directly on a page or the meeting edge of two adjacent forms, are referred to as actual lines. Line can also be
implied, such as the path the eye follows when looking at a form or image. The line made by the outside edge of a form is
called a contour. Horizontal and vertical lines convey more of a static, grounded, and fixed-in-place feeling (picture Greek
columns). Diagonal lines are more dynamic, and convey a greater degree of movement (picture a mountain range).
Talking about line is an excellent entry point into a discussion about form. Lines are easily identified and described by a
wide variety of accessible adjectives, such as straight, curvy, thick, thin, wavy, squiggly, broken, or smooth. A strategy
to talk about implied line is to ask students to point out the exact spot that their eyes are first drawn to when they look at
images or objects, and then the next point the eyes go to, and the following points. It is useful to use a photocopy or digital
reproduction to physically map the points and then connect the points with an actual line to materialize the implied line for
students. Often the implied line made by the path the eye follows will lead back to its own starting point, a strategy that
keeps viewers engaged by preventing their eyes from falling out of the form.
Shape
Shape is an area encompassed by an actual or implied line or contour. Shapes can be described as geometric and named
as squares, triangles, rectangles, and so on. Geometric shapes have straight lines, sharp points, and angles. Shapes can
also be described as organic. Organic shapes resist being categorized as squares or triangles, and have more curvilinear
lines. It is interesting to note that not all shapes in the natural environment are organic; the shapes of honeycomb, starfish,
and cellular structures are very geometric. Shapes can be closed, having a continuous contour, or broken, where the contour
is not entirely continuous.
Areas fully or partially enclosed by line or contour are referred to as positive space, and the surrounding space, the
“background” or “white space,” is the negative space. The shapes formed by the negative spaces in a two- or threedimensional form are just as important as the positive spaces. Encouraging students to talk about the interaction between
positive and negative space, or the “figure-ground relationship,” will help them to see the building blocks of the composition
in a new way. Students will be able to apply their knowledge of figure-ground relationships in their own artwork, resulting in
more cohesive and dynamic compositions.
Colour
Colour is effective on a cognitive level. Colour can be descriptive, such as green bananas ripening to yellow, or symbolic,
such as a traffic light changing from red to green. Colour is also effective on an emotional or psychological level. The three
attributes of colour are hue, value, and intensity.
Hue is synonymous with the word colour; it is what is seen as a result of wavelengths of the visible spectrum of
electromagnetic radiation reflecting from a surface. Connecting the ends of the visible spectrum – red and violet – forms
a colour wheel.
• Red, blue, and yellow are known as the primary hues because they cannot be made by mixing other pigments. The
primary hues are equidistant from one another on the colour wheel.
• Secondary hues – green, violet, and orange - are formed by mixing two of the primary hues; secondary hues are also
equidistant from one another on the colour wheel.
• Tertiary hues are formed by mixing a primary hue with a secondary hue, and are named by hyphenating their two
component hues, such as yellow-orange or blue-green.
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
• Complementary hues are a pair composed of a primary hue and the secondary hue formed by combining the two
remaining primary hues, such as blue and orange. Complementary hues are opposite one another on the colour
wheel. Using complementary hues can have a jarring and energizing effect.
• Analogous hues are adjacent to one another on the colour wheel, such as blue, blue-green, and green. Using
analogous hues can have a harmonizing effect.
• Temperature is an aspect of hue. Hues can be described as warm or cool in relation to one another, such as
describing red, orange, and yellow as warm when compared to cooler green, blue, and violet. Two blue hues can
also be compared using temperature, such as describing a greenish blue as cool compared to a warmer reddish blue.
Value is a colour’s degree of darkness or lightness that is a result of the amount of light reflecting from the surface. Value
is also referred to as luminance and luminosity.
• Adding white to a hue is called a tint and increases its value.
• Adding black to a hue is called a shade and decreases its value.
Intensity is the degree of brightness or dullness of a colour. It is also referred to as saturation, chroma, and
chromaticity. Unmixed paints straight from the tube, or “pure” colours, have the maximum amount of intensity, and
a colour mixed from two or more colours is always less intense than a pure colour. That is why a secondary colour
straight from the tube is always more intense than a secondary colour mixed from yellow and red. That is also why
artist-quality paints are more intense than student-quality paints, because artist-quality paints contains a single pigment
particle that makes the specific colour, while student-quality paints contain a mixture of pigments. Mixing a colour with
its complementary is the best way to manipulate intensity. In addition, mixing two complementary colours results in a rich
neutral colour that can be used as a shade in the place of black, which often has a deadening effect.
An excellent explanation, diagram, and video mapping the relationships between hue, value, and intensity can be found at
http://www.gamblincolors.com/navigating.color.space/index.html.
Texture
Texture is the surface quality or tactility of an image or form. Like line, texture can be actual, such as a smooth sculpture of
polished wood or bumpy and rough impasto paint on a canvas. Texture can also be implied, such as an image or surface
having the visual illusion of texture. Using implied texture allows for multiple textures to exist within the same picture plane.
Pattern can be used as a tool to create implied texture.
Space
Like line and texture, there are two types of space: actual space in which contains three-dimensional objects, and the twodimensional pictorial space known as the picture plane. Manipulating proportion and scale of elements within the picture
plane, overlapping elements, and using perspective and foreshortening are techniques of creating believable illusionistic
space within the picture plane. Linear perspective uses converging lines (lines that get closer together as they go back into
space) and vanishing points (the imaginary point, often outside of the picture plane, where the lines will meet) to create
space. Atmospheric perspective is when the parts of the image meant to appear farther away from the viewer are lighter
and less saturated than parts of the image meant to appear close to the viewer. Illusionistic deep space can be combined
with flat space to create an interesting pictorial space.
The formal elements of art – line, shape, colour, texture, and space – are the building blocks of composition. Unity,
rhythm, proportion, and balance, known collectively as the principles of design, are created in a composition through
interactions between the formal elements.
• Unity is the feeling of “completeness” or “togetherness.” Unity is achieved when everything in a composition is
necessary.
• Rhythm is the rate of movement in a composition. Rhythm can be created through pattern and the repetition of elements
that are similar but not exactly the same as one another, such as red circles of varying scale.
• Proportion, or relative size, is the relationship between the scale of elements in a composition.
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
• Balance in a composition deals with the attraction of the eye to different areas. Symmetrical balance occurs when
elements on either side of the centre line are of relatively equal visual weight. Asymmetrical balance occurs when a
centre line does not divide the composition into parts of equal visual weight.
Online Resource for Students
Arts ConnectED. “The Artist’s Toolkit: Visual Elements and Principles.” http://www.artsconnected.org/toolkit/index.html.
Accessed July 11, 2011.
This resource illustrates the formal elements of art and building blocks of composition. Students can watch animated
illustrations of each concept, identify and label examples in famous works of art, and create their own simple digital work
using the concepts just explored.
Resources for Teachers
Day, Michael. Children and their Art: Art Education for Elementary and Middle Schools. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage
Learning, 2012.
Edwards, Betty. Colour. New York City: Tarcher/Penguin, 2004.
Gamblin Artists Colors Co. “Navigating Colour Space (NCS).” http://www.gamblincolors.com/navigating.color.space/
index.html. Accessed July 11, 2011.
Stokstad, Marilyn. Art History: A View of the West. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008.
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Name: __________________________
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
How does living in Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada influence
your relationship with the
natural environment?
Lesson 7 - Inspiration Mind Map worksheet
How does living in Edmonton
affect your experiences
compared to a grade five student
living in another community?
Inspiration Questions
How do you communicate
with your friends and family
compared to a grade five
student in 1950?
What are some of the
similarities and differences
between a story you imagined
and one you read in the
newspaper?
What inspires you when
you create artwork?
• What ideas from the five class mind maps interest you the most? Choose two ideas from each class mind map and write
them in the mind map below.
Inspiration Mind Map
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Lesson 7 - Choose and Create worksheet
*note: worksheet adapted from “Prioritize” (p.84) and “Create” (p.142) in Drapeau, Patty. Differentiating With Graphic Organizers: Tools to
Foster Critical and Creative Thinking. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press, 2009.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Which idea is your favourite? Checkmark your favourite idea in the circle.
4. Create an artwork based on your favourite idea. List the materials you are going to use:
1. Which three ideas from your Inspiration Mind Map interest you the most? Circle the three ideas on your Inspiration Mind Map.
2. What does each idea look like? Draw a quick sketch of each idea in the boxes.
Choose and Create
Name: __________________________
Name: __________________________________
Formal Elements of Art
1. Form is what a work of art looks like. What are the five formal elements?
formal elements
2. Draw the different kinds of lines you see in the image of Artist and Shaman Between
Two Worlds by Anishinabe artist Norval Morrisseau.
Use three adjectives to
describe the lines.
The lines are:
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Lesson 7 - Formal Elements of Art - 1 of 5
3. There are two kinds of shapes. Think of objects that have each kind of shape and
draw them in the spaces provided below each description.
Geometric shapes have straight lines, sharp points, and angles.
Organic shapes have curved, free-flowing lines and rounded corners.
4. Do you think that most of the shapes in Norval Morrisseau’s painting are geometric or
organic? Check off your response:
Geometric
Organic
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Lesson 7 - Formal Elements of Art - 2 of 5
5. Think of an example of each of the three effects of colour. Draw and add colour to
your example in the empty paint blobs. Descriptive colours give
you information. They often
show that change is
happening, such as when a
banana ripens from
green to yellow.
Symbolic colours represent
one specific meaning, such as a
green traffic light meaning “go”
and a red traffic light meaning
“stop.” Symbolic colours usually
mean the same thing
to many people.
Emotional colours create
moods or feelings when you
look at them, such as light
blue or green creating a calm
feeling. Emotional colours may
have more than one meaning
and mean different things
to different people.
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Lesson 7 - Formal Elements of Art - 3 of 5
6. What do you think is the main effect of the colours in Artist and Shaman Between Two
Worlds? Explain your choice.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Draw a line to match each of the colour terms with its description.
hue
A colour with white added to it.
value
The brightness or dullness of a colour.
intensity
Colours that cannot be made by mixing other colours.
primary colours (red, blue, yellow)
A colour with black added to it.
secondary colours (orange, purple, green)
A primary colour and the secondary colour made by mixing the other two primary colours.
analogous colours
Colours that are close to one another on the colour wheel and add harmony to a composition.
complementary colours
Colours made by mixing the primary colours.
shade
The lightness or darkness of a colour.
tint
What we see when light reflects from a surface.
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Lesson 7 - Formal Elements of Art - 4 of 5
8. What textures did Norval Morrisseau use in Artist and Shaman Between Two Worlds?
Show the different, or contrasting, textures.
1. Look carefully at Artist and Shaman Between Two Worlds
2. Identify two textures in the image
3. Draw the two textures in the box below
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Lesson 7 - Formal Elements of Art - 5 of 5
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
________________________________________
________________________________________
• What are two materials you think that the artist used to create the artwork?
________________________________________
________________________________________
• What is the the artwork’s size and shape?
________________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
• What is the first thing you notice?
What is it?
What could it be about?
Lesson 7 - Engaging with Art l - 1 of 2
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
• What do you think is the most important part of the artwork? What do you see that makes you think it is the most important part?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
• How does the artwork make you feel? Does it remind you of anything?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
• Imagine that you are in the middle of the artwork. What do you see, smell, hear, and taste?
Name: __________________________
With your group, spend some time carefully looking at your artwork.
Look up close to notice the details and from farther away to see the entire work at once.
Engaging with Art I
Name: __________________________
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Lesson 7 - Engaging with Art l - 2 of 2
Adapted from “Appendix 3: Students: Looking at Art” from Implementing the Open Minds Education Concept in Your Community – a guide
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Imagine that you are in charge of displaying the artwork.
How could you present the artwork to emphasize (give special importance to) what you think it is about?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Reread your response to the question “What could it be about?” and imagine that you are the artist.
What could you change to make the artwork more about your response?
How could it be about this in a better way?
Engaging with Art I
Name: __________________________
What is it?
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Lesson 7 - Engaging with Art ll - 1 of 2
____________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
• Use four adjectives to describe the colours and textures used by the artist.
• Draw some of the lines and shapes used by the artist.
• What are two materials you think that the artist used to create the artwork?
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
• What is the the artwork’s size and shape?
___________________________________________
___________________________________________
• What is the first thing you notice?
What is it?
• With your group, read the information sheet on the back of your print for background information about the Anishinabe artist that
created the artwork.
• Look carefully at the print to respond to the questions under “What is it?” and “What is it about?”
• For the “Thinking Beyond” box, look at both the print and your own artwork to respond to the questions.
Engaging with Art II
Thinking Beyond
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
• Do you see anything in the print that you would like to try in
your own artwork?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
• What themes could have inspired the artist of your print? If the artist were part of your class, are there any ideas from your
Inspiration Mind Maps that could have inspired him?
Name: __________________________
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Lesson 7 - Engaging with Art ll - 2 of 2
Adapted from “Appendix 3: Students: Looking at Art” from Implementing the Open Minds Education Concept in Your Community – a guide
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
• What do you think is the most important part of the artwork? What do you see that makes you think it is important?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
• How does the artwork make you feel? Does it remind you of anything?
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
• Imagine that you are in the middle of the artwork.
What do you see, smell, hear, and taste?
What could it be about?
Engaging with Art II
Benjamin Chee Chee
Benjamin Chee Chee was born in 1944 in Temagami, a community in Northeastern
Ontario. Over the course of his career, Chee Chee lived in Montreal and Ottawa where
he passed away in 1977. He did not go to art school, but he taught himself how to
paint and draw.
Chee Chee was a member of a group of Aboriginal artists known as the Woodland
School of Art. This group began in the 1960s in Northern Ontario and
Southwest Manitoba. These artists got ideas for their art from Anishinabe legends and
spirituality, as well as from birch bark scrolls and rock art.
Many artists in the Woodland School made artwork that looks similar to artwork by
Ojibway artist Norval Morrisseau, filling the entire page and using many bright colours.
Chee Chee’s work is simpler, and he often works with images of birds.
References
Canadian Art Prints Inc. “Artist Biographies: Benjamin Chee Chee.” Accessed July 14, 2011.
http://www.canadianartprints.com/index.php?page=artist_bios&action=view_details&artist_id=218
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Cecil Youngfox
Cecil Youngfox was born in 1942 to Anishinabe and Metis parents. He grew up in a
small community in Northern Ontario called Blind River. Youngfox went to school at
Newman Theological College in Alberta and studied art in Vancouver.
Youngfox gets ideas for his artwork from his Metis background, his experiences with
Christianity, and his study of other Aboriginal people of Canada. He uses bright
colours, textured landscapes, and flowing lines to show Aboriginal cultural traditions
and symbols of spirituality. Youngfox often paints people, animals, and the natural
environment.
Before his death in 1987, Youngfox was one of the leading Aboriginal artists in
Canada. He received the Aboriginal Order of Canada and his work is well-known in
North American and international art collections.
References
Canadian Art Prints Inc. “Artist Biographies: Cecil Youngfox.” Accessed July 14, 2011.
http://www.canadianartprints.com/index.php?page=artist_bios&action=view_details&artist_id=259
Whetung: Ojibway Crafts and Art Gallery. “Cecil Youngfox.” Accessed July 14, 2011.
http://www.whetung.com/youngfox.html.
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Daniel Pitchegigwaneh
Daniel Pitchegigwaneh was born in 1974. He went to school in Europe and speaks
several languages. He currently lives and works near Vancouver, British Columbia.
His father was a famous artist named Norval Morrisseau and his mother was from the
Czech Republic. Norval Morrisseau was a founder of the Woodland School of Art,
which was a group of artists working in the 1960s in Northern Ontario and Southwest
Manitoba. Norval Morrisseau and the other artists in this group got ideas for their art
from traditional legends and spirituality. Legends and spirituality are also very important
to Pitchegigwaneh.
Pitchegigwaneh was given his name - meaning “Man Became Thunderbird” - by his
father. Pitchegigwaneh said, “My inspiration is from my experience, my dreams, and
my people. I am proud to be Anishnabe. I see things for what they are. I paint from the
inside. I’m painting the spirit of my people and of it all. I see the bright colours of our
being, the strength and hope. Any person, who believes, feels and opens their eyes,
sees the powerful images. Real colour has strong healing power. It is up to us all to heal,
and make the world better for our grandchildren. I believe.”1
1 “Artist Biographies: Daniel Pitchegigwaneh,”Canadian Art Prints Inc, Accessed July 14, 2011,
http://www.canadianartprints.com/index.php?page=artist_bios&action=view_details&artist_id=242.
References
Canadian Art Prints Inc. “Artist Biographies: Daniel Pitchegigwaneh.” Accessed August 2, 2011.
http://www.canadianartprints.com/index.php?page=artist_bios&action=view_details&artist_id=242.
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011
Isaac Bignell
Isaac Bignell was born in 1958 on the Pas Reserve, which is 400 miles north of
Winnipeg. During his career, he has lived in Winnipeg, Minneapolis, and Vancouver.
He attended some art classes, but Bignell was mostly a self-taught painter. He tried many
different techniques and media before developing a method of painting that worked
for him. Bignell uses sponge painting to combine different textures of paint, as well as
flowing lines to create images of animals and the natural environment.
Spirituality is very important to Bignell’s artwork. He said, “My art is strongly influenced
by the traditional ways of my people. I was brought up to live off the land from an early
age. Hunting and trapping, living in harmony with the earth has taught me to respect
the animals and the spirit and power of nature. I hoop dance and sing Pow Wows to
maintain my cultural heritage. Through art and dancing I attempt to influence native
people to continue their cultural ways; the gift that was given to us by the Great Spirit.”1
1 “Artist Biographies: Isaac Bignell,” Canadian Art Prints Inc, Accessed July 14, 2011.
http://www.canadianartprints.com/index.php?page=artist_bios&action=view_details&artist_id=216
References
Canadian Art Prints Inc. “Artist Biographies: Isaac Bignell.” Accessed August 2, 2011.
http://www.canadianartprints.com/index.php?page=artist_bios&action=view_details&artist_id=216
Copyright © University of Alberta Museums 2011