Describing Japanese screens and scrolls through words

The first part of a unit on talking and writing about, as well as creating, Japanese screen and scroll paintings. The purpose of this unit plan is to introduce descriptive aspects of art criticism, while teaching appreciation for the art and culture of Japan. Students use observation and descriptive writing to discover richly detailed Japanese screen and scroll paintings so that another student can illustrate it in the next lesson.

A lesson plan for grades 9–10 Visual Arts Education and Social Studies

By Michelle Harrell

Learn more

• Ackland Art Museum Use the advanced search listing ink as the medium and Japanese as the culture to locate examples

Related pages

• Describing Japanese screens and scrolls through images: The second part of a larger unit on talking and writing about, as well as creating, Japanese screen and scroll paintings. The purpose of this unit plan is to introduce descriptive aspects of art criticism, while teaching the art and culture of Japan. Students create illustrations of classmates' descriptions of Japanese screens or scrolls.
• Asian action I: Character details: Students will use drawing and writing to study characters in Asian art, focusing on the potential stories hinted at by the many details depicted in the art examples. This lesson draws on the richly detailed and expressive human and animal characters depicted in the arts of Asia. Is there a reason why Durga has so many arms? What about Ganesha and that elephant head?
• ArtSpace: Tour ArtSpace or participate in one of its programs to bring the world of art to your students.

Related topics

• Learn more about Asia, Japan, arts, description, fine art, hands-on, screen paintings, scroll paintings, and social studies.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• demonstrate an understanding of the art and culture of Japan through class discussion.
• practice observational skills in studying the subtleties of Japanese art in order to describe it.
• compose a two-page descriptive writing about a Japanese screen painting using visual imagery.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 days

Materials/resources

• There should be a sink and an area where ink spills and splatters could be easily cleaned up.
• The catalogue for Japanese Screens and Scrolls (call Ackland Museum of Art at (919) 962-0837 for a copy). I cut the pages out of two catalogues, pasted information about each artwork on the back, and laminated it.
• Materials for writing: pencil, paper, etc.
• Materials for ink painting: bamboo brushes or watercolor color brushes (no.4), India ink (or watered down black tempera paint), newsprint, white paper (preferrably rice paper but any thin paper will do).

Enlist students to help set up at the beginning of class. Have plenty of newspaper to cover the tables, paper towels, and cups of water at each table.

Technology resources

You will need computers for students to type their revised descriptions before giving them to another classmate.

Optional: If you plan to use the PowerPoint presentation to introduce your lesson, you will need an LCD projector, a computer, and a screen.

Pre-activities

The teacher should have a clear understanding of Japanese art and culture in order to anticipate students’ questions during the lesson. I’ve quoted some resources and websites that were helpful for me. See the teacher notes.

Have the room ready with materials laid out. Let students know the week before that they will be working with ink and they need to be prepared to get messy. Ink is very hard to get out of clothes.

Students should also have a working vocabulary of the following terms before the lesson: medium, composition, center of interest, elements of art, and principals of design.

Activities

Day One

Hands-on warm-up activity (20–30 minutes)

1. Have at least one or two tables set up with materials for students to experiment with creating various marks and splatters. Have examples of ink paintings (other than those students will illustrate) so that students can begin to look for brushstrokes. I set out several pieces of newsprint paper and let students play before they have to worry about creating a finished product.
2. Work as students work, demonstrating techniques without any formal introduction. If students are interested in learning more (“Hey! How’d you do that?”), give them specific directions and model it for them. However, keep this activity as an exploration to get their attention rather than giving them a lot of information.

Introduction to Japanese Art (about 30 minutes)

1. After students have had an opportunity to experiment with ink painting, I ask students what images or words come to mind when we talk about Japan. Allow discussion. Tell them: “Ink is an ancient media used in Japanese art. This week we will be exploring the rich details of Japanese Art through writing, painting, and recreating a Japanese tea ceremony.”
2. Give students handouts so that they may follow the PowerPoint presentation and take notes.
3. Before students begin to write or illustrate their Japanese screen paintings, they need to understand the religion, culture, and history of Asian art. I’ve provided a PowerPoint presentation at the bottom of this page that you can download on your computer. Although I’ve included all of my lecture notes, I suggest using the presentation as a springboard for discussions on Asian art. The presentation provides an overview of Asian art and how the religion and geography affects the culture. The presentation ends with a more in-depth study of Japanese screen and scroll paintings and the design aesthetics of Japanese art.

Describing a Japanese scroll (about 30 minutes)

1. Pass out rubric with directions and the information about how the project will be graded. I like to have students sign these handouts to turn in with their projects.
2. Give each student a different reproduction of a Japanese screen or scroll painting. Have students look at the image for three minutes without looking away. Concentrate on observing the entire picture and then the details. Tell students try to memorize every object and detail. Then, look for the method that the artist used to apply ink on the paper. Put the images away or turn them upside down. Students should sketch and write whatever they remember. They don’t have to use complete sentences.
3. Now, have students read the text that describes the images. Hopefully the text will add to their understanding of the image. Have students write a complete description (about 2–3 pages handwritten) of the artwork so that someone can envision the image in their mind. In this paper, have students state their overall main idea about the artwork and 4–5 major points to describe. Then, have students develop a paragraph about each of these points with supporting facts for each.
4. Before students write paragraphs, discuss visual imagery and have the class brainstorm some adjectives on the board to help such as “soft and misty” or “grainy and brittle.” Encourage students to use specific and sensory details to create an image in the reader’s mind. Also, review how space is used in Japanese art. Have students describe this image so that the reader can visualize a particular scene at a particular time. I suggest having students “move” through the painting as they describe it from left to right or from the foreground to the background.
5. Ask questions to help create imagery for their artwork. Discuss some questions together about one of the images in the PowerPoint presentation. Describe the visual characteristics (color, shapes, lines, spaces, values, etc.). How does your eye move around the picture? Do you tend to keep focusing on one part of the picture (center of interest). Look at the composition of the artwork and list ways that the design elements and principles are organized. How has the artist used space in this artwork? Describe objects in the foreground, middle ground, and background, and the relationship between them. If time allows, have individual discussions about what students see in the work and how they are describing it. Have students turn in their handwritten description that day before leaving class.

Day Two

Revise Descriptions

• The next day, return revised descriptions to students and answer any questions. Have students type their revised copies on computers using Microsoft Word or another word processing software program. This can be done at home. Because students can easily take a couple of minutes to do spelling and grammar checks, I don’t do many corrections for spelling or grammar. The content of what they are writing and their delivery is more important for this project.

Assessment

Students will turn in handwritten rough drafts, which will be revised by the teacher twice — first for content (how well the image is described) and then for structure and clarity. The final draft will be evaluated by a set of criteria established rubric at the bottom. I have students sign these handouts to turn in with their projects. I return the projects with the grade on the handout rather than the project.

Supplemental information

I’ve included some resources at the end of the PowerPoint presentation that helped me create the introduction to Japanese Art.

Comments

I like to use descriptive writing as an introduction to looking and talking about artwork. It’s also a good technique in strengthening observation skills which will help students draw and paint. Because this lesson is early in the semester, I don’t focus students too much on the interpretation of the paintings. Some students will naturally make this progression, but it should not be forced at this point. I had to constantly force students to think objectively in their descriptions rather than saying “I believe,” “I think,” and “It is beautiful.” Students had to really dig deep for their descriptions. Sometimes, it took 3–4 revisions for them to clarify their descriptions.

This lesson was prepared for 90 minute class periods. If your school doesn’t have block schedule, it will take 2–3 days to complete this lesson. It can overlap with the next lesson which focuses on ink painting.

After the next lesson where students illustrated these descriptions, students had a much better understanding of descriptive writing. Students said that their classmates had not written enough details for them to form a picture in their head. I plan to use this approach to descriptive writing as part of their reflection on their own projects.