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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Clown portrait

Students will create a clown portrait using tempera paint, oil pastels, and collage. They will look at prints of clowns from famous artists
You can even dress as a clown if you wish.

A lesson plan for grade 2 Visual Arts Education

By Michelle Harris

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

  • become familiar with artists:
    • Pablo Picasso
    • Red Skelton
    • George Rouault
  • learn how to use tempera paint, oil pastels, and collage in an art work.
  • complete their own artwork.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

4 hours

Materials/resources

  • 18 X 24 construction paper (any color but black or white)
  • Black and white tempera paint
  • Oil pastels
  • Scrap construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Picasso clown prints
  • Red Skelton clown prints
  • Roualt’s “The Old King” print

Technology resources

None

Pre-activities

  • Discuss clowns: Picasso’s and Roualt’s. You can also show the students a picture of a clown from the Ringling Brothers circus.
  • Discuss facial features of the clowns, such as happy or sad. What kinds of things are found on the clowns’ faces? Examples: red lips or noses, white faces, eyes, tears, flowers, etc.
  • Look at Roulault’s “The Old King” and discuss the black outline found in the picture.
  • Always have lots of pictures available so the students can get ideas.

Activities

Day 1

  1. Start out looking at clown paintings from Picasso and Roualt.
  2. Give each student an 18 X 24 sheet of paper, not black or white. They also get a brush and black tempera paint. Discuss Rouault’s black outlines.
  3. Demonstrate at the board as they work on their artwork, explaining that theirs is not to look like mine. We first draw the oval head shape and add all facial features on the clown with the black tempera — on the outlines! They can add hats and hair as well. (We are only painting the clown’s face from the neck up.) We allow this to dry.

Day 2

  1. We want to keep the black outline, so I demonstrate how to paint close to the black line, but without covering the black line. They will paint the clown’s face white. Let this dry.

Day 3

  1. We add color to the clown’s face with oil pastels. Students may use any colors to fill in the nose, eyes, hair, and add anything extra to the clown. They may also add flowers to the hat with the pastels.

Day 4

  1. Demonstrate how to add construction paper to add bangs to the hair. Show them how to fold the paper to make zig zag hair or how to curl the hair with your finger. They will then glue the extra hair on. If they finish early, some may work on adding designs or patterns to the background.

Assessment

The students show they understand the clown making process by completing their artwork.

Supplemental information

Comments

This lesson may take more than 4 hours, but it is well worth the effort. The results are wonderful.

North Carolina curriculum alignment

Visual Arts Education (2001)

Grade 2

  • Goal 1: The learner will develop critical and creative thinking skills and perceptual awareness necessary for understanding and producing art.
  • Goal 2: The learner will develop skills necessary for understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes.
    • Objective 2.01: Become familiar with additional art media, techniques and processes that may include:
      • Cut paper - tape
      • Printmaking - styrofoam, water soluble printing ink
    • Objective 2.02: Recognize specific media and processes
    • Objective 2.03: Express moods and feelings.
  • Goal 3: The learner will organize the components of a work into a cohesive whole through knowledge of organizational principles of design and art elements.
  • Goal 5: The learner will understand the visual arts in relation to history and cultures.
    • Objective 5.03: Identify selected medium/techniques or processes used for an individual artwork.

  • North Carolina Essential Standards

    • Visual Arts Education (2010)

      • Grade 2

        • 2.V.3 Create art using a variety of tools, media, and processes, safely and appropriately. 2.V.3.1 Use a variety of tools safely and appropriately to create art. 2.V.3.2 Recognize characteristics of a variety of media. 2.V.3.3 Use the processes of drawing,...