Art Classes: Level I

Level I-Lesson 10: Four Suns With Four Faces

Learn to use warm and cool colors with light and dark values

The lesson is suitable for students in grade 1 through adult.

Art Lesson Description:

Kids love to draw the sun, and they often finish a drawing by putting a big yellow sun in it. So why not draw a picture that is only a sun! Besides, since sunlight is full-spectrum light (it has every color in it), why not make a picture of the sun that uses every color in the color wheel? That’s what we set out to do in this lesson.

We begin the lesson by showing four rather unusual images of the sun that we’ve found, and we use these as inspiration for you to design your own sun. The part of the lesson where we draw the sun offers lots of opportunity for creativity!

The coloring process is even more fun.

We color half of the sun, its rays, and the remaining space with warm oil pastel colors,
And color the other half with cool colors.
Then, to make things really interesting, we add a lighter or darker value to part of each warm color and each cool color.

The result is a dynamic, cheerful picture that is very easy for first graders to draw, and satisfying for people of any age to color.

This lesson includes both POWERPOINT and VIDEO versions of the lesson plus a downloadable printout of the warmup.

List of Supplies for Each Art Student:

A print-out of the warm-up (it comes with the lesson)
A fine tipped permanent black marker (#ad)
A 2H drawing pencil (#ad)
A set of oil pastels (#ad)
A jar of water for rinsing
1 11" x 14" drawing paper (#ad)
A regular lead pencil with an eraser on top of it (You will use the eraser as a blending tool)

Suggestions for Cross-Curricular Connections:

Science:

Song to help you learn about the solar system.
Information about the rotation of the earth around the sun.
Video showing how the rotation of the earth creates day and night.
Books about the sun and the earth:
- On Earth, (#ad) by G. Brian Karas--does a brilliant job of making the concepts of rotation and revolution understandable. We watch shadows disappear into night, and feel the sun on our face as winter turns into spring. All these amazing things happen because the earth is constantly in motion, spinning and circling, gliding and tilting. Preschool - 2nd grade.
- My Light (#ad) by Molly Bang--Caldecott Honor artist Molly Bang celebrates the many wonders of the sun and the myriad ways in which the sun gives us energy and power from its light. 1st grade - 5th grade.
- Sunshine Makes the Seasons (#ad) by Franklyn M. Branley--Find out how the light from the sun affects life on the earth. Includes hands-on demonstrations. K-3rd grade.
- What Makes Day and Night (#ad) by Franklyn M. Branley--Explains the earth’s rotation in clear, simple terms. An experiment is included. 2nd - 3rd grade.
- The Sun (#ad)by Seymour Simon--Handsome and informative, a must for the science shelf. Includes large color photographs.
- More recommended books on the solar system.

Interesting information about color, such as what colors animals see, how colors make us feel, why school buses are yellow
5th grade lesson plan about the solar system.

Art: The sun you draw in this lesson looks somewhat like a Picasso drawing. Learn more about Picasso:

Pablo Picasso: Breaking All the Rules (#ad) by True Kelley. (some people may find pages 4-5 objectionable).
Pablo Picasso (#ad) by Mike Venezia--A very highly recommended introduction to this artist.
100 Pablo Picassos (#ad) by Violet Lemay--A charming and informative tour through the life and career of Pablo Picasso.