Art Classes: Level I

LEVEL I-ART LESSON 14: THE ANGELS FROM POLAND

This lesson is suitable for students in grades 2 through adult

Art Lesson Description:

We were visiting friends in Poland on a bitterly cold winter day, and they offered to show us a museum in a village not far from Krakow, where we were staying. The museum was a display of full-sized wooden homes, a church, and other buildings: a village dating back more than a century. When we arrived, the museum had unfortunately closed due to the cold weather, and the only place open on the site was a small rustic restaurant that - very fortunately - had decorated one wall with the angels that are the subject of this art lesson. We found their simple form charming, and thought they served as a good introduction to Polish history, not only, but also as a good introduction to chiaroscuro (using light and dark to create the illusion of shape).

The art lesson begins by showing examples of many Polish angels (the country seems very fond of angel images!) and using the images as a brief introduction to Polish history. After studying a variety of Polish angels, students will design their own angel with help from a guided drawing. They will be introduced to the fun of working with bleeding tissue paper and will learn to use analogous colors to color their project. The end result is a simple, striking image!

List of Supplies for Each Student:

1 fine-tipped black magic marker (#ad)
A printout of the warmup (included with the lesson)

Several colors of bleeding tissue paper (#ad)
1 sheet of watercolor paper (#ad) (9” x 12”)
1 drawing board (#ad)
Masking tape (#ad)
1 scissors
A set of oil pastels (#ad)
An ordinary pencil with an eraser
A bottle of water
A watercolor brush (#ad)
Small household dishes to hold tissue paper pieces
Acrylic paint (#ad) or tempera paint (#ad) with a medium value
(Optional) A spray bottle with water in it.

Suggestions for Cross-Curricular Connections:

Polish culture, history, and geography

Find an overview of the culture, history, and geography of Poland with National Geographic.
Learn fun facts about Poland.

Learn the history of Poland in ten minutes with this video.
Get an introduction to Poland.
Learn about Poland’s geography and its most famous people.
Get Information and printables about Poland.
Read There's a Lot More than Pretty Windmills in Poland! Geography Books for Third Grade (#ad) Children's Europe Books.
Read If You Were Me and Lived in...Poland: A Child's Introduction to Cultures Around the World (#ad)

Language

Learn to speak some Polish with this kid-friendly language-learning site.
Discover how to pronounce the letters of the Polish alphabet (you’ll be surprised at how it differs from English!).

Literature