Honore Daumier is probably best known as a politically motivated artist. Born in Marseilles in 1808, the French artist lived through one of the most turbulent eras of his country's history. With his artistic prowess and biting wit, he recorded the 1848 revolution, the rise and fall of the Second Empire, the Crimean and Franco-Prussian Wars, and…

The painting by Paul Cezanne, The Bridge of Trois-Sautets, was painted near the time of his death. In this rich watercolor, the artist dispensed with notions of traditional painting goals. Rather than solely focus on a realistic rendering of this scene, Cezanne turned instead to the task of recording his sensorial experience and exploring the…

This brief article presents describes Pablo Picasso's oil on canvas painting, "Still Life with Glass and Lemon, 1910." Composed of abstract, monochromatic shapes, this painting's original subject is surprisingly a glass and lemon. The artist, Pablo Picasso, developed this unique system of breaking down objects into their basic geometric parts with…

Over the past several years, the author has worked to find practical ways to bring awareness of the content for study in art to students at all levels. This article focuses on one such practical approach for teaching students about the elements and principles as they apply to a single work of art, and for developing technical skills for creating…

In recent years, some educators have witnessed a decline in the attention span and work ethic of their students. Students have become passive participants in their education. What has caused this shift away from engagement? One thought is that the passivity is a symptom of the programming directed at youth. The multi-media barrage of fast-paced…

This brief article describes one third-grade classroom's experience engaging in a lesson plan inspired by Larry Yanez's "Cocina Jaiteca" and images of the cheerful kitchen. In the lesson, the students were to draw their own kitchens based on their observations of the many details in Yanez's kitchen example, such as the calendar on the wall,…

Teachers regularly download images from the Web for personal and classroom use. The original creators of these images can, but should not be, easily ignored. It may take some scrolling and clicking at the site, but finding who holds rights to works is not only considered professional etiquette, but is necessary for lawful use. In this article, the…

In this article, the author states that she has always loved self portraits but most teenagers do not enjoy looking too closely at their own faces in an effort to replicate them. Thanks to a new digital camera, she was able to use this new technology to inspire students to take a closer look at their inner image. Prior to the self-portrait…

In many school districts, teachers of all subjects are asked to incorporate teaching values. In trying to incorporate Character Education into the art classroom, this teacher chose three areas to work with: art history, art production, and classroom procedures. These three areas are described in this article.

In this article, the author talks about art in the classroom. He urges teachers to envision their classroom as a balance between inspiration and meditation, clutter and clarity, excitement and introspection. Remember that each student has a unique threshold for stimulation--what inspires one student to productive creativity may well trigger the…

Norman Rockwell's Triple Self-Portrait provided the perfect starting point for taking self-conscious teenagers on a personal journey into the intimidating world of introspective art. Asking students to find the three self-portraits in the Rockwell work was an easy way to draw them into painting. From the visual clues and objects meaningfully…

John Singleton Copley was virtually self-taught yet became the greatest painter in eighteenth-century America. By the age of eighteen he had become a highly sought portrait painter. His paintings held a good likeness and a pleasing reflection of his sitters' wealth and social aspirations. Copley's dazzling technique and his knowledge of the latest…

This article describes a lesson in which students compare how artists have depicted rivers in paintings, using different styles, compositions, subject matter, colors, and techniques. They create a watercolor landscape that includes a river. Students can learn about rivers by studying them on site, through environmental study, and through works of…

In this article, the author discusses how parents can be involved in a developmentally appropriate art program for very young children. "Art Playgroup," a program for children ages two to five and their parents is one suggestion. Operating under the auspices of DTA Center for Learning & Growing, a nonprofit in Ellsworth, Maine, DTA received a…

In this article, the author discusses how art helped to calm her students after the events of 9/11. What other area in the curriculum could offer such an opportunity? The author asserts in the event of a tragedy, it is appropriate to allow students to express themselves through the media and concepts with which the class is working. This will…