SchoolArts - April 2007

used to draw the figures, they filled the rest of the circle with different kinds of lines that could help convey the message of their piece. I reminded them that Haring didn’t put any facial features on his figures, but conveyed his message through the position of the figures and the type of lines he selected. Students glued their circles in the center of 12" (30.5 cm) pieces of construction paper that matched one of their complementary colors. They used the crayon that was the complementary color of that paper color to draw a border around the edge and fill it with lines that would continue their message. White crayon was used on some of these lines to drop a shadow for greater impact. Successful pieces

traced them in pencil. They rotated their circles counterclockwise so that the 3:00 fold was at the top. They centered their stencils on that fold and traced them, and continued rotating their paper and tracing the figures until they had four figures traced. The feet and legs of each tracing invariably overlapped, so they had to make decisions about which feet and legs would be visible in the overlap, and erased pencil lines as necessary.

Successful pieces were
jam-packed with vibrant,
clean lines that related to
a theme that the students
wanted to convey.

Students then each chose a pair of complementary-colored crayons. They colored over the pencil outlines of the figures with one color, pressing hard to make the lines thick and the colors vibrant. Next, using the other color from their complementary pair and the same “draw and turn” technique they

Mackenzie Bruzzio, grade two.

were jam-packed with vibrant, clean lines that were consistently symmetrical and related to a theme that the students wanted to convey.

This lesson came together very quickly and the kids loved it. When students can connect with an artist, they make artwork that they can connect to and can feel good about.