Inspired by Picasso's Guernica

“Dear Journal,

The air was stiff with the scent of crackling ashes in the air. I couldn’t see through the dark smog that surrounded me. Was this a nightmare? I pinched myself in the arm hoping to wake up in a daze enclosed between layers of blankets, but the comfy mattress did not meet my skin, just cold fall air. The daily alarm that normally sounded around noon was screeching like a crying child...” 

And so begins a challenging and interesting project.  After studying Cubism and Picasso, we take our learning one step further as we focus on “Guernica,” Picasso’s artwork about the terrors of war. 

Guernica by Pablo Picasso, 1937
photo source: wikipedia.org

We view the painting, discuss some background info, watch a short video and talk about what the images might mean (even though Picasso never explained this painting, there are many theories about the meanings of the images.)  

I ask students to step back and really think about what this painting is about by imagining that our little town has been bombed.  I’ve done this project for many years, but it almost seems more controversial now than ever.  The idea of a small town in the middle of Iowa being bombed wouldn’t have crossed anyone’s mind years ago.  Now with what we see on the news, anything seems possible at any time.  

Students write a journal entry (see beginning of this post) or a letter to a friend telling them about their experiences - what they saw, heard, felt, etc. in the midst of fear and chaos.  We share these writings (I take volunteers, but usually by the end, most of them have shared) and talk about our feelings and how Picasso was expressing this for the little Spanish town of Guernica after they were bombed during the Spanish Civil War by Nazi war planes.

For this project, students are asked to create an artwork expressing the idea of their town being bombed.  They must put in symbols for good, evil, mental suffering, physical suffering, a small area of cubism (in a nod to Guernica’s style) and something that represents our town.  They have a choice of medium and compositional style.  Some choose to create a scene, others break up the space into shapes and still others create a collage.  The options are endless!

As these students are freshmen, I sometimes wonder if this project is a little too deep for this age group, but each year they do a good job of taking it seriously and working hard on it.  One thing I have found...they never forget Guernica. There’s something to be said for that! :-)

Happy Creating!

Cartoon Cubism - Studying Picasso

Explaining Cubism to students is never easy...and having them try to create a Cubistic work is even harder!  This is a project I’ve done with freshmen art students for many years.  It is not my original idea, but I’ve tweaked and condensed it quite a bit from the original.  Through the mists of time, I cannot remember where the original lesson plan came from, so my apologies for the lack of attribution.

SUPPLIES:

Sunday comics 

Tempera paint and brushes

12” x 24” paper

Examples of Picasso’s Cubism pieces (online and reproductions)

Picasso Video - biography.com (see link)

We begin our lesson with a short little video about Picasso. Don’t you just love Picasso?  I do.  Unique, egocentric, womanizing man that he was, he was also a genius who changed the way people made - and make! - art...and see art for that matter!  Trying to convey that to students always frustrates me because its just so BIG! 

Three Musicians by Pablo Picasso
courtesy of wikipedia.org

After watching the video, I have a handout that simplifies the explanation of Cubism and what Picasso was trying to do in his paintings.  We discuss this and look at various Cubistic works as the kids try to puzzle through exactly what is going on.  Its a real brain-stretcher for them, especially when I tell them that they get to try it, too!

To make it more fun and less intimidating, our subject matter for this project will be comic strip art.  Students choose one frame of a comic (I ask them to pick one that has at least two characters in it) and crop it to a square.  

They are given the 12” x 24” paper and asked to draw a line down the middle of the paper so they have two 12” squares to draw and paint in.  On the left side, they draw an enlarged view of the the comic they’ve chosen.  This is the “Normal” side of the artwork.

Enlarging is sometimes hard so I encourage them to draw a four-square on their paper (horizontal line in the middle of the paper and vertical line in the middle of the paper to separate the 12” square into 4 equal parts) and do the same on their cartoon.  By using this simple grid they draw more accurately and they’ll need this when they paint anyway, so they’re a step ahead.

We then tie in a little color theory. (Sure! Why not?  We are juicing up this lesson plan big time!)  We discuss and take notes on primary, secondary, complementary, monochromatic and warm and cool colors.  This is supposed to be a review - and it is for MOST students. :-)  

Time to paint!  That four square we talked about now comes in handy as the way to break up the space on the comic.  Students paint the correct colors in each square, using tints and shades of those colors also, if needed.  Here is the diagram they follow:

Once done with that, we move on to the “Cubism” side of the paper.  I ask students to look at their comic and attempt to draw a simplified view of the picture.  They can stretch, distort and shift shapes and leave out details.  I stress that there is not one right answer in this step, which is very hard for some of them to grasp, but can be very freeing, too!

On the “Cubism” side, they paint using a monochromatic color palette. And...we’re finally finished!  Ta Da!!!

As I said, this is a simple version of Cubism.  Would Picasso recognize that what we are studying is Cubism?  Maybe not.  But they have been introduced to a big idea and attempted to try it on their own, while honing their brush and paint control and reviewing color theory.  There’s a great deal of value in putting all of that together.

Sorry for such a long post this time...let me know if you have any questions!  Its all clear in my head (and on my lesson plan) but not always when I try to explain it to you in as few words as possible. :-)  

Happy Cubism!