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ANSEL ADAMS LESSON PLANS

VISUAL ART
Values and Composition

See Gallery: St. Francis Church, Ranchos de Taos; Frozen Lake and Cliffs, Mount Williamson; Sand Dunes. In the exhibit, Classic Images, see Rose and Driftwood.

A. INTRODUCTION - Art in the Modern World Adams was influenced as a young boy by an exhibit of paintings of modern art from Europe. Adams and avant garde artists and photographers in America such as Paul Strand, Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keeffe and Edward Weston, applied new formal ideas that made the subject less important than the treatment using elements of art.

Tones: Ansel Adams devised a system of 11 tones from pure white to black that he sought in his photographs. We're going to learn how the inclusion of many grays or "values" makes a photograph or drawing or painting more visually interesting.

Elements of Art:

  • Line
  • Depth
  • Shape
  • Pattern and Repetition
  • Texture
  • Composition - Rule of Thirds
  • Color (value)

B. STUDENT WARM UP EXERCISEstudents at work in the gallery

  • Shapes: Draw the basic ones
  • Line: Draw vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved, zig-zag
  • Depth: Draw 2 apples sitting side by side on a table.
  • Now draw 2 apples, one in front of the other.
  • Value or tone: Make a rectangle divided into 11 boxes. Fill in the boxes with 11 different Tones; The first is blank (white) the last in as black as you can make it.

C. TEACHER DEMONSTRATION

  • Looking through a frame to find the most interesting part.
  • Students look through their own frames
  • How to draw a still life - what to look for Shapes, lines, depth;
  • Negative spaces - shapes in between shapes
  • Value or tones
  • Texture, pattern, repetition

D. STUDENTS DO A DRAWING

  • Work for 1/2 hour

E. CLOSING

  • Students post work and look at work to see how many values and elements of art they included. Clean up.

ANSEL ADAMS LESSON PLANS

VISUAL ART
Values and Composition

See Gallery: St. Francis Church, Ranchos de Taos; Frozen Lake and Cliffs, Mount Williamson; Sand Dunes. In the exhibit, Classic Images, see Rose and Driftwood.

A. INTRODUCTION - Art in the Modern World Adams was influenced as a young boy by an exhibit of paintings of modern art from Europe. Adams and avant garde artists and photographers in America such as Paul Strand, Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O'Keeffe and Edward Weston, applied new formal ideas that made the subject less important than the treatment using elements of art.

Tones: Ansel Adams devised a system of 11 tones from pure white to black that he sought in his photographs. We're going to learn how the inclusion of many grays or "values" makes a photograph or drawing or painting more visually interesting.

Elements of Art:

  • Line
  • Depth
  • Shape
  • Pattern and Repetition
  • Texture
  • Composition - Rule of Thirds
  • Color (value)

B. STUDENT WARM UP EXERCISEstudents at work in the gallery

  • Shapes: Draw the basic ones
  • Line: Draw vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved, zig-zag
  • Depth: Draw 2 apples sitting side by side on a table.
  • Now draw 2 apples, one in front of the other.
  • Value or tone: Make a rectangle divided into 11 boxes. Fill in the boxes with 11 different Tones; The first is blank (white) the last in as black as you can make it.

C. TEACHER DEMONSTRATION

  • Looking through a frame to find the most interesting part.
  • Students look through their own frames
  • How to draw a still life - what to look for Shapes, lines, depth;
  • Negative spaces - shapes in between shapes
  • Value or tones
  • Texture, pattern, repetition

D. STUDENTS DO A DRAWING

  • Work for 1/2 hour

E. CLOSING

  • Students post work and look at work to see how many values and elements of art they included. Clean up.