Ties: Lines, Patterns, Repetition, Lines, Patterns, Repetition, Lines, Patterns, Repetition, Lines, Patterns, Repetition...

This project was centered around the elements of LINE, PATTERN, and REPETITION. The hook that pulled things together between the different grade levels was that everything was tied to painter and printmaker, Wayne Thiebaud and his artwork like the piece shown below. The classes began the project by hearing about Thiebaud and seeing many examples of his work. They were also shown other artworks and were challenged to identify lines and patterns they could see.

The classes then practiced drawing lines in their sketchbook. They were allowed to start out easy with straight and dotted or dashed lines, but were quickly challenged to create progressively harder lines. The level of difficulty varied based on age.

After this, they drew a row of ties with a 2H pencil on watercolor paper and gave each one a different pattern of lines. Once they had a sufficient grasp of patterns and repetition and were able to execute their understanding through their preliminary sketch, they were given a 6B pencil to redraw the ties darker. This was followed by coloring the ties with colored pencils and watercolor painting the background, including painted shading.

The examples above are finished works by 4th Graders. Our 2nd and 3rd Graders did bow ties in lieu of neck ties. Fifth Grade did neckties, as well, but cut out the neck ties from construction paper and glued them to a black piece of paper with white shadows.