Incredible Art
1, 2, and 3-Point Perspective
Introduce drawing learners to perspective with a series of lesson that detail how to draft images in one-, two-, and three-point perspective. Each exercise includes step-by-step, illustrated directions and examples.
Curated OER
The Treaty Trail: Examining an Artist's Perspective
Elementary school leanrners examine artwork from the time period of the United States and Native American treaties. They discuss the causes and effects of the treaties being signed. They also examine how cultural perspective influences art.
National Gallery of Canada
Mastering One-Point Perspective
Cover one-point perspective through observation and practice. Class members examine several works of art that use one-point perspective, look at magazine images to find the vanishing points and horizon lines, and draw their own city...
Curated OER
Creating Civic Awareness Through Artistic and Literary Forms
Interpret current events using editorial cartoons and other print media. Middle schoolers explore the meanings of literary and artistic terms such as satire, irony, and caricature. They visit internet sites to develop an understanding of...
National Gallery of Canada
The Tools of Perspective
Make a study of perspective in the real world. Learners examine and discuss works of art that show examples of perspective before trying their own hands at it. Using a grid drawn on transparent paper, class members transfer a view from a...
The New York Times
Perspective and Leonardo’s “Perspectograph”
Filippo Brunelleschi's invention of linear perspective during the Renaissance was further developed by his apprentice, a young artist named Leonardo da Vinci. Now modern artists can give da Vinci's famous perspectograph a try with a...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Exhibiting Common Threads
Artists working in different media often explore the same themes—to model how these same themes weave their way through different forms of artistic expression, scholars analyze images by Dorothea Lange, identifying key themes in her...
San Diego Museum of Art
Atmospheric Perspective Watercolor Painting
How do artists create the illusion of depth and distance on a flat surface? Young landscape painters explore techniques like color saturation and detail placement that create atmospheric perspective.
Curated OER
Art Folder and Two Point Perspective
Eighth graders examine how to create a 3-D effect on a flat surface and draw in two-point perspective. They view and discuss elements of design, analyze artwork by M.C. Escher and Roy Lichtenstein, and design and create an art folder.
Curated OER
Lesson: Lisa Signal: Altering Perspectives
Kids make big artistic gestures, just like the abstract artist, Lisa Signal. They use her work as inspiration for making simplistic, abstract, statements in an artistic way. They analyze her work, then walk through an unfamiliar...
Curated OER
Lesson: Michael Patterson-Carver: Politics and Art
Michael Paterson-Carver creates art that expresses political concepts, allegory, and activism. Learners will examine several of his pieces and his perspective. Then they create an original piece that conveys a message.
Teaching Tolerance
Artistic Expression Showcase
No one is too young to create a masterpiece. Elementary artists delve into the topic of social justice with original artwork. Scholars keep journals to reflect on their experiences before putting paintbrush to paper. Final artwork is...
Academy of American Poets
Teaching the Vietnam War with Poetry and Archives
The language of and the perspective of photographs, poems, and official reports differ. After a close reading of two photographs, two poems, and a military report about the Vietnam War, individuals adopt someone's voice or something from...
Curated OER
Art Basics Scavenger Hunt
Hand out this worksheet and lead your class on a scavenger hunt. Pupils look for examples of shape, form, balance, pattern, perspective, space, and depth. They draw and write about the examples they've found. A great resource to add to...
Art Institute of Chicago
Urban Space
The use of perspective is clear in Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte. Pupils study and discuss this example, marking the vanishing points and horizon line of a photocopy of the piece. They then create their own urban scene...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Oil Spill Perspectives
With the BP oil spill still fresh on your scholars' minds, take the opportunity to analyze various perspectives on it through political cartoons. This critical-analysis handout features 2 cartoons on the incident. Background information...
Curated OER
Where's the Point?: Two-Point Perspective in Texas Bird's-Eye Views
Students investigate how the Texas bird's-eye-view artists used two-point perspective to create their aerial views and consider the directions from which the artists oriented their views. They produce two drawings in tow-point perspective.
National Gallery of Canada
Taken Out of Perspective
Art does not always have to look perfectly realistic. Play with proportion and shape by stretching images. Pupils study works of art by Picasso, Cézanne, and Monet before selecting a photograph to adapt. They use a distorted grid to...
Project Articulate
Textured Landscapes with Grant Wood
Explore the world of textured landscapes through the eyes of the famous artist, Grant Wood. Here is an elementary art lesson in which scholars learn about Grant Wood's life, view his work, draw their own textured landscape, and then...
Curated OER
American Revolutionary War: Two Sides...Two Perspectives
Pupils investigate the American Revolutionary War era from the perspective of Britain and the American colonists by researching causes, effects, events and people. They compare the views of the Colonists, and the British and recognize...
EngageNY
End of Unit Assessment: Perspectives on Natural Disasters
Caption this! Scholars complete the end of unit assessment by rereading In the Middle of the
Storm. Learners answer written response questions about the text, and then create drawings to accompany their work. To finish, they caption the...
Curated OER
Artist Trading Cards: Sharing Unique Perspectives
Young scholars examine inkblot images. In this visual arts lesson, students consider perception as an element of art as they partipate in activity that requires them create and analyze inkblot art. Young scholars analyze several pieces...
Curated OER
Sketch Book Making: Places for Creative Communication
High schoolers create sketchbooks, explore the uses of journals, write (across the curriculum) from others' points of view, and compare forms of communication from the 1800s to today. A nice blend of individual, whole class, and...
Curated OER
Lesson: A Fitting Situation
In the Enemy's Country is a painting that depicts several Native Americans dressed and ready for war. Youngsters analyze the artistic and storytelling elements the artist used to convey his idea. They then write a creative piece from the...