National Gallery of Canada
September Gale T-Shirts
Focus on the principles of design with a wearable landscape art project. The plan provides definitions to share and art to examine. After learners have a grasp of the principles, they draw a scene to eventually transfer onto a...
National Gallery of Canada
Build a City of the Future!
Tap into your pupils' imagination by asking them to design futuristic, ideal cities. They must discuss and take scale and size into account, looking at some model pieces of art for inspiration and analysis. The final product for each...
Curated OER
ELEMENTS OF DESIGN IN TWENTIETH CENTURY ART
Students examine the elements of design: line, shape, color, space, texture, light. They refer to these elements of design when they view works of art and create their own artwork. They visit the National Gallery Museum.
National Gallery of Canada
My Mask, My Voice
Recognize Black History Month with an examination of the African diaspora and a hands-on mask-making project. Learners first view and discuss images of artwork before creating their own plaster masks.
National Gallery of Canada
The Changing Composition
Play with dimensions and practice making a two-dimensional scene look three-dimensional. Class members view pieces of art and then make their own scenes by layering different materials and drawing in details. Check out all the tabs for...
National Gallery of Canada
A Cultural Portrait
Explore heritage and identity through an examination of art and a related project. The featured art, related to the African diaspora, includes several types of art created by different artists. Pupils consider their own backgrounds and...
National Gallery of Canada
My Upside-Down World!
M.C. Escher is famous for creating optical illusions. Examine this effect in several of his works and discuss the techniques involved. Inspired by the discussion, learners create an imaginary 3-D world inside of a box using various...
Curated OER
Interior Design- Space Unit
Students identify, explain and use the basic elements of design. They discover practical applications of space planning for interiors and determine identification of techniques to help achieve the desired space effect in a room.
National Gallery of Canada
Urban Scenes
Select a theme together to guide and inspire works of art. Class members view images of art and discuss the images of cities. After choosing a theme, individuals create posters that reflect and contribute to the theme. They can use paint...
National Gallery of Canada
A Unity Wall Drawing
Build class community with an art project. Learners first examine and discuss works of art. They then contribute to a class mural by tracing their hands and decorating them in relation to their own cultures. The final mural...
National Gallery of Canada
One Look Is Worth A Thousand Words
Facial expressions can communicate complex emotions. Examine expressions in several hyperrealistic works of art before beginning a project. Learners will create their own clay faces that show an emotion using either photos or their own...
National Gallery of Canada
Build Me a Legend
Legends are full of imagery and action. Transfer a scene from a legend to a three-dimensional art piece. Class members first view Inuit art and discuss legends. They then build scenes that include action, setting, and characters.
National Gallery of Canada
To Canada with Love
Focus on line and color with a postcard project. Learners view various works of art and discuss line and color before moving on to creating their own work. Using nature as inspiration, pupils decorate postcards and mail them after...
Curated OER
Dashboard of the Future
Students design dashboards for vehicles in 2020. After researching past and current trends in vehicle design, they sketch alternatives and select one to draw with computer-assisted design software (CAD), labeling all the components. With...
Curated OER
Rhythm - Principle of Design
Students demonstrate knowledge of the principles of design. They produce portfolio pages to show they know what rhythm is and demonstrate the elements of design and their relationship to the principle of rhythm. They explore the world of...
National Gallery of Canada
Designing Balance
Teach your artists how to incorporate balance into their work through discussion and action. After viewing and discussing several works of art, learners design a balanced image for a T-shirt and follow the step-by-step instructions to...
Curated OER
3-D Texture Painting (Impasto)
A neat art project is on the horizon. Your class can experience impasto, or textured painting with this expressive art instructional activity. They design and then paint using the impasto technique. This is done by mixing toilet paper...
National Gallery of Canada
Artful Emotions
Blue is sad, and red is angry, but why is that? Young artists explore the expression of emotions through art by observing and creating artwork. Starting with a questioning session about images of art, this plan moves into a sculpture...
Curated OER
Principles of Design - Picture Assignment
Students identify, explain and use the basic principles of design. They find a large, clear picture depicting each of the different principles of design and write a complete sentence describing where they see each of the principles of...
Curated OER
Expressive Contour Hands Drawing
Learners discuss lines and elements of design. They view examples of artwork, and contour drawings. Students create their own contour drawings. They discuss balance and do an activity that involves balance. Learners discuss other...
Curated OER
Tour + Workshop = DESIGN: Shape
Ask elementary students to explore shapes in everyday objects. They will discuss the elements of design and describe the shapes they see in visual images. Students will then design and "build" a new 3D shape. Finally they will show and...
Curated OER
Robe Design
You can learn a lot from a robe, especially if that robe is from the Qing Dynasty. Examine the beauty and symbolism that covers a functional and piece of clothing entitled Winter Dragon Robe. The class will consider and analyze all...
National Gallery of Canada
Reinventing the World
After examining and discussing Guy Ben-Ner's Treehouse Kit, a contemporary art installation with a sculptural and video element, small groups work together to create short silent films. The films should be built around a particular topic...
National Gallery of Canada
Contemporary Reflections
Combine art and writing in a lesson about legends. After viewing Inuit art, class members examine their own cultural surroundings in order to write and visually represent a legend. Individuals are invited to take the creative reins when...