Teacher: Cindy Cooper
Date: October 8, 2011
Grade Level: 8-12
Lesson: Printing the River with Whistler
Materials: Paper (use a quality that will stand up to paint or wet media), water based
printmaking ink, styrofoam plates, ball point pens or pencils, brayer and a hard surface to use as
a palette on which to roll the ink, such as plexiglass or any hard smooth flat surface, scissors
Techniques/Skills: Drawing and printmaking
Elements and Principals of Art: Line, form, shape, texture, value, emphasis, balance,
harmony, variety, movement, rhythm, proportion and unity
TLW: Analyze and discuss work from the Thames River Set by James McNeill Whistler and
create a print using an engraving technique of a local river or waterway.
Note: This lesson plan can be adapted to fit with various other subjects including Louisiana
History, Social Studies, U.S. History and World History. The lesson and accompanying power
point presentation can be adapted to fit the needs of your class.
Vocabulary and TermsPrintmaking- A print is an image made from a block or plate or
other object that is covered with wet color (usually ink) and then pressed
onto a flat surface, such as paper or textile. Most prints can be produced
over and over again by re-inking the printing block or plate. Printmaking
can be done in many ways, including using an engraved block or stone.
Etching- A printing process in which an etching needle is used to draw
into a wax ground applied over a metal plate. The plate is then
submerged in a series of acid baths, each biting into the metal surface
only where unprotected by the ground. The ground is removed, ink is
forced into the etched lines, the un-etched surfaces wiped, and an
impression is printed.
Engraving- A method of cutting or incising a design into a material,
usually metal, with a sharp tool. A print can be made by
inking
such an incised (engraved) surface. It may also refer to a print
produced in
this way.
Brayer- A tool used to roll ink onto a surface by
hand
Burin- A tool used in engraving or incising metal plates and in carving
stone. A knob-like wooden handle which holds a metal shaft having a
sharp beveled point with one size of several possible shapes, either flat,
round, multiple, or elliptical. Also called a graver.
Realism- denotes a mid-nineteenth century art movement and style in
which artists discarded the formulas of earlier movements that depicted
idealized and romanticized subject matter, to depict an accurate
and
more objective description of the ordinary, observable world
It often
involved some sort of sociopolitical or moral message, in the
depiction of
commonplace subjects.
Thames River-A river of southern England eastward to a wide estuary
on the North Sea. Navigable for large ships as far as London, it is the
principal commercial waterway of the country
Lesson Development:
Inspiration: Show students prints from the Alexandria Museum of Art
Exhibit, James Abbot McNeill Whistler: Realism in Print. Slides from the
exhibit are contained in the accompanying power point presentation
featuring the a few pieces from his Thames River Set, etchings Whistler
did along the banks of the Thames River in England. You may show the
power point by a projector or print and distribute the slides for your
students to observe during class discussion.
Note that additional slides of Mississippi River art have been added to
aid in any local comparisons you might want to make for your lessons.
The presentation can be edited to add examples that may be more
applicable to the subject matter you are currently studying with your
class.
You say: (Briefly discuss the definition of printmaking and etching as
you begin the presentation).
Questions: What do you see when you look at this print? Why do you
think Whistler focused on creating art about the river? What local rivers
and waterways do you think of when you look at this work? Why are
those waterways important to us? Would the Thames have been
important to Whistler and the people of England for the same reasons?
Why or why not? (You can share that indeed these works were very
important to the people of London because they were recording the area
of the Thames which was quickly changing due to the demands of the
Victorian Empire and Industrialism.) (McNamara and Siewert, 1994, p.
53)
You say: Whistler was part of the Realist movement of art. Looking at
this work, what do you think the concerns of the Realist movement might
have been? (After the students answer, explain that realism also
involved painting that which was everyday and common. They were
concerned with representing the realities of working class people.)
Given what we’ve discussed about realism, are these works good
examples of realism? Why or why not?
During a time such as The Industrial Revolution why might a movement
like Realism that documents the lives of working people be important to
society?
You say: Now we will create our own prints of a river or waterway. We
will be focusing on local waterways and rivers. Think of a place along
the river or one of the local waterways that is important to either yourself
or our community. Why is this place important? What happens there
that makes it/ or has made it a valuable resources to the community?
Why is important to document these places? (This portion of the project
can be a simple statement or be used as a more involved research
project).
(Students should find a picture of this place or arrange to go there and
sketch the area. Have them bring these sketches or pictures into class.)
Demonstrate the process below. Remind students that this type of
printmaking produces a reverse print. So any words will be
backwards unless they are drawn backwards on the plate. Only
then will they print so that they can be read from left to right.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Reflection:
Choose a color for your ink and paper. Be sure to use a color of
ink that contrasts with the color of paper you have chosen.
Papers and inks come in a variety of colors. Choose colors that
fit the theme of your work.
Give each student a styrofoam plate and have them cut a
rectangle from the center.
They should then use their drawing or sketch as inspiration and
draw the river or waterway on their styrofoam rectangle using a
ball point pen or pencil. They should use enough pressure to
create an indention on the plate, but not enough pressure to
completely pierce the plate. Once printed, these lines will be the
color of their paper.
Place a small amount of water based printing ink on a hard
surface. You can use pieces of plexiglass or another plate. Roll
the ink back and forth into a small square until the ink evenly
coats the brayer.
Roll the ink onto the engraved plate. Do not press into the
engraved lines. You should have a thin but even coat over the
plate with no holes showing through.
Carefully place a piece of paper onto the inked plate.
Rub the paper evenly with your hand, from corner to corner and
top to bottom, until your hand becomes warm.
Carefully peel the paper from the inked plate, and lay it face up
to dry.
Encourage students to discuss their work. Ask them to share what river or
waterway they printed. Ask them to share why they chose this waterway
and what they learned about it in this process. They can also share about
their experience with printmaking and what was challenging for them. What
did they learn during the process? Sharing can occur in several different
ways. Students can write a reflection of their own work and write a response
to another student’s work. Be sure to give them a few minutes to carefully
observe the work of other students. A reflection can be a group discussion
or students can take a few minutes to look at other students’ work and place
sticky notes with comments next to each piece.
When responding to the work of other students, students should be
prompted to share what they learned from the work. They should be
encouraged to share positive thoughts and why specifically they feel that
way about the work. If a student responds, “This piece is really pretty.” Ask
this student, “That is a lovely compliment. Tell everyone specifically what
details do you see that you think makes you say this.” Encouraging them to
be specific will help them observe each other’s work more carefully and help
them to understand what specifically makes a piece of art successful.
Lesson Time Line (Depending on the types of activities included):
Discussion (10 minutes)
Printmaking (30 minutes)
Cleanup (10 minutes)
Reflection (10 minutes)
Related Activities for Students Who Finish Early: Students who finish their prints early can
write a poem about the scene they have created. Have them read this passage from “Ten
O’Clock,” Whistler’s lecture at Cambridge:
And when the evening mist clothes the riverside with poetry, as with a veil, and the poor
buildings lose themselves in the dim sky, and the tall chimneys become campanile, and
the warehouses are palaces in the night, and the whole city hangs in the heavens, and
the fairyland is before us-- then the wayfarer hastens home; the working man and the
cultured one, the wise man and the one of pleasure, cease to understand, as they have
ceased to see, and Nature, who, for once, has sung in tune, sings her exquisite song to
the artist alone, her son and her master--her son in that he loves her, her master in that
he knows her. (Whistler, 1892, pp. 135-139)
Remind the students that Whistler’s prints were very much a celebration of the working people
who lived and worked near and on the river. Have the students imagine who might work in the
scene they have created? Who lives near this waterway? What are their lives like? How does
this body of water affect their lives? Have the students write a short story about the people who
might live and work on and near their river or waterway.
Bibliography
Whistler, James Abbot McNeill (1967). The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. Mineola, NY:
Dover Publications.
Carole McNamara & John Siewert (1994). Whistler, Prosaic Views, Poetic Vision : Works on
Paper from the University of Michigan Museum of Art. New York, N.Y. : Thames and
Hudson ; [Ann Arbor] : University of Michigan Museum of Art.