Course: Eighth Grade Art
Grade Level: 8
Teacher: Jena McNerney
Jabish Brook Middle School
Lesson: Cubism Inspired Portrait: Day 2-3
Description of Lesson: Students will review Cubist painter Pablo Picasso and use his paintings as
inspiration to create their own portraits in a cubist style using 4 of the 8 color schemes discussed in the
previous lesson.
Purpose:
 For students to begin sketching their Cubism Inspired Portraits
Goals: Students will sketch three different options for Cubism Inspired Portraits.
Visual Arts Standards:
1.7 Use the appropriate vocabulary related to the methods, materials, and techniques students have learned
and used in grades PreK–8
2.7 For color, use and be able to identify hues, values, intermediate shades, tints, tones, complementary,
analogous, and monochromatic colors Demonstrate awareness of color by painting objective studies from
life and free- form abstractions that employ relative properties of color
2.10 For shape, form, and pattern, use and be able to identify an expanding and increasingly sophisticated
array of shapes and forms, such as organic, geometric, positive and negative, or varieties of symmetry
4.4 Produce work that shows an understanding of the concept of craftsmanship
Objectives: The students will be able to:
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Sketch a portrait using abstraction to make it in the style of cubism
Big Ideas: Students will understand that:
 To make an abstract portrait, they will need to use shape and multipoint perspective
Concepts/Techniques:
 Cubism, Pablo Picasso, Abstraction, Portraits, Multipoint Perspective
Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on:
 Following directions
 Originality
 Creativity
 Craftsmanship
 Use of time
 Effort
 Self-evaluation sheets
Essential Questions:
 What is Multipoint Perspective?
Historical Connections/ Resources/ Visuals:
 PowerPoint Example
 Physical Example
 Guernica, Spanish Civil War, Art History, Pablo Picasso
Visuals:
 Physical example
 Visual demonstration
 PowerPoint presentation
 Artist Examples
Vocabulary:
 Color schemes: A planned combination of colors
 Primary colors: Colors that cannot be created from any other colors, red, yellow, and blue
 Secondary colors: Colors created by mixing two primary colors, orange, green, and purple
 Analogous colors: Colors that appear next to each other on the color wheel; red, red orange, and
orange
 Complimentary colors: Colors that appear across from each other on the color wheel; green and red
 Tertiary colors: Colors created by mixing a primary and secondary color together; yellow green
 Grayscale: different tones of black and white
 Monochromatic: tones of one color in addition to the ground hue
 Realistic colors: colors found in real life represented in an artwork
 Warm colors: reds, oranges, and yellows
 Cool colors: blues, greens, and purples
 Value: The lightness or darkness of tones or colors
 Cubism: an early 20th-century style and movement in art, especially painting, in which perspective
with a single viewpoint was abandoned and use was made of simple geometric shapes, interlocking
planes, and, later, collage.
 Abstract Art: a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with
a degree of independence from visual references in the world
Materials:
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PowerPoint
Physical Portrait example
18x24 Canvas Boards
Pencils
Mirrors
Rubric
Self-evaluation
Procedures: (~10) 45 minutes classes (~2 weeks)
Day 2 - 3: Work Day (45 mins)
1. Student will discuss what Multipoint Perspective is
2. Students will begin sketching their Cubism Portraits on canvas board using a mirror to observe
facial shape and features
3. Students will prepare for clean up and dismissal
Key Questions: How does Picasso abstract portraits? Why is shape important in abstraction?
Assessment:
 Rubric
 Student Self-Evaluation
 Informal assessment of student participation during class
Extension/ Continuation of Lesson: Students will utilize the information gained about color theory to
create a cubist inspired portrait.
Modifications:
 Extra time will be given for students who need it.