Henry Clay Anderson, Motorcycle Riders. Gelatin silver print, 14 1/8 x 11 1/8 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
Alfred Thompson Bricher, At the South Head, Grand Manan. Oil on canvas, 55 7/8 x 45 3/4 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
Don Eddy, Green Volkswagen. Acrylic on canvas, 66 x 95 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
Visual Arts
Grade 1
1: Alphabet Books and Children Who Read Them
2 45-minute lessons
design
How can we use pictures, illustrations, and details to represent works that begin with a specific letter of the alphabet?
How do we gather information on a given topic?
I can make a letter of the alphabet in a large, creative style.
I can illustrate my letter with pictures of nouns that begin with that letter.
“Artists over the years have illustrated letters of the alphabet and created alphabet books. We are going to illustrate our favorite letter.”
Discuss the vocabulary for this lesson. Reads The Graphic Alphabet, by Pelletier, and Eating the Alphabet, by Ehlert. Compare and contrast the illustrations in the two books.
Have students identify illustrations that could be used for an assortment of letters. How might you illustrate the letter J? Or the letter Z?
Display the artwork images. Discuss what the students see and which letters of the alphabet could be represented by these images, i.e., M is for motorcycle or B is for boat, etc.
Then, demonstrate the process: draw a large letter with chalk and then trace evenly around the letter to create an artistic font. The letter shape may be made with an animal posing as the letter, i.e., an S made by the body of a snake.
The inside of the letter will then be painted, colored, patterned, or outlined in other colors. The letter will be filled in with images of nouns that begin with that letter.
Images of additional nouns beginning with that letter may also be drawn “climbing” on the letter, creating frame around the perimeter of the paper, floating in the background, etc.
Give each student a different letter and have them use the demonstrated techniques for drawing and outlining a large letter. Make sure to give each student a different letter, so that in the end we can create a complete alphabet book.
Students select the media they will use to add details and colors.
Have students begin to design their letters.
Demonstrate how to create a frame around the final letter.
Have students complete and frame their artworks.
Modification: Students who finish early may create a second letter.
Student artwork is ready for inclusion in class Alphabet Book. The artwork includes a large graphic letter, neatly colored or painted, as well as images that illustrate that letter.
12×12″ construction paper in any non-white color, white chalk, art erasers, markers, color sticks, crayons, or tempera cakes
alphabet, illustrate, graphic art, nouns, icons
Henry Clay Anderson, Motorcycle Riders, c. 1960 (printed 2007). Gelatin silver print, 14 1/8 x 11 1/8 inches (35.9 x 28.3 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Gift of Dr. Kenneth Montague / The Wedge Collection, in honor of the exhibition Becoming at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University; 2011.13.1. © National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Alfred Thompson Bricher, American, At the South Head, Grand Manan, 1880s. Oil on canvas, 55 7/8 x 45 3/4 (141.9 x 116.2 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Museum purchase with funds provided by the John A. Schwarz III and Anita Eerdmans Schwarz Family Endowment, 2002.18.1. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.
Don Eddy, Green Volkswagen, 1971. Acrylic on canvas, 66 x 95 inches (167.6 x 241.3 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Gift of Ivan and Zoya Gerhath, 2001.40.1. © Don Eddy. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.