Art 1 – Transactive Writing Portfolio Assignment

What: We will be in the computer lab this week working on completing the required transactive writing portfolio assignment.  You will need to choose an artist from the list below and create a feature article about that artist and their work.  In creating your feature article, some research will be required.   Some of these artists listed below are active in more than one kind of media, so you will need to choose which type of work you will discuss in the article.

Audience:  People who read the School District Newspaper (mixed audience of young & older readers)

Why:  A feature article spotlighting the work of an important artist will be published each month in an effort to educate the citizens of Nicholas County about their work. 


NOTE:  You will be getting a daily work grade for each day we are in the computer lab.  If you are not on task for any reason, points will be deducted from your daily work grade (60 points) as well as your finished portfolio grade (200 points).   You will need to print out each day your finished work for me to review.  These papers will be stapled together along with the daily grading rubric to track your progress.

 

Choose ONE (1) artist and their work from the list below:

1.       Leonardo Da Vinci

a.      The Mona Lisa,

b.      The Last Supper

2.       Caravaggio-

a.      The Conversion of St. Paul (a.k.a “On the Road to Damascus”)

b.      The Calling of St. Matthew

3.       Rembrandt-

a.      The Night Watch

b.      Self-Portrait (your choice) 

4.       Jacques-Louis David-

a.      The Death of Marat

b.       Napoleon in His Study

5.       John Constable-

a.      A View of Salisbury Cathedral

b.       The Dell in Helmingham Park

6.       Claude Monet

    1. Waterlillies
    2.  Rouen Cathedral

7.       Mary Cassatt-

a.      The Bath

b.      Five O’Clock Tea

8.       Vincent Van Gogh

a.       The Starry Night,

b.      Self-Portrait (your choice)

9.       Pablo Picasso-

a.      Guernica

b.       The Women of Avignon

10.   Dorothea Lange-

a.      Migrant Mother (photograph)

11.   Jacob Lawrence-

a.      Tombstones

b.      The Library

12.   Georgia O’Keeffe-

    1. Red Poppies

13.   Salvador Dali-

a.      The Persistence of Memory

14.   Andy Warhol-

a.      Campbell Soup Cans

b.      Marilyn Monroe

15.   Edward Hopper-

a.       The Nighthawks

16.   Stuart Davis-

a.      Sixth Avenue

b.      Swing Landscape

17.   Edgar Degas –

a.      The Dance Examination

b.      The Glass of Absinthe

 

Use of the 4-Step Method in Critiquing a Work of Art:

WRITING THE FEATURE ARTICLE

The body of the Feature Article must be a minimum of 33 sentences, minimal total of 11 paragraphs.

When you get to the analysis part of the writing, refer to the guiding questions on how to analyze a work of art handout to help you out.

 

1st Paragraph (opening paragraph/DESCRIPTION)

  • This paragraph would contain the following:
  • A brief description about the artist, what the featured artwork is made out of, and the year in which is was made.
  • A  detailed description of what the featured art work looks like.  (description is a

factual account of what the image looks like.

 

2nd-9th Paragraphs (ANALYSIS)

                                These paragraphs would contain the following:

        • An explanation of how the artist uses the elements and principles of art.
        • You must discuss four elements and four principles of your choice.
        • EACH element & principle analysis must be a paragraph in length.

10th Paragraph (INTERPRETATION)

                `               This paragraph would contain the following:

        • It provides an explanation offering insight as to the mood, feeling, or emotions expressed by the artist.
        • It may offer insight as to why the artwork was created.
        • How do YOU feel about the artwork?

 

11th Paragraph (CONCLUSION/EVALUATION)

                In this last paragraph you will need to address the following:

      • Offer reasons why the work is successful or important.
      • Summarize what you have discussed.

 

PACING GUIDE – WHAT YOU NEED TO DO EACH DAY

Before you begin, look over the guiding questions handout that goes along with this assignment to help you in your writing.

Day 1:  (BEGINNING RESEARCH/BIOGRAPHY/ ETC.) Begin researching your artist for the biographic part of your article.  The biography section will be located at the bottom of the first page of your article, in a box separate from the feature article. You must put important dates in chronological order of the events, beginning with the earliest event and ending with the most recent.  Information that goes into the biographical section is VERY BRIEF and should be composed of about 7 to 10 major life events.  Also, you should have chosen ONE (1) work by this artist that you will analyze.

Biography Section must include the following information:

·         Birth date  (month/day/year) and birth place

·         Education/schooling/jobs

·         Important art events/exhibitions

·         *Transitions in Artistic Style – (*some artist’s style will evolve and change over time.  Example: Picasso’s Blue  & Rose Periods, Cubism, etc.)   You will need to note that in your article if your chosen artist has transitions in style.

·         Death date (if applicable)

·         Find an image of your artist, either in the form of a photograph or self-portrait to put into your feature article in the biography section. Save that image in your user’s folder for insertion later into the article.

·         Find a statement or quote by your chosen artist concerning their art/life as an artist. 


 

 

Day2: (BIOGRAPHY/INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPHS)     If you didn’t get finished researching the biographical part of your artist’s life, then you must finish it by the end of today’s class period.  Once you are finished with the biography part, you will need to spend the remaining class time working on developing the introductory paragraph of the article and following paragraphs.    Remember, the introductory paragraph should “grab” the reader’s attention and make them want to read more about the subject that follows.  Once you’ve done that, you can spend the next few sentences briefly introducing the reader about the artist and why they are important.  You can include information on what kind of style their work is, and their preferred medium to work in.

Day 3:  (DESCRIPTION & ANALYSIS)  Today’s class should be spent doing the following things:  describing, analyzing the selected work of your artist for the feature article.  Description is a DETAILED factual account of what you see in the work.  You should spend at least one paragraph (at least 3 sentences) describing what the selected work looks like.  Once you’ve done that, you will need to move on to the analysis of the artist’s work.  In analyzing a work of art you are explaining how the artist has used the elements and principles of art in the piece.  Your article will need to address how your artist has used four (4) elements of art and (4) principles of art.  Discussion of each element or principle of art should be one paragraph in length.  If you finish this before class is over you can move on to the interpretation part of the writing.  (see Day 4).

Day 4:  (INTERPRETATION & EVALUATION)   Today’s class should be spent finishing up the last part of the feature article if  you haven’t done so already.  You will need to interpret the work, which means you explain why the artist did what they did, so to speak.  Try to answer, “What kind of mood, feeling, or idea is being communicated by the artist?” in this section.  Explain how does the artist’s work reflect the environment or culture in which it was created?  What about it makes it ultimately “modern”?   Lastly, you will move on to the Evaluation part of the writing.  In your critical evaluation, what makes this a successful work of art?  What are some of the characteristics about it that make it important for us to take note of?  Finish your feature article with a good, solid closing paragraph about your artist and their work. 

Day 5:  (POLISHING/REVISING/REFINING) This class you must spend fixing grammatical errors, typos, revising, polishing up your writing.  There should be SIGNIFICANT improvements in your writing by the time you get to this point in the piece. 

You will need to print out TWO (2) copies of your finished work.  One copy is for my files, the other is for the library to file.  You will also need to fill out the portfolio completion form and staple that to your copy for the library.