Georgia O ‘Keeffe Flower

This was a lesson done on 12 x 18 black construction paper. White crayon was used o draw the outlines of the petals. And chalk pastel was used to color in the flower. (Oil pastel works also, but chalk works best)

This was a wonderful lesson to get students to think beyond the edge of the paper.  You might have seen children draw people where the legs are very short because the child felt it important to include the whole person on the piece of paper.  In this lesson I say to them, “The edge of the page is not the edge of the world”.

To get started, I very quickly draw a circle on the board, so quickly that the ends do not meet. Then I ask the class what I just drew.  Usually the class says a circle.  “Is it?” I ask. “Or do you just imagine it to be a circle?” I point that the lines do not touch. We go on to discuss that implied line and the imagination help us fill in the missing line and call the object on the board a circle. This lesson fascinates the students!

I go through these ideas because for the flower the students will have a petal go off the edge of the page in one spot and re-enter in the spot that makes sense.  The will do this with petal after petal. Still, even after our discussions some needed direct guidance in going of the edge of the page. In the end, the students did a wonderful job in following directions. I just wish I had more examples to show you!

Here are some student reflections

When I think of my flower, I feel more than excited to see my flower. When I think of the texture, I can feel my flower’s soft petals in my hands. The colors are warm and bright. My flower is an artistic work of art.

                                          --Isabel

The flower describes me as a fluffy pillow. The stem looks like a celery stalk.  My drawing reminds me of when I went to the park and saw a beautiful flower blooming.

                                          --Eltezam

The O’Keeffe reminds me of my country. The shapes are big and small and the colors are in patterns. They are blue, orange, and yellow. My O’Keeffe is made of cool colors. Doing he O’Keeffe makes me feel good, excited and happy. I was so proud with myself!

                                          --Jorge

I like the O’Keeffe because we used our hands to make the flower. And, we used cool colors and warm colors. I used cool colors to paint my O’Keeffe so it looked cute. I worked hard to make it like it is.

                                          --Michelle

I like the color of he flower. I like the shape of he flower. My flower is doing a reflection of pink, blue, yellow, baby blue, red and green. It reminds me of water. Some one is swimming in the water.

                                          --Cleydi

When I look at the colors on my O’Keeffe it reminds me of a cool breeze. And when I think of the texture I can feel the smooth, soft flower petals in my hand. On my O’Keeffe I used a triangular shape on the petals. And I also liked how I mixed the cool colors blue and purple.

                                          --Tatiana

When I look at the O’Keeffe I remember a rainbow. I also remember using the chalk pastels and picking the colors for the flowers.

                                          --Vanessa