High School

Artwork by Florence B., grade eleven.

What role does persistence play in revising, refining, and developing work?

Students will create an experimental still life with food as the subject.

acrylic paint, canvases, pencils, paper towels, erasers, sketchbooks, food ingredients, brushes, water cups, palettes

1. Ask students to observe a variety of foods and culinary ingredients and create a series of thumbnail drawings in their sketchbooks, focusing on varied angles and compositions.
2. Have them select one of their sketches to enlarge and render as a final artwork.
3. Students paint their subject matter realistically and incorporate a modern motif to their background. Ask them to draw attention to specific color schemes, details, lines, and implied textures.
4. Allow students to revisit and refine their painting as needed.

Students will complete a K-W-L graphic organizer and share the results.

Frank Juárez is an art teacher at Sheboygan North High School in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.