Serving Art Educators
and Students Since 1994


 

Creating Red Hat Paintings

Submitted by: Carolyn Roberts, (retired) Kinston High School Kinston, NC
Unit: Drawing or Painting
Lesson: Composition with Red Hat
Grade Level: High School (may be adapted for elementary and middle school)

 

PREPARATION:

  1. Make a PowerPoint of works with Red Hats. Include in PowerPoint of Hats through the ages - show how hat styles have changed. What do hats tell us about the culture? What kind of hats are worn for work? for play?

  2. Get a collection of hats from a local theater company (or maybe thrift shop or Goodwill). Have student imagine them to be red. Younger students will want to try the hats on so have some disinfectant spray. I can see some of you going from garage sale to garage sale buying outrageous hats and spray painting them all red!


red hat      red hat

Inspired by Modigliani - this could be about art styles     This could be about fashion design.

PROCEDURES:

Summary: Students had to create a work of art that included a "red hat", either as a focal point or as an accent in the picture. The picture could be in color or black and white with the hat in red and they could choose the medium that they wanted to use. Preliminary drawings in their sketchbooks were required prior to beginning the final work.

  1. Research hat styles. What style of hat will work best for your idea?

  2. Make sketches of the hat - try different arrangements/placements. If the hat is to be worn in a portrait - make sure it fits head properly and is in correct proportion to the head.

  3. Make some thumbnail sketches of composition - select best one for composition.

  4. Draw compositions on 12 x 18 (30.5 x 46 cm) Newsprint. (or whatever size works for composition)

  5. Transfer to quality Drawing Paper. (Watercolor Paper
    , Canvas Panels - whatever you happen to be using). Saral Transfer Paper. is available in graphite or white for dark paper.

  6. Render in chosen medium - mixed media is good, too.

  7. Have a class critique. Give fun awards "Best of Show", "Most Outrageous Hat", "Most Meaningful"

OBJECTIVE:

To create a two-dimensional work of art that includes a red hat

 

GRADES BASED ON:

Composition

Illusion of depth by using:

  • Overlapping, size variation, position on page, value (lighter colors in distance/darker colors up close, intensity (bright colors up close/dull colors in distance)

  • Rules of perspective one or two point. Middle School teachers - think how it might add a spark of interest to your perspective lessons, too (see example). So many possibilities.

  • Texture

  • Emphasis – focal point, center of interest

  • Repetition

  • Color, shape, pattern, etc.

  • Contrast

  • Color, value (light against dark), texture (smooth against rough), line (thick/thin, curve/straight, light/dark, etc.)

  • Pattern

IDEAS:

  • Person wearing a "red hat" - show mood (Archive), age, show culture (Archive), fashion design - "in the style of" (isms)

  • Art Parody "Red Hat" - show painting "in the style of" - ex: Mona with a red hat - Change century

  • "Red hat" included in a still life setup (Archive) - a different kind of portrait - What accessories to add?

  • Humorous -  Monkey swinging through the trees with a "red hat" in his hand

  • "Red hat" for sale in a shop window

  • Clown with "red hat" - worker with "red hat"

  • Santa Claus wears a "red hat"

  • etc.

EXAMPLES OF ARTISTS WORKS:

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MEDIA:

Note: For younger students, you may want to limit choices of media.

LESSON EXTENSIONS:

Expand the unit to 3-D works.... This could become a fashion design lesson as well.
See Red Hat Pin (Made from recycled jewelry parts and Sculpey)

* These are best prints






HOME | ABOUT | | ADVERTISE | NEWSLETTER | © Incredible Art Department