Discussion: Texture is the way an object or surface feels when touched. Texture is an element of art. The tactile texture of an object can be recorded onto the paper by doing a rubbing. Rubbings capture and preserve the texture and shape of a surface onto paper. Artists have used rubbings as a way to examine texture and recreate the texture in their artwork.

Everything around us has a texture. The texture of a glass would look shiny and feel smooth. Point out to the students that our classroom is full of texture. The floor and the wall have two different textures. The top of your desk and underneath, the chairs, our clothes, the soles of our shoes and even the objects in our pockets. Have the students explore their desk area with their hands. Feel the different parts of the desk, your clothes, your hair. Ask the students: How would you describe these different textures? Point out a glass object and ask the students: What is the visual texture? Open a short discussion on the difference in the textures.
Optional: Blindfold the students and have them feel different textures. Make a mystery box that the students will place their hands in to feel different items. Have them describe the textures. Removing the sense of sight will heighten the sense of touch making this a fun project.

Activity: There is a technique to creating a rubbing of an object. Refer to Texture Rubbing page for details on supplies and rubbing techniques. Explain and do a quick demonstration of the rubbing technique. Students can empty their pockets, lay these items out (flat works best) and proceed with a rubbing. Point out that even a crumpled bubble gum wrapper will have texture. Have the students float around the room gathering textures. Take the students outside to rub trees, leaves, dirt, bricks and pavement. Make sure to write the name of the object they rubbed next to the rubbing. The students can put 2 textures on an 8 x 10 paper, more on larger sheets. Teacher discretion on the amount of time to allow for this exploration. Have the students pick one texture. Using their rubbing as a reference have the students draw the texture onto paper. Use a pencil at first and then have them try other mediums. Have the students use their drawing of texture in original artwork.

Assignment Ideas:

• Draw a simple, stick figure, self portrait using texture for the ground, sky, clothing, etc.
• Draw picture of a tree using a texture for the bark and the leaves and surroundings.
• Draw a picture of whatever the student desires. Cut out different rubbed textures and paste these into the picture for details.

Texture Focus Activity Discussion: Bring the students back into a group discussion on how artist might use these texture studies in their work. Refer to these examples of rubbings in fine art to view some artists' work: http://www.inliquid.com/artist/miyamori_keiko/miyamori.php
Explain how artists would gather these studies to recreate the texture in their work. An example would be a tree. Once the artist has a rubbing of the texture then the artist could recreate this in a drawing. Texture can be seen in all forms of mediums. Ask the students what textures they see. How is the texture an important part of the artwork? How does the texture make you feel? Allow time for the students to discuss their interpretations of the artwork.

Discussion: Forms are three dimensional objects. That means it has height, width and depth. Form is one of the elements of art that artists use creating three dimensional art like sculpture and ceramics. Forms are divided into two groups; geometric and organic. Geometric forms are spheres (balls), cones, cubes, cylinders. Organic forms are found in nature like clouds, peanuts or a rain drop. Everything around us has form. Point out to the students that our classroom is full of different forms. Have the students explore the classroom for different forms. Create a classroom chart on the board to compare the geometric and organic forms. As the students find a form, list it in the appropriate group. Open a short discussion on the difference of the forms.

Artists use clay as a means of exploring form to create a functional object or a sculpture that tells a story. Clay is stiff, moist earth that is used for brick making, tiles, and pottery. Ceramic is having to do with objects made of clay. Ceramics, the making of pottery, is one of the oldest forms of art. Pottery is known to be over 8,000 years old. There are several types of clay earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. There are also several techniques used in clay construction. The potters wheel, slab construction, coil construction, and pinching. Once the clay is constructed it is fired; cooked at extremely hot temperature. This cooking happens in electric kilns, wood, or gas kilns. When the clay is fired it turns hard and almost glass-like. At this time, the pot is decorated with a glaze and fired again to create a colored piece of pottery.

Focus Activity: Part 1: Making clay and a clay pot
Time: 15 minutes

Refer to Clay Recipe page for details on supplies and clay making. Once the clay is mixed, have the students form a ball. Now have the students place their thumb in the top of the ball, pushing in to make a hole 1/4” from the bottom of the ball. With your thumb on the inside and your fingers on the outside, pinch the clay. Release, turn the ball, pinch. Repeat all the way around the ball until a bowl is formed.

Part 2: Finishing the clay
Time: 20 minutes

Have the students sand the exterior of their pots with sandpaper. Refer to Clay Recipe page for further details.

Part 3: Decorating the pinch pot

After the pot is dry and sanded, the surface is ready to be painted and decorated. Acrylic and non-washable tempera paints will work well. The surface can also be drawn upon with permanent markers.

Focus Activity Discussion: Allow the students time to view classmates work. Open a discussion asking the students to compare the shape (form) of their pot and the pots of their classmates. What do you notice? Allow the students to explain the differences they see.

Form Extensions: Have the students explore websites with examples of ceramic artists' work. Open a discussion with the students concerning the main ideas expressed in these works. Remind the students that exploration of form, and the other elements, can be the main ideas of three-dimensional work. http://www.monicaripley.com/ - examples of porcelain, wheel thrown, high fire ceramics.
http://www.kariradasch.com/ - coil, slab, mold (mostly coil) low fired earthenware ceramics.
http://users.lmi.net/mudwoman/ - pinch and coil hand building ceramics

Discussion: Refer to Elements of Art: Space Discussion

Focus Activity: Abstract Space
Time: One 40-minute class

Technique Discussion: Using colored pencils. When you color a portion with colored pencils, go over it a second time in the opposite direction. Example: first coloring the lines are horizontal, second coloring, make all the lines vertical. Doing this will make the color darker.

Supplies: 9 x 12 paper, black crayons, colored pencils, Abstract Negative & Positive examples

1. Using black crayon, draw a continuous curved line that starts and
   ends in the same spot. The line should be thick and dark.



2. Using different colored pencils for each space created, color in the
   spaces darkly. The background is a space of its own.