Please allow 1 to 1 1/2 hours of classroom time.
SUPPLIES
- 12 x 18 tan piece of paper - 1 per child (Art Closet)
- Pencils - 1 per child (From Children's Own Supplies)
- Oil Pastels in earth tones: red, yellow, orange, beige, black, brown, white - 1 pack of oil pastels can be shared by 2 to 3 children (Art Closet)
- Paper Plates, to put powdered paint on - 1 plate can be shared by 2 kids (Art Closet)
- Powdered Tempera Paint in brown and red for Grades 2 and Above. Put a quarter-size amount of each color on each paper plate - 2 children can share 1 plate (Art Closet)
- Cotton Balls - 1-2 per child to smear powdered paint on paper (Art Closet)
- CAVE ART label. Art Rep please glue 1 label to the back of each piece of paper (Art Closet)
- HANDOUTS with Cave Art animals for reference - there is 1 handout for TK—1st, and another for All Grades in the Art Closet. Make copies, 1 per child.
- VISUALS - color print-outs of images mentioned in lesson below to show on ELMO. There are 4 numbered sets in the Art Closet. Please return when done.
ART REPS in TK, Kinder, 1st: Instead of reading the following script, briefly introduce the project and then read The Cave Painter of Lascaux or The First Drawing (TK-K), both available in the Art Closet.
SCRIPT
Today we are going to learn about artwork that was made over 20,000 years ago. In fact, scientists think that some pieces are almost 40,000 years old! It's called Cave Art. Can you guess why? (Take their responses.) After we learn a bit more about this ancient art, we're going to create our own Cave Art drawings. First we'll sketch animals with our pencils, then color them with oil pastels, and create cave wall texture with powdered paint.
Cave Art was either painted on OR carved into the insides of caves by prehistoric people in the Stone Age. What can you tell me about prehistoric people in the Stone Age? (Take their responses.)
The Stone Age was a long time ago. Not as far back as the time of the dinosaurs, but still a long time ago. Back then people lived in caves, or tents made from animal skins, or homes built with rocks. These ancient humans were actually experts at many things like hunting, fishing, and gathering wild food.
Show image #1 on ELMO/Overhead
They were called HUNTER-GATHERERS because they ate what they could HUNT, animals like deer, bison, and fish if they lived close to water. They also ate what they could GATHER: mostly fruits and nuts from trees and bushes. They had to move a lot to follow the food source, so that's why they often lived in tents or other shelters they could carry with them and build in new locations.
They made tools, weapons and ornaments out of flint, bone and even antlers. They wore clothes sewn from animal skins, and bracelets and necklaces that they made from stones, bone, animal teeth and fur. They lived in large family groups, spoke to each other in a language kind of like ours, cooked meat over a campfire, and were big storytellers. These "Cave Men" and "Cave Women" weren't a whole lot different from us! They didn't have books or written language yet, but people think there was special meaning in the artwork they made in caves.
Show image #2 on Elmo/Overhead
Cave Artists mostly drew pictures of the animals they hunted, and sometimes people and symbols. These pictures were painted and carved onto cave walls and ceilings, and also on rock faces. To reach the ceiling and other high spots, they drilled holes in the cave walls and put up scaffolding and ladders. When they painted the lower walls they sat on bundles of grass. The art they created is what we call CAVE ART. We don't know exactly what the pictures mean, but this ancient Cave Art is considered to be very special and inspiring today.
Photo of a room in the Caves of Lascaux. Show image #3
Examples of Cave Art have been found all around the world, but the most famous are the cave drawings done almost 20,000 years ago in France, in a place called Lascaux (pronounced "Lasko"). The cave was hidden and unknown to modern humans until 1940, when four teenagers found it by accident! The caves they found in Lascaux ("Lasko") are very large, with many rooms, and there are over 2,000 images found on the walls inside! Some of the animal drawings are the largest found in any cave anywhere on the planet! Because the cave was sealed off for thousands of years, the artwork is very bright and in extra good condition. That is why it is so famous.
To protect the paintings from damage, people are not allowed to go inside the caves at Lascaux ("Lasko") anymore. But we can still learn about the art and see pictures of it.
The prehistoric artists of Lascaux ("Lasko") were very smart: they used the bumpy surface of the cave to make animals look like they were moving. All of the animals are shown in motion — running, fighting or swimming across rivers. When you draw your animals, think about showing motion. Maybe the legs are curved like they're hopping or stretched out like they're running fast. (ART REP: point out curved and stretched out legs, and texture of cave wall in images #4 and #5.)
Show image #4
Show image #5 (Great Black Bull)
This is an image (#6) of someone fighting a bull. Do you see a person in this painting? What else do you see?
(ART REP: Point out details like the spiky hair on the bull's back, the spear, or the bird in the lower corner.)
Show image #6
Here are a few more paintings from the caves at Lascaux ("Lasko"). ART REP: You can point out details like antlers, the different sizes and types of animals, how they are shown in motion and any other interesting details that you notice.
Show image #7
Show image #8
Remember that animals are not always one color and no two are alike. Sometimes they have patterns in their fur. The animals in this image (#9) have black spots on their bodies. When drawing, consider adding stripes, spots, swirls or other patterns to make your animal unique.
Show image #9
Notice that this animal (image #10) is not all one color. What colors do you see on its head and body? (black, brown, orange, red, yellow.) You can include several different colors in your animals too. Notice details like the antlers, eyes and the mane of hair along the animal's back (ART REP: point out). Don't forget to add details like eyes,nose, tails to your animals when you're drawing.
Show image #10
Show image #11
Prehistoric Artists did not have crayons or paint like we do. They made their paints out of things found closeby in nature, like red and yellow earth or black charcoal. These were ground into a powder and then mixed with water. Sometimes they smeared wet clay on to the sides of walls with their fingers. They painted in "earth tones" like black, brown, yellow, red, orange, beige and white. So WE are also going to use those same colors. The tools they used to draw with were not like ours either. They used flint, a kind of rock they carved to make arrowheads and many other tools, and pads of animal skins for brushes. And sometimes they blew powdered pigment through tubes. But don't worry, we're going to use regular oil pastels!
ART REPS: At this point, before you begin the art project, you can show a short video tour of the Lascaux Caves if you like - we found two options. To play the video, make sure your teacher has a computer that is connected to a large screen. Email the link to your teacher the night before so she/he can have it cued up for class.
Find a video tour of the artwork HERE.
A virtual tour of the cave is HERE.
Find a video tour of the artwork HERE.
A virtual tour of the cave is HERE.
CREATE ART
ART REP: Ask each child put his/her name on the back of the paper before you begin.1. LOOK at your handout of cave animal drawings. There's a deer, horse, bull and also some other animals like a rhinoceros, a wild cat and an auroch (a prehistoric wild ox). These are all animals that lived on earth in Prehistoric times. PICK ANIMALS (1 or more) that you would like to draw. You can use the handout for help but no tracing is allowed. You can also come up with your own ideas. YOUNGER GRADES can pick just 1 animal if it's easier.
2. CREATE "cave wall texture" by crumpling up the paper then flattening it back out before you begin drawing.
ART REP: This step is optional. You can also crumple the paper yourself before the lesson to save time.
3. SKETCH your animals in pencil. Remember to press lightly so that you can erase any lines that you don't want. First, draw the outside edges of your animals and remember to DRAW BIG! Once you're done drawing the outside edges, you can add details like antlers, noses, eyes, tails, manes of hair, spears, a small bird, etc.
ART REP: Please encourage the younger kids to DRAW BIG, using a large portion or their paper.
4. USE OIL PASTELS to go over your pencil lines. Color in your animals with earth-toned colors like they used in prehistoric times: orange, red, black, brown, white, yellow, beige, etc. LEAVE THE BACKGROUND BLANK - see next step.
5. POWDERED PAINT - FOR GRADES 2 and ABOVE. ART REP PLEASE DEMONSTRATE THIS WITH A COTTON BALL AND PAPER. Remember how the cave walls are not smooth or flat like paper? Cave walls are bumpy and have texture. There are also shadows in a cave, so some parts of the cave wall look darker than others. We're going to rub powdered paint around our animals and the edges of the paper to make it look more like a real cave wall, with texture and shadows.
Take a cotton ball and lightly dip it into the powdered paint. Rub the cotton ball around the edges of your paper and around your animals. Be careful not to smudge your drawing.
Congratulations! You've made Cave Art like the ancient people who lived thousands of years ago.
Music: Most of the kids enjoy listening to music in the background when they're drawing. You can play music from your smart phone on a bluetooth speaker that you bring from home. Here are a few links to some "ancient" tunes or feel free to pick your own music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpxN2VXPMLc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5xo5yGX3UY&list=RDj5xo5yGX3UY#t=9