Lichtenstein Fruit Bowls

By the end of this 3rd grade project, there were about three or four different versions floating around. Considering I have five sections of 3rd grade, I just couldn't seem to get it right. However, I was very happy with one result in particular, so I would call it a success. That's what your first year is for anyway, right? 

I began this lesson by showing the kids some pictures of traditional still life paintings. Their definition of still life usually involved a person sitting still, so we had to revise that a little. Then, I showed them some famous Pop art from Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein and had them describe it to me. I just love using questioning with them. 3rd grade especially loves to hear themselves talk, and they are old enough to really dig into higher order questions. Lastly, we looked at Lichtenstein's "Still Life with Crystal Bowl." I had them tell me how this one was different from the traditional still life paintings we saw before. They agreed that his was less realistic and heavily outlined. 

All five classes began by drawing fruit onto some heavy card stock. it took us a very long time to get all of these done as they needed a lot of help. I did my best to break down each fruit into shapes/lines they could handle. We filled them up with patterns similar to the comic-like art of Lichtenstein. 

After they cut out their fruit, a few different backgrounds came into play for a few different classes. I attempted to incorporate a cornucopia for Thanksgiving. As you can see from below, though, it turned out a little abstract for my liking. 

The next day, we went ahead and drew the crystal bowls like Lichtenstein's. They looked much better, and were a lot more relevant to the kids. It also gave them practice drawing ellipses, spheres, and cylinders. 

They outlined the bowls in black marker then began to arrange their fruit into the bowl. Rather than gluing the fruit down, I had them use the 3D foam stickers. They are meant to raise pieces in a collage to allow for overlapping. 

I really like how they turned out, because it gave the kids a chance to arrange their still life themselves and gave the picture authentic shadows from the overlapping. 

Once they got their fruit arranged into the bowl, I let them add black and white stripes to the background (these were done using the thickness of a ruler). The piece below was done with a class that only had one day to work, so they had to draw their fruit right into the bowl. I loved that it only took one day, but wish it could have had just a tiny 3D element. 

I went ahead and displayed a few different versions of the project on our bulletin board. It's kind of fun when each class does something a little different. I definitely helps me solidify which ones are worth repeating the next year, and it gives kids (and adults) a chance to compare and contrast every time they walk by on their way to the drinking fountain or back to class.