Ukiyo-E Landscapes: Tenth Grade

This is a unit that I developed as a student teacher, although this is the first chance I've had to revisit it since then.  After teaching students about Japan's ukiyo-e printmakers, specifically Hokusai, they were instructed to find a scene they enjoyed looking at, and photograph it from four different points of view (like Hokusai's 36 views of Fuji).  They had their fall break the following week, so this turned out to be ideal timing; many of them got to take photos of the countryside.  Of course, there were a few kids in each class that didn't do their homework - they had to look at landscapes on their smart phones, and we talked about which ones would make good compositions.  Back in class, they had to sketch each of their views, and we discussed which of them would make the best print.  They were to compose an image that would balance light and dark areas and textured and smooth areas.  For many of the kids this was the hardest part, and some of them never quite got it (although some of these were among my favorite prints, strangely enough).  Then, they got to start cutting their blocks.

I taught them the vocabulary for the different tools they used, and focused on what a proof is and how it helps us to develop as artists.  When students told me they were "finished," I had them make a proof, taught them how to sign it, and talked about its strong and weak points.  Then they had the opportunity to make changes, if we agreed it was necessary.

These kids are old enough now that I don't feel bad bothering them about their craftsmanship.  When we talked about their finished prints, they were instructed to make CLEAN prints, with no fingerprints or smudges around the edges.  I also suggested that they actually print their work at their seats, to help avoid picking up any of the ink that inevitably gets spread around our printing station.

Next week they will be allowed to do some experimentation - using different colors, rainbow rolls, and possibly cutting their blocks apart.  I've learned from this unit that composition is still a weak area for many of my tenth graders.  Their last unit dealt with non-objective art, and they improved a lot through that unit, but composing a landscape requires a different set of design principle priorities.  I think the next time I teach this unit, I will preface it with a lesson or two on photography and how to compose a photo, as well as continuing work on the younger grades' understanding of design.  Still, overall I am pretty impressed with how the prints are turning out.