Pablo's got the blues.

In our elementary artroom, students learn expression of mood through art. We paint to music, draw emotion-filled self-portraits, and explore color as a symbol of mood. Pablo Picasso's Blue Period illustrates this concept and thus serves as the springboard for second graders' exploration of self-expression through art. Students create a melancholy self-portrait as the subject of our Blue Period paintings.

Students learn about the Blue Period of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. They learn the source of his sorrow, the death of his friend and fellow painter, Carlos Casagemas. The sadness and sense of loss Picasso felt led him to use solemn figures and a monochromatic blue color scheme during this period. We view several works, including The Ascetic, The Tragedy, and La Vie. Students comment on the sadness in the figures, signs of poverty, and signs of starvation, all of which they agree would give them the blues.

To introduce the lesson, I read the Dr. Seuss book My Many Colored Days, which briefly describes the symbolism of color. I then explain the monochromatic color scheme, emphasizing that "mono" means one and "chrome" means color. Students use tempera paint to create a monochromatic palette. They make shades by adding various amounts of black, and make tints by adding small amounts of color to white.

For their painting surface, students choose from various shades and tints of 12 x 18" (31 x 46 cm) blue construction paper. We draw the portraits while discussing basic rules of facial structure. Students are surprised at the realism they are able to achieve by knowing just a few of the "rules" of drawing a frontal portrait. After students complete the pencil drawing, they trace over the drawing with a blue, waterbased marker.

Students use various tints and shades of blue tempera paint to define the features in their paintings. We discuss how the color value might change if the light source is in a particular place and how a shadow would appear opposite that. The water-based blue markers then start to serve their purpose as the wet paint forces them to "bleed," and define the shape they outline. Most students choose a lighter blue tint for skin tones and darker shades for details. Some students choose to add monochromatic wallpaper to the background. Although we emphasize a blue mood, students are all smiles with the results.

We follow up the lesson with studies of Picasso's Rose Period, Cubism, and a look at his cheery painting, Mains Aux Fleur. Students are intrigued by his many moods, and are able to truly understand that art is a reflection of who you are and how you feel.

NATIONAL STANDARD

Students use visual structures and functions of art to communicate ideas.

Nancy M. Kremeier is an art teacher at Oak Hill Elementary School in Overland Park, Kansas.