Project ARTiculate

Amason's Whimsical Animals

Grade 5

Suzanne Black and Linda Pfisterer, Art Specialists

Students look at the whimsical animal paintings of Alvin Amason, an Alaskan Native artist. Students begin their own animal paintings using basic shapes and playful color choices, adding large brush strokes in his painting style.

Objectives and assessment criteria

Students will:

1. study the paintings of Alaskan Native Artist Alvin Amason, and his style of painting animals.
2. look for basic geometric shapes in the animal photos and the paintings of Amason.
3. study the shapes of the nose, head and ears of the animal they plan to draw.
4. use placement and proportion to fill the paper with the head enlargement of the animal.
5. paint with large brush strokes using whimsical colors and very little of the true animal colors.