Art Lesson: Keith Haring
Big art? It’s kind of our thing.
This week at Sanidas Academy, we learned about some of the most influential street artists in art history. Banksy, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Shepard Fairey to name a few. But what would a lesson on street artists be without artist, activist, and philanthropist: Keith Haring.
Students learned about the graffiti culture of NYC along with the Pop-Art movement of the 80’s. Our young minds were encouraged to openly discuss their opinions on where the line is drawn between art and vandalism; a harsh reality for street artists. It’s fantastic to present your young students with critical thinking questions after a lesson in art history. It challenges our students to begin questioning the functions of art in contemporary and past culture.
Street art is the perfect genre for discussion and education as it’s a massive movement created to challenge commercialism and express the dissatisfaction in politics. Artists like Keith Haring, who led the “Crack is Wack” movement against the drug epidemic in NYC as well AIDS awareness and activism, have used art as a catalyst for awareness. The work of Keith Haring is full of color and gesture, making it an exciting and massive project.
MATERIALS:
Acrylic Paint
Foam Brushes
Flat Paint Brushes (for outline)
Large Roll of Heavyweight paper
We started this project off by clearing the classroom to maximize our floor space. We unrolled a large roll of heavy weight paper. You want to make sure to use a medium or heavy weight paper, as opposed to kraft or newsprint, to minimize buckling of the paper since we are using acrylic. In our case, we had a roll of unused, brown, photography backdrop paper (which ended up working perfectly).
After laying out the paper, we partnered up our students and asked one to do a silly pose on the paper. Their partner will trace the outline of their body with a pencil first. After one student is tracing, have them switch off.
*Tip* Have your students discuss their poses with each other to create an interactive composition.
After the poses are traced, help them mix their desired color they want to use for the inside of the figure. The outline will be saved for last. To avoid a mess, I recommend using large sponge brushes. If your paint is too heavy bodied, try wall painting brushes. The bristles are much smoother and will move the paint much easier. Make sure you heavily monitor your students! Even with a watchful eye, I had at least two students step in wet paint.
When the pose is fully painted in, throw on a youtube video about the artist while the paint dries a bit. You want the color to be dried at least on the edges so the black outline won’t mix with the color inside the figure. Instead of the sponge brush, I recommend a small to medium sized flat brush for the outline. You want to make sure the black outline is clear and thick to get the same effect as Haring.
While each student is finishing up, have a slideshow of some Keith Haring pieces for small design inspiration. Fill up some (or all!) of the spaces in between the figures with zig zag lines or shapes.
Hang up the finished piece or cut the figures out to create a huge installation!
