This Visual Arts workshop aligns especially well with Grade 3, Wit & Wisdom Module 4: Artists Make Art.
The program also supports modules challenging students to perceive more than one point of view of a story or problem, such as Grade 5, Module 3 on the perspective from which a story is narrated or told.
In the session, students explore negative space (the background) and positive form (the foreground) using a plexiglass picture plane and dry-erase markers.
As they shift their focus between what they see and what they overlook, they transform an initial drawing into an entirely new image. They can then transfer their designs to paper by drawing the negative shapes like puzzle pieces, building confidence and observation skills.
Throughout the workshop, students discover that artists make art by looking carefully, questioning assumptions, experimenting with ideas, and remaining open to unexpected possibilities. Rather than striving for perfection, they engage in a creative process of exploration and discovery.
Learning to shift between foreground and background helps students recognize that there is more than one way to see an object, an idea, or a story. This artistic habit of mind reinforces Wit & Wisdom themes of perspective, encouraging students to consider multiple points of view and understand that different perspectives can exist at the same time.
Ultimately, students experience one of the visual artist's greatest strengths: learning to see what others often overlook.
