I always begin the year focusing on Line, Shape and Colour to provide a solid foundations of the most basic Elements of Art. I also like to promote a positive theme or message to kick off the year. This year I used Romero Britto as the catalyst to create bright and bold art that connected these themes for the students. Plus I have a super sweet Romero Britto mug from my visit to his gallery in Miami in the Spring of 2016 that I needed show off!

I assessed prior knowledge by asking students to draw different lines, shapes and colour in their sketchbooks i.e. draw a geometric shape, draw a curved line using a primary colour. This allowed me to see which students needed a refresher or clarification.

After introducing Romero Britto, students began creating their own Britto inspired hearts. Beginning with a large heart in the middle of their paper, students drew lines across their paper to create sections. To allow students to see the lines better, they went over them with black marker. In the sections, students drew a variety of lines and different shapes with wax crayon.

   
           Once finished, the sections were painted with watercolours. However, the students had to demonstrate an understanding of complementary colours as they had to paint the complement to go with the crayon they used in the section i.e. if they drew red hearts in the section they had to paint over the hearts with green watercolour. This allowed me to assess whether the student knew the complimentary colours. Lastly, students painted over the marker lines with black poster paint reminiscent of Britto’s bold black outlines.

Even Venus McArtsy made an appearance and sang a song inspired by Romero Britto as well. Just from listening to the song students could remember all the key points I wanted them to remember about Britto and his art. All in all, this lesson was a great way to start the year – Line, Shape, Colour, Love, Peace, Joy and a bit of Britto.