Keith Haring Moving Figures

some my Year 3 students' artworks, 2010

Lesson Background:

I designed this activity based on an idea I got from the Deep Space Sparkle website: http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2008/06/keith-haring-inspired-ceramic-mural/
My class was studying a unit of work on healthy lifestyles, including exercise, self-esteem, friendships and relationships.  The unit seemed to be summed up nicely through Keith Haring's art.

Lesson Steps:

1.  We read an edited, child-friendly biography of Keith Haring's life.
2.  I showed the students a range of his artworks on the class interactive whiteboard and we discussed his art style, his use of line, colour, shape, movement and what he was trying to communicate in his artworks (love, tolerance, unity etc).
3.  We talked about how he showed movement through the use of movement lines.
4.  I gave the students some pictures of Keith Haring's artworks to look at and to help them draw their own moving figure/s.  For those that were struggling to draw their own figure, I allowed them to trace up to half of the body from one of the Keith Haring's figures I had given them.  They then had to draw in the rest themselves.
5.  The students then traced or copied their figure/s onto coloured brenex paper. 
6.  I then asked the students to consider what shapes or blocks of colour they would like in the background.  We re-looked at Keith Haring backgrounds and talked about how he used images like hearts, simple shapes and strips of colour.  The children then designed their own background, cut it out of coloured Brenex paper and stuck down their background and figure/s on a sheet of A4 card.
7.  We then came back together on the floor and experimented with drawing movement lines on figures I had drawn on the whiteboard.  Gradually we worked out together, where these lines should go and how to draw them best.  We decided they looked like "rainbows" and "curved around" the part of the body that was moving.
6.  The children went back to their desks and then drew movement lines onto their artworks (I suggested between 2 and 4 sets per figure).  They did this in lead pencil first and then when they were satisfied with them, they traced over the lines in black texta.
7.  I then asked the students to trace around the outside of their figures in black texta to make them stang out.

Year 3 Artworks, 2010:




3B artworks (we tried multiple figures in 2009)



Sample artwork I made to help guide the class