Greek Vases

Sixth Grade Art
3 Class Periods

Greek Vases, Sixth Grade Art

Day 1
Students had a lesson on Greek pottery design.  We discussed the purpose of pottery to the Greek culture, examined the artwork created on the vessels and looked at the techniques of black and red figure pottery.

Students viewed this clip Ancient Greek Vases after our discussion to help with their understanding of the techniques.

We next took 12 x 18 inch construction paper folded it in half and drew half of the silhouette of a Greek shaped vessel.  I had numerous shape examples for students to look and and choose form.  Once, they drew half the vessel on half of the paper, keeping the paper folded they cut on the lines they drew.  When they opened the paper they had a symmetrical vessel.  This paper vessel was then glued onto black or dark gray 12 x18 inch construction paper.

Day 2
During the next class period students examined numerous Greek patterns and placed them near the top or bottom of their vessel.  Students were then allowed to start drawing a Greek God, mythical creature or scene depicting a mythical story on their vessel.  I had students plan this with pencil before outlining it with sharpie marker.  I did have some Greek God photographs set out for reference or students could bring in their own pictures for reference.

Day 3
On this day students were instructed to use a sharpie marker to create thin and bold lines within their drawing and in their pattern.  Students were shown how to shade areas with hatching and cross-hatching techniques.

Examples: