Objectives of Lesson

• draw a fish that is anatomically correct
• view and comment on the art of Jack Cowin
• utilize cropping to create interesting composition
• use the rule of thirds to place fish in an interesting compositional space.

Materials

• images of Saskatchewan fish
• pencil crayons
• fine tip Sharpie markers
• watercolour paint/brushes

Biography of Jack Cowin
Links to work of Jack Cowin
Resources for Saskatchewan teachers- Saskatchewan Art Works a Visual Art Resource for K-8, Sask. Ed 1991. Slide #53

Procedure

1. This unit involved the breakdown of the shapes within a fish and close attention to detail.
2. Rather than drawing what I call the wishbone fish, I had the children carefully draw the shapes within the body of the fish. They also focused on not doing a contour  (outline) drawing of a fish but rather looking for shapes.
   
3. The children were encouraged to find the ovals, triangles and squares inside the fish. They reproduced these shapes lightly on their paper. As an example I drew directly on a copy of a fish so they could see the shapes.
4.  
   
5. After the shapes were drawn the children connected the shapes to make the smooth outline of the fishes body.
6. Colour the fish. Saskatchewan fish in general are not very colourful but encourage the children to use the correct colours. I feel is so important for the children to explore Saskatchewan animals and see them for their distinctive beauty.
7. Outline the scales, gills, tails etc. with fine tip sharpies.
8. To create the background the children painted  a wash. Water is placed on the paper first and then watery paint is placed on the watery surface. The paint will move around on its own and create a translucent water effect. If the children do not place the water first the paint may become too vibrant and the fish may be hidden in the dark blue water.  The children also incorporated greens and purples in the water.
9. The grade one class created their works as if someone were ice fishing so also painted the person fishing and painted the sky.