Girl with Dog by Theodore Robinson (1852 - 1896)

Allows students to view the print for a few moments before questioning. 

1. What do we call a painting of a person?  (portrait)  Do all portraits have to be painted?  (no) Do we have portraits made today?  (photographs)
2. Who is being portrayed in this painting?
3. Is she happy?  Healthy?  Glad to be there?  Quiet or shy?  How old do you think she is?
4. What is the girl wearing?  In what time period do you think this girl lives?  How do her clothes give us clues about this?
5. The way things feel is called texture.  If you could touch the girl's hat, how would it feel?  Mention other objects in the painting.  How do you think each thing would feel?  How does the artist make us feel textures in the painting? (brushstrokes, application of paint, color)
6. Touch your face.  How does that feel?  (smooth, rough, soft, hard, warm, cold)  Find something in this painting that you think feels like your face feels.   Identify how other objects in the painting might feel - the dog's ear, the material in the girl's skirt, the leather of the girl's boot, the rock she is sitting on?
7. How do you think the artist felt about this person?  How do you know?
8. What kind of person do you think is being portrayed?  (rich, poor, kind, intelligent, proud, humble)  How do you know?
9. Do all portraits have to be of one person?  Do you think a portrait could be painted of an animal?  (you can show examples of other portrait prints located in the first grade drawer)
10. What are the warm colors in this painting?  Cool colors?  Why did the artist use the warm and cool colors in the way he did?  Do they give you a sense as to the season of the year? (warm colors give warmth to the face and hands of the girl, the face of the dog)  (cool colors used on the rock, the grass, the trees are appropriate to those objects while giving a scenes of a cool day)
11. Where do you see lines in this painting?  What do they do?  
12. Does this picture look exactly like a photograph?  In what ways is it different?  (Impressionistic - notice brushstrokes, blurred appearance - relate to other Impressionist picture seen this year - Monet's Red Boat at Argenteuil or The Water Lily Pond from first grade.  

About the Artist

Theodore Robinson was an American painter who moved to Paris and discovered the French impressionist painter Monet.  He studied under Monet and then brought the French impressionist movement to the US.  He is called the "pioneer of American Impressionism".  He was called a sensitive artist who saw nature directly.  American impressionist focused more on subject matter than on visual sensations like the French did.  

Activity

Distribute a piece of candy (Twizzlers) to the students after asking them to tell you what they had learned during the art session.  Twizzlers make your mouth happy so you'll smile for your portrait.

Pass out white drawing paper.  Ask students to use their own crayons, pencils or markers to create their own self-portraits.  They should indicate information about their own personalities by including attention to setting and objects within the portrait that will show their audience what they want people to remember about themselves.

Print Template Face Guideline