Surrealist Handscapes

Students in this 2-D unit lesson focused on the anatomy of the human hands.  With discussion of Surrealism and surrealist artists, students created surrealist landscapes using their hands as the main focal point.  Students studying the anatomy of the hand included them in their surreal landscape making the hands the main subject of their piece.  This assignment helped students think outside the box and into a dream-like state.  Students very much loved learning about surrealism and the bizarre quality of work produced during that period of time.

With this assignment, the focus was on the anatomy of the hands, proportion, using surrealist qualities within their art, and using value or tonal shading.  Here are some of the landscapes that the 6th, 7th and 8th graders came up with.