….Picasso’s Doves of Peace drawings were the inspiration for this lesson

Pablo Picasso was very political and didn’t like how the world’s peace initiatives were emerging after after the the second world war. He created The Dove of Peace as an extraordinarily powerful and lasting political symbol for peace, liberation and equality around the globe. Doves also had a highly personal significance for Picasso, going back to childhood memories of his father painting the doves that were kept in the family home. Doves were a frequent presence in Picasso’s homes and studios in Paris and in the south of France. ( adapted from Tate.org.uk)

Back in the spring when I came across The Dove of Peace I decided then and there that I wanted to do a similar theme for this year’s Remembrance Day assembly. I liked the simplicity of the drawings and felt that my students would be up for the challenge.

I didn’t want every student to draw doves so I had them research symbols of peace that could be easily drawn. My only rule was that the picture couldn’t have blood or weapons in it. After working out a rough copy of what they wanted to draw I gave each student a piece of watercolour paper. They were allowed to choose between a small and medium size.

First they drew their symbol with pencil and then went over the lines with crayon. To make the symbol  stand out more I showed them how to add a bit of black marker. Then I taught them how to do a simple wash of colour for the their background while leaving the symbol white. This was a difficult concept for some because they wanted to paint everything.

As a final touch the children were allowed to take photographs of each other. The photo had to symbolize friendship and or peace. Some children embraced each other while others shook hands. If they didn’t want a photo taken the other option was to find a magazine picture with the same theme. The pictures were in black and white because we printed them from the computers in the room onto our shared printer which only prints in black.

On Friday, most of the art was finished and ready to be displayed in the gym. Other classes did a similar theme and some of the younger grades changed it up a bit. All in all, everyone did a great job and the space looks wonderful. A big thank you goes out to all the staff and students.