From classes one to eight artistic work with colour is an integral part of the main lesson and is thus in the hands of the class teacher. This work falls into two distinct pathways. One is narrative or illustrative drawing, which is done with wax blocks or crayons and pastels, later with coloured pencils. The other is water-colour painting. The former is in constant use for various purposes and in connection with a wide range of subjects. Water-colour painting, on the other hand, is usually done once a week as part of the main lesson, or even at another time specially reserved for it.

Art has its own intrinsic value. Part of being a teacher is to cultivate a feeling for it as an essential element of human development. Whereas learning to understand nature and her laws brings certain skills to maturity, engaging in artistic activity involves free creative expression, which is not directed towards any specific purpose. Through artistic activity the child’s imaginative sensibilities are deeply affected. Art should never appear as an addition to normal classroom work. Accordingly, water colour painting – as mentioned above – also has its set place within the fabric of teaching.

The painting day offers a further opportunity for the teacher to deepen his or her insight into the inner life of the children.

The teaching of art takes its lead from Goethe’s Theory of Colours, especially the “Didactic Section”, where he examines and describes the psychological effects of colours. The idea is that the child should have direct experience of these objective, inner effects of colour perception. Working with thin, fluid paint is a medium particularly well suited to this purpose. And applying the paint to moist paper – in other words, we work with moist on moist – gives the process an even more intense immediacy, such that any tendency to pass judgement, for instance as to “right” or “wrong”, which would be a feature of attempting accurate representation, is rendered inappropriate. Rather the child’s experience is: “I can paint!” This is an important experience, which forms the basis for further artistic development. This in turn entails going through the whole sequence of water-colour techniques from moist-on-moist to painting in layers (“veil painting”), all of which requires practice if the qualities of the medium are to be mastered.

Working purely on the basis of colour should not be eclipsed or diverted by having external images imposed on it. This means that we begin painting with the children in a way that is closely akin to abstract (non-representational) art. However, this painting “from the colour” must appeal concretely to the child’s feelings, which means that the task in hand will bring the psychological quality of the colours into relation with an imaginatively concrete picture “Painting stories”, which “bring the colours to life”, are a helpful introduction to this way of working.

“You must do this in such a way that the forms grow out of the colours. You can speak to the children from within the world of colours. Just think how exciting it is for the children if you could bring them to understand something like this: here is this mischievous lilac, and hard on her heels is a cheeky little red. Together they’re standing on a meek and humble blue. You must make this concrete – this has a positive effect on the growing soul – so that the colours become active. Whatever thoughts emerge from the colours can be combined in dozens of different ways. One must get the child to live in the colour by saying: ‘When the red looks through the blue’, and make sure the child actually manages this.” (Steiner GA 300a, 15.11.1920 (German edition 1975, p. 240))

Once the child has gained sufficient experience of colours in this way, the attempt can be made to derive actual forms directly from them – for minerals (mountains, rock), for atmospheres (phenomena of the heavens, cloudscapes), for the plant, animal and human worlds – with the proviso that even stronger emphasis be placed on the condition mentioned above. Namely, that the external form must emerge from inner experience. The temptation here to lapse into a form of aesthetic illustration is not to be over-estimated!

A completely different element that is added to the moist-on-moist technique in classes 7 and 8 is that of colour washes layered on top of each other, i.e. veil painting.   Here there must be considerably more attention to detail, and to the exercise of patient observation. A palette for mixing colours and time to let the picture take shape are just as necessary as being well-versed in the technique for applying the paint.

Whereas before the child’s sensibilities would have been sympathetically absorbed in the act of painting to the exclusion of all external influence, and the detached consideration of the paintings on the following day would tend more towards “antipathy”, with veil painting the two intermingle. Now this “breathing process” is no longer conducted by the teacher, but by the students themselves.

“Art is one of the daughters of freedom” – so says Friedrich Schiller in his letters On the Aesthetic Education of Man. Painting lessons can and should provide a sense of this, insofar as the students are thereby engaged in developing the skills required for the exercise of freedom.

As regards illustrative and narrative drawing, all that need be said is that the children initially learn how this is done from the teacher’s blackboard drawings, and that this is cultivated all the way through their schooling.

Drawings are always built up from bringing together areas of colour, never from lines. In nature outlines arise essentially where differently coloured planes meet. Through creating illustrations accompanying the text in main lesson books, pictures showing artefacts and natural objects in nature study and later in geography, as well as aesthetically refined illustrations of experiments in physics and chemistry, the techniques required for this kind of practical drawing are constantly being practised and improved.

Methodological considerations

With the painting exercises in class 1 a training of the senses begins. In the course of this the child has the experience of how colours evoke certain feelings, and the aim is that the child becomes aware of these “inner movements” and learns how to characterise them. The one occurs during the act of painting itself, the other in the review of the paintings, which follows every painting day. On this process Steiner says: “These colour experiences will stimulate mobility in the child's mental imagery, suppleness in feelings, and flexibility in the will activities. The child's entire soul life will become more sensitive and pliable.” (Steiner GA 306, 19.04.1923, lecture 5 (German edition 1982, p. 113))

Suggested lesson content

• Starting from the polarity of blue and yellow, get to know the difference between this strong contrast and the weaker one of yellow and green
• Painting with the primary colours yellow, red and blue
• Starting with a colour story (told by the teacher) the children are allowed to form the picture in their own way
• The range of colours is extended to include the three secondary colours (mixed from the primary ones)
• Basic introduction to the technique of moist-on-moist painting, together with all the preparatory procedures (wetting the paper, spreading it on the board etc.)
• Painting on coloured paper

Methodological considerations

In keeping with the theme of grade 2 (® Horizontal Curriculum) exercises in duality can be done; this can involve symmetry or other kinds of complementary balance. The main thing is to focus the children’s feelings in this direction.

In the composing and telling of colour stories it is important for the teacher not to lapse into something subjectively contrived, but to be led by the colours themselves. Only in this way can the child come to identify with the quality living within the colour combination.

By the end of grade 2 the children will have refined their skills in working with this medium (doing preparatory washes, mixing, preventing dry edges etc.) and are now in a position to discover that colours mutually affect each other, the one having either an intensifying or dampening effect upon the other (cf. Schiefer/Schiller 2015: p. 260 ff.).

Nevertheless, one should not allow certain motifs from the grade 2 story material to tempt one to rush into representational painting. Legends and fables can also very well be the subject of charming “colour conversations”.

Suggested lesson content

Exercises giving experience of

• colour combinations full of character (red and yellow, yellow and blue, blue and red, orange and green, green and violet, violet and orange)
• complementary colour combinations (red and green, yellow and violet, orange and blue)
• “characterless” colour combinations (yellow and orange, orange and red, red and violet, violet and blue, yellow and green, blue and green)
• exercises involving exchanges of complementary colours
• exercises in expansion and contrast: compositions where positive (expansive) and negative (contractive) form elements appear at the same time

Methodological considerations

The main consideration in class 3 is to take account of the fact that the child’s perceptual relationship to the world has become more detached, and to meet his or her concomitant need to be involved in physical work and in actively shaping things. Thus there are main lessons on the Creation Story (Genesis), which deals with the formation of the universe, and on agriculture and house-building, which involves a re-shaping of the earth. Painting lessons can be directly related to this. The focus can now not only be on composing pictures from the qualities of colours, but also on the genesis of colour itself.

Suggested lesson content

• Producing the primary colours yellow, blue and red from light and darkness
• Modifications shifting colours to the plus or minus side of the colour circle
• The process by which the mixed colours green, orange and violet arise
• The seven days of creation as exercises in pure colour composition
• Artistic realisation of motifs from the Old Testament (e.g. Noah and the ark, Moses and the burning bush etc. – see Wildgruber 2009: p. 175 ff.)
• Motifs – but still developed, as before, from colour qualities – representing the various trades: farmer, blacksmith, fisherman etc.

Methodological considerations

In keeping with the children’s stage of development, grade 4 can in many respects be seen under the heading of orientation and grounding in space: accordingly, we practise orientation in the world of colours, such that the child begins to develop the ability to arrive at compositional elements which combine colour characteristics with the theme in hand (cf. Schiefer/Schiller 2015: p. 62). This will involve an interplay between getting to the form from the colour and finding the colour that matches the theme. This makes considerable demands on the child’s powers of attention, for it is not a question of trying to be “realistic” or of copying something, but of “experiencing a holistic process, the artistic mood that encapsulates a main lesson theme.” (Wildgruber 2009: p. 213)

Suggested lesson content

• Developing animal forms from colours
• Painting in relation to nature study lessons
• Meeting and using colour dynamics
• Simple compositions based on the year’s story material (e.g. from Nordic mythology: Niflheim, Muspelheim, Midgard, Asgard and the World Tree, the kingdom of Hels, Ragnarok etc.)
• Painting on coloured paper to increase the potential for creating tonal combinations and atmospheres

Methodological considerations

“The constantly changing colour processes in nature are an expression of the dynamic interplay going on in plants: between the forces of sun and earth, light and darkness. The action of this polarity forms the basis for a first painting exercise.” (Jünemann/Weitmann 2007: p. 66).

Painting lessons can, as indicated above, take up the themes of the main lessons (e.g. botany). It is worth pointing out again that we are not concerned here with aesthetic illustration, but with composition based on the qualities of colours, in this case those of nature. Thus what happens in the painting lesson can be seen as a qualitative extension and intensification of what has been the subject of the main lesson. On the other hand, elements from botany, or indeed any of the grade 5 main lessons, such as history or geography, give the children the opportunity to incorporate things they have heard or felt in these lessons, i.e. their own motifs, into their paintings.

Suggested lesson content

• Using green – yellow – red to create moods of the plant world
• Trying to achieve various qualities of colour tone: “rose-red”, “lily-white” as compared to “lotus-white”, “moss-green” as opposed to “birch-green”
• Working much more consciously with subtle nuances and combinations of colour tone
• Reviewing paintings no longer involves singling out those in which chance has produced a happy result; rather, attention is now directed towards seeing where real, consciously differentiated colour exploration has been happening
• In consultation with the children, seek out motifs from the history main lesson (Ancient Cultures) which are “calling out” for artistic expression
• Landscape painting in connection with geography – here the children have the opportunity to apply the skills they have learned in the creating of subtle colour effects.

Methodological considerations

Given the characteristics of the stage of development they have reached, twelve-year-olds expect something different from painting classes than what has gone before.  For this age “the study of projection and shadow” is considered appropriate. The student is to be given a clear idea of how shadows are cast, and carry out observations associated with this.

Now, there are several ways of approaching the subject of light-dark and shadow; mention here will be made of two:

1. Colour is abandoned in favour of working with charcoal or chalk. This implies that from this age on painting becomes an aspect of drawing (® Drawing)
2. Alternatively, painting can continue, and the subjects in hand can be dealt with in terms of that medium.

Suggested lesson content

(as applied to the approach via painting)

• Black and grey are gradually derived from the three primary colours and the mixed colours. This is a long process, which needs to be taken through a number of stages
• The grey or black obtained from the colours can be tried out on motifs from botany (trees) or mineralogy. If black-white studies of trees have been carried out in drawing classes, these can be transferred into colour.

Within the context of the painting approach one can do various compositions which relate to the black-white exercises done in drawing (® Drawing; cf. Wildgruber 2009: p. 279 f.).

Methodological considerations

Now we have the introduction of a new painting technique – layering or “veil” painting – which requires considerable restraint on the student’s part, the ability to wait (till the paper or a layer of paint has dried), and perseverance. Also the process of applying the paint cannot rely on the colour sensibilities built up over the previous years, for the colours must now be overlaid very delicately. Through this technique, however, a whole range of new possibilities for colour differentiation and depth arise. Thus, the main theme of the grade 7 drawing lessons, namely perspective, is also taken up in painting.

Painting activities can also be extended in another direction. If Asia is one of the themes of grade 7 geography, then the students can be led into the techniques of Japanese ink painting. This specialised art-form demands a lot of concentration and self-control. This offers a special challenge to adolescents at a time when they are struggling to come to terms with their growing limbs and having to re-learn their fine-motor skills. Reducing things to the bare essentials – also in terms of painting utensils (“The Four Treasures”: ink-slab and stick, paintbrush, paper) – means working in the style of a graphic medium which chiefly owes its effectiveness to economy of form and understatement. It also greatly excites the imagination (cf. Clausen/Riedel 1997: p. 71ff.).

Suggested lesson content

• Water-colour painting in layers (veil-painting)
• Initial exercises using only one colour
• Conscious application of colour-perspective
• Associated exercises using pastels
• Becoming aware, within a compositional context, of what a particular colour “wants”
• Ink drawing (possibly in connection with geography)
• Working with ink-slab, ink-stick, brush and dry or moist paper
• Working with coloured inks
• The inner preparation a painter needs to go through before using a brush

Methodological considerations

Veil painting is continued and technically rounded off. Various subjects for pictures can now be tried out using the moist-on-moist method, and then the layering method. The aim of such exercises is to enable the students to exert their powers of discernment in relation to the qualities of an artistic process: what does it mean to use a particular technique and work with the colour in the service of a certain theme, or to work against the colour and thus against the theme? This provides an excellent way for young people to experience necessity, limitation and freedom, to try out a variety of approaches and to develop, within this dynamic context, the ability to “play”.

Such exploratory exercises, which go hand in hand with the students’ own processes of self-discovery, can be intensified, in accordance with the following suggestion of Steiner’s: “If I had the job of working with the thirteen, fourteen-year-olds […] I would begin with Dürer’s ‘Melancholia’ I would draw their attention to how wonderful the distribution of light and shadow is. The light on the window, the play of light upon the polyhedron and the sphere. Starting with ‘Melancholia’ like this is sure to be worthwhile. As an exercise in imagination this black and white classic could very well be transformed into a colour composition.” (Steiner GA 300c, 05.02.1924 (German edition 1975, p. 128))

This exercise calls up questions not only as to what is possible, but also what is practicable – and the artistic process consists, then, in looking for a variety of answers. This represents both a continuation and a preliminary rounding off of the artistic work begun in class 1, the aim of which was to gain direct knowledge of the psychological effects, in other words, the inner meanings of colours. Beyond this, it should not be forgotten that painting is a powerful means of transcending the merely functional, and provides the imagination with multiple forms of expression.

Suggested lesson content

• Continuation of veil painting; studies of nature starting from pure colour and using varying techniques
• Exercises in transforming moist-on-moist into veil (layered) technique and vice-versa
• Re-imagining black-white pictures in the form of colour compositions, e.g. Dürer’s “Melancholia” or “St. Jerome in his Study” (can also be done with class 9 if they have painting, otherwise class 10)
• Franz Marc’s pencil sketches or coloured animal studies lend themselves to similar treatment in both directions
• Design of stage set and posters in connection with the class-play
• Compositional subjects freely chosen from mother tongue main lesson material

As previously mentioned, the process of painting often presents young people with something of a challenge. Things are different, however, when colour can be used as a stylistic device within a graphic context. In the high school the art teacher can take his or her lead from this and begin by concentrating more [upon the realm of] on graphical composition. For fourteen- or fifteen-year-olds the experience of white and black, of fine gradations of grey, of light and shadow is something that touches them deeply. For this reason it is not uncommon to abandon painting altogether in grade 9 and turn instead to developing proficiency in drawing in a big way.

By grade 10/11, now at the age of sixteen or seventeen, the students have moved on in their development. It is readily observable that they are making the effort to step out of their isolation. They begin looking for friendship and follow their need to enter into close human relationships. This can involve vehement expressions of both sympathy and antipathy, which for the teacher opens up a broad field of possible activities: a rich array of colour nuances must now be fed into the “black-white sensibility”. The newly awakened interest in people and in the world around should be supported and intensified, otherwise there is the danger of becoming self absorbed.

 Young people seek this “forwards impulse” not only in the subjects they are taught but also in their teachers. They want the experience of role-models full of enthusiasm and the will to change.

Working with dynamically varying colour relationships, therefore, is not something that simply suits the inner needs of sixteen- to seventeen-year-olds, it is an urgent necessity.

Whereas in black and white drawing there was very often only one way of being artistically true to the task in hand and one was more or less obliged to follow it, with colour painting the situation is completely different. Here the sheer abundance of colour differentiations has a liberating effect and, beyond that, gives direction to the imagination. It is to be hoped that this guidance gained through discoveries made in the act of painting might activate the young person’s will. If drawing classes sometimes entail the experience of “bringing something to a close”, of a “death process”, this all changes in painting lessons: release, liberation, renewal and “resurrection” can all be present in such lessons, and although unspoken may, for that very reason, be experienced in a profound and existential way. What art is ultimately about does not stop at the school gate. This goes just as much for the art teacher as for the young people engaged in artistic processes: “It is clearly stated what Art stands for. Not for the embodiment of the super-sensible, but for the transformation of the physical and the actual. Reality is not to be lowered to a means of expression: no, it is to be maintained in its full independence; only it must receive a new form, a form in which it satisfies us. […] This is not the Idea in the form of a phenomenon; it is just the contrary; it is a phenomenon in the form of the Idea.” (Steiner: “Goethe as the founder of a new science of aesthetics” – GA 30 (german edition p. 39 und 43))

“The Old Testament taboo on images – ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image’ – has had its effect right up to the present time. But humanity must leave the realm of abstract law and renew the faculty of the soul which can make images, and can now do so in full consciousness, for in future even social life will be shaped chiefly by the most profound, authentic productions of the imagination.” (Jünemann/Weitmann 2007: p. 202)

Summary of general teaching aims

• “awakening” from black-white into the experience of colour
• practical experience of painting as the expression of multi-perspectival perception of the world and of other people
• acquiring guidance from painting for the development of a many-layered worldview
• encountering, through painting, the question of the meaning of art
• evoking, nurturing and applying the powers of the imagination, so that they will be readily available wherever real vision, concrete scenarios of the future are called for.

In keeping with the preliminary remarks made on p ---, in the curriculum as presented here painting (together with sculpture) is dropped in favour of a concentration on drawing and graphics.

From class/grade 10 on

• Picking up on the experience of painting gained in the primary school
• More conscious use of colour by grasping the particular qualities and expressive potential of each one
• Seeking appropriate ways of expressing certain experiences and moods through colour and form
• Developing a sensitivity to the expressive effects of different colour intensities
• Gradual development of a personal “style” from the known range of objectively given qualities

If there are individuals or groups who should or would like to learn about other ways of painting, and there is enough time available, they can be introduced to the basic techniques of painting with oils, acrylics, tempera, and to the use of pigments. The transition from the thin fluid paint used for watercolours to working with thick oil-paint on a palette presents a major artistic challenge for young people. The question is whether this might not be too much if there is not sufficient opportunity to practise the practical skills required here. If it proves possible, the students should also learn to judge for themselves how to match technique to artistic intention.

Reflecting upon works of art is something that happens mostly in art (history of art) main lessons, but discussion of the students’ work belongs in painting lessons. This should aid the process of perceiving the connection between content and form, the effects of different compositional approaches, and the intelligibility of a message in relation to its expressiveness.

When doing a main lesson block in painting the practice of choosing an overall theme which can lead to a wide variety of different tasks has proved its worth. To an ever-increasing degree this should involve the students in deciding what questions to pursue and how to go about it.

The teacher’s role is to offer help with difficult decisions and to give thematic, technical, compositional and organisational advice. The students should also have the opportunity to choose large-scale projects and shape them according to their own ideas. The possibility of choosing should always be used as a way of concentrating and deepening the work, rather than getting lost in a welter of superficial activities.

Class/grade 10

• Translation of black-white compositions (e.g. etchings by Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt, Eduard Munch etc.) into colour (developing the ability to see motifs in terms of colour qualities as a basis for freeing up the artistic imagination)
• Basic exercises in gaining a feel for the special qualities of individual colours
• Colour polarities (warm-cold, harmonious-dissonant etc.), three-colour exercises
• A variety of exercises exploring (Goethean) colour theory
• Contrasting themes, directly inspired by colour experience

Class/grade 11

• Nature moods and landscapes (sunrise and sunset, moonlit scenes)
• Tree and flower studies (e.g. trees in sunlight, storm, rain)
• Applying Goethe’s theory of harmony and disharmony
• Translation of certain emotional (or musical) processes into colour and form: joy – sorrow, adagio – allegro etc.

Class/grade 12

• The human being as a motif
• The incarnadine colour-tone
• The human head (male, female in different phases of life), in profile, en face, and in other aspects
• If possible, a free rendering of a work from a well-known school of painting – e.g. impressionism, expressionism (this can also be done within the context of art history), although by the end of Waldorf schooling students should have found their own individual style, rather than simply being highly skilled copyists.

Materials and techniques

• Watercolour
• Painting in layers (veil technique), or with more liquid paint to keep the outcome more flexible
• If possible, oil, acrylic or tempera technique on prepared paper or canvas. Attention to the use of the brush and to the structure this kind of painting creates.  

Clausen, A./Riedel, M. (1997): Schöpferisches Gestalten mit Farben: Methodisches Arbeitsbuch. Band IV. Stuttgart

Jünemann, M./Weitmann, F. (2007): Der künstlerische Unterricht in der Waldorfschule: Malen und Zeichnen. Stuttgart

Schiefer, O./Schiller, R. (2015): Da lebt die Farbe auf unter den Fingern. Stuttgart

Schiller, F. (2000): Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen. Stuttgart

Steiner, R. (1975): Konferenzen mit den Lehrern der Freien Waldorfschule in

Stuttgart 1919 bis 1924. GA 300a, GA 300c, Dornach

Steiner, R. (1989a): Goethe als Vater einer neuen Asthetik. In: Methodische

Grundlagen der Anthroposophie. GA 30, Dornach

Steiner, R. (1989b): Die pädagogische Praxis vom Gesichtspunkte geisteswissenschaftlicher Menschenerkenntnis. GA 306, Dornach

Wildgruber, T. (2009): Malen und Zeichnen 1. – 8. Schuljahr. Ein Handbuch.

Stuttgart

Drawing, employing as it does that oldest of artistic devices, the line, is clearly distinguished from painting. The graphic form is always something finished, something which has come to rest, and so can be regarded – to express it in more radical terms – as fixed and dead (Steiner GA 294, 23.8.1919 (German edition p. 41)). Drawing lessons, however, are not primarily about the finished form, but above all about the process, the development of skill and the kind of experience had by engaging in this activity. Of course it goes without saying that the act of producing a form is what brings this qualitative experience about. Thus, following Goethe, we are justified in speaking of the “sensory-moral” effects of form.

Elementary drawing does not involve the copying of objects. The child should rather experience drawing as the trace left by a movement which he or she was engaged in. This kind of drawing – from which free-hand geometry emerges in class 4 – has developed from suggestions of Steiner’s (Steiner GA 294, 25.8.1919 (German edition p. 56f.); GA 295, 23.8.1919: (German edition 1985, p. 35f)) and has established itself in Waldorf schools as form-drawing.

If in their first years of school children are guided into drawing simple forms and variations upon them in such a way as to experience their inherent qualities, they will learn to have a lively appreciation for form. This will also give them the ability as adolescents to perceive the formative gestures of the natural and man-made phenomena they encounter.

“This is important from the point of view of further development. When the young person experiences formative gestures in nature (those of landscape, plant and animal etc.), in art and in other works of human ingenuity, his or her relationship to the world becomes concrete and rich. A way of seeing, which has not yet been permeated by a concrete sense of the plastic-architectonic – as is true of the conventional way – can only conceive of the finished object as form which is fixed and dead. It restricts human consciousness to apprehension of the inanimate. With a way of seeing that is alive to the coming into being of form, however, perception is not arrested at the surface of the finished object, but can penetrate into the inner life of things.” (Kranich 2000: p.31)

Wassily Kandinsky, as someone who thoroughly explored the nature of the line, said: “When a line in a picture is freed from the role of delineating something and thus functions as a thing in its own right, then its inherent harmoniousness is not attenuated by any accompanying part and can reveal its full inner power.” (Kandinsky 1997: p. 161)

Thus in form-drawing the children should experience this “linear harmony”, and in this way develop their sense of form. This is something they need and it comes into play when they are learning writing and reading. Form-drawing can therefore be seen as a preparation for the development of these cultural skills.

If children have learned graphic orientation by means of carrying out the same movements in space, then this can help those among them who may have problems with spatial co-ordination and related problems with reading. For children with such a dyslexic predisposition form-drawing can be a vital source of therapeutic support. Rudolf Steiner had this therapeutic aspect in mind, albeit not in connection with dyslexia, when he encouraged teachers to find and develop forms which could bring help and relief to children in whom a particular temperament was overly dominant (Steiner : GA 295, 25.8.1919 (German edition 1985 p. 44f.)). Spatial awareness is put on a sound footing and further stimulated by structural relationships directly involved in the experience of space, such as symmetry and diametry, movement and countermovement, repetition and incremental increase. To be able to inhabit and move in space correctly – and this includes the social context – is a very important accomplishment for children who are seriously one-sided in some way. Many of the influences of modern civilisation have a destabilising and disorientating effect upon the growing child, and therefore the corrective effects of form-drawing are of immense value for the health and well-being of all children.

Along the same therapeutic lines a branch of form drawing has been developed in the field of therapeutic education. Called “dynamic drawing”, it takes as its starting point the awakening and enlivening element of the search for the archetypal within the formative gesture in order to release the forces of healing.

For teachers and therapists alike it is essential to attain a clear idea of the psychological effects of the forms they are working with. They need to develop the ability to discern which forms work upon the cognitive, which upon the affective and which upon the volitional dynamics of the human being.

From class 5 onwards form-drawing is absorbed into geometry. It becomes geometrical drawing, which in all its appropriate exactitude then takes its place as one of the pillars of “the phase of causal thinking”.

At the same time a new type of artistic drawing begins, namely, that done with charcoal or black chalk. This type of drawing, however, is more allied to painting, and works mainly with chiaroscuro effects in black and white. The theory of shadow projection is then derived from this. Developing a feeling for shadow effects and for their positioning precedes the exact geometrical construction of scenes in perspective, which is done in succeeding years. Studies in light and shadow in connection with perspective can be carried out in class 8 in a variety of ways. (A rich store of suggestions can be found in Wildgruber 2009 [need an English reference here]). If in this connection the students are brought into contact with engravings and wood-cuts by old masters, they will discover the fact that these artists developed their techniques by working on the same sorts of themes. This example of practice leading to mastery is then used as the impetus for continuing this work in the high school.

Methodological considerations

The thing here is to experience the line as the trace of a movement.This appears as both the straight and the curved line. In the act of drawing the child should experience the characteristics of the different ways this polarity manifests: the clear direction taken by the straight line demands and strengthens concentration, will directed by thought. The dynamic, curved line with no fixed target affords scope for individual expression; here feeling determines the will’s activity.

Suggested lesson content

A form-drawing main lesson precedes the process of learning to write. Alternating between straight and curved lines in different sizes and variations, the basic forms relevant to class 1 are gradually unfolded.

• Exercises using the vertical, horizontal, diagonal, the angle (acute, obtuse), the star form, triangle, quadrangle and other regular polygons
• Exercises using the convex and the concave line, wave forms, circle, ellipse, spiral, lemniscate etc.

Methodological considerations

Here the aim is to use form-drawing – as a branch of “pictorial teaching” (Steiner : GA 311, (German edition 1989 p. 72)) – to school the power of visualisation such that thinking can develop out of it. This inner faculty can be exercised by supplying half of a symmetrical figure and having the child then find the corresponding half. This requires inner activity on the child’s part, coupled to the ability to perceive the given figure as “unfinished”. The aim is, thus, by means of mental picturing (and also, of course, on paper) to complete the incomplete.

Suggested lesson content

• Exercises with round and angular forms, which are mirrored on each side of a vertical axis (this axis can also be “imaginary”)
• Followed by horizontal mirror exercises; transformations: symmetrical angular forms become round, and correspondingly transformed in combination
• Exercises upon a diagonal, and upon two perpendicular axes of symmetry (vertical – horizontal, two diagonals)
• Dynamic drawing – also as preparation for learning the forms of letters

Methodological considerations

Having practised axial symmetry we now move on to symmetry exercises

in which the pupils are given the task of coming up with forms that match a given one, thus developing their sense of style. Such exercises are good for developing the “spatial imagination” (Steiner: GA 307, (German edition 1986 p. 178), and thus constitute a qualitative preparation for geometrical drawing.

Suggested lesson content

• The teacher provides a closed, unified form, and the children have the task of finding the corresponding line that fits around the outside of it, and vice-versa; proceed then to transformations of this: e.g. find the exterior “rounded answer” to an angular interior form (and vice-versa)
• Elaborations of this theme inside a circle, such that the circumference is incorporated into the exercise
• Exercises in formal “balance”

Methodological considerations

The ability to picture things in space should be further developed, leading to a grand summation, on a higher level, of everything that has been done so far. A new element of mental challenge comes through figures in which the lines intersect or cross over and under each other. This strengthens the ability to concentrate. This school year also sees the first geometry main lesson, which builds upon the foundations established by the purely artistic form-drawing. (® Mathematics)

Suggested lesson content

The narrative material for this school year (Norse mythology) is a good source of inspiration for form motifs, offering various kinds of interlaced patterns (as on brooches, armbands, weapons, helmets, ships’ prows etc.). Use can also be made of Celtic, Carolingian, Langobardic patterns, and other suitable ones from around the world. The new element here is the “over-under” technique. The lines may no longer simply bisect each other, but by going alternately above and below each other appear as if “plaited”. In this connection the children can be taught to tie nautical knots and subsequently draw them. Describing and comparing geometrical figures can also be part of the work of this year (-> Mathematics)

Methodological considerations

In elementary geometrical drawing – initially done free-hand as in grade 4 – more and more accuracy is demanded. The more accurate the lines become, the more clearly (and more beautifully) apparent are the regularities and lawful relationships within the basic geometrical figures.

 “Although at this early stage we are concerned only with the most elementary beginnings of geometry, it is important that the pupils be enabled to feel something of that dimension of the subject which goes beyond the merely utilitarian and touches upon ultimate questions to do with the meaning of the world and of life. This becomes all the easier insofar as, besides experiencing their lawful regularities, a feeling for the beauty of geometrical forms and their strict mutual interplay is conveyed.” (Bühler 2000: p. 158f.).

Suggested lesson content

See Arithmetic and Mathematics, Geometry

Methodological considerations

A growth spurt marks a new relationship to gravity for the young adolescent. In drawing this in turn brings a new theme into play. If working with interlaced patterns (class 4) had already introduced the need for spatial awareness into the process of drawing, this is now intensified as we leave the line behind and begin to work with the plane in black-white drawing. In the tension between light and darkness, expansion and contraction, height and depth, levity and gravity, the student now experiences the world of polarities in a much more existentially direct way than with the linear forms. In the theory of projections and shadows these polarised encounters link in with a scientific subject, namely physics. The students must acquire a clear idea of where the light source is, and of the relationship between the illuminated areas of an object and its shadow. The problem of cause and effect, which makes its presence felt from class 6 on and calls for understanding, now takes centre stage also in drawing lessons.

Suggested lesson content

• Black-white depictions of freely chosen subjects using various cross-hatch techniques with charcoal or black chalk
• Ball, cylinder, cone, and cube drawn as objects in space – here particular attention must be paid to the variable directions of the light and the corresponding change in the shapes of the shadows. Shadows thrown on a wall, on the ground and on angled surfaces. Depictions of objects that cast shadows (“shadow still-life”), which fall on other objects.

Methodological considerations

In grade 7 the work on light and shadow continues, albeit now with the addition of exact constructions in perspective (cf. Wildgruber 2009, p. 306f.). For young people on the threshold of adolescence working with perspective and the vanishing point could be taken as a metaphor for a deep need they have; namely, to find and take up their own unique standpoint. At this age how often and how gladly they retreat into their own most secret “vanishing point”! This point has something mysterious about it: on the one hand, it could not be smaller or more intimate; on the other, as a point of transition it signifies a portal to a new beginning. The aim of the lessons here is to approach this point in ever new ways in the course of working out the graphical practicalities and laws of perspectival construction.

Suggested lesson content

• Projection and shadow theory: interpenetration of various bodies – rod (cylindrical or ridged) and cone, cone and cube, cone and sphere etc. – with particular attention to the resultant planes of intersection and shadows projected upon a variety of backgrounds: flat, angled and undulating planes
• Perspective: various kinds of perspective – central, bird’s-eye view, “frog’s-eye” view; drawings with several vanishing points; in all these exercises attention is paid to the distribution of light and shadow
• Perspective studies in relation to actual objects, for example, buildings, rooms.

Methodological considerations

Just as in class 4 all the elements of form drawing, so class 8 sees a grand summation of perspective, projection and shadow theory in a series of studies which also take them to new heights. To be able to combine the demands of both technology and aesthetics within a pedagogical context, without the one being at the expense of the other, was a cultural motif that Steiner was very keen to see realised. This meant subjecting the functional – the objects used in every-day life – to the criteria of aesthetic judgment.

For fourteen- or fifteen-year-olds, however, arriving at objective aesthetic judgments is no easy matter, for their sensibilities are liable to be at the mercy of momentary trends and fashions, or even of the rejection of all these. Accuracy and truth are more likely to find their acceptance. In drawing, then, the thing is to use the laws of graphic construction accurately, and not only in freely chosen compositions, but also in copying the studies of masters such as Dürer and Leonardo da Vinci. This theme is then continued and technically refined in the high school, for instance, in etching.

Suggested lesson content

• In working towards a copy of Dürer’s “Melancholia” a long series of exercises can be undertaken. This may entail trying out depictions of individual details from the picture: sphere, polyhedron, tools and instruments; studies of garments, nature, day, night, landscape, seascape, sky, earth, architecture, animals etc.
• Introduction to the theory of proportion; the Golden Section as a hidden element of composition; this would culminate in a copy of one of Dürer’s engravings
• The above suggestions for detail studies can be extended in any direction. For instance, nature studies can be widened to take in Rembrandt’s etchings on this theme.

In the high school responsibility for art (painting and drawing) passes from the class teacher to specialised art teachers, thus becoming a subject in its own right, with specific main lesson blocks as well as running lessons.

As long as artwork remained an integral part of the subject in hand at any given time, neither the individual student, nor the class community, were confronted by the question of talent to the extent that they are upon entering the high school. This is an issue which in grade 9 is not unproblematic, since the students are now not only dependent on their own individual abilities, but are faced with the ebbing away of their earlier given powers of imagination. Now more and more they need a “key” to be able to enter their childhood’s halls of genius and unlock the rich store of ideas they previously took for granted. The teacher, in other words, cannot simply carry on with what was possible for the students in the primary school. He or she must rather start from the experiences the students had with drawing in class 8, and make creative use of the interest that then awakened for everything practical. This new sensibility is met by the introduction of specific subjects, e.g. woodwork, dressmaking, copper-beating, iron-forging, bookbinding etc.

The aim here is:

1. to take advantage of the new-found interest in the practical and concrete

2. to emancipate the concrete from its utilitarian purpose, and render it artistic

on 1: Working with drawing materials such as pressed charcoal, pitt-graphite, red chalk, quill, or with the linocut blade and the etching needle requires a lot of very exacting practice. Etching particularly, which leads on to engraving, demands sound knowledge and skilful application of complex technical processes.

on 2: For the young person in grade 9 the polarity of white and black, light and shadow is (still) a concrete inner experience complementing the apprehension of a concrete external world.

Within the compositional process, then, there is a mutual attunement between these outer and inner aspects such that the artistic intention is given form and direction.

As the legacy of the past (the given imagination and creativity of childhood) dims, space is being created for something new. The teaching of art should take account of this. If it manages to do so the students begin to feel

the air of the “new world” they have been looking for, and thus it can address them in a way that is both up-to-date and meets their existential concerns.

A third educational aim must also be described: In drawing lessons the students should be asked to practice exact, thorough and acute observation. At an age when young people are quick to criticise and make snap judgments the theme of prejudice with all its pitfalls, as opposed to sound judgments arrived at through knowledge of the facts, is very much on the agenda. Exercises in exact observation are essential here. Sound judgment is not only trained in activities such as technical drawing, copying and drawing from nature, it is the basis of the proper use of the actual drawing materials and techniques.

In the design of posters (class 9 to 12) young people have the chance to try out the expressive potential of colour and form for real-life, practical purposes. They are learning to assess how image and text fit together. In the process, they should become more proficient in choosing clear and more effective means of bringing this about. Posters for events in the life of the school (plays, festivals, bazaars etc.) are designed, also simple notices. The techniques employed are collage, templates, monotype, coloured linocut printing, all done on paper (possibly coloured) with water-based inks.

Approach 1

Methodological considerations

The refining of perceptual abilities in relation to both artistic and natural form. Introduction to engaging the will in sense perception. Learning to recognise and appreciate the artistic potentialities of chiaroscuro.

The students should be able to work independently, applying various techniques and their acquired experience to artistic processes, running from the preliminary sketch to the more complete sketch, and thence to the completed composition.

Suggested lesson content

• Basic non-representational exercises for becoming familiar with the expressive potential of black-white drawing
• Creating balance within the framework of each exercise
• Direction of movement (e.g. rising – falling), movement and counter-movement (e.g. radiating outwards – raying inwards)
• Accentuation in the distribution of the elements of a picture
• Different ways of depicting planes: diffuse – from the periphery, clear – outlined, transparent – building up in layers
• Representational exercises arising from the previous ones (taking a lead from Georges Seurat, who developed motifs entirely out of light and darkness)
• Drawings of organic and cuboid forms, various atmospheric light effects on landscapes
• Excursions {out} into nature, transforming drawings made in natural settings into independent compositions
• Building up a drawing from small elements using shading technique, which enables the intense observation of a slowly developing process; this can also be done with planes layered one over the other using the broad edge of the chalk; drawing with black chalk, charcoal
• Poster design and execution

Approach 2

Methodological considerations

• different ways of depicting planes
• smooth transitions from white to dark-grey
• precise, abrupt edges (not lines); this should involve a rich spectrum from bright, silvery-grey to dark-grey planes, with many stages in between
• familiarity with the various shading techniques – as used by Dürer – so that the students will be able to use them later in their own compositions
• they should have a grasp of the basic principles governing spatial relationships, and be able to illustrate them in three-dimensional sketches and models

Suggested lesson content

• Studies of basic forms: sphere, cube, pyramid, cylinder, cone, icosahedron, pentagon-dodecahedron etc. This involves learning how to depict flat and curved surfaces in the black-white medium.
• Depiction of different kinds of shadow
• Free composition of a picture combining observed forms
• Depiction of a simple internal space into which light is falling and making shadows, or of a human skull
• A black-white drawing on the basis of Dürer’s approach to this medium
• Transformation of a Dürer etching or woodcut into a charcoal drawing
• Practical application of all the above
• Depicting planes with the broad side of the charcoal, in various directions
• Poster design and execution

Approach 3

Methodological considerations

• discovering the strong polarity between black and white in a print; experience of the ability of this technique to express emotion
• learning the limits of its application (e.g. for the purposes of illustration)

Suggested lesson content

• Exercises using linocut: relationship between expressive intention and medium (both in terms of material and form, e.g. rhythm, contrast, proportion)
• Uses of free-hand drawing, e.g. as a sketch, a study, or as an art-form in its own right
• Styles and masters of free-hand drawing (examples from various periods)
• Use of graphic printing as a reproductive medium, its potential as a means of artistic expression
• Using lino-cutting tools and inks; using a press
• Design and execution of posters

The three approaches just presented all carry equal weight. The extent to which they alternate depends upon the number of lessons available on the timetable.

Approach 1

Methodological considerations

More intense engagement with problems of form, involving more conscious choice of artistic methods and an increased level of abstraction.

Suggested lesson content

• Basic exercises exploring the expressive potential of abstract planes and lines in black and white
• Building up a picture out of closed planes, lines and other structures
• Revisiting the basic element of “straight line and curve”, as introduced in class 1
• Planar structures in pure black and white
• Exercises in dynamics (concentration and dissolving of form)
• Exercises in rhythm using lines (the line as the track of a movement)
• Deriving structures from the dissolution of planes; exercises in structure
• Representational themes using the methods already practised, with the emphasis upon a rhythmic use of pictorial forms, e.g. building up a mountainous landscape from various structures, or energetically moving trees with an accent on the linear
• Transformation of a (bust) study into a linocut
• Poster design and execution

Material: black chalk, ink, poster paint; brush, quill, hollow quill

Approach 2

Methodological considerations

• Schooling in the observation of natural forms and in depicting them by means of the dynamic line
• Chiaroscuro as a means for bringing the drama of mental states to direct expression; the depiction of living process in connection with the exploration of the qualitative aspects of black-white drawing

Suggested lesson content

• The study of a variety of symbolic signs in connection with the development of the art of black-white drawing from the 15^th century onwards; exercises based upon the wood engravings of Dürer
• Still-life drawing using construction, perspective, line and shading to outline the plastic forms
• Exercises based on etchings by Rembrandt
• Black-white as a fundamental element of compositions in which the representational plays a much reduced role
• Exercises in modern (diagonal) shading technique – abstract
• Working with pure black-white technique in such a way that a representational motif may arise, but doesn’t have to (example of this in the work of Georges Seurat)
• Balance exercises in black-white, dominance of white, dominance of black
• Design and execution of posters

Materials: charcoal, black chalk, ink and quill, hard pencil, felt-tip pen

Approach 3

Methodological considerations

• Learning to use the contrast of black and white for clearly distinguished artistic effects. On the one hand, atmospheres should be expressed in more subtle ways, on the other, the manner of shading and form acquires more potential for giving the impression of depth.
• Becoming acquainted with the practical uses of the techniques covered, e.g. for the purposes of illustration
• Reflecting on pictures (➝ History of Art)

Suggested lesson content

• Exercises in etching: from sketch to the finished print of a landscape; beginning with the depiction of atmosphere and proceeding to the figurative composition of a landscape
• Etching on a copper plate, with either a cold or hot needle, and then printing with an etching press
• Working with colour in etching
• Design and execution of posters

The three approaches just presented all carry equal weight. The extent to which they alternate depends upon the number of lessons available on the timetable.

Methodological considerations

As previously mentioned  the process of learning as presented in this curriculum is organised such that drawing is removed in class/grade 12 in favour of an intensification painting and sculpture.                

Bühler, E. (2000): Dynamisches Zeichnen in der Heilpädagogik. In: Kranich et al.: Formenzeichnen. Die Entwicklung des Formensinns in der Erziehung. Stuttgart

Kandinsky, W. (1997): Der Blaue Reiter. München

Kranich, E.-M. (2000): Die Krafte leiblicher Formbildung und ihre Umwandlung in die Fähigkeit, Formen zu gestalten und zu erleben. In: Kranich et al.: Formenzeichnen. Die Entwicklung des Formensinns in der Erziehung. Stuttgart

Steiner, R. (1984): Erziehungskunst. Seminarbesprechungen und Lehrplanvorträge. GA 295, Dornach

Steiner, R. (1986): Gegenwärtiges Geistesleben und Erziehung. GA 307, Dornach

Steiner, R. (1989): Die Kunst des Erziehens aus dem Erfassen der Menschenwesenheit. GA 311, Dornach

Steiner, R. (1990): Erziehungskunst. Methodisch-Didaktisches. GA 294, Dornach

Wildgruber, T. (2009): Malen und Zeichnen 1. – 8. Schuljahr. Ein Handbuch. Stuttgart

During the first three years of school the class-teacher incorporates modelling – with clay, wax or plasticene – into main-lesson work where appropriate. In doing so, he or she is tapping into the formative processes already at work in the infant organism in the phase before readiness for school (➝Background considerations). Steiner reminds the teachers of this and points out that, on account of the emancipation of these formative processes, the child “is certainly keen to make models or pictures of the shapes of things” (Steiner GA 311, 18.08.1924 (German edition 1989, p. 97)). The teacher is called upon to take account of this – not least because there is scarcely another subject in which physical dexterity is so centrally linked to cognitive ability and psychological function (see below) (Spitzer 2012: p. 166ff.; Garnitschnig 1996). A wide range of well-founded suggestions for modelling lessons, derived from Steiner’s few references to this, is to be found in [need English/American/Australian/South African etc. references here]

From the age of nine on clay-modelling should be done as an extension of form-drawing. Elementary sculptural experience of the sphere, egg-form and pyramid could form the starting point for this.

Modelling is developed out of the hands meeting to form an inner space, in other words, out of “the hollow of the hand”. It is not a matter of adding together bits of clay or some other material, but of taking a whole form (say, a sphere) and moulding it as a whole. From the action of pressure and counter-pressure planes arise. Whereas in drawing “the will acting through the eye” (Steiner GA 311, 12.08.1924 (German edition 1990, p. 19)) is what makes adjustments and keeps the process going, in modelling the hand feels the planes as they arise and becomes an organ of formative perception. Particularly for sensitising the inner surfaces of both hands and nurturing the sense of touch modelling is of paramount importance – not least, because it is a much more differentiated and, above all, complex process than tapping a keyboard, all of which has neuronal consequences. It seems, therefore, that sensitive, fine-motor activities, such as clay-modelling, are quite evidently linked to the development of intelligence, as well as strengthening the ability to concentrate and pay attention (Suggate 2014; Hübner 2014, p. 8f.). This last cannot be reduced to purely cognitive terms, but also encompasses the realms of empathy and social competence (Speckmeier/Gaide 2014).

Like form-drawing, modelling can pick up on motifs from a range of different main lessons (animal and plant studies, geography, geometry etc.), and thereby have a deepening effect.

Methodological considerations for classes/grades 4 to 8

It seems that keeping clay-modelling going in class 4 was so important for Steiner that, on being told by the teachers that the necessary materials were not available, he retorted: “[…] or you could use something else, even if it’s horse-droppings from the street, it doesn’t matter, as long as it enables a feeling for form to emerge from the perception of form.” (Steiner GA 295, 06.09.1919 (German edition 1984, p. 169)).

In grade 4 the children are about 9 years old, and are at a very crucial point in their process of individuation: typically they begin to experience a stronger separation between self and world; they go from being at one with the world to being alone with the world around them (➝The child between the ages of 9 and 12). At this point, when the process of detachment has started, there is an evident need to engage in activities that bring about qualitative connection or conscious participation, so that detachment does not turn into alienation.

Suggested lesson content

• Simple forms, such as the sphere, pyramid, cube developed out of “the hollow of the hand”.
• Starting from the sphere, and in connection with the “animal studies” main lesson, sculptures that give tentative impressions of animal forms (“sleeping cat”, “resting deer”, “reclining cow” etc.)

Suggested lesson content

• Starting from a sphere or egg-form, and in connection with the “plant studies” main lesson, moulding the forms of buds, fruits, plants; here the point is not to create naturalistic forms, but to let the shaping of the material be guided by feeling one’s way into the plant’s growth movements
• Human figures, first standing, then sitting, again developed from the sphere or egg-form; initially the limbs are only hinted at, and only later fully shaped

Suggested lesson content

• In connection with geography, sculpting of different mountain forms: granite, chalk and the various angular forms of different minerals, giving a sense of the rich variety of crystalline forms
• Continuation of the work on the human figure: groups, mother and child, farmer and horse etc. – facial details and clothes are again only hinted at.

Suggested lesson content

• In connection with lessons on projection and shadow theory and on geometry, spatial bodies such as the cone, cube and pentagon dodecahedron can be modelled. This last is particularly well suited to being moulded out of a sphere.
• Series of transformations of geometric forms
• Sculptural studies of human gestures and movements, e.g. turns, bends, stretches, pointing and defensive gestures (facial details need not be portrayed)

Suggested lesson content

If looking at temperaments in relation to style is a facet of mother tongue main lessons, this can be taken further through modelling:

• Sculptural studies of different types of figure: the melancholic (earth), the choleric (fire), the phlegmatic (water) and the sanguine (air)
• Sculptural studies of dramatic gestures: e.g. protective (of a child), embrace, sleep, flight, wrestling, dance etc. In preparation for this the students should try out these gestures for themselves.

Modelling in the high school is concerned with the further development of manual skills in relation to a range of materials. In conjunction, it is important to train practical abilities in certain areas of handcraft. What is important above all, however, is immersion in artistic activity free of any immediate purpose. Young people should be offered a field in which they can experience, step by step, both the inherent demands of an artistic medium and their own freedom of expression.

Sculpture lessons can have a profound effect upon the feeling life of young people, both in terms of simply bringing it to expression, and in increasing its subtlety. At the same time both their relish for action and joy in creativity are encouraged.

Methodological considerations

In keeping with what was said in the introduction  in the curriculum as presented here modelling and sculpture are suspended in class 9, in favour of an intensification of drawing.

If, however, it is felt that modelling did not feature sufficiently in the primary school, it can also be done in class 9.

Suggested lesson content

The suggestions made for grade 8 can be partly taken up here (e.g. sculptural studies of dramatic gestures); in addition, the themes of the grade 9 art main lesson offer many opportunities for sculptural motifs, e.g. from Egyptian or Greek art.

Methodological considerations

The students should be taken through a review of all the basic elements of sculpture, in the course of which they regain experience of the plane in all its manifestations:

• overcoming a too strongly naturalistic idea of form
• learning to discern different sculptural qualities
• Cultivating observational awareness of the “sculptural surface”
• Confident manipulation of planes
• Perceiving forms from within and without as a new area of experience for young people – essentially it means having the ability to distinguish organic from inorganic form processes.

Suggested lesson content

• Trying out the basic elements of sculpture using modelling clay in relief, e.g.:

• compositions out of flat planes
• compositions using outwardly and inwardly undulating planes
• soft- and hard-edged forms
• compositions out of planes that wind round each other
• attempt to arrive at a unified composition within a fixed language of form
• the attempt is made to demonstrate to the students the reality of peripheral space in the process of making a sculpture. One possibility might be to make a negative of the relief with plaster, and then reconstitute the positive form from the plaster mould.
• From bas-relief to high relief
• From high relief to complete sculpture:
  fashioning a complete freestanding sculpture, which not only makes a satisfying impression from all sides, but has been thought out as a sculptural whole. As with the relief the process begins from basic plastic-geometric forms. These forms can be developed until an animal form is arrived at. It is also possible to take suitable motifs from art history lessons.

Techniques

• working in clay, either from large single pieces, or in the manner of slowly built up ceramics
• making plaster moulds of reliefs
• the technique of plaster application
• sculpting wood

Methodological considerations

Having practised the basic elements of sculpture in class 10, in class 11 the portrayal of form in movement, on the one hand, and, on the other, form’s capacity to express the life of the soul can come to the fore.

Suggested lesson content

• sculptural form as expression of movement
• formative movement as displacement of mass
• transition from static-geometric to dynamic forms
• the rotational plane as an expression of movement
• a series of sculptures, each of which captures a single stage in a movement (e.g. a falling drop, growth etc.)
• change of form: variation – metamorphosis
• artistic stylisation of an organic movement
• sculptural form as expression of soul-life
• e.g. in sculpting a human head
• finding the sculptural forms corresponding to individual soul-gestures
• expressions of emotional polarities (e.g. joy – sorrow)
• “conversation” between two forms
• abstract form can be taken more in the direction of the concrete motif
• the expressive possibilities of the human figure can be explored – inspiration can be garnered from relevant areas of art history (medieval sculpture, e.g. portal figures from Chartres, expressionist sculpture, e.g. Ernst Barlach, Kathe Kollwitz, abstract sculpture, e.g. Hans Arp, Max Bill, Henry Moore).

Techniques

• First versions in clay (either from large single pieces or in the manner of slowly built up ceramics)
• Plaster-casting
• Sculpting wood
• Working with other materials (depends upon what the school can supply)

Methodological considerations

By now the students should have reached a fair degree of maturity and independence in the processes of sculpture, thus being able to take the forms they have become familiar with and use them for their own purposes:

• transformation of a naturalistic form into an artistic unity – simplification, stylisation
• combining diverse form elements into an integrated whole
• application of everything learned so far, first acquaintance with the techniques required for a work of larger scale
• discovering their own personal expressive potential

Suggested lesson content

The sculpture as an expression of spiritual intention. The vehicle for this theme could be the sculpting of a human head, or a group of figures. The key thing here is to arrive at individualisation:

• the expressive potential of facial proportions
• caricature through emphasis on certain one-sided tendencies of the face – e.g. grimaces etc.
• character studies in the form of human heads
• physiognomy as a mirror of human moods
• theatrical masks: tragic, comic
• self-portrait
• working with polarities, e.g. of facial expression
• man – woman, old – young, beautiful – ugly, laughing – crying etc.
• the major theme of “metamorphosis” can also be the starting point for the creation of sculptures of the human head
• a clay model can be transformed into a stone sculpture
• both during and after all these exercises the work and works are discussed and evaluated

Techniques

• making clay models
• sculpting in wood
• sculpting in stone
• other sculptural techniques may also be introduced, according to the school’s resources, e.g. casting in bronze.

Breme, C. (2003): Wieder Erde in die Hand nehmen. Eine Antwort auf die Virtualisierung der Welt. In: Erziehungskunst. H. 7/8, Stuttgart

Garnitschnig, K. (1996): Lernen als aktive Aneignung von Welt. Dazu: lernen, 3. Jg., H. 4, S. 14-17, Wien

Hübner, E. (2014): Kompetent durch Medienfreiheit. In: Erziehungskunst. H. 11, Stuttgart

Loewe, H. (2004): Elementares plastisches Gestalten: Willensbildung durch Formerfassen in den ersten drei Schuljahren. Stuttgart

Speckmaier, S./Gaide, C. (2014): Plastizieren gegen Mobbing. In: Erziehungskunst. H. 10, Stuttgart

Spitzer, M. (2012): Digitale Demenz. Wie wir uns und unsere Kinder um den Verstand bringen. München

Steiner, R. (1984): Erziehungskunst. Seminarbesprechungen und Lehrplanvorträge. GA 295, Dornach

Steiner, R. (1986): Gegenwärtiges Geistesleben und Erziehung. GA 307, Dornach

Steiner, R. (1989): Die Kunst des Erziehens aus dem Erfassen der Menschenwesenheit. GA 311, Dornach

Steiner, R. (1990): Erziehungskunst. Methodisch-Didaktisches. GA 294, Dornach

Suggate, S. (2014): Feinmotorik und feinsinnige Gedanken, Befunde aus dem Kindergarten und der Grundschule. In: Erziehungskunst. H. 10, Stuttgart