2nd grade Study of William H. Johnson

Second grade students looked at artwork by famous African-American artist William H. Johnson. Students noticed that Johnson did not try to make his artwork look real, in fact, his artwork looks very flat. Students noticed that there was always a story being told in his artwork. Many of his paintings show everyday actions and situations. Students drew themselves performing some action in the flat style of William H. Johnson. They they colored their drawings with bright, bold colors, as Johnson tended to do. Finally, they outlined their shapes in black since this is something that Johnson did in many of his paintings.