<p>MASTERPIECE: Cosmic Birth (1990)</p><p>ARTIST: Robert T. McCall (1919 -- )</p><p>CONCEPT: Fantasy, Imagination</p><p>GRADE: Fourth</p><p>LESSON: Futurescape Crayon Resist</p><p>Objectives: Students will use their imaginations to create a futurescape sketch and crayon resist.</p><p>Vocabulary: Bird’s-eye view, Imagination, Futurescape, Shape</p><p>Materials: White 9 X 12 construction paper (1 per student) Watercolors Pencils, erasers Crayons or oil pastels Brushes Bowls</p><p>Process: 1. Review About the Artist, About the Art and the Questions in the attached materials. Discuss that this artist helps us to explore our past in order to envision the future. 2. Before passing out supplies, explain the students will use their own imaginations to make a futurescape. Talk about what modes of transportation will be available in the future, what living accommodations, cities, retail centers, entertainment facilities will look like. Students can sketch futuristic objects in a natural setting. Mention different examples of background settings like the ocean, mountains or desert. Point out how McCall created his spaceship by repeating circular shapes and have them think about the vantage point they will use. Will it be bird’s-eye or from a different angle? Remind students to sketch lightly so they can easily erase changes and to be sure they have their name on the back of the paper. 3. After they have lightly sketched their picture in pencil, they may fully color their spaceships with crayons or pastels. When that is complete, have them outline their background and spaceship shapes with a dark crayon or pastel. Then students can lightly “wash” their artwork with their watercolors. Be sure to have them add more water on their brushes so the paint is very transparent.</p><p>Vocabulary Definitions:</p><p>Bird’s-eye view: Seeing from of view from an altitude or from a distance.</p><p>Imagination: Creative ability to form a mental picture of something that is not real.</p><p>Futurescape: Painting of the future as the artist imagines it; works of art that reflect the world in the future.</p><p>Shape: A flat figure created when actual or implied lines meet to enclose a space. A change in color or shading can define a shape. Shapes can be divided into several types: geometric (square, triangle, circle) and organic (irregular in outline).</p><p>MASTERPIECE: Cosmic Birth (1990) is a whimsical title for a smaller spacecraft dropping from a larger ship. The landscape of this work was inspired by a trip the artist took to Canyon de Chelly in Northern Arizona.</p><p>About the Artist: Robert McCall was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1919. He was always fascinated by things that fly. After attending Art College, he worked at Life Magazine illustrating stories about futuristic space travel. NASA asked him to illustrate the history of the space program. Mr. McCall drew a series of postage stamps depicting space history. Two of his stamps were cancelled on the moon before a world-wide audience. He was a consultant on the movies 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Some of his futurescape murals can be found at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Disney’s Epcot Center, NASA and the Challenger Space Center right here in Arizona. The Challenger Space Center features over 400 works of art by Robert McCall. He and his wife have lived in Paradise Valley, AZ since 1970. Many of his futuristic paintings are set in the Arizona desert.</p><p>About the Artist:</p><p>. Robert McCall was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1919. . As a boy he was fascinated with things that fly. He remembers looking through a telescope at moon craters and being blown away. He loved aircrafts and adventure stories and would sketch pictures to illustrate them in his spare time. . After high school, he won a scholarship to Art College and then worked at Life Magazine illustrating for a series on futuristic space travel. Afterward, he was asked by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) to render an illustrated history of their efforts. Air and Space travel has been the focus of McCall’s work for 40 years. . Famous for his depictions and knowledge of space travel, McCall was asked to do a series of postage stamps regarding America’s space history. Two of the stamps were cancelled on the moon before a world-wide audience. . He also worked as a consultant on the movies 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. McCall also created the movie poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey. This movie later inspired filmmakers like Star Wars creators Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. . In 1970, McCall and his wife (also an artist) visited Arizona and fell in love with the state. They moved to Paradise Valley where they still live today. Many of his futuristic paintings are set in the Arizona desert. . Along with air and space flight, McCall also paints the future as he imagines it. Much of his art (especially the murals) are “futurescapes”, large pictures that reflect human beings building a clean, beautiful new world with the help of futuristic technology. Another reoccurring theme in his art shows a natural environment (like the Arizona desert) intertwined with elements of the future. . Some of his futurescape murals can be found at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Disney’s Epcot Center, NASA and the Challenger Space Center right here in Arizona. The Challenger Space Center features over 400 works of art by Robert McCall. About the Art:</p><p>Cosmic Birth is a whimsical title for a smaller spacecraft dropping from a larger ship. The landscape of this artwork was inspired by a trip the artist took to Canyon de Chelly (Shea) in Northern Arizona.</p><p>Questions:</p><p>What do you see in this painting? What place has the artist shown in the background? (Desert) What season do you think it is – how can you tell? What does the artist show in the foreground? (Spacecraft) Would you ever see a scene like this? Where did the artist come up with the subject? (Imagination) Do you usually think of spaceships in a natural setting? Where do you usually imagine them? (Space) Where does it look like the artist would be when he painted this picture? (High on a canyon wall or in the sky) This is called a bird’s-eye view (Seeing from a point of view from an altitude or from a distance) In landscapes, the horizon line for a bird’s-eye view is usually placed very high in the picture. Where is the horizon line in Cosmic Birth?</p><p>Can you see any repeating shapes in this picture? (Circles in spaceship and space station) Are they repeated in the background? Why do you think that is?</p><p>How do you think the artist feels about future?</p><p>“Cosmic Birth” Robert McCall http://www.novaspace.com/ARTIST/RobertMcCall.html</p><p>Robert McCall, 81, came to public attention in the early 1960s as the illustrator for LIFE magazine's memorable series on the future of space travel. At that time, he became one of a few select artists to be chosen for NASA, documenting the progress of American space history, and has been present at nearly every NASA event since. McCall's heroic artwork is on permanent exhibit at many prestigious institutions including the National Gallery of Art, and he has done murals for the National Air & Space Museum, the Pentagon, EPCOT, and Johnson Space Center. His work for movies includes the landmark 2001:A Space Odyssey, The Black Hole, Tora! Tora! Tora!, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Bob's work has been featured in virtually every popular magazine in the past thirty years.</p>