It's A Small World

"It's a world of laughter

A world of tears

It's a world of hopes

And a world of fears

There's so much that we share

That it's time we're aware

It's a small world after all."

Songwriters: Robert Sherman / Richard Sherman

It's a Small World © Walt Disney Music Company

In a world of a COVID pandemic, it's easy to lose perspective and focus on the negativity instead of hoping for a better future and maybe even dreaming along the way. Walt Disney himself once said, "All of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them."

I've always had a love of travel but it's been awhile since I've planned a destination trip. With my head up and moving forward, I designed a Painting unit for my high school students to dream a little about where they might like to go someday.

The world looks different from above. The view is simple, abstract, and beautiful. Huge cities are reduced to tiny dots. Cities and countries are reduced to masses of land and water that are made of pure lines, shapes, and colors blending from one to the other. It's why so many people take photos from the tiny oval of an airplane window. I am continually in awe of its beauty.

We began this unit by brainstorming in groups our favorite places that we've been to and the places on our bucket lists to see in the future. It was interesting to hear how some people preferred tropical locations and others wanted to go to Europe, Asia, or even the Pacific Northwest. We found similarities with some people preferring cities and others who loved the open horizons of the country.

I shared with the class artists who have been inspired to paint aerial landscapes and we discussed how these locations could be portrayed in an abstract way by choice of color, composition, or even the brushstrokes of paint application.

Students used Google Earth to see the satellite view of their chosen locations while creating thumbnail sketches, making note of where the colors change and roads or rivers break up sections.

Once we had compositions planned for the final artwork, it was time to start painting. I had students paint their Color Scheme vocabulary notes to practice mixing custom colors and blending value scales.

As they moved on to the final paper, compositions varied greatly with each person's unique style and color scheme. A few students have interpreted the assignment creatively by basing their composition from fantasy locations or historical maps.

"I chose the Super Mario World because I have memories playing this game when I was a little kid and it was really fun."

"I chose the rice fields in Yuanyang because I really like the way it is laid out and I think my color scheme is going to go well with the different levels. It would be very cool to fly a plane over the field to see it in person."

"The Bora Bora Islands in French Polynesia. I really want to go there someday."

"I chose a small town in Texas because it’s my dream place to live."

"I chose Torch Lake in Upper Michigan because it is very pretty and the water is so clear on the 1 mile long sand bar. I went there about 2 years ago."

"Kanagawa, Japan. I chose it mainly because of the history of the Great Wave."

"I chose Lakeshore Drive in Chicago. It's probably one of my favorite places to go see all the people doing different things but still surrounded by each other."

"I'm going to paint Hawaii because I will probably do a contrast of orange and blue."

"BJ's Restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky because I love to go there when we see Grandma."

"I chose Athens, Greece because it is one of my dream places to visit and the ancient history is amazing."

So as we learn color theory and paint complementary and analogous colors, we're also interpreting the world the way we see it and allowing ourselves to dream.

It's a small world after all!