Resources for Schools

by Penny Richards 

 

In this project, students create an original work on black scratchboard with a stylus (scratching instrument), in the Art Nouveau style of Hannah  Frankʼs 1930s prints. Students are encouraged to think of nightscapes,  outdoor scenes that include the moon, trees, birds, bats, vines, people; or  indoor scenes of nighttime, which might include a candle, fireplace,  sleeping person, open book, a mouse, a window showing the moon and  branches outside…. 

Students discover the possibilities of creating texture and contrast in a  strictly black-and-white composition–much as printmakers have done for  centuries. We look at Hannah Frankʼs work for clues about how to make  different shades in a monochrome medium, using parallel lines and  crosshatching among other techniques. 

The novel materials mean this project is a new challenge for most students  and docents–no experts! Itʼs also a chance to experiment with linespatterns, and positive/negative space in a new format.

 


Biographical background: Artist and illustrator Hannah Frank was born to Jewish  immigrant parents in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1908. Her father ran a camera shop. Hannah studied  art at university as a young woman, and developed a distinctive black-and-white “Art Nouveau”  style that was well-suited to publication in newsletters and magazines. She signed her works  “Al-Aaraaf,” after an Edgar Allan Poe poem, in part to hide that the artist was a woman. 

Hannah Frank married Lionel Levy, a math teacher, in 1939. She continued to contribute her  work to community publications and posters for many decades, but in the 1950s she turned her  attention to bronze and stone sculpture. Nonetheless, her earlier graphic works are highly  prized by collectors today. 

Frank lived to enjoy her 100th birthday, and a great celebration of her life and work in Glasgow.  Her illustrations and sculptures appear in galleries and museums around the world. 

Historical context: Before she died in 2008, Hannah Frank was known as “the last living  link to the Art Nouveau movement.” A little more than a century ago in Europe, the Art  Nouveau approach to art, achitecture, fashion, and even typography emphasized: 

*Organic shapes (leaves, vines, trees) 

*Long curves (not jagged or blobby) 

*Stylized forms (not realistic or detailed) 

Artists you may already know about that are considered to be part of the Art Nouveau  movement include Gustav Klimt, Aubrey Beardsley, and Louis Comfort Tiffany. You may have  seen posters or buildings that reflect the Art Nouveau period. 

Glasgow was one of the centers of the Art Nouveau movement in Great Britain. Charles  Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) was a Glasgow artist and architect who gathered around  himself a circle of like-minded artists, including his wife Margaret McDonald and her sister,  Frances. Hannah Frank was born too late to be part of that group, but she studied at the  Glasgow School of Art with artists who were connected with the Mackintoshes. She took the  

Art Nouveau style and made it very much her own. 

 

THE LESSON 

Vocabulary words:

Art Nouveau 

    Scotland  

    stylus 

    stylized  

    fluid 

 

Supplies: 1 Scratch-Art scratchboard, 8.5×11, per student 

  A class set of styluses 

  Scratch paper (I per student) 

  Pencils (1 per student) 

 

  Examples of Hannah Frank art, and/or books of Art Nouveau illustrations  

  

Preparation:  

The styluses we use in this project are very sharp. Docents may want to start the lesson with a  discussion about safe stylus use and safe behavior. If there is a concern about styluses leaving  the art room or lesson space, styluses can be numbered before use. 

Process: 

  1. Introduce the Art Nouveau aesthetic, and tell Hannah Frank’s story. Show examples of her  work, and of other Art Nouveau illustrations. 
  2. Brainstorm about “night”–what might students want to include in an illustration about night?  What did Hannah Frank include? Make a list of ideas. Some students may know about  nocturnal animals, or astronomy. Think also about sources of light at night: the moon,  candles, fireplaces, light bulbs, etc.  
  3. Students should sketch their ideas on scrap paper with pencil. Monitor for overly  complicated compositions, troubleshoot ideas about how to make certain textures, etc. 
  4. When students are happy with their sketches, they can redraw them very lightly with pencil  on the scratchboard. Point out to students that they shouldn’t spent too much time on the  sketching part–the scratching part takes much longer. 
  5. Students may now begin to use the styli to create the final black-and-white design.  Encourage them to try different effects, and creative solutions to the challenges presented by  the materials. Point out the ways Hannah Frank used parallel lines to indicate different  shapes and textures. 
  6. Don’t forget to have students sign their work. 
  7. The completed scratchboards can be displayed on small easels, or mounted with heavy-duty  mounting squares.

SUPPLY LIST with prices

Each Student Needs: 

Approximate Price 

Suggested Sources:

1 SCRATCH-ART Pre inked Black Scratchboard,  8.5×11 

13506-2085

.43 each 

DickBlick.com 

(Saw packages of 10 on  Amazon for about $10, but  Dick Blick has a much  better price for bulk orders)

A pencil 

<.05 (assuming each  

pencil will be used by  

several students)

Any office or craft supply

Scrap paper 

<.05 (assuming each  

pencil will be used by  

several students)

Any office or craft supply

Scratchboard Stylus 

(14905-1009)

<.10 (assuming each  

stylus will used by several  students)*

DickBlick.com 

(styli are sold in sets of  twelve)

   
   
   
 

Total approximate price/ student: $.60* 

*based on prices at  

dickblick.com website,  2/2/12

 



About the author

Penny L. Richards 

turley2@earthlink.net 

310-371-7706 

2118A Warfield Ave. Redondo Beach CA 90278 

PhD in Education, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1996 Teaching Certificate, Secondary Social Studies 

Research Scholar, UCLA Center for the Study of Women