Detail of “We are the Youth” by Keith Haring in collaboration with children from CityKids Philadelphia + NYC - Partners

Brandywine Workshop, CityKids Foundation, 1987

Keith Haring
Keith Haring

About the artist:

Keith Haring is an American graffiti artist, sculptor, and painter who was born and raised in Reading,
Pennsylvania in 1958. Haring’s father, Allen Haring was an amateur cartoonist, as well as an engineer.
At an early age, Haring became interested in art, spending time with his father creating cartoons. He
studied commercial art in 1976 for two years after high school, but then quit, deciding to
concentrate on his own art.

After commercial art, Haring was exposed to artists such as Jean Dubuffet, Jackson Pollock, and
Mark Tobey when he was employed at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. The time spent working at
the museum and other influences gave Haring confidence to create larger paintings of cartoon-like
images which he liked to produce. Another artist named Christo Vladimirov Javacheff, who created
large installation art, introduced him to the possibilities of involving the public with his art, and so
Haring decided to pursue painting at the School of Visual Arts in New York. While in New York, Keith
began painting white chalk drawings on large black pieces of paper in advertising spaces on the
subway. He started making subway drawings every day; this gave him media attention, and he was
featured on the news and in magazines.

Haring created his art pieces using bright, saturated colors, and outlined characters and scenes in
bold, thick black lines. His art was mostly two-dimensional in a classic style of the Pop-Art movement,
similar in style to Andy Warhol and other artists during that time. Most of his art featured a radiant
heart love motif such as in his work Untitled in 1982. In his first show, he painted all the walls with his
art, and then put up his paintings and sculptures around it; it was a huge success. Building off of that
success, Haring opened a store called the Pop Shop where he sold posters, buttons, and t-shirts. In
1988, Keith became ill with an auto-immune disease which was incurable at the time. Even though
Keith knew his life was being cut short, he still continued to produce art, making posters to tell
people about his illness and giving money to doctors to search for a cure until his death on February
6, 1990, in New York, New York.

“Pop Shop Quad III” 1989 “We are the Youth” by Keith Haring in collaboration with children from
CityKids Philadelphia and New York, 1987

Keith Haring
Instructions

Step 1:
Introduce students to
Haring’s work
through video(s), or
biography worksheet.

Step 2:
Talk about what it means to create art based
on social issues using the worksheet in this
packet. Discuss as a class or have students
read and fill out sheet on their own.

Step 3:
Have students
color worksheets
according to
Haring’s color
scheme and/or
answer the questions
then practice drawing
their own figuresl.

Step 4:
Have students
create their own Keith
Haring style drawing
with a social issue in
mind.

Keith Haring
 More Resources

Videos to share:
3 1/2 minutes:
https://youtu.be/W04j0Je01wQ

Lessons and more

http://www.haringkids.com/lesson_plans/keith-haring-biography
 NAME:___________________________________

Keith Haring used thick black lines to show implied movement in his art and bright, solid colors. He
would add patterns to areas of the art as well. Use the colors and patterns below to color artwork
created in his style below.

Keith Haring
 NAME:___________________________________

Keith Haring used thick black lines and bright, solid colors in his art. He would add patterns to areas of
the art as well. Use the colors and patterns below to color artwork created in his style below.

Keith Haring
 NAME:___________________________________

The image above was created similar to one of Haring’s paintings. Explain what idea you think artist Keith
Haring was trying to convey with the drawing and why below.

Keith Haring
 NAME:___________________________________

The image above is based on a similar piece of art by Keith Haring. Describe what you think Haring was
trying to convey on the lines below.

Keith Haring
 Keith Haring used thick black lines and bright, solid colors in his art. He would add patterns to areas of the art as well. Use the
colors and patterns below to color artwork created in his style below.

Keith Haring
NAME:___________________________________
How to draw like Keith Haring

1. Start by drawing a stick figure lightly 2. Outline your figure rounding the corners.
in pencil of a person in motion.

3. Erase your stick figure and outline your 4. Color or paint using similar colors to
person in thick black. Haring and then add some patterns.
 NAME:___________________________________

Draw a figure or figures in the style of Keith Haring in the box below. Remember to add lines to imply
the movement of the figures. See previous pages for ideas.

Keith Haring
 NAME:___________________________________

What is art based on social issues?

Social issue art is when the artist recognizes a particular social issue using art and creativity. They use
creative skills to work within their community to affect change.

“While a traditional artist uses their creative skills to express their take on the world, a social artist puts
their skills to use to help promote and improve communities. Thus, the main aim of a social artist is to
improve society as a whole and to help other people find their own means of creative expression.”
(Wikipedia)

Examples of more artists that use art to change the world:

by Nancy Ohianian by Dan Tague by Mike Luckovich

EPA Regulations Justice Will Prevail Political Cartoon

Choose one of the images above and explain what you think it teaches us:

Keith Haring
Social Art Lesson in the style of Haring

Create a piece of art in the style of Keith Haring, choose something that you care deeply
about, and would want to try to change.

It should be something that is a concern in society or your community. Be sure to pick

something that is important to the community as a whole, not just
something that annoys you.

Some ideas to get you started:

pollution/environmental concerns
racism
homelessness
poverty
verbal abuse
bullying
depression
suicide
discrimination
childhood obsesity

What do you CARE about?

Talk to your family, is there anything that your family has been affected by? How? Why? How
did it affect them?

Think about the answers to these questions as you start your artwork.

Remember to use what you’ve learned about the colors, shapes, line types
and patterns that Haring used in his artwork and use the same in your creation. However, it
should be your own work, not a copy of his work.

Keith Haring
Social Art Lesson in the style of Haring

(Alternate Sheet)

Create a piece of art in the style of Keith Haring, choose something that you care deeply about, and
would want to try to change.

It should be something that is a concern in society or your community. Be sure to pick something that is
important to the community as a whole, not just something that annoys you.

What do you CARE about?

Talk to your family, is there anything that your family has been affected by? How? Why? How did it affect
them?

Think about the answers to these questions as you start your artwork.

Remember to use what you’ve learned about the colors, shapes, line types and patterns that Haring used
in his artwork and use the same in your creation. However, it should be your own work, not a copy of his
work.

Keith Haring
 NAME:___________________________________

Plan out your social issue drawing below by sketching. (You can do one or multiple sketches, until you
have one you like.)

Keith Haring
 NAME:___________________________________

Create your final sketch below, then outline with black and fill in with colors and patterns like Keith
Haring’s art. (Or use paper supplied by your teacher.)

Keith Haring
Key - (Always allow for the students to come up with their own answers, and interpretations,
the following is a guide only.)
Example

Social Issue: World Peace

Chose this idea because people are divided by our current political climate and wants people
to unify.

Conveyed idea through the use of figure with peace symbol holding the earth.

Colors yellow, red and blue because they are primary colors and create
stability in the art work. The figure is yellow so that he stands out.

Keith Haring
 NAME:___________________________________

Keith Haring Project Reflection

Answer the questions about the art that you created.

What was the social issue you chose to portray?

Why did you choose this issue?

How did you convey your idea through the use of shape, line and color?

Keith Haring