Expressive Elements Exercise

So if you haven't stayed tune to my sporadic posting lately, I teach high school, full time.
The pacing is way different than middle or elementary school. My Art 2, Art 3 and Portfolio students maybe complete a piece and a half each term. That is something I'd like to work on in the future, but it's where we are at right now. Plus, when they do complete an image, as much as I want to share with the blogosphere, I have a hard time posting the images. For one, I feel like I am way busier than I ever was, and two, my students have put so much time and thought and themselves into these images, that they are no longer mine to share (if they ever were in the first place). So for those reasons, my lesson sharing is a little more in frequent.

Today though, I was just gushing after first period.
I have taught Art 2 during period 1 for the last three years. (that is probably the only consistency with my job over the last four years). The first two years, I had wonderfully small classes, like under 15! This year, at the highest, I was at 25. But, I have been able to do all of the in- process critiques, mini- lessons and presentations just like I have been with the smaller groups. Perhaps it has something to do with being the first (or second) period of the day, but it has been awesome!

Currently with Art 2, students are in the process of finishing their Symbolic Portraits. I totally stole this lesson from Painting with Brains "back in the day." I have given my students a choice in media, and many are working with color pencil on a large scale (16x 20) so class after class can become tedious, especially a double, which is 88 minutes.

So today, being that it was a double and literally the middle of the term, I started my Art 2 with an exercise. (I ask them to keep a sketchbook that is passed in once a term with 6-8 pages or the equivalent of four hours worth of work (which is nothing compared to Art 3 where they pass in 10 hours each term) so this counted towards one of those pages). I felt like some students needed a break from colored pencils.

Very basically, the exercise was to deconstruct the portrait of Picasso (at the start of this post) and reconstruct it in a way to convey an emotion. Students could cut or tear. Add color with color pencils or markers. Use elements of magazine or painted paper. Words were not allowed. Extra copies of the image were provided. All pieces did not have to be used.

I began the exercise with a recap of what students may have learned in Art 1: expressive line and color psychology. I realize that what I was asking students to do was very abstract and unlike anything we have ever done before. But the variety of work that was produced in just 40 minutes was AWESOME! I can only imagine where these students will go in the future if this is the kind of problem solving that I see now. 

Hershey Kisses and Coal

I am still a little in shock that we completed the week relatively unscathed.
I pumped myself up for a long week of behavior issues, attitude and anxiety after students received their progress reports and we all waited for the holiday break. (Thats awful, but like a big game, you have to psych yourself out) Maybe I got used to the high energy of middle school students before vacation, but the week was calm while students continued to work on their value drawings.

I didn't want to be a complete scrooge, so Friday we took it easy.
I started class, when technology was working for me, with the Disney short, Paperman. If you have not seen it, go do a quick youtube search. The imagery is beautiful and the story is classic Disney. There is no dialogue, but much like the images students have been working on, it is a visual language.
As the movie came to an end, I passed each student a baggie with three Hershey Kisses and a black piece of paper (my dorky art teacher self referred to the paper as a lump of coal... nerd). I asked students to try not to eat all the candy, but leave at least one to try to draw on the black paper with charcoal.

It was not an easy challenge. However I was not met with resistance... either students now know me too well or really didn't mind. I forgot to take pictures through out the day, so the selection above was from my last class. 

I wanted to try it out too! Thats my drawing above. 

The last twenty five minutes or so of class, students chose their own art adventure. I had these handouts and supplies available. The top half of this handout came from Tiny Art Room. I added another challenge and re-phrased a couple of things.

All in all, students were entertained, I snuck in some learning and we're now on VACATION!

Celebrity Half Challenge

A huge emphasis in our Art One curriculum is learning about observation and value in drawing. To be totally fair, I drew a lot in high school, but didn't really "get it" until college. As a second year high school teacher, I am still trying to find that balance of what is art one really about and how can my students be successful?

Term Two started with some observational drawing, value scales and vocabulary. We discussed cast shadow, full light area, half tone and reflected light, taking notes and practicing gradations. I did the same along with the students, under a document camera that I am borrowing from the Drama department, which was projected in the front of the room. oooh ahhh technology. But it caught the students' attention! We then drew pumpkins like the ones above.

Next we broke things down into simple, geometric shapes. Under spot lights on tripods, students observed cast shadow, full light and reflected light on spheres, cones and cubes. This part was totally boring to them. I knew it and tried to emphasize that everything they will draw from here on out can be simplified to these shapes... and that this was so important that I am counting it as a "project" grade.

I kind of just threw together the next assignment as a filler between observation and their own value drawing, but I am so, sooo glad I did. Inspired by this pin, I typed up very specific directions, with a vague rubric, as I am counting this as a mini project grade as well.

Students were asked that as they finish their observational shape drawings and value scales, to go into our small (six) computer lab and find a picture of a celebrity.

After cutting the picture in half and pasting one side to a new paper, they were asked to observe the value and proportions from the discarded half or the pasted side, in order to recreate the other half.

I am overjoyed for these kids.
Many were taking pictures of their work with their cellphones before turning it in. One even posted it to Instragram and another told me he was trying to prove to his mom what he had accomplished in art class.
From a teacher stand point, this was a fabulous exercise. Students didn't want to "mess up" because they wanted their celebrity to look as real as possible. They had to draw upon everything I have taught them about observation and measuring, as well as value, and making comparisons between lights and darks. The face can even be broken down into spheres, which they had already drawn. As students were working, they were actively seeking feedback from me and their peers, taking photos and making considerations about how to improve. What more could you ask for!?
Again, I am so very proud. From here, students have been given the task to create a drawing that uses value, communicates an idea and defines the space. Many are overwhelmed by the openness, but we spent a couple of days in the library looking for images and inspiration, so our creativity gears are turning. Look for value drawing final images sometime in December or January!

New Room

It seems like school is back in session for most of my blogger buddies. I've been jealous looking at photos of cute elementary and middle school art rooms, knowing there is not much I can do with my room(s) at the high school. I think my teens are beyond color coded table buckets, but you betcha I will be labeling supplies!

Above is a photo of what will be my homeroom and where I will teach two classes. My other three classes will be taught in the room in the back. For some reason, that room is bigger by about three feet and actually a rectangle. My homeroom is this weird, uneven quadrangle so no matter how I have tried to arrange the desks so that I am not bumping into them, its going to be squishy somewhere.

I am sure you are wondering what that big, green head is. This room is used as a changing room for drama performances, and is a bit of a hang out spot after school. Our photo teacher also does set design and this year will be the jack of all auditorium needs. The green head is the all powerful Oz from last year's drama production. A part of me wishes I could hang it from the ceiling with the lights still in the eyes. 

I love the high ceilings and the natural sunlight. There is even a skylight (which I am sure will prove to be annoying once we start observational drawing!) This year the art department, if you can call us that, since we don't have a department head, is two full time teachers and one part time. This is the space I set up for the part time and I.

And this is our big project this week as we prepare for school to start after labor day. Remember how I said this room was a hang out spot after school? Yea, kids destroyed the supply closet. That is paint on the floor...
Last year, I left this building at eleven in the morning to go teach at another school. All my classes were in the other room, so while I put my two cents in, there was nothing I could do. I  have my "do not enter" sign from my last supply closet, laminated and ready to go.

Construct, Observe, Color

I mentioned a little while back that my saving graces this year have been my new work buddies and my Art 2 students. Yesterday was one of the best days this year and it makes me sad, no matter how tough it has been, that I may not be up at the high school again next year. I think there is going to be some major shifting around in our little art department. At the very least I will go back to the position that I had last year, teaching part time middle school art. I know my principal there said he will advocate for me. He reassured me that I shouldn't be worried, but nobody likes change. I will be happy to have the opportunity to keep doing what I love. And for that I am very thankful.

The images above are of a three part lesson/ unit about observation and color. This is one that I feel like I built from my own idea and am proud of the results. Traditionally, I have had eighth graders observe and study still lifes that I have constructed.

These two images are from the school where I first taught. The students are in tenth grade and I occasionally see a few at the school where I teach now. The student on the end (left) produced the image below of the white still life.

So, I took this idea and tried to step it up a little for my Art 2 students. Still life and value drawing are pretty big components of Art 1, but I didn't want to have them draw my boring old (literally dusty at this point) still lifes. I had the genius idea that with such a small class, only 15 students (!), I could bring in a bunch of recycled materials that I had been collecting and have them construct their own. There were egg cartons, paper towel tubes, broken down cereal boxes, cardboard scraps, bottle caps, newspapers, hot glue, scissors and tape. I demonstrated a few construction techniques and reviewed objective versus non- objective. Then I let students take off!

When the pieces felt balanced and complete, I had students spray paint them white. At first I had gesso, but many of the materials we used were very porous. It was like a sponge soaking up water, but the spray paint worked better to block the "pores" and cover the sculptures. Thankfully we have a vent, so we did not have to go outside.

I don't know why this is sideways, it is correct in Picasa! I get to share a pretty sweet classroom with fabulous prints and spotlights. The now white sculptures were placed under color lights and students completed at least three color studies with dry materials of their choice. If I were to do this again, I would try to find brighter color bulbs. I put them in clip lamps like the one pictured above in the front of the room, but they didn't shine very far. It was more like mood lighting. Plus, I didn't realize how much light came through the sky light, so there was not as much contrast as I had hoped for. 

As the last student finished up their sculpture and began the color studies, I reviewed color more in depth. I attempted to have groups of students become "experts" on different color schemes and then share with the class at large, but this group is not very vocal. I need to improve this part of the lesson, but I think the handout I provided was helpful.

Finally, students selected a color scheme and completed a long term acrylic painting of their sculpture in that theme. 

Sorry for the weird shadows. There were no lights in the display case.
When the painting was complete, students could paint their sculpture however they liked. I would maybe switch these last two steps. Initially I felt that keeping the sculpture white would help students see different values and then they could interpret that into color. I think that worked, but not for every student.

I have such a great group of students! There are a handful not pictured because they're still not entirely done. They are actually more of the objective pieces including a turtle, fish and wolf. What was great about this activity was that every student was successful in their own way, from the gifted student to the student with special needs. There was something for everyone, forcing some out of their comfort zones and causing students to look and think in a new way. I'm really proud of these kids and I can't wait to share some of their more recent work!