Symmetrical Monochromatic Paintings

Another gem from school years passed AND based on a lesson from Making Amazing Art.
I think these paintings were by fifth and sixth graders my second year of teaching, as a way to introduce color, value and balance.

1. Create a symmetrical drawing.

The original lesson called for an outline of a butterfly. I didn't want these preteens to be insulted, so we stuck to abstract, tessellated designs.

a. Fold a piece of paper in half hot dog or hamburger, and draw any kind of line that starts at the top and ends at the bottom. This was a great way to review kinds of line as well. 
b. Add five more lines to break up the two shapes. Remember to use a variety of lines to add more interest. Keeping the number of lines limited helps to not make the final composition an overwhelming design. (As it was, these took weeks!)
c. Re- trace all the lines heavy and dark with pencil.
d. Fold the paper in the opposite direction and apply pressure in order to make the lines "jump" to the other side. There are multiple methods to transfer the lines, but you don't want to spend a ton of time with retracing everything perfectly because painting takes the most time.

2. Pick a color and paint!

• Make sure to introduce or review value and monochromatic color schemes. 
• Remind students that for their paintings to be truly symmetrical, whatever value they paint in one shape, they must paint the corresponding shape the same value.
• Demonstrate the process you want your students to use when mixing their own paint values and clean up procedures. 

In my room, each student gets their own "palette" or Styrofoam lunch tray and is responsible for their own materials. Tables are labeled by color and each are called to the sink by me. Clean up time has to be an orchestrated event for chaos not to ensue. My students know the routine and know my expectations. (And it took a lot of patience and learning on my behalf to figure out what works!) 

3. Retrace original lines in black if desired.

Shape Hunt

Let's take a trip in the way back machine...

Here is a lesson from 2008! 

The above display was created in December, the year I first started teaching. 

I purchased my new Mac last week and while manually transferring all my documents and photos, I unearthed this lesson, along with many other great examples of student work pre- blogging days. At the time, I had under a hundred students and taught two days a week. Art was a separate class beginning in middle school, so my sixth graders had never been to an art class their entire lives (!) and my seventh and eighth graders had never met an art teacher like me, that's for sure! (Since I was at a private school, the principal politely asked if I could take out my nose ring and cover my tattoo...) I was the youngest teacher in the building by far and had the shortest hair! That last part was an adjustment for some students as it is tradition in their culture for women to have long hair or they just had never met someone under fifty with short hair.

Shape Hunt

Is exactly what the title entails! The basis of this lesson came from Making Amazing Art! by Sandi Henry. The forty lessons in the book are specifically tied to the elements and principles of art. I used many of the lessons as a jumping off point since my students had limited experience with art outside of crafts.

1. This lesson followed an introduction and review of color including primary, secondary and intermediate. To add to that new knowledge, we talked about color schemes, or groups. Students would decide on a color scheme for their final compositions. (I think for this one we kept it to warm or cool).

2. I am hoping we talked a little bit about composition before we began. I don't entirely remember. We did however talk about wanting the picture to be abstract. Our hope was for the viewer to try to "hunt" for where the artist's shapes came from in the original magazine page. I did this with eighth graders, so the vocabulary was within reach. We decided that enlarging and simplifying were two techniques we could apply to abstract our images. 

3. I had accumulated many interior design and fashion magazines at this point and tore out a few folders worth of images for students to select from. Students found images they liked and then "zoomed in" using an old slide that I popped the plastic out of, to make a view finder. I think they did a few sketches before conferencing with me about their final design.

You may need to click on the image to see the magazine clipping where the shapes came from, more clearly

I would definitely do this lesson again. Next time I think I would incorporate a few more color schemes to select from as well as other principles like contrast and emphasis. Looking back, I think these kids did a great job, especially with limited background in art and such a newbie teacher.

30 Day Drawing Challenge (2)

Come to find out, even in the summer, I am pretty much worthless after 8 pm, especially when it comes to trying to plan and do anything academic. I have spent the last few days penned up in what we affectionately call the "rumpus room." There is a futon, filing cabinet that is no where near organized, hence the boxes of stuff ready to be filed in front of the futon, guitars, amplifiers, cubbies full of records, a desk, and numerous plastic shoe boxes filled with art supplies on any available shelf or floor space. I am half way through the first draft of my second paper due tomorrow (for 50% of my grade!) and I just couldn't type anymore once I had dinner. I decided to draw instead.

Today's, or maybe it was yesterday's (I've lost track) challenge was to draw your favorite TV show. This isn't exactly my best work, but the two main characters of the only show I make a point to watch have been rendered in a simple line drawing and color palette. I think I have watched every season of Project Runway, including All Stars, whether it has been through Netflix (since I didn't know the show existed until 2005) or on Hulu (since I no longer have cable).

I love the show for numerous reasons.
One, its reality television. I watched the Real World when I was a teenager and appreciate where it all began. Who can resist the drama and suspense (and wonder what was edited out)?
Two, I love and appreciate when you can see the creative process in action. Even more, I love when you can see designers grow and flourish.
Three, I can't do what they do.
I should, or at least I should be somewhat able, as my concentration was in textile design. I remember long nights in the studio with the sewing machine trying to get my samples straight! And yet I hate, hate, hate having to hem my own pants. I even put off putting a button back on a shirt until I absolutely have to. I can't even image creating an entire garment, let along fashion line!
After a quick google search of 'Tim Gunn' for images to help with my drawing, I read an article or two about his history. I have a greater appreciation for Tim Gunn knowing how many years of dedication he put into Parsons and how he revamped the curriculum in order for graduates to be more a part of the twenty first century. Who know?

30 Day Drawing Challenge (1)

I again apologize for my lack of blogging this school year. I've come to realize that my computer is a slowly dyeing breed. I started college with the above iMac G4 sans mesmerizing, clear plastic speakers. It was the first big purchase I made on my own, with my own money. It might have lasted four years of college, but my little academic heart didn't want to chance the temperamental AppleWorks and other applications as I set out to student teach and find a real job. I donated it to a school and I bought a cute, little, white iBook G4 my senior year of college with a loan from Nana. Now six years later, its still truckin' but ever so slowly.

I plan to buy a MacBook Pro come September, if not before, with my (graduate) student discount. I will be able to have a Picasa account and update my iPod, two things I currently can not do. Nor can I watch awesomely stupid videos on Facebook. Seriously, how else am I supposed to spend my time!?

Actually, I have really been enjoying my time lately. This is the first summer since I was probably 14 that I am NOT working. My second class of the summer is finishing up this week and I am looking forward to some beach time and perhaps some time planning and in my classroom. I've read a handful of books, I visited family both here in MA (Mom came for 4 days!) and on Long Island, and I've spent time with friends and their new baby. I've even found time to do art!

At the end of the school year, I made a bunch of copies of this and left them in a pocket folder on the bulletin board in my classroom. I told my students to take one if they tend to get bored, just want to draw or want a challenge. I said that I can't promise a reward, but if they come in next school year with all thirty drawings, I will think of something. So vague! (I dunno, maybe a candy bar? a check in my grade book?) But many kids took a copy and a week or so ago I thought I should step it up and try myself.

Life kinda got in the way though when I was told last week that the exhaust system in my 1999 Honda CRV (with over 100K) was totally rusted and it would cost a lot to replace it . Needless to say, I took a few days off from drawing to contemplate what to do, finally deciding to purchase a new car!

2007 Chevy HHR

A week in and its still nameless, but so far so good.

And back to the drawing.

Today I finished this:

Day 6: Favorite Book Character

This is Charlotte and her boat from The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. I think I read this in middle school and totally identified with the character. The original copy is still on my book shelf, dried glue, yellow pages and all. I wanted to modernize the cover and after a failed attempt of drawing Charlotte free hand, I decided to use the collage technique I've come to love. 

1. I did the background. This took the longest. I learned a technique at a workshop a few years go where the instructor used matte medium as an adhesive, but would peel some of the pieces off before they would completely dry. He would also add acrylic paint. Here I used the matte medium and pieces of blue magazine page. I then used two shades of blue sharpie and a white paint pen. Not entirely what I wanted, but still rough and textured. 
2. I drew the boat thinking about different filters you can use in Photoshop. 
3. I printed a reversed image of the original cover and traced some of the lines in Charlotte's portrait with black sharpie. This way it shows up on the back as just the line. I then added the blue lines to mimic the boat.
4. Cut and paste! 

I was aiming for street art. Whether I hit the mark or not, I don't know. But so far this is the page I am most satisfied with. I'm trying to take each page a little beyond drawing. I am also making it into a book once I have all 30 pages done. It feels really good to be making art and staying in practice. I will keep you posted!

The Sketchbook Project 2012

First of all, thank you for continuing to read my blog!
I know I have been rather absent and haven't really posted anything about lessons, which is one of my primary goals for this little side project, in like months. I can't promise that I will go back through anything I did this past school year over the summer, but I'd like to say that I will try. While the school year wrapped up for kiddos back in mid June, I just finished an intense online course that started in May and started another course in person, this week. I'm truckin' through my grad school requirements! I really enjoyed the online course, albeit crazy amounts of reading and sometimes rather abstract, like how chaos theory could help explain creativity... yea, that happened.  It was called Seminar in Creativity. I will try to explain later, this post is about The Sketchbook Project.

I spent hours this afternoon at LynnArts viewing my students' sketchbooks and random selections from various themes and places around the world. You can see a few selections from my students' work as well as my own book(s) and ranting here.

The space itself was pretty cool. Really high ceilings with fun chandeliers that had intricate crown moulding around the base on the ceiling. There was a fire place and huge windows with natural light pouring in despite the over cast day. 

From where I live, Lynn is like traveling to a foreign country. Its only forty minutes away, but on the other side of Boston. The buildings are much closer together and the streets are narrow, even the main drag, and winding and occasionally one way. I went through numerous tunnels (thanks Big Dig!) and two rotaries or " round- a- bouts" for you non- New Englanders, just to get there.  I'm very happy I had a GPS. And thankfully there was free on street parking. However there was next to nothing that looked open in the surrounding area. Of course, there was a Dunkin Donuts. As my boyfriend would say, "You can't swing a cat without hitting a Dunkin Donuts" around here. I don't advise swinging cats though.

Thats me! With the co-founder of the Sketchbook Project, Steven Peterman.

During a lull in the action, there were only a few people in the space along with a camera crew and the staff. I'm not sure what the crew was for, but I was asked if I wouldn't mind being taped while answering a few questions. Turns out Steve, who chatted with me, is co-founder of the project! Since none of my students came during the time I was at the show, I plan to write a little something up for the local paper and perhaps attach the photo. 

I know its a huge project, with thousands of books from around the world, but I am very glad that I participated and was able to provide my students with the opportunity. 

Would I do it again with kids? I don't know. There are things that I would need to change if I did, on my behalf. One of the things I've really had to learn as a new teacher is how to advocate for myself. And while I got the funding to do this project, that was it. I had no other support. Administration wanted this project to get our name out there, but no one set anything up to get it there. I think the long time frame of starting the books in October and the show not being in the area until July was an "out of sight, out of mind" type situation. No one asked me if they could set up some publicity for me and I did what I could during the art show and passed out "save the dates" to students, but the end of the year came and went. I know what I could do differently next year and I hope that if I decide to do this again, that my ideas are fully supported and I'm not just pushed forward on my own. I need support.

What I like about the Sketchbook Project, with my heightened sense of how creativity works thanks to my grad school work, is that it provides people with the opportunity to be creative. This is a chance for people to test the water so to speak. There is no right way or wrong way to fill out a sketchbook and thats the beauty of it!

I came across this "Encyclopedia of..." sketchbook and the ideas that came through the imagery resonated with me. This person's book became therapeutic.  She had something she needed to work through, like my book from last year, and it probably felt awesome to get it out! 

For kids in particular the Sketchbook Project is a way to find a process that works for the individual and be able to have confidence in the final product. By mailing it back, you get this sense of accomplishment. You have finality. Some people get stuck there in their creativity, they don't want to finish their work for fear of not knowing what happens next or fear of outside criticism. You will never have to know what others think about your Sketchbook and if you do, go to the show! Or post images online. In today's global society, if you really want feedback about your work, you can find it. Just be prepared for the good AND the bad. 

For my students, I know how great they feel for having put so much time and energy into their books. Each one is so different! Through the process, they found materials they liked to work with, or not. They had days they didn't want to talk to anyone while working and days they couldn't stop laughing. I know that for them, just having the opportunity to come to the art room for a few hours each day, and to be welcomed and encouraged, boosted their self esteem in ways that I will never fully know. As cheesy as it is, thats the truth. Whatever process they find, whatever their favorite medium, doesn't matter. That confidence and positive relationship with themselves is the biggest thing I could ever hope to provide my students.   

End of the Year Activities

With only a week and a half to go, we are quickly wrapping things up in the art room. As of tomorrow, our eighth graders are on a three day camp trip! And I will be attending a luncheon to celebrate one of my students' accomplishments in poster contest this past fall, later on in the week, so there is very little time left!

In an effort to get rid of some of my scraps, I have introduced sixth grade to Matisse and his collage techniques. We are covering plain old manila paper in bright, colorful construction and painted paper scraps. We briefly talked about positive and negative space as well.

As a culmination of the year, and their three years in middle school, eighth graders have been designing story cubes based on Dr. Suess' "Oh the Places You'll Go." The idea was to have a story flow from panel to panel of a cube template. The results have been mixed as some students have tapped out while others love the idea and have taken it to heart.

I wanted to be able to do something three dimensional with seventh grade before the end of the year. I also have varying degrees of abilities and behaviors. So, spray starch coffee filter Chihuly inspired macchia designs it is! I've started this one day lesson by showing students this interview http://www.chihuly.com/cbs-early-show.aspx and various macchia pieces from Chihuly. We then used plain old crayola washable markers to fill a coffee filter, inverted them over cups and sprayed with starch. So far the kids have loved it! The starch gets a bit messy and sticks to the table, but all in good fun. I hope they are happy because they look super cool!

Also a quick, one day activity that not everyone got to participate in, was my "Art Show Critique." Students came down to what was left of the show and with a partner answered a series of questions about a piece of their choice, not from their grade. Its not exactly a critiques, but it gets students to look more closely at an artwork and begin to analyze it. 

1. Describe what you see: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What stands out the most when you first look at this work of art? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Explain the reason why you notice the thing you mention in number 2. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What leads your eye around the page? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. What is the subject of the artwork? ________________________________________________________________

6. How do you think the artist made this work? What materials do you think he/ she used? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. Circle which elements of art the artist used

LINE         SHAPE              COLOR      VALUE       TEXTURE           FORM       SPACE

8. HOW did the artist use at least 2 of these elements? Think about:         BALANCE       CONTRAST PATTERN EMPHASIS     MOVEMENT    RHYTHM         UNITY

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. What feelings or meanings could this artwork represent? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. What titles could you give this artwork? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. What other things interest you about this artwork? Why did you pick this one out of the hundreds in the show? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Spring Art Show Wrap Up

Wow. A part of me still feels like I am recuperating from the thirteen hour work day setting up the show, dismantling of the show the next day, returning the work the following, and celebrating student of the semester. All in one, short week. Maybe I am also anxiously gearing up for the last weeks of school!

But my first public school art show went off without much of a hitch. I suppose the only hitch was how I felt selling some of the student work. I get uncomfortable selling working. The money comes back to the art program, but I get worried, and so do the kids, as to where their hard work is going. And, on my end, did I remember to put the "not for sale" sticker on the work, or did the responsible 8th graders helping to prepare in the weeks before remember!?

Over sixty works of art were sold, raising almost $200 for the art program in one night. I have nothing to compare that to, but I'd say it was a success! I am even more happy with the comments from parents and staff saying how it was the best art show in memory. Thank goodness! I am the third art teacher the poor eighth grade kids have had!

8th grade Color Scheme Bike Tempera Painting

7th grade Pop Art

Also 7th grade Pop Art... you'll need to rotate your screen.
Also, an adapted lesson for my special needs student. 

7th grade Warm and Cool Rule of 3rds Bikes

All of the above pieces were sold. Two of the four to the former art teacher, now solely teaching elementary. The other two to staff members. 

The panels formed a horse shoe. This is the middle, with one of the three tables of 6th grade Character Bowls.

We were fortunate enough to borrow the metal panels from the local art association. It really made life (for me) so much easier. And I think it brought up the level of professionalism. Also wonderful was the the joint celebration of the arts that night. After an hour of viewing the art work, parents, families and others in attendance enjoyed a band and chorus performance. I was very impressed by the chorus. They really pulled it together for Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror and Journey's Don't Stop Believing!

The day after the show, I brought my students down to view the remaining works and look a little more closely at a work of their choice. With a partner, students answers questions, almost like a critique, about a classmate's work.
During last period, I was asked to come down to the office as soon as the bell rang. I tried not to get nervous, but all I kept thinking was "What did I do?"

There was a message from the assistant superintendent to please give her a call back. Um ok, sure thing.

Boy am I glad I did! She asked if I would be interested in a year, .5 position teaching high school, in addition to my .5 position teaching middle school. I have the opportunity to be full time next year! At a public school!! I have been working towards this since college graduation six years ago. Yes, I am interested, thank you, thank you, thank you!

So, anyone out there teach high school?

I am waiting for more specifics but am very much looking forward to the new challenge and improving my middle school curriculum as I go.

Wohoo!