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!

Excitement!

I have been super incredibly busy for what feels like the entire school year. My poor blog has been neglected and I thank all of you, especially my new followers, who continue to stop by and check out what little I have posted this year.

All of my hard work towards my Master's is coming to an end in the next few months and I couldn't be more excited. (I'll have time to blog more! ...among other things) However, I am most excited about my last three credits...

from

I am going to Nantucket to paint!
For two weeks and sixty hours of instruction.
Over the 4th of July holiday.
Wow!

I only need three more credits to earn my MEd and although this will be an undergraduate level course, I am able to use the credits. So awesome! And thank goodness too, because none of the other courses being offered this summer sounded at all interesting. This way, I get to learn something ENTIRELY NEW (can you believe I have very little paint training? and I've never used oils before) and I get to LIVE somewhere I have never been before.

I met with the professor yesterday and showed him everything from digital pictures from the Sketchbook Project, repeat patterns hand painted with gauche from my textile classes, to hours long figure drawings from my undergraduate classes. I am pretty proud to say that I am a UMASS CVPA graduate these days especially after the professor was so impressed by my drawings. (college of visual and performing arts)

I will be staying in apartment style housing with the other, at most, eleven students. Our workspace is about four miles away and the apartments are within walking distance to restaurants, shops and a little village. I plan to bring my bike, a bunch of books, my camera and plenty of sunscreen in addition to the list of supplies I happily await for from the professor.


Now to hurry up and wait for summer!

high school happenings in art 1

Here we are in March and looking ahead to the rest of the school year. I really think it is going to fly by! I'm feeling the crunch, but looking forward to celebrating my students' art achievements in April and May and all the wonderful end of the year activities soon there after. I may even have an art filled beginning of summer, depending on my own portfolio review this upcoming week. (I'll fill you in and keep you posted later)

A while back, I posted about my experience teaching high school this year. I can't say it has improved too much since the new term started, but I try to focus on the positives and the influence I am making on kids who really want to be there. And actually, I know I have some impact on the kids who are taking my class just to pass an elective. I can tell by the way they engage in conversation and even share things with me, occasionally asking my opinion on different topics.

I need to work on not getting worked up over the kids who consistently don't want to put in the effort. They are young adults who know my expectations, and as much as I push, they make their own decisions about their actions and earn their own grades, not me. If I am in the high school again next year, I need to advocate for no more than 25 students in a class. (Right now I have 30 with 24 desks...) I know if the class size was even three students smaller than I have now, I'd be able to give more feedback and attention to individual students than spending my time surveying the area, keeping students on task. But who knows! Next year could be completely different.

The artworks above are from my Art 1 students, the first half of the year. Many of our activities have focused on using line and value to add interest and render form. The first two black and white pieces are scratch boards, using texture and pattern to show value. The piece above is one of the more successful split self- portraits. One side was drawn using a mirror and shading and proportion techniques. The other side was drawn from the imagination or photo references, of symbols/ ideas/ pictographs to represent the artist.

I've found it very interesting how overwhelmed and worked up students get when asked to draw from their own imaginations and ideas. It makes me want to really look at the way I teach. Perhaps focus more next year, at the upper level, the process of being creative. I think I need to really explain why we take the steps that we do... brainstorming, sketching, evaluating, creating... and not just go through the motions. Being in grad school has really got my mind turning and thinking about how I teach and where to go from here.

My Art 1 students are finishing up some observational and compositional drawings of soda cans that has (thankfully for me to feel more successful) brought their shading and observational skills to the next level. After a quick activity about color and abstraction, we are moving on to a long term painting project inspired by Peter Max. I already know I am going to go insane painting with 30 students in a classroom that isn't mine, but oh well! My hope is that they will learn some new terms, experience a new material and paint something inspired by their own life after all these technical drawing activities. I really hope students take the opportunity to branch out. (I also hope they come out awesome since we have an art show at the beginning of April!)

Color Scheme Number Design

This sixth grade lesson was inspired by Figure 5 in Gold by Charles Demuth and Numbers in Color by Jasper Johns.

To motivate students, I asked a few to share what their favorite number is and why. We discussed how numbers have meaning to people and cultures. I suggested that artists may be inspired by numbers as well and presented a slide show of work from Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns and Charles Demuth.

Students were then instructed to select one number to be repeated numerous times around the page. We quickly talked about typography as I gave each table a sample of numbers in different type faces. I drew a sketch on the white board to demonstrate variety of size and placement. Finally, students used up to seven lines to divide the page and create new spaces and shapes. By the end of the first class, students traced their lines with white glue. This time, I demonstrated a few techniques using the document camera.

At the beginning of the next class, I gave students a vocabulary activity to complete independently or as a table, explaining that they would be using the words for their designs. Students were asked to match the correct definition to a color scheme, using a glossary (from Art: A Global Pursuit) and photo copy of terms and definitions.

Students were asked to choose from a warm, cool, monochromatic, analogous, triadic or complementary color scheme for their number design, now that they knew a color scheme is a plan for selecting colors. I noticed that pink and lime green is a thing amongst the sixth grade girls. I had to walk a few of them through how that could fit into a color scheme.

There were also many with warm colors/cool backgrounds and vice versa. Students were encouraged to experiment with blending and making new colors within their color scheme. If I were to do this again, I would cut down the size from 12x 18 to 9x12. I'm finding many students do not have the stamina to complete the larger size, especially after missing class for snow days and special events. Overall, I am pleased with the results, most students are proud of their work, and I was able to expose them to new materials, techniques and terminology. (I think my favorite however, is the one at the beginning of the post!)

Top Five Storm

This post is mostly for my curious mom who called every few hours from Florida to check on us during the storm here (outside of Boston). My brother works on Long Island taking down trees for the electric company, so I am sure his storm stories are more interesting than mine. Nonetheless, we survived, if only a little worse for wear. And I appreciate the calls, even if mom was on a beach!

 

Thursday afternoon, before parent/teacher conferences, school was cancelled for Friday. Honestly, we may have been able to get a half day in, but not all teachers have the two mile commute that I do, so it was probably safer to call the entire day. 

I spent my day taking pictures every couple of hours, doing graduate school homework and cooking in anticipation of loosing power. The above collage is the view from my living room window throughout the day Friday when the snow started around noon and didn't stop until Saturday afternoon.

Saturday morning

Second floor bathroom window facing south, Sunday morning

We lost power sometime after 10pm Friday night. As the hearty New Englander that my boyfriend is, he had shoveled at least twice Friday, but we promptly we out Saturday morning to dig out even more. Two hours later, we managed to clear a path to our downstairs neighbor's front door and wiggle our cars out of the driveway (not that we are going anywhere!). Our issue, much like our last apartment, is that there is no where to put the snow!

After shoveling, the house felt warm, but the temperature quickly fell. We spent the remainder of the day huddled under the blankets. I somehow slept for most of the day. No sooner had I started to read, did the power go back on around 4pm. My aunt, who lives in the next town over, had called about an hour earlier, offering us a warm bed and food for the evening, once the driving ban was lifted. I was happy to call her back to let her know the heat was blasting and the power was on!

The picture above was taken Sunday morning before we ventured out for groceries, which is part of our normal Sunday routine. However, the mile drive to Stop and Shop was pretty awful. There was still snow packed on the roads and since school is cancelled again for today, I am assuming that the city has had trouble figuring out where to put all the snow too! 

Our street, driving home from the grocery store. Thankfully, it is a one way!

Creative Minds: New group, New ideas

 

We took a brief hiatus, but my Creative Minds group is back in session!
Its taken us a couple of weeks to get back into the swing of things though, perhaps due to the fact that I actually PLANNED activities. One Saturday morning, before my graduate classes started, I sat down with the schedule and planned out almost ten weeks' worth of activities. I then promptly made a shopping list and tried to procure everything we may need that I don't already have. Now that classes have started, I am really glad that I had enough foresight to plan. (Thank GOD for this snow day too, because I used most of it to read for grad school and prepare/cook in case we loose power) However the first couple "meetings of the minds" didn't go as smoothly as I planned, not that the kids cared!

Week One fell the week of MLK Jr.'s birthday. February also holds President's day, so I purchased the Mini Great Americans Murals from Art Projects for Kids. This activity was hit or miss. I had one or two who were really up to the challenge of a coloring page with oil pastels while others couldn't stand to get greasy. However, adults and students alike are amazed with the results. Our principal even wants to frame the finished products! But poor ol' Washington remains unfinished since enough students were thoroughly uninterested after the first page.
   Week Two was just a flop. Typically, I will take out a handful of materials, present a few ideas and let the students take off. If they want to complete the ideas I presented great, if they have other ideas for the materials, even better. We are "creative minds" after all!
Week Two was crayon based. I provided sand paper, crayons and irons to do prints and three hair dryer stations to melt crayons/ crayon "en-caustic." Everyone wanted to melt crayons, but I let the students who volunteered to peel crayons (not knowing what we were doing yet) go first. I had also hoped that the George Washington mural would get done, but after the previous week, I knew there was no interest. After a demo and strict safety speech, I had all three hair dryers going with teams of students helping each other for about five whole minutes. Then we blew a fuse.
While waiting for the custodian, I explained one of Week Three's projects in hopes to keep the preteens' attention. Thankfully most found themselves busy and under the kind custodian's suggestion, we kept it to two hair dryers plugged into different walls of the room. We were successful and while the kids had fun, I just laughed and hoped for better luck next week. 

Week Three was much better. Or at least I think so based on how engaged students were. Who knows, maybe they were bored out of there minds, but cool things happened from my point of view.

There were multiple painted paper options available, as the plan next week is to use the painted paper for various Valentine's Day themed crafts. We used the box tops that come with reams of paper and loaded them with construction paper and paint covered marbles. Old school "marbled" paper! I also cut up some paper towel tubes and showed students how to fold them into a heart shape for stamping. Finally, we brought back the hair dryers and kept it to two going at once. Below is a student's "en-caustic" after adding water color and dabbing with paper towel for texture. Can you tell his favorite color is blue?

"En-caustic" in progress. This student has a great eye for color. Ignore the smock... my boyfriend donated all his old plaid shirts to the art room.

Now that we seem to have our routine back, I am looking forward to what these folks create. I have grand plans for paper mache and perhaps some Chihuly inspired sculpture in between holiday crafts and silliness.

Wolf Kahn Inspired Landscapes

There's a little, independent bookstore we like to poke around in whenever we visit Woodstock, VT. I tend to gravitate to the kid's section since I can't resist a good picture book. Right next to the kid's section are spinning racks of beautiful stationary. The bright colors of the Wolf Kahn prints have caught my eye on numerous occasions so I knew I needed to create a lesson and pass on my inspiration to my students. After a visit to the MFA, I purchased (with my student discount!) a calendar of prints and began formulating my ideas.

I think this lesson is suitable for all age levels, but I geared it towards my eighth grade students. One of our "units" of study in this grade is Invented Worlds. The formal elements I attempted to teach here were meant to carry over to the next lesson which is one point perspective. (We've been working on one point perspective cities and rooms now for over a month! I also added a surreal twist and hope to post some soon)

I began this lesson with a Power Point. I think slide presentations can be ineffective, so I try to make them interactive by asking students questions about what they see and calling on students to read the brief informational texts. I've also started developing "viewing guides" to go along with my presentations. Not only does this encourage students to be more accountable for the information being presented, but it also promotes literacy. This is a big buzz word lately in education. I'm currently enrolled in a graduate class (one of my last!) focused solely on "new literacies." While initially nervous about taking a course so focused on reading and writing, I am excited about the possibilities and the new ideas I can bring to my classroom.

I know I am digressing from the lesson, but after two short years in my school system, I really want to validate art as an integral component in the well rounded education of my students. Right now, the arts are supported, but sometimes I feel like its only because the work "looks good." Like, "thank you for beautifying the school" and "how awesome are those art works!" In reality, it needs to be more about the process, thinking creatively, learning skills that can apply in other situations outside the art room and an appreciation.  A LOT needs to happen, like getting a department head, before the system can get there. But I feel like the more I learn, the more I can try, the more my students will get out of art class. Back to Wolf Kahn...

After viewing the power point, students were asked to use the vocabulary to fill in the blanks. I gave students a hand out that looked like this:

Name:

Grade/Section:

Wolf Kahn

LANDSCAPES

 

Extraordinary	Foreground	Unusual
Middle ground	Horizon line	Background

1.     Where water or land meet sky is the  _______________ and at the viewer’s eye level in a work of art.

2.     Parts of a work of art that seem closest to you are called the _______________.

3.     Parts of a work of art that seem to be between objects in the foreground and the background are said to be in the _______ _________.

4.     Wolf Kahn’s artwork became famous because of the ______________ or _______________ colors that he uses.

5.     Using ________________ can also create the illusion of space in a work of art.

Use the above vocabulary to create 2 landscape sketches. You may use color pencil to experiment with unusual or extraordinary color combinations. Attempt to BLEND colors.

The presentation, vocabulary and sketches took about one and a half classes. During the second class, students were told that they had a choice of materials for the final image. They had a choice of oil pastels (I had florescent available), chalk pastels or watercolor with oil pastel to create a resist. There was scrap paper so that they could experiment with the different materials first. The only real requirement for their image was to include foreground, middle ground and background. During each class, I put laminated calendar pages at their tables so they could have a visual as well.

I feel like the landscapes most reminiscent of Kahn's were the ones completed with chalk. The florescent oil pastels I had were terrible if blended with any thing else and not very opaque. The mixed media images came out with more softness and a nice balance but the colors were not as bright. Overall, I think it was a successful lesson. I am confident that when my students go on to high school, that they will know what a horizon line is (I have students at that level now who do not). I was happy to see that the majority of my students did NOT put the horizon line right, smack in the middle and only a handful had the happy little sun in the corner. By choosing their own materials too, they had some more ownership. For some the openness was overwhelming, but I'm pleased with the results and proud of my students.