Thursday, May 10, 2012

Color Scheme and Composition Bike Painting


I love that excited feeling I get when seeing my students' work coming together. I've felt this way a lot lately, and I know the kids are feeling it too.

I found my inspiration for Eighth Grade Color Scheme Bike paintings via pinterest.
I believe the original pin was from someone's Etsy site, but I thought "Hey, 8th grade could totally do this!"

I decided to introduce students to the Rule of Thirds for this assignment. We've talked a lot this year about creating the illusion of space (perspective) but whenever there is time to "free" draw, I've noticed the sunset right in the middle of the page... you know what I'm talking about.
Having tried to introduce the concept in the past, I knew I needed help. Kids would go through the motions so to speak, but not really get it. So after scanning YouTube for what felt like hours (seriously, as soon as I thought I found a good one, there was a swear or a boob), I found a video that was short enough to keep their attention, and after a few questions, sure to drive home the point.

I brought in my own bike, and borrowed the bike the seventh grade teacher had in her classroom. I think a few years ago someone found it in the marsh behind the school. (And I thought I had weird stuff in my room!) After some observational sketches, we reviewed and were introduced to a few new color schemes, including monochromatic, analogous, triadic and split complementary. Kids could select their own schemes and were encouraged to use tints, tones and shades.
Here are a few of the first finishers:






1 comment:

  1. I love these! I like the composition, the color, and the fresh painterliness (is that a word?) of them.

    But I have another question, unrelated. I know you are somewhere in MA, and I don't know where, but I'm looking for someone who knows something about Worcester. We are driving there on Mother's day because my son is renting a zip car from Boston and meeting us there - crazy plan but it's just a good partway place. But I've never been to Worcester and I'd like to find a restaurant or something to do. If you happen to be in Worcester or the area and can offer any advice ASAP, can you email me? My email is plbrown3 at yahoo dot com.

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