Sculpting heads out of Play-Doh

9th graders are finishing a unit on prehistoric art and we are gearing up for a clay workshop. Their assignment is to create an idol statuette, sort of like the Venus of Willendorf, but of their own design. In the meantime, we had a trial run the other day using Play-doh. Following a You Tube tutorial, they had to sculpt tiny heads. I love this project because they get to loosen up a lot and the soft, malleable material allows for very expressionist creations. Here are some of the most creative examples.

What 8th graders are up to...

I haven´t posted any 8th grade projects because they are currently working on a big one. Since they are working with the Cartesian Plane in their Geometry class, I figured Grid Drawing would be appropriate.

First, we researched American artist Chuck Close. Students were handed, in pairs, a chapter of his biography which they had to summarize and present to the class. They learned how Close overcame his mental and physical disabilities and developed grid drawing to help him create his massive portraits. Next, we did some simple lineart grid excercises to help prepare for the BIG project: A value self-portrait using a grid. I took their picture (they all hate theirs but at 14 everyone hates they way they look anyways) and used Photoshop to enhance the tonal value. They created a big grid and began copying and enlarging their photos.

By this week most students have finished with the line drawings and next week will begin painting using only 4 shades of gray. They are doing great so far, here are some examples. I will post the end result when they are ready.

Principles of Design

Some high school students´ results from this assignment. Awesome!

Patchwork quilt

10th graders are studying colonialism in U.S. History, so in art class I proposed creating a patchwork quilt between all of them. They had to apply the principles of design to create a textile inspired by nature (although it could be an abstract motif). After everyone designed theirs we joined them together to create this beautiful paper "quilt".

I am so impressed with their individual designs that I am suggesting they create a patter with them and have them printed using this webpage. If they do (and i´m really hoping they will) I will ask for a square of fabric from each so we can create a real quilt :-)

*if you click on the image you can see an enlarged version of it

Matisse Cut-out collages

It´s so hard to choose student work to post. I have approximately 50 students per grade level, so every project gives me around that many works to choose from. Sometimes they´re all so wonderful i hate to leave some out, as is the case of the 6th Grade Matisse Cutout collages.

6th graders had been learning about the Elements of Art in during the first unit and were ready to put their knowledge into practice. I chose to showcase French artist Henri Matisse for them since they are studying Europe in their Social Studies classes. We started the unit by reading and disscussing his biography, and discovering why he developed his "painting with scissors" collage technique. Next, students had to create their own cut-out collages using construction paper as paint. They made their sketches with both organic and geometric shapes and distributed them on their canvases, sometimes overlapping, considering positive and negative space. The different sizes and colors created very interesting texture.

I wish i could post all their work because they are seriously wonderful, but the longest blog post ever. Here are a couple chosen at random so i wouldn´t feel biased ;-)

Mandalas

7th grade students are learning about the Middle East in their Social Studies classes. They have learned about Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions and in my class we explored how their sacred art sometimes takes a Mandala form. They were each given a different Mandala design which they had to color any way they liked, trying to get lost in the meditation process. We played meditation music and it was the first time i´ve seen a group of 14 year olds sit in complete silence for a whole period. It was shocking and wonderful, they loved it and were so hooked i had to give them extra ones to color at home! Also, some of them designed their own mandalas applying principles of radial symmetry. Loveley results, we might use these to make t-shirts and/or earrings...

Keith Haring Dance Party!

5th grade students have the most fun: We had a dance party in class the other day! It was actually a 3 part lesson regarding american artist Keith Haring and the Elements of Art. Here is how it went:

On DAY ONE we saw images of Keith Haring´s work and students identifyied the elements of art (line, shape, form, color, space, value and texture) within them, and they way they work in his compositions. Afterwards, students were handed a page with his biography and in pairs they summarized the main ideas. We later discussed discrimination and why ignorance equals fear.

DAY 2 was the most fun! Half the students get up while the other half remains seated and is handed different colored sheets of construction paper (3 each). 80s music is played while the students standing up dance. Suddenly, the music stops and dancers must freeze in their poses, becoming statues while the other half of the class draws their outline. This is repeated 3 times, one for each different color of construction paper. Next, the drawing students become the dancers and vice versa.

On DAY 3 students cut out their dancing shapes and pasted them onto poster board, trying to use space in an interesting way. Afterwards, they outlined their shapes with black marker and created radiant lines or movement lines (or both) around them. Voilá!



Finally, here is the finished work. Maginificent, isn´t it? :-D