We begin our school year reading The Dot by Peter Reynolds. We learn that even though we may not feel confident, just starting with one mark, a tiny dot may be just what we need to get us started on the way to creativity. In this project we start with a square piece of tag/chip board. Students will create a design and make their mark with paint, markers, crayon. This will become the background for our dot stitching project. Once the background is painted holes are punched into the chip board ( I used a nail and hammer and tapped it twice). Then using a tapestry needle threaded with yarn students stitch the dots making a circle, filling in the circumference (the shape of the circle) and after the shape of the circle is made sew diagonally across the circle shape (diameter). Fill in your dot with as much of the diagonals you like. You made marks and you made a dot just like Vashti! Materials Chip/Tag board Paint/markers/crayons Brush Water cup Yarn Scissors Tapestry needle Drill or hammer and nail Inspiration Gabriel Dawe is a Mexican-born artist living in Dallas, Texas whose work is based on exploration of the visible spectrum of light (rainbow). He has gained recognition for his large-scale Plexus series of installations of sewing thread. He also creates works on paper as well as other media. https://www.instagram.com/gabrieldawe/?utm_source=ig_embed Link to the Video of Mrs. Buss reading The Dot by Peter Reynolds, making her mark, and stitching her Dot:
youtu.be/15eg7LpAcMA
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Lydia Nielsen, 7th Grade The art of the triptyck, we studied, was based in the Gothic period. The artists the students were introduced to were Giotto and Van Eyck. Both artists used religious subject matter. Students were encourage to think about a three part composition that could include the change of seasons, stages of growth, metamorphosis, three related compositions. We used tempera on board. Materials Sketchbook Pencil Illustration board or thick paper Tempera paint Brushes Giotto 1266-1337 When Giotto was a young boy tending sheep in the mountains of northern Italy, he drew pictures to pass the time. A traveling artist discovered Giotto’s drawings and offered him an apprenticeship. There he learned how to make paint from different minerals which could be used to create different colors of paint. Giotto is best known for painting people who appeared three-dimensional rather than flat. Many paintings of Giotto’s time were made with egg tempera on special panels of wood. Egg tempera is made by grinding minerals, berries, clay, even insects into a fine powder and mixing it with egg yolk and water. This paint makes a thin fast drying coat of bright color. Van Eyck 1395-1441 Jan van Eyck was the most famous painter of northern Europe in the 1400’s. Van Eyck was the first artist to really master oil paints, a new material in his time. Unlike egg tempera oil paints could be applied in thick coats and in thin glazes and could create rich velvety colors that glow. One of van Eyck’s most famous paintings is an altar piece called a triptych, which is a wood framed panel made in three parts. There are pictures on the outside of the panels when it is folded shut, and more on the inside when it is opened up. I Love this artist a lot. Working during the period of art nouveau, the organic and decorative as well as symbolism in his work make it magical and mysterious. Students are introduced to Klimt as an artist and also to the concept of symbolism and what certain shapes, numbers, or object might mean. We practiced in the sketchbook then transferred those ideas to black paper outlining our trees in white, adding details in color, and accenting with metallic paint or markers. Materials Sketchbook Pencil Tempera Paint Metallic Paint/ Markers The Tree of life is an important symbol used by many theologies, philosophies and mythologies. It signifies the connection between heaven and earth and the underworld, and the same concept is illustrated by Gustav Klimt's famous mural, The Tree of Life. For Klimt's admirers, the mural also has another significance, being the only landscape created by the artist during his golden period. Klimt used oil painting techniques with gold paint, to create luxurious art pieces, during that time.
Silas Rekow, 8th Grade Schools will have events, announcements, fundraisers -you name it- that children may embrace the opportunity to advertise for. In this particular project the students that created the posters were involved in the play they were creating their advertising for Wizard of OZ The Deleted Scenes. We looked to the work of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and his poster designs. We also discussed the information we needed to include in order to effectively communicate to our audiences, who was our audience? Arwynne Buss, 8th Grade Materials Sketchbook Pencil Coloring Media, Colored pencils, Sharpie, Markers, Watercolor, Tempera Paper- Poster sized Brushes Lautrec (1864-1901) eventually established himself as the premier poster artist of Paris and was often commissioned to advertise famous performers in his prints. The pinched features and animated demeanor of the singer Jane Avril, the image wearing one of her famously outlandish hats with a snake, are subjected to the artist’s crystallizing vision. By exaggerating the characteristic features of women performers, Lautrec conveyed the essence of their personalities. Mono-printing is a form of printmaking that has lines or images that can only be made once, unlike most printmaking, which allows for multiple originals. Students were introduced to Mary Cassatt and her work during the impressionist period, particularly her technique in making monoprints. Students created a painting in tempera on a cookie sheet and quickly transferred the print to a piece of paper. Materials Sketchbook Pencil Clean cookie sheet Tempera Paint Brushes Paper Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was an American painter and printmaker. She was born in Pennsylvania but lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists. Cassatt often created images of the social and private lives of women, with particular emphasis on the intimate bonds between mothers and children. In this lesson students learned about the Pop Art movement of the 1960's and looked to the work of Roy Lichtenstein and referenced vintage Batman episodes with exclamatory words, like POW, SOCK, ZOINK. We used our sketchbooks to practice illustrating our words. Students were also given the option to created a comic drawn portrait, like Mr. Lichtenstein. To create a manufactured look students learned masking techniques and used bubble wrap to create their project with some low-tech stamping and masking. Materials Sketchbook Pencil Canvas/illustration board/heavy paper Paint Masking tape Bubble wrap Brushes Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) became a leading figure in the new art movement of the 1960s, called “Pop Art”. His work defined the premise of pop art through parody (an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect). Inspired by the comic strip, Lichtenstein produced precise compositions that documented while they parodied, often in a tongue-in-cheek manner. His work was influenced by popular advertising and the comic book style. He described pop art as "not 'American' painting but actually industrial painting". Lichtenstein's technique, which often involved the use of stencils, sought to bring the look and feel of commercial printing processes to his work. Through the use of primary colors, thick outlines, and Benday dots, Lichtenstein endeavored to make his works appear machine-made.
Milo Gehring, 8th Grade In this lesson the students studied the aboriginal paintings in Australia. Although the technique, style, and concept of the dot Aboriginal painting of Australia was not taught first hand to me, I would like to teach appreciation and the style to students. We can respect indigenous cultures through emulating the work. Students were told they could focus their painting on a design or an animal. "As Aboriginal artwork is a form of visual storytelling, each tribe has symbols that relate to a meaning. There are iconic symbols too, which are relevant to multiple tribes and include eagle feet, waterholes and digging sticks. Colors can be linked to meaning as well, but this is rare, and only some tribes can understand what colors relate to which meaning. Blue tones (to represent the ocean) and warm tones of brown and orange (to represent the earth) are most commonly used. The symbols can also be used for teaching purposes, catering to both children and adults. Depending on the audience, each piece of iconography will differ in meaning, but the essence of the story will be the same. It seems obvious, but Aboriginal artwork is only considered Aboriginal if painted by someone who is of that origin. A non-Indigenous Australian does not have the authority to paint an Aboriginal piece of artwork. Where the artist comes from will inform how the painting will look. Since a non-Indigenous artist is not from a particular tribe, that person cannot represent any form of Aboriginal art. But this does not mean that all other ethnicities are banned from creating their own artwork. There are many workshops around Australia, which are open to anyone who would like to learn more about the art form." https://theculturetrip.com/pacific/australia/articles/10-things-you-should-know-about-aboriginal-art/ Materials
Sketchbook, Drawing media Dark construction paper, Black, Brown, etc Q-tips, round brushes Tempera paint (lighter colors) Visual aids for inspiration There are so many concepts packed into this project. I love teaching expressionism, music, and color theory which is incorporated throughout the unit. On the first day the class is introduced to Mr. Kandinsky and expressionism. Students are also introduced and learn about his contemporary Sergei Prokofiev and his symphony Peter and the Wolf. We read a story of Peter and the Wolf illustrated in an expressionist style and listen to the Introduction to the symphony hear the different instruments represented by different animals. While we do sketchbook practice I demonstrate line variations, children brainstorm a list. During the first class we paint up to 4 line paintings in black tempera, while listening to the symphony giving the students "inspiration". The second day of class we talk about expressionism and color we talk about Warm colors vs. Cool colors. We talk about which those colors might represent. Students are given a limited analogous palette of warm colors, and cool so their paintings do not mix. They fill in the line paintings with the color tempera. On the third day students paint in the line with Rainbow. We discuss the order in which the color spectrum occurs. They emulate the rainbow in watercolor on their line painting. The results are really neat, with so much variety. There is so much depth and learning going in this lesson unit that I can see many variations in the future. Materials Peter and the Wolf, Illustrated Book Peter and the Wolf Symphony, Prokofiev, Andre Previn Sketchbook Paper Tempera paint Watercolor Brushes Water cup Inspiration
Wassily Kandinsky 1866-1944 Kandinsky was a Russian born artist who made his name working in Germany in an art style called Expressionism. Expressionists wanted to use art to express their feelings and emotions, usually through bold use of line and color. Kandinsky studied law and economics in school, and was very successful in his career, but he also loved art, and eventually decided to do art full time, even becoming an art teacher. As a child he was also interested in music, learning to play both the piano and the cello, and this was an interest that inspired a lot of his art. In fact, many of his paintings were titled as if they were songs or musical works, like "Composition" and "Improvisation." Kandinsky was inspired by was COLOR. He felt that color could convey emotion even without showing any particular object or figure. Color on its own could tell the story of his art. Kandinsky was one of the first artists who painted purely ABSTRACT works of art, meaning he abandoned any reference to recognizable reality in his work. Cana Rose, Kindergarten “Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time” Georgia O'Keefe. Depending on the ages of the students this project is a matter of observation or magnification. For younger students we observe a picture of the of the flower. The flower is drawn in pencil and colored pencil and water color is used to fill in the color. For older students we use a view finder and isolate part of the flower to magnify. The flower is drawn in colored pencil and/or painted with watercolor. Sean, 2nd Grade Materials Pencil Colored Pencils Watercolors Brushes Watercolor paper Inspiration
Georgia O'Keefe (1887-1986) Was an American abstract painter born in Wisconsin. She attended the Art Institute of Chicago, the Art Student’s League in New York, and Colombia Teacher’s College in New York. She was an art teacher before she became a full time artist. She was a leader in the development of the American Modernism Movement. O’Keeffe painted still lifes, massive flowers, the New York at Night series, southwestern landscapes and stark bones found in the desert. In 1939, she was selected as one of the twelve most outstanding women of the past fifty years by the New York World’s Fair Committee. Her painting, Sunset-Long Island, was chosen to represent New York in an exhibition of the art of the United States at the World’s Fair. In 1985, O’Keeffe was granted the Medal of Arts by President Ronald Reagan. |
AuthorI have a passion for the visual arts and love sharing it with others. I have enjoyed teaching all ages and love to incorporate art history and traditional disciplines as well as innovative ideas. Art is vital to who I am as a creator and educator. Archives
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