Unusual Mediums for Usual Subjects

Portrait drawing...ugh.
Most students have this reaction when they learn of our unit on portraits because they feel incapable when it comes to drawing a human face realistically. So...we practice...and practice some more. We draw together, we draw with YouTube videos and we use step-by-step drawing portraits tutorials. Never mind the fact that most students have practiced portraits one way or another since 3rd grade. Still, it's not a favorite subject of most kids. Even when I mix up the mediums we use, students are still timid and unsure of their work.

This quarter, I was reintroduced to the work of Cheeming Boey. Although his cup drawings have been around for a while, I felt like his work was being pinned liked crazy lately and the more I dug into researching him, the more I wanted to connect his style and medium choices to our portrait unit. Videos showcasing his work distinctly encompass the 8 Studio Habits of Mind, and I had to share with his process with 8th grade art students.

Great videos of Boey here and here.

We began these works with sketching entire portraits using the typical method (head shape first, draw lines to mark the middle of the face, add eyes, etc). However, once we felt OK with drawing portraits in the typical way, we moved on to starting with just one eye. Boey mentions in his interviews that he doesn't necessary start with the large shapes first. We decided to do that same. We began with a detailed eye on the cup and then rest of the portrait (what we could fit anyway) fell into place.
A bordered band completed the top of the cup. We found some great inspiration here. 
So much fun...

The stands were created with a dowel and a small wooden circle to act as the base.  We basically punched holes in the cups and strung them on. Tissue paper adds a pop of color.

Come back soon to check out our next installment of "unusual materials for usual subjects"- Picasso Pop Can Portraits!

Surrealist Portraits (& Frida!)

Realistic portraits are never a favorite project of 8th graders.  This lesson helps overcome those complaints by combining the skills and technique of drawing portraits with a Surrealist collage twist. We discuss Frida's work (and even though she did not consider herself a Surrealist painter) we talk about why she could be considered one. After the project is finished, we write a short artist statement to explain the story behind our portrait. 

iPad Photography

Our middle school is very close to having a 1:1 iPad program with most of the iPads being Minis. We are very lucky!

During Q3, 7th graders experimented with using the iPad cameras and the effects of the photo editing app, Aviary. We studied five different themes or highlights of photography including Rule of Thirds, Illusion of Depth, Portraits, Implied Texture and Macro photography. Many of us surprised ourselves with our photography and editing skills. We turned in the photos through our Edmodo class groups as well as "air dropping" our favorite photo to Mrs. Hare's iPad.  

Completed Wire Portraits

Contours, contours, contours! 

This was the last part is a series of lessons on portraits and contour line drawings. We spent a little time looking at Calder's work- especially his wire sculpture- before working with stovepipe wire and pliers. A rustic cardboard background provides stability and depth to this project.

Frank Big Bear Portraits

For our last project during quarter three, we completed a colored pencil rendition of Frank Big Bear's unique style. Even with a snow day interrupting our work time, we were able to create these funky, abstract, value-stressed drawings. Great job 7th graders!

Our inspiration came from this great art ed blog post.
http://experimentsinarteducation.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/frank-big-bear/

Part of Me, Part of You...ATC trade with RMS

We have been involved with lots of art collaborations in the last few weeks and this one with Rogers Middle School has topped the list! Too much fun as you'll see by some of our photos...

Here is how the lesson went:

7th graders were instructed to create a 1/2 portrait on a white ATC. We used only Sharpie but worked on adding a shadow with hatching, cross-hatching or stippling. Students also chose an emotion or feeling from a list as well as a "type" of person (cowboy, athlete, etc) to draw. Many came up with their own idea but having a list to choose from sparked an idea in those kids who needed a little push.

Here's the link to the original post: RMS Collaboration

Once the cards were done, we mailed them off to Rogers and received a huge pile of them back! Wow! RMS students are productive! :)

The plan was to take photos with the cards we received from Rogers- we wanted to "fill in" the rest of the face. After trying a variety of ways to take our photos (iPhone, iPod, regular digital camera) we went with Photo Booth on Mrs. Hare's school laptop. Mrs. Hahn at Rogers did this and it worked great for her.

Getting the photos to line up was tricking and sometimes our depth perception was a little off. But all in all, the collaboration was fun and we ended up with some great photos of kids interacting with art in a whole new way...

Check out Mrs. Hahn's great art education blog here: Mini Matisse

Here are a few of our Part of Me, Part of You artworks: 

Artist Trading Cards- Artists and Mediums #2

This is the second set of artist and mediums covered so far. 7th graders- we only went over Picasso and O'Keeffe on Thurs/Fri. We'll come back to the last two artists in a week or so.

Artists this time around are Pablo Picasso, Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol. Our medium choices for creating the cards are blended oil pastel, tissue paper and glue, charcoal pencil with collage and Styrofoam printing. Students must also highlight one element and one principle of art in their cards. The slides below were reviewed in class.

Rogers MS collaboration project

An overview of projects

 

Way to go 8th grade! Unbelievable work and craftsmanship. Keep it up! Looking forward to the rest of the quarter. 

-Mrs. Hare