Passacaliga (8-Expanding)

This was a collaborative piece based on another artists methods.  It is a great lesson math integration lesson.  We started with grid paper and marked points (everyone had a different point) then we each had the same series of instruction on how much to move the point based on the previous point.  In the end we put all of our works together and they coordinated with one another.  We built upon this same pattern even more to make a work of our own.

Gesture Drawing

When I think of a gesture drawing I think of lose long curvalinear lines repeated as if to search for the actual space of a person or object. The realism is not so important as the search and expression of the lines to find the space.   Although I could have done this better, I tried to communicate that in these pieces here.

Contour Line Drawing

I apologize that the image is a bit hard to read but hopefully you get the idea.  By wiki's definition a contour drawing, is an artistic technique used in the field of art in which the artist sketches the contour of a subject by drawing lines that result in a drawing that is essentially an outline; the French word contour meaning, “outline.” I tried to capture the essence of the tree by focusing on the lines and movement.  Especially for the leaves I was more focused on my eyes following the path of the leaves and getting my hand to follow my eye rather than getting my eye to follow my hand.

Color Study

The first image you see was created to a series of music.  There only real objective was to listen and respond to what we where hearing.  I started with the black marks.  Some were made slow, but most were made really fast as this was how the music was.  I then came in with the white and started to splatter the paint.  I was thinking of Jackson Pollock as I did it.

The objective of this image was to explore how many shades of light and dark you could get out of one color with black and white.  Then we started exploring what more colors we could get using the compliment of the first color which in my case is orange.  I was thinking of the fall leaves as I painted mine. 

 

Batik Tutorial

Here is a step by step process of my batik. To start you will need a square of muslin or 100% cotton.  If you have pinking sheers cut along the edges so that they won't fray. You will also need a white piece of paper to draw designs and a concoction to substitute wax.  Mix 1 cup flour, 1 cup water, and 1 tsp alum (it's used to make pickles) and put it in a bottle with a skinny top so the kids can draw with it. *Note this won't work without the alum.

Step 1: Trace fabric onto paper so you know how big to draw your design.  Once you draw your design in pencil go over it in sharpie. 

Step 2: Put fabric over the drawing and trace it with the flour concoction, let dry.

Step 3: Once the flour paste is dry paint with tempura.  *It has to be permanent Tempura

*Note only the first layer of paint will stay in the end.  Make sure you use the initial color you put down is the one you want to show in the end.

It will probably bleed through the fabric a little so make sure you are doing it on a piece of paper.

Step 4: Finish painting and let dry completely

Step 5: Once your fabric is completely dry (not cold) you can start peeling of the flour paste.

Step 6: Once you have all the paste off wash out all the excess paint

Lay it out to dry and you are finished!  Notice that the colors in the bottom right hand corner changed.  This is because I started painting it yellow first and then changed it to a reddish brown.  I discovered that whatever color you put down first is what soaks into the fabric and everything else gets washed away. As you can see, anywhere the flour paste was is now the color of the fabric.  The flour paste acts as a resist to the paint. 

I included this photo at the bottom just to show you the difference between before and after you wash it and the color change that occurred in mine.

Overall I am happy with the result.  Most people do a pattern design, but I had a lot of fun doing a landscape.  I paint giraffes in my personal work and wanted to continue the theme here.

You can find another tutorial example at  http://theartofkids.blogspot.com/ 

Practicum Student Exhibition- Matisse Lesson

  

Henri Matisse was a French painter who became very famous for using extraordinarily bold colors. Later in life, as his health began to fail, Matisse turned to making collages. His last and most important works were a collection of mixed-media collages. Matisse arranged boldly colored paper cutouts into striking compositions, and added text in his own handwriting to produce a book that has been referred to as "the visual counterpart of jazz music”.
 
I created an elementary (3rd grade) lesson plan influenced by this period of Matisse work.  My objectives and standards were as follows

Objectives:

1. Students will speculate about the process Matisse uses to create his paper cut outs.
2. Students will learn and apply knowledge of positive and negative space.
3. Students will experiment with forms, media, and art making approaches to create unique and interesting compositions. (organization)

National Arts Standards addressed:

Anchor Standard 7: Perceive and analyze artistic work

Anchor Standard 2: Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.

My students took all their work home and all i have left are the pictures so I decided to showcase them in a slideshow presentation!
 
Click below to see my slideshow of my practicum students work!  Don't mind the music.  I didn't want to have to pay to use my own. 

Henry Matisse Practicum Slideshow

Pinch Pots

We learned to make pinch pots and then were assigned to make them our own using air dry clay.  I was thinking of marine life and sea shells as I created mine.  I created the simple organic shape by pressing my hands inward- the edges on the outside created by my fingers.  I added the barnacles to the outside.  I was very happy with the shape, but wish I had approached the surface (paint) differently.

Find the full tutorial at http://myartisticodyssey.blogspot.com/