Non Traditional Completed

Above: recreating the essence of image using science supplies

For our last unit, Artists Incorporate Non Traditional Materials, the only limitation imposed was the request that they not use any fine art materials that could be purchased from an art supply company. They needed to find some other material in which to create their art. All other considerations were left up to the artists. View some of the works in progress here.

This limitation proved somewhat more challenging than expected. There were many attempts and fails as they explored different non traditional materials. This was due to the fact that, unlike common art materials, one just doesn't know how a rubber band or a bubble or a seashell is going to work.

Birdseed

Legos tree

Fire and wax

Broken CD's

Lipstick

Rubber bands, bubbles and food coloring

Needlepoint and paper

Cake decorating confetti sprinkles

Yarn animation

TASK Party 2015!

For the last days of our Artist Solve Problems unit we decided to throw a TASK Party! What's a TASK Party you ask? Well, simply put, there is a box filled with tasks. The student takes a task and does whatever it says.

That's a lame description so for a better idea, check out the videos below...,

Create a hand and slap someone

Sleeping

Create a hula hoop and get down with your bad self

Where we gonna find a blonde?

Non Traditional Materials in the Works

Today's artists don't limit themselves to the fine art supplies listed between the pages of an art supply catalog, Instead, they incorporate a wide variety of materials from shells to seeds to screens. For this project I asked students to consider what they might create using non traditional materials. Here are some of their works in progress.

Layering screen to create a value portrait.

Exploring the effects of painting with Q-tips.

Using yarn as line to produce an animation/

The tedious work of rolling rubber bands

Aligning birdseed to create the image of a bird

Confetti shaped sprinkles to color a pop art painting.

Post Modern Principles

Giraffiti - 

"For this project, I exhibited postmodern principles by creating a hybrid of text art, juxtaposition, and artists steal. But mainly hybridity and text art, this giraffe has the letters in "giraffe" as its spots."

For this unit, Artists Incorporate Postmodern Principles, students were encouraged to explore a range of post modern trends in art. Some of these trends included juxtaposition, time in art, text as art, Net art, and new media in art to name a few. Here are some of the works and the student's own words.

Text Art ..

"What I created was a frame capturing the reality of our society. How they tear us all down on our self image, that no matter what it's never good enough."

Appropriation..

"My project was a painting of the Taj Mahal based on the principle of appropriation. I took a famous monument that is actually completely white in real life, and made it my own by adding a a variety of colors such as purple, pink, yellow, green, blue, turquoise, black, orange, red, etc."

Text Art

"This project, although unfinished, has been a wonderful test of my focus. I took lyrics from Mac Miller and am creating a portrait, drawn in written words. The shading is done by letters/words/lines closer together and the light spaces are done in lighter pencil to create depth."

Appropriation

"Carrying on from the last project of essential question I finally finished my painting of downtown Apex. It just worked out that it fit the next project of Post Modern Principle as Artist Steal. I stole the painting technique of Van Gogh's Starry Night but instead painted downtown Apex."

Appropriation

"In the original piece of art there is a hear balloon. I decided to take that and turn it into a balloon with a real heart attached to it. I chose to do this because I really like Banksy's work and wanted to do something with it."

Juxtaposition

"My project represents juxtaposition by layering the dark gray skull with the brightly colored flowers. I also incorporated juxtaposition in the mediums because the skull is graphite and the flowers are soft thread. The bright, soft, warm flowers encircling the skull make the viewer understand that although skulls may be creepy or dark, there is an element of beauty in the human body and its form."

Appropriation

"I wanted my final product to look like the text style of the other words, but that made me nervous that maybe it was illegal since it could throw off where to go in an emergency. To do this, I knew I needed something that would 100% come off, so I decided to use chalk. When I found out chalk paint was a thing, I used it to better get the effect of a painted look for my project."

Text Art

"The text I used to make this piece was lyrics from love songs and also messages between my boyfriend, Cole, and I. My two best friends just moved away, and he has been so helpful to me and my grieving in this time of loneliness that I'm experiencing. "

Painting Bootcamp

Last week, the Art One class explored a week+ in Acrylic Painting Bootcamp. The purpose of this intensive week was to give the student's a foundation in using acrylic paint. We had a loose theme of "landscape" to give them a starting point. however, it was more about learning the painting process.

We started the week with a few simple color theory exercises. My philosophy is that exercises should be exercises, not projects. Students should spend just enough time running through a color theory exercise to gain knowledge. No sense in spending three weeks on a color wheel.

Some times mixing colors works and sometimes the unexpected happens. That's ok, that's how we learn. :)

We even explored a few tippy tappy trees, Bob Ross style.  We watch a few Bob Ross videos including ones on painting clouds, painting mountains the one were Bob Ross cleans Picasso's clock in an epic rap battle!

I asked the students to create black and white pencil sketches of what they wanted to paint. Then we went to the iPad lab and we learned a few techniques in Sketchbook Pro. The students had the opportunity to create digital color sketches on the iPads before returning to the art room to create using acrylics.

When we started painting, the students had reference photos as well as their pencil sketches and their digital iPad sketches.

A digital version above and the final acrylic version below that.

A digital version above and the final acrylic version below that.

Now the Art One students have a great foundation in acrylic painting. They can use this medium for any project going forward for this class or any other future classes they may take.

Artist Solve Problems - Challenges

We are starting a new unit with Art One.. Artists Solve Problems.

This unit deals with limitations artists either have to endure or that they set on themselves. To kick off the new unit, we broke the class into three groups. Each group rotated through three different "limitations". Here is a look at all three...

Limitation One: Toast!

For the first challenge, each team was given a loaf of bread and three different methods of toasting. These included a toaster, a toaster oven and a heat gun. The teams then had to decide to work in groups or individually to create a work of art using only toast. Above, a group image of Mickey Mouse.

I snuck in a Zonkey in...

Limitation Two: Pancakes!

We've all seen the pancake art where someone creates one of the characters from Frozen out of pancakes. Well just how hard is this challenge? Pretty hard!

Still, as a teacher I am please to say that even though our pancakes weren't quiet as well done as the ones on Pinterest, my students did learn to make pancakes.. an experience many had never had... and really, what could be more important than knowing how to make pancakes?

So in theory, we did everything right...

This is our Donald Trump pancake... Nailed it!

If you try this, don't forget the syrup. It's one of the four major food groups; candy, candy canes, candy corn and syrup.

Limitation Three: iPads

For this challenge, each team member was given an iPad and told that they could create anything they wanted but that they must use all iPads for one team image. 

This is easier said than done because first, there was a time limit of just over a half hour. In that time they had to agree how to use the iPads, which apps to use, what image to create, etc. A lot of group decisions which isn't always the easiest of tasks. 

This team did a sensational job of going through the process and in the end created a great image!

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