luke bott robot

Kids love robots. And rockets. It's a proven fact:)

Luke Bott is a Kansas based designer who is making very smartly put together images.  He has a keen eye for pattern, shape, and color in his professional and personal work.

The kids and I looked at a few images from the "play" side of Luke's work on his website. They got a kick out of the abstracted bird designs. We identified geometric shapes and patterns in these 2 pieces. They also picked up on how Luke repeats shapes and colors to create patterns.

We then looked at a couple robot rocket designs Luke made. At this point during all 9 1st grade classes there were cheers and a general excitedness filled the room. I love it when they react so strongly to an artist's imagery. Especially when that energy carries through the creation of their project. As long as that energy takes the form of intensely focused, whisper level creation:)

Before starting on the drawing exercise, I also introduced the students to the symmetry present in a number of Luke's designs.

The kids and I folded our papers so that we each had a line of symmetry running down the middle, and then we drew out our robot rockets together. Each class did a different type of rocket that was inspired by Luke's work.

Once the rocket was done, students were asked to add at least 5 patterns to their drawing. I limited their color choices to one of the pairs of complementary colors. Students then filled their rockets with color, shape, and line patterns.

The handling of the background in this project was modified as I worked with the different classes. Students in the first couple classes used marker color and crayons. The later classes had the opportunity to revisit mixing secondary colors from their primary colors. Even though all the classes did a wonderful job with their drawings, I think leaving the background white allows the viewer a better chance to focus on the robot rocket designs the kids came up with.

Thanks for the inspiration Luke and keep the robots coming!