ooooh, color:)

This week the 2nd graders are looking at the work of the Oakland based husband and wife design team of Ryan and Sarah. Otherwise known as Lab Partners. These two make some pretty fresh designs and illustrations. Their work has a little bit of a retro feel and I love their use of line and color.

I had not done a printmaking project with the 2nd graders yet this year, so when I was looking at the Lab Partners website as research for a possible 5th grade project, I found the perfect candidate.

This is called "Colors are Magical". I thought the combo of white lines and black lines, plus the combo of curved and angular was fantastic. When I shared the image with the kids they felt the same way. When I revealed the image to each class I got a big, "awwwwww..."

We talked about the types of shapes we saw in the image and what the background shape reminded them of- diamonds, gems, and crystals. We also talked about how the body position of the girl makes it look like she was ready to fly and how her expression totally went with the title of the piece.

Students drew out a boy or girl in pencil first. They added the hair last, after I modeled different hairstyles they might choose. Then they traced the figure in black permanent marker.

Then the students worked on the styrofoam plate  portion of the project. They shaped, colored and colored it, and then we worked together to stamp it on top of the figure drawing.

The kids loved seeing the two parts come together. If students finished early, they could color their styrofoam plate again, sothat it could be part of a larger group print that would be featured in our annual student show at the end of the year. Those of you who follow this blog, know that I can not help myself when it comes to identifying and using cooperative work in my plans and exhibits:)

Check out the results below. It think they are pretty darn magical.