sunset skies.

We have been having some incredible sunsets in San Diego as of late. I decided to do a painting project with the 2nd graders this week that celebrated these wonderful visual treats...

while addressing positive and negative shapes and 3d space, of course:)

We reviewed how we created 3d space and volume in our drawings from last week and then I shared a painting done by Patty Baker.

We identified the different parts or things in the painting and talked about how Patty made 3d space by using big shapes up close and small ones far away. I then shared the concepts of positive and negative shapes with them.

Then we got working. Bumpy line for the ground, tall to small telephone poles, wires, and birds. WHen we drew the birds I showed them a few ways to do them from different angles. Students choose where they wanted each bird to go. We then filled in the ground and birds with black and traced the lines.

We used cake temperas to add color to the sunset sky. Students could use any of the warm or color colors. I emphasized that if their birds disappeared because a color was too dark, to add more water to that area and spread  the color out to bring the bird back.

When their painting was done, they completed an exit slip that asked students to identify the positive shapes in the painting and to tell me something they were successful with in the project. (2W8 and 2W10)

stained glass water towers

Tom Fruin creates stained glass structures all over. What I like about these is, of course, the play of light through them during the day and night, but what is also very cool is that he builds the whole structure with the colored glass or plexi. He doesn't limit himself to window shapes. Tom also uses reclaimed pieces of colored glass to create his structures, so he has the whole earth friendly thing going for him too:)

The 2nd grade students and I looked at this recent piece that was just installed in Brooklyn.

We talked about how he transforms ordinary structures into art by changing the materials they are built out of and how both 2d and 3d geometric shapes are present in his work.

Students and I then drew our own water towers inspired by Tom's. We drew out our pictures with a big cylinder and cone, as well as rectangles and squares. We then traced the legs of the tower with marker and filled in the front of the building closest to us. Color was added to the buildings- dark in the front and light on the ones far away.

Then I gave everyone a sheet of clear plastic, in this case old overhead projector sheets, and we traced just the cylinder and cone of the water tower. We then flipped the plastic over and added color with sharpie markers. I had them flip it to keep the markers clean.

We then cut out the "stained glass" tower and glued it in place. The kids got a kick out of the textural difference between the tower and the rest of their image.

lift off...

with Justin Mezzell.

I have had a few of Justin's images saved on my desktop for a while. There's a real strong retro feel to his work. I like the types of shapes he uses, very clean and sharp. I also like the mystery that surrounds the subject and settings in some of his work.

I met with a second grade class today that I didn't meet with last week, so they had not done the roadrunner desert landscape. With one of Justin's images we were able to investigate similar elements about 3d space and volume.

We looked at a few of Justin's images from his website and the kids thought his stuff was pretty neat. They were really digging the outer space stuff, so when I told them we would be focusing on the piece called Lift Off, they were very enthusiastic:)

We looked at how Justin creates 3d space through value and color changes. The shapes in the front are very light and the shapes in the back are dark. Students noticed that some shapes like the rocket and rocks looked 3d because of his use of light and dark.

I also introduced the concept of symmetry in art by pointing out that a number of shapes are mirror images of each other from left to right.

Students drew out their designs in pencil and then selected 3 colors plus white to add color to their drawings. In order to create a change in color value, students had to adjust how hard they pressed the crayon to the paper. I asked that they use white for the smoke in the front, but then they could put the other colors where they wanted.

The examples below are from just the one class. Mrs. Tooley's students did an excellent job with the project. I'm looking forward to doing it with a couple more classes tomorrow.

beep beep!

Today the 2nd graders and I went old school.  A while back I had pinned a couple images that Dutch illustrator and animator David de Rooij used to create a fictional museum exhibit. That concept alone was pretty cool and seeing the images he chose for the non-exhibit cast them in a whole different light.

I had them look at these background stills from the old Road Runner cartoons from Looney Tunes. We talked about a lot of things, such as why the coyote never caught the dang bird and who is faster? sonic or the road runner?

We also talked about the desert setting of the cartoon landscape and how the cartoonists used light and shadow to make the settings somewhat believable.

Each class drew a different still or combination of stills to create a landscape that showed depth and volume through color, detail, and size. The students did a great job with the complexity of the source material and even though they drew the same thing there was a lot of variety in their work due to hand pressure and how fast or slow they made the different lines.

out and about with jolby

I thought it would be nice to revisit the work of Josh and Colby at Jolby one last time this year with a different grade level, so I introduced the 2nd grade classes to their work. The kids, of course, thoroughly enjoyed the collaborative efforts of the Jolby team.

I gave the classes the lowdown on Josh and Colby with the help of their website. We talked about how even though the two of them looked silly (they have a photo of the two of them on their about us page) and had fun creating their work, they took it seriously and always tried their best.

To introduce Jolby's work I shared a commercial they did for the college they graduated from that features a character and other artworks that they created.
Then I shared a video the duo put together as a preview of a show they recently had in San Diego. The kids loved seeing both.

We then looked at a couple more images from their San Diego show, Shapes and Smiles. Both of the images I selected had their basis on memories that Josh and Colby had. One of the 2nd grade standards is to explain how artists share experiences or communicate ideas, so these images offered up good discussion points for how and what Josh and Colby were trying to share with us. Next to both images on the Josh and Colby shared in writing what the basis for the work was, so I could share that with the kids too.

The first day of classes I focused on this image, titled Ready to Go.

We approached the drawing in 4 steps, pencil drawing, marker tracing, colored marker scribbling, and wet brush blending. I asked the students to draw things that they would want to take with them if they were moving or going on a trip. They were asked to connect some of the shapes together with line patterns since patterns are a key element in the work of Jolby.

When they added colors,  I had them choose between warm and cool colors. I said that cool colors could give the image a sad or calm feeling, while warm colors would give it a more happy, upbeat flavor. They chose their colors based on what feeling they would have as they were going on that journey.

The above results were great, but I felt like too many of the students were not having enough success compositionally and with color execution. I decided to focus on another image for today's classes. I still focused on the same standard, but instead of also working with warms and cools, the students had another opportunity to practice recognizing and creating symmetry in art. We did the drawings with colored pencils, sharpies, and pencils.

The second image was titled Escaping the City.

For this lesson, the class and I identified what showed symmetry in the image and where it was not present. I pointed out that even though some things did not perfectly match, things on opposite sides were about the same size and shape, so there was still a strong sense of balance.

I asked the kids to think about what they would bring with them if they were heading out to the country or out into a more natural setting for a few days. Oh, and since Josh and Colby added fictional touches to the image, I also said they could add little characters or take other liberties with the things they were going to include in their drawing.

We started by folding the paper to create a line of symmetry and then drew the basket and blanket together. After that it was up to them to add their personal things in a symmetrical way.

When students were ready to color I said they could approach it in a couple different ways. They could make shapes look 3d like they did in their Pearl Fryar inspired drawings or they could color things flatly like Josh and Colby do so often in their work.

I think that more of the students had a better time with this lesson today. Much more of them were in control of the media. The marker and water approach was too messy for the other lesson. 

Great job 2nd grade team!

Thanks for the inspiration Josh and Colby!