warm and cool pendletons.

The 3rd graders got pretty messy with their chalk pastel cacti last week, so I thought I'd give them a cleaner project to try out this time. We're still focusing on warms and cools, but we are looking at an artwork that looks a lot different than our Jenny Willigrod inspired cacti, too. The painting below is by one of my favorite designers, Don Pendleton. I usually do at least one project inspired by his work each year. (Like this, and this, and this:) You can discuss many elements when looking at his work with kids- types of lines, types of shapes, color, focal points, and even art history by linking his work to the cubists and abstractionists that have come before...

I'm beginning to play with visual thinking strategies in my instruction, using it as a warm up, in hopes of having our classroom teachers explore it with their students next year. When I shared this image with the classes, I asked them to quietly look for a minute, then I asked- "What is going on here?" After each response, I paraphrased it, and then asked for more from other students- not what else is there, but "Is there more going on?" Students were able to break down and identify so much about the image, using a great deal of vocab. I'll be continuing this and going further with the approach with each grade level this year. As I've been learning about the approach, the benefits/skills should lend themselves well to other subjects, especially ELA.

Anywho...

Students started their own versions by drawing a large central shape- circle, diamond, or square. They then broke up the shape and the background with verticals and horizontals. They could fill the interior shapes with any characters, any things like wanted. Some went with Don's vocab of shapes, others did their own thing. They traced their lines with black crayons and sharpies to make them bold and strong.

Students used either warm colors or cools inside the main shape and the opposite on the outside. They used crayola washable markers to color.

They went over their marker parts with a wet brush to create a painted effect and to fill the shapes in more completely.

As usual, students completed an exit slip. I asked them to identify how this painting project was similar to their cacti drawings. They also needed to express which one they enjoyed more with a "because" statement.

hmmm...

 The 5th graders wrapped up their Don Pendleton inspired unity skateboard decks this week.

The start of each class saw students at different levels of project completion. After they finished I give them the opportunity to design a different deck any way they please. The students really enjoyed this aspect of their time this week. It was interesting to see how some students stuck with the unity theme and how some really broke out from the whole repetition concept.

After all the students were done with their first deck I passed out the assessments and reflection sheets/rubrics. Generally, this was around the 50 minute mark of a 70 minute lesson.

We walked through the evaluation process together. I told them the most important aspect of this process is to be able to be honest with themselves. The assessment process is a time to identify strengths and weaknesses of how they handle the language of art. 

We looked at three things in the assessment. How they created unity, how well crafted they made their design, and how respectful they were in class. They evaluated their own work and then I evaluated theirs. So many of the kids were spot on with their assessments of their work.

Over winter break my plan is to cut plywood decks for 2 students in each class. The student designs that are selected will be based on creativity, craftsmanship, and respect.

The winners will be announced after winter break:)

decked out.

I got to revisit one of my favorite designers with the 5th graders this week. We looked at the work of Don Pendleton. He is know mostly for his skateboard graphics, but he also does other design work, paintings, and murals, to name a few. I love his figuarative abstract style, his use of color, and how he has kept his work fresh throughout his career by making sometimes bold, sometimes subtle changes in his style and work.

The 5th graders are actually familiar with his work because we did a project together when they were in third grade that was also inspired by his work. I thought it would be interesting to see how they treated their designs this time around. I am going to see if I can match up pics of student's work from then with what they are doing now...

The focus of the project was creating unity. We talked about how you can do it by repeating shapes, lines, and colors. I asked them if they knew what graph paper was. Everybody did, so I asked them if it was exciting to look at. The vast majority of kids said no. I talked about how too much unity could be a visually "bad" thing. I then asked them what they could do to make the graph paper more interesting. How could they add variety? I got back different size squares, different color squares or lines, thick or thin lines, different directions of lines, etc.

This was good. I emphasized that a successful artwork needs a balance between unity and variety.

I then shared a few images from Don's website to re-familiarize the kids with his work. They didn't recognize his name, but as soon as they saw his work it all came back to them. The series I wanted to focus on was his microcosm series.

We identified that Don had created unity in these designs by repeating the same shape over and over. We also identified variety in the designs through changing sizes, changing colors, and using thin and thick lines.

I then told them we would be designing our own decks based on this series of boards. Cheers rang out throughout the classroom:)

I quickly walked them through the process for the project. I also dangled this carrot- I would be selecting at least one design from each 5th grade class, probably 2 (boy and a girl), to turn into an actual skateboard deck. Over winter break I'll cut and shape the winners decks out of plywood and the selected kids will get to paint/draw their designs on them after break. I emphasized that I would be selecting designs from kids that showed originality in their designs, have the necessary elements of unity and variety, and who are respectful and on task during class. 

Usually, the 5th grade classes are the most social of my classes, but this week all but one of them have earned class behavior green cards. Interesting...

The design process went like this-

1. shape the deck out of one of 3 colors of paper. Red, yellow, or blue. This color would dictate the color choice later because they would use an analogous color scheme to create a lot of unity and a bit of variety in their design.

2. do at least 2 rough draft versions of possible designs- required elements- about 15 shapes, different size shapes, and overlapping of shapes

3. shape top of larger white paper for design on primary color deck

4. draw design lightly on big white paper

5. trace over lines with thick and thin black markers

6. add color to design using one set of analogous colors. Pressing hard and soft to create variety.

7. shape/cut bottom edge of white paper

8. glue white in place on deck

9. on bottom part of deck, add a couple symbols, text or both, that relate to the deck design

Each class will have time to complete the project next week. After completion they will do a self assessment focusing on the principles of unity and variety, as well as creativity and execution of their design.

I'll post more next week, but I wanted to share the process before then:) 

creating creatures.

I shared the work of designer and artist Don Pendleton with the 3rd grade classes this week. Don has done a lot of super cool stuff within the world of skateboarding. This got the kids VERY excited about his work:)

Don has applied his figurative abstract style to skateboard decks, sunglass frames, beverage containers, and even sneaker soles. I enjoy, and so did the kids, the range of items he applies his creativity to.

We looked at a number of images from his website and then focused on the below image as the inspiration for our project.

I asked the class what creature stood out the most in this image. What they identified was-

- the one in the MIDDLE

- the BIG one

- the one with the MOST DETAIL

- the one with the MOST COLORS

A great collection of ways an artist can make something become a focal point in an artwork. By doing these things, I explained, Don had also created a foreground and a background in the image.

We then set about to create our own creatures. I emphasized that we weren't copying Pendleton's work, but only using his vocabulary and style.

Students started out by drawing the large shape for the main character. They added details to the character next, trying to limit themselves to geometric shapes. They used verticals and horizontals to break up the background and then added more simple creatures to some of those new shapes. They then traced all their lines, using mostly thick lines for the main character and mostly thin lines for the background.

How students used color to fill their designs was up to them. I said they could use warm and cool colors, or primary and secondary, or any other combination they thought would be interesting. The one thing i emphasized is that they should press hard in some shapes and softly in others, so that they would have light and dark colors in their designs.

The classes came up with some pretty interesting variations on the abstract character theme. They also did a great job staying on task throughout the lesson.

Way to go 3rd graders and thanks to Mr. Pendleton for inspiring another art project!

This guy wanted to do a picture of Albert Einstein. I think he did a great job capturing his "wild" look:)

This student had to use her opposite hand to draw and color due to her cast on her drawing hand. She didn't hesitate at all. She dove right in and did an amazing job!